Saturday 9 March 2024

Spring is round the corner

We have applied our spring granular fertiliser earlier this year due to how bad our winter has been due to the very high rainfall we have had 
We have now completed work to the tees that we have re-leveled and extended etc over both courses 
In the middle of February we were hit with another storm which has caused coastal damage and brought a lot of debris up on the course at holes 2, 4,5,14 & 15 of the Balcomie course 
4th hole 
15th hole
We have been carrying on cutting and collecting deep rough areas on the Craighead course when weather has allowed to help us thin these areas out and hopefully make them more playable 
The rainfall we have had from November to Middle of February 
We will carry on painting and tidying up our tee bins and Railway sleeper areas once the weather improves over both courses going into the new season 
We have carried out minor aeration work to the Balcomie greens and putting greens to help reduce our thatch levels and this will also let them dry out better after the winter 
Mini-cores being cleared and lifted 
The amount of debris out of each green 
Then the greens were lightly verti-cut, cut and cleaned up before spiking/overseeding the greens to help improve our grass sward 
Then an application of 1.5 tons of sand to each green to help fill the holes and cover the seed 
Then all the greens were slowly brushed to work the sand into the surface and profile
The hand railing on hole 13 of the Balcomie course has had repairs done and new matting and turf laid 
At last we have managed to start work on our new driving range tee 
We have installed new irrigation pipework and sprinklers to help water the turf area, which will aid in recovery from play on the new driving range tee
We are now applying 75mm of rootzone to the playing surfaces of the driving range tee to have a good growing medium for the grass areas 
We have now taken delivery of our own sand injection machine which going forward should help us improve our firmness on our Craighead course greens with reducing big hollow coring which takes a few weeks to recover, with the sand machine the surfaces are very playable within a couple of days, this week we have completed greens 1,8,9,11,14 & 16 and have managed to inject in between 1.5 to 2 tons of sand to each green depending on its size 

very little disturbance to the surfaces once they have been cleaned up, brushed and a slow roll, going forward this should help reduce healing time after aeration works 
 

Wednesday 7 February 2024

Winter work update

This winter has been very challenging with it being so wet. we have rebuilt the 3rd front greenside bunker on the Craighead course which had to be redone after it was just rebuilt due to the flooding damage 
Rebuilt the 8th fairway bunker on the Balcomie course 
Staff setting up the course for play 
The top tee on hole 6 of the Balcomie course has been re-leveled ready to be turfed 
We have solid tined the Craighead greens to a depth of 150mm to aid in drainage as it's been so wet 
The 4th yellow tee on the Craighead course has been re leveled and is ready to be turfed 
Adverse weather jobs has been cutting back gorse & broom on certain areas of the Craighead course 
Painting tee benches & the driving range bay dividers 
We have also been out replacing old worn sprinklers on the Craighead course to give us better water coverage in the Summer months 
The 5th yellow tee on the Craighead course has been extended and re leveled ready to be turfed 
We have managed to get more deep rough areas cut & collected on the Craighead course to help thin these areas out 
Another adverse weather job was to build another 2 bug hotels for the Craighead course 
At last we have manged to spray the Craighead course greens with some iron to help them recover from the prolonged wet spell, when the temperatures rise we will apply a granular fertiliser to help also 
 

Tuesday 19 December 2023

We have have been out with the drone taking some pictures on a frosty day 


We have been cutting down certain areas of deep roughs on the Craighead course 
The grass is collected to try and help thin these areas out 
Front greenside bunker at hole 11 on the Craighead course has been rebuilt 
The rear greenside bunker at hole 11 of the Craighead course has been rebuilt 


Fairways over both courses have been slit tined in 2 directions to a depth of 175mm to relieve compaction and open up the profile to allow better water and air movement 
The Balcomie course greens & putting greens have been solid tined to a depth of 150mm to relieve compaction 
We have been demoing a machine that can cut steeper banks than our existing rough mower 
Our Dyke builder has been back in to continue to rebuild the dyke right of hole 8 of the Craighead course 
The bunker front of green 1 of the Balcomie course has been rebuilt 
Jake checking the angle of the new bunker face being built 
11th greenside bunker (LHS) on the Balcomie course rebuilt 
Both irrigation systems have been drained down for the winter period 
The adverse weather continues with us having more than 252mm (10") of rain since October, which has delayed us on some winter projects and resulting in closing the courses on certain days to stop damage. 12th greenside bunker on the Balcomie course getting the water pumped out to allow the staff to continue to rebuild the bunker 
17th greenside bunker on the Craighead course full of water