Fairways and greens
It has been a while since my last newsletter and I hope to get back to you with a regular update of work on the course and things to expect.
We are currently levelling tees on the par 3’s and will move to the par 4 and 5 tees after all the short holes are done. The rails we use for the levelling process were kindly given to us to finish the project by the Bowling club, and for that we are truly thankful.
Levelling of the 7th club tee.
Many of you may have noticed that the course have been taking some strain over the past few weeks and it is mainly due to the fixing of our mainline irrigation pipe. We have taking out the pipes that was always leaking and replaced it with a 250mm stainless steel pipe. We have more work to do in the pump station itself to have the system operating at 100%. We hope to get the course back in shape very soon.
Other work on the course is the project to eradicate foreign grasses from our fairways, mainly focusing on the kikuyu that is currently spreading like a wild fire. We have sprayed 4 holes and aim to have the whole course done by mid-April, with more applications to follow after this application. The first and second fairways are currently looking out of shape due to a Grub infestation that are eating the roots of the grass and causing it to die back. We are also currently spraying insecticides on the course to control this problem. In the picture on the left you can see the white grubs and the picture to the right shows the damage they cause below ground and the effect of this above ground.
You may have noticed some marked areas on the landing area of the first fairway. These are areas marked off to be sodded with new grass and a big tining project is planned for this area to relieve huge compaction issues. This will help us to get the first impression back to what it should be. The picture on the right shows the compacted layer below ground that formed a rock solid base that promotes anaerobic condition in the soil and prevents the plant to grow to its optimum strength.
Charl Blaauw
Estate Maintenance Manager/Golf Course Superintendant