Last night we had the force of Storm Ellen and it was reassuring to know that we would not have any more fallen trees on the course due to the high winds.
The repairs between the 1st and 18th and 5th and 6th areas are now marked off as GUR with blue stakes are beginning to green over.
The shaping of the new grass bunkers between five and six has blended in well and will soon be catching the wayward shots. Unfortunately due to the large rainfall and the compaction during construction we did see some large puddles appear in them. Having taken advice until new grass has formed and we are able to aerate we will not fully know if they will hold water. We will also be introducing some heather, gorse and a couple of young trees to add some protection.
We have been careful not to cut the areas of the course where the natural heathers and wild flowers have shown up well this year on the course.
The heavy rainfall this month has caused a lot of extra work for the green staff who had put a lot of work into de stoning the bunkers, this in turn apart from having more consistency when playing out, reduces the stones blunting the green mower.
The bottom half of the course fairways are now looking good and we will be working on reshaping of the top half next week.
The new trees and flowers around the clubhouse are looking good. Unfortunately we have lost two trees that will be replacing in the autumn when the next planting season is due.
We will also be looking for volunteers to help form a rockery on the third-18th complex and at the back of the ninth tee.
Having played several courses throughout the county our Greens are holding up amongst the best.
This week in preparation for our Captain Gary ‘Stick’ Hooper’s Captain’s Day we will be presenting the greens for play in tip-top condition. Vince and his team have groomed the Greens (this pulls the lying grasses up for cutting) and will be double cutting them on Saturday. Thus upping the stimpmeter speed. Next week we will be lowering the cut of the greens in readiness for two big events, the Cornwall Golf Union championship week and our own Golf Week.
The new Covid pop up holes have gone down well and due to them not having metal bars on the outside as most others have has reduced the ball bouncing out. To compliment them we have new flags on order as the old red and yellow flags have come to the end of their days.
It is testament to the green staff’s work on the greens that must have helped Dave Johnson produce his impressive round of golf last week in the Open.
Following the recent County Maxam Cup event we received some great accolades on the condition of the course and we will be looking to improve the course even further for our upcoming events.
During the heavy downpours this week Vince and his team were busy hand cutting the temporary greens in readiness, but due to our programme of regular pencil tining the Greens cleared quickly and avoided the need for temps.
Everything is growing at a rate on the course and the team are daily busily cutting it all back.
We have thankfully only had one small leek on the system this month to repair.
The new natural granite tee markers look good and the work on the tees is starting to pay off.
Thanks to a members suggestion we have moved the matt onto the front of the 16th to be able to play the hole as it is designed and allow the tee to fully recover.
With our memberships and green fees now well up on last year the course is now being played more and more, so please can I urge all members to replace divots and repair pitch marks thus ensuring we keep the course in pristine condition.
We hope to put back a couple of bins onto the course to collect visitors rubbish but would still encourage members to please take their litter home with them to help keep our green staff safe.
And finally a huge thank you to Scottie Snelling the sponsor of the 10th tee for supplying all the bricks for the new paths and a massive thanks for Glyn Swiggs and his team of helpers for their tireless work on preparing the ground and laying the bricks to such a high standard.
Over the years we have spent many hours and cost on our paths and this coupled with the green matting hopefully will be the way forward.
Please enjoy and look after your course…
Glyn Rowett
Greens chairman