The course continues to be very busy, both from casual play and events - for evidence, look at the tees on the short holes. Lack of staff meant the greens were only rolled on Friday morning rather than cut and rolled as is normal ahead of the weekend. Nevertheless they achieved an average speed of 9’ 9” on Friday morning.

We’ve had 6 mm of rain this week, which included 3 mm on Thursday. The greens seem a bit soft, although they are not wet - the moisture meter readings showed 20-27% (we aim for 30%). Gavin has had the organic matter measured. It found that he upper 20 mm had increased (from 8% to 11%), which helps to explain the perceived softness. To counteract that we have scheduled a deep scarification (to 20 mm depth) during the September ‘greens week’ which starts Sept. 15. It will include solid tining, dressing, scarification and a further dressing. This level of scarification takes more material out of the surface layer than hollow tining, which is replaced by the dressing.

The farmer is planning to come to take the hay ‘harvest' this coming week, starting Monday 11. The forecast for the week is dry, so with a bit of luck it should all be cut and baled before the end of the week. A note explaining how to deal with play issues that the cutting, turning, and baling can create has being circulated.

Course committee