COURSE REPORT 21/3/19

The course is fighting back and some things have seen some implemented over the past few weeks. This article is to help understand some of the processes that has been implemented.

A form of scarifying is “brushing” (what is scarifying). As you may have seen at coring time; Michael had a wood crate with brooms attached to it. This was on loan from another club since an “actual” sweeper is pushing $4,000. We didn’t want to spend that so I decided to become a welder. I won’t show you the welds because they are just outright awful, but she holds together ok.

What you’re looking at is about $400 of paint, steel and brooms. You drag it behind a buggy/gator/machine with wheels and the brooms lift the grass. You then come along with the mower and chop off the grass that is standing up. This makes the grass able to be cut upright and it takes away excess leaf that would have otherwise stopped water from penetrating the surface. We have completed 2 x brush and cuts. This is putting a bit of stress back on the greens but is definitely helping remove excess leaf. In turn helping stress levels in the long run.

This tool also brushes sand. So yesterday (20/3/19) we completed a “dust”. A dust as you can see from the video is a dust layer of sand, like you have on top of the old TV cabinet in your home (maybe). The sand is from Mt Compass and is a new type to SCGC. It is used throughout the sand belt of Adelaide. Time will tell if it is a good fit for our soil profile. We will change it if it is not. Previous sands were a washed sand from Sandy Creek sand mine however the batch we got recently had small pebbles which meant incorrect mix of sand profile which meant change of being wrong for what we wanted (more drainage and better soil profile) as well as possible damage to mower blades, so we went this this grey sand. As a guide we seek for top dressing/dusting/core filling is 50% of 0.5mm, 25-30% 0.25mm and 25-20% 0.125mm grains / silt.

Here is the spreader (and Danny) in action.Click here to see Video

Below is a picture of the green once it is dusted. After the brooms pass over the top it is not noticeable.

This will be repeated as often as we can to improve the soil profile of the greens (aiming for once a month). We will also look at completing the same process for poor fairway and tee sections. We may attempt  a heavier core and brush the cores back in. A light ‘topdressing’ that doses not effect play but has many benefits on the greens.

Todays speed measurement is 10 foot. I will explain a speed measurement next time but the past 4 weeks have ranged from 6.5 to 8.5. Hence this process is definitely helping roll.

Beyond this we have had movement in staffing. Danny Buss is now the only grounds staff (with Alan moving into a role at a winery) and is most certainly kicking goals. I do try and help where I can with the hands on stuff, as well as Zak and Dave.

Water is becoming more secure with the nicer weather and sprinkler audit always in action. Some sprinklers do decide to just stop so we are always on the look out. In the coming weeks we will look to solid tine the greens, core problem spots of tees and fairways and really start to decrease thatch layers in our turf. This will all enable the water we do put out to work most efficiently.

Misc Items:

  • Tee signs have been in the ground for approximately 8 months and as you may notice have has some paint issues. We are working with the manufacturer to repair.
  • Tree roots have been marked but yet to get to, however if you would like to swing and axe around come and see me and I will put you to work. Volunteers are always a godsend.
  • Pins are changed 1.5 times a week, the 0.5 meaning I have lost a couple of rotations due to maintenance and will make sure all ok for Saturday.
  • Paths up to 10th tee has been smashed up and we will look at getting rubble to seal as well as the path up to green keepers shed has been ripped to help level out for machine access.
  • Rabbits will be served a dose of plague (controlled through a state government program) to help reduce numbers in the coming weeks.

Thanks you for the kind words of everyone and the understanding that comes with change. We are hoping the change for greatness.

Thanks for reading, until next time.

Regards,

Brayden Wauchope