June 2024

Hi Members,

What a month we have had! We all certainly appreciate the inconvenience that the weather causes and appreciate your understanding throughout this period. This is not the first time that we have gone through this, and I assure you, we are working to limit the impact for when it happens again. 

Since the April 1, we have had over 600mm of rain with little opportunity for drying. As this happens every year, there is a lot of standing water in low lying areas. There’s also a lot of areas wet from subsurface water seeping out/down from the higher slopes. In an effort to mitigate the impact of the standing water, course staff have been focusing our shockwave machine on the wetter areas. This enables more air in to dry the surface as well as move some of the standing water away quicker. The course team are feverishly trying to complete the drainage work in the middle of the 5th fairway. This past week has been great for progress with the main pickup trench being completed and filled, diversion swale and drain completed, roadbase brought in for a cart/foot traffic track on the right, and stockpiles smoothed.

Big thanks to the staff and Wednesday volunteers for their persistence in the mud. Once it dries after the upcoming rain, we will prepare the ground and lay turf. 

Although the weather has been detrimental in areas, we have had the chance to really test out the drainage system in front of and around the 5th green. We are very proud of the results here. This area would have been inaccessible for most of winter following the recent rain. Our new practice green has been handling the workload well since opening. A practice green gets significantly more wear and tear than in play greens and this has certainly been the case here. There have been some people damage the green with their clubs hitting balls back off the green and lots of pitch marks left without repair. There have also been instances where someone putting has come close to being hit be a wayward chip shot at the same hole. Members, we ask that you please be courteous to your fellow members on this practice area. 

As many already know, the bridge from 10 green to 11 tee has collapsed. This area has been assessed by an engineer with forward actions to come. The bridge has been deemed unsafe due to potential collapse making it mandatory to close till repaired. We appreciate that members and visitors will need to walk around via 17 but everyone’s safety is our priority. This also applies to the old bridge on the 3rd hole.

Lastly, something that the green team will be working on come springtime is measuring and monitoring green surface conditions. This provides us with valuable insight to gauge the impact and benefits of certain management practices. Particularly, regular sand dusting, regular mini coring, nutrient rates, rolling and mowing frequency and heights. This is also to provide you, our members, with information on how our green surfaces are performing. This monitoring system has been developed by the US Golf Association (USGA) and we look forward to sinking our teeth into the process. 

Thanks again to the green team and the Wednesday volunteers for their great work. It’s greatly appreciated. 

See you out on course. 

Aaron Cachia | Superintendent