December has been a relatively mixed month weather wise, the course had remained playable with few temporary greens needed. We saw 58mm of rain throughout this month which the course dealt with reasonably well. The total rainfall for the year was 765mm, this is well above the average since 2008 which stands at 638mm. During 2023 we saw a total of 833mm of rain. As you will have noticed all winter tee mats are now in play, we try and keep play on main summer tees for as long as we possibly can, but when temperatures drop, and growth slows down it is crucial summer tees are protected to prevent long term damage. If winter mats were not used tees and surrounding areas would become chewed up and bare as there is not the temperature there in the soil to aid any kind of recovery, therefore come the main playing season tees would be bare, weak and would also take us months to reinstate. The greens have stayed relatively disease free throughout December with only a few old scars visible from the previous months, but in general we are happy with how greens are for the time of year.



The recent storm earlier in the month hit the course hard with us loosing around 15 trees, many of which had totally uprooted due to the soft ground conditions and high winds. After the storm had passed through, we started the clear up operation which took the best part of 1 week. All the fallen trees were cut up and the brash transported to the fire areas on the course and burned. The remaining root balls and stumps will be dug out with the digger and taken away to the fires. The storm had also brought down a lot of branches and sticks which needed to be raked up out of several tree copses and taken away to the fires. Bunkers also suffered with most having sand washed down the faces and water stood in them. When bunkers had dried out sufficiently the job of reinstating them began, with debris blown out of them, sand decompacted with our tiller, sand pushed back up the faces and dispersed around the bunkers where needed then raked. This task with two members of staff took the best part of 3 days.

As Temperatures remained mild for this time of year greens up until now have been cut around once a week throughout December. Most times we have cut greens this month we have been able to cut with the ride on triple mower which takes around 4 hours. There has only been one time this winter where we have had to cut greens using the hand mower due to softer ground conditions. Cutting the greens with the handmower does make a nice job and greens look good visually but with our one handmower this task takes around two days to complete. Surrounds and approaches have also been cut with the handmower this month along with the Tees. Greens have also been sarel rolled this month, this helps keep the surface open which allows air into the soil profile and helps aid with water percolation. An application of flowsmart has been sprayed onto the greens this month which Is a wetting agent that aids water to penetrate down the soil profile therefore helps to keep greens drier and firmer. These applications tend to last about 4 weeks and is sprayed onto the greens once a month during the winter months when possible. We have also sprayed our turf defence formular out onto greens which help strengthen the turf and protects against any disease outbreaks, this consists of liquid iron, phosphite, calcium and magnesium. Before Christmas a low nitrogen slow-release granular fertiliser was applied to greens to strengthen them up against the stress of the winter conditions and add some colour to the plant.



Machinery maintenance will be one of the priorities as we go through January. With machinery costs so high it is important everything is serviced and looked after properly to make sure the machines are in the best shape possible heading into the main cutting season. All cutting equipment and tractors will have a thorough deep clean and service. All blades will be sharpened by a mobile sharpening company. The company arrive on site with a large grinding machine and sharpen up all our units as well as replacing the bottom blades where needed. When we service our machinery, we drop all engine and hydraulic oils out of each machine, replace all the old oil and fuel filters, we then replace the old oil with fresh engine and hydraulic oils. Finaly, we grease all grease points on each machine and check tyre pressures.

As we approached the end of December, we ran on a limited number of staff due to holidays near Christmas and new year The course was kept ticking over with dew brushed from greens and worm casts switched daily, markers moved into fresh positions and holes moved once a week when possible. Bunkers were raked and brash was cleared from treelines. Ditches were checked and cleared to ensure water could flow in and out of the inlets and outlets. Keeping all ditches clear and water moving through them is important to maximise the effectiveness of the drainage systems around the course.



We would like to thank David Perkins for welding and fixing our high lift trailer chute. Finally, A happy new year to all our members and staff, lets hope for a successful year to come!



Greens