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What condition do you expect your course to be in come March 29?

upsidedown

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Our greenstaff have been partly furloughed since November so very little has been done on the course except for the greens being pencil tined and fertilized. We took delivery of a rough and fairway cutting machine today, Trimax Snake, so with the dry weather spell that we have had recently I am expecting great things come the next couple of weeks.
We trialled a Snake last autumn , still might buy one , could you let us know how they get on with it please ?
 

Golfnut1957

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Walked past our course this morning and the staff have been unfurloughed, the fairways are stripey as are the greens. Warms the cockles of my heart.
 

Robobum

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It should be mint

I suspect it won’t be

I know we will be told to take pity on green keepers and how tough it has been for them.

Free reign on the course without time restrictions for 3 full months - they don’t get as long to prep for The Open ?‍♂️
 
D

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Fairly lengthy message from the club today.

New irrigation system has been fired up and tested this week.

Appears that loads of gorse has either been cut back or removed altogether in the case of the surrounds to the 16th green which will certainly change the look of the hole.

Just need temperature to head towards double figures sometime and for grass to start growing....
 

upsidedown

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It should be mint

I suspect it won’t be

I know we will be told to take pity on green keepers and how tough it has been for them.

Free reign on the course without time restrictions for 3 full months - they don’t get as long to prep for The Open ?‍♂️
Trouble at our place is though , they haven't been able to get any machinery on the course for two of those months cos it's been so wet :cry: walking it today it's still so wet and were just getting any drying weather
 

D-S

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Trouble at our place is though , they haven't been able to get any machinery on the course for two of those months cos it's been so wet :cry: walking it today it's still so wet and were just getting any drying weather
It should be mint

I suspect it won’t be

I know we will be told to take pity on green keepers and how tough it has been for them.

Free reign on the course without time restrictions for 3 full months - they don’t get as long to prep for The Open ?‍♂️

They rarely hold the Open at the end of March.
 

Golfnut1957

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I walked the course this afternoon, and it looks no better than ok. They have tined, top dressed and seeded the greens, they'll do for now, but they need some warmth to get some decent growth.

It's the same with the fairways, they look neat and tidy, but close inspection shows a distinct bareness, time and warmth required. At least they are not chewed up as they would normally be at this time of the year.

There is a hole down the bottom which is still too soft to bring into play, so we will be playing the two winter par 3s for the first couple of weeks.

Role on Tuesday.
 
D

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I hope that people understand that the courses won’t be in immaculate condition - it’s been very wet , the growth weather is just starting , and with the wet plus increased temps the leather jackets are appearing which is going to be junk food for the crows.

Had a walk today and growth is starting and it does look nice but still a good number of bare patches. It won’t take much more good weather to get it all going again
 

Imurg

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The badgers have been pretty active on the front 9.
We had few "attacks" around the 2nd and 3rd and the GKs fixed it up pretty quickly.
A few other spots have been dug up on the 7th...fortunately only on areas that aren't really in play.
Add to that, during the cold snap a few weeks back we had an overhead pipe burst in the clubhouse dining area.
New ceiling, floor and carpets required and it looks a mess at the moment.
But the insurers have been excellent and all remedial work should be completed by the time it reopens in May.
 

slowhand

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We’ve had updates during lockdown and the greens staff have been hard at work. Our course does not drain well but even with all the rain it looks in good condition. They have stated that due to the anticipated traffic all par 3s will be played off the winter mats still, which I’m fine with tbh
 

nickjdavis

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Walked my place today and had a chat with the owner. Wouldn't surprise me if folks moan a bit when they see the course....but they would be totally failing to understand the issues that the Course and club staff have faced.

It's been very wet through the winter and a period of long lying snow caused a great deal of moss on the greens. With all the work needed to rectify this, coupled with the fact that temperatures haven't allowed any growth, the greens aren't snooker tables by any stretch of the imagination...and I reckon some folks just won't accept it.I Fairways don't look in decent condition...again a bit of growth to thicken it out wouldn't go amiss but that will come.

But with the warmer weather and longer days we can look forward however to a rapidly improving course that should be fantastic through the summer months.

Lot of work going on in the clubhouse....New bar and total renovation of the function room and kitchens...will be excellent when we get back to mixing indoors. No doubt folk will find something to moan about there as well.

Next couple of months will be interesting to see how the course develops and recovers.

During my walk I managed to find 13 balls!!!!
 
D

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Just to remind everyone that on Monday we are still in March (not June, July or September)......
This.

Expectations can't be too high but at least the course hasn't been ripped to bits over the winter. All divots have been seeded, greens dressed to fill in all the old pitchmarks and tees have had a chance to recover. Forecast down here this week is warm so growth should come through quickly. Expect the greens will be 14 on the stimp for Easter ?
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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Walked the course yesterday afternoon and in preping the fairways for reopening it looks like they’ve been able to clear away most of the worm casts - but we are told they are going to be something that we are going to have to live with - at least until a new treatment is available.

noting that the course looks great - but of course there hasn’t been a huge amount of growth yet so fairways are far from pristine - nice, and great for this time of year...but i do hope all members remember that it is ‘this time of year’.

That aside...new bunkers look great and all the tree and scrub clearance done opens things up quite significantly - on one hole removal of high boundary hedging opening up lovely distant views across farmland...
 

RichA

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Walked the public footpaths around ours this morning. Looks great.
Looking forward to Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Might pop on to work on Thursday, although it'll be light until 7.30 so I'm not ruling out a twilight round.
 
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