Well despite the awful weather the last few weeks, the Greenstaff have been very busy. Working with MJ Abbots we have installed Perrot Irrigation into the 11th fairway, a few extra sprinklers in places. The new water main pipe and electric has been installed across the Driving Range, the 1st Hole and the 2nd Hole and we have also created a ditch to catch run off water from the 1st hole and the Driving Range!

Apologies for the mess but these are essential jobs. Take a look at the video below to show a little bit of what we have been doing.

Sorry there was no music on that video , I had put ‘Let’s go Crazy !’ by Prince on it , but I had a few copyright issues !!! So watch it again and either sing the song or play it on your phone alongside the video!!

We have also started work today on the 4th Green to repairt he issues we have with it.

These last few days there has been no rain and the grasses are beginning to wake up for spring. Slowly and carefully we are starting to get a few things cut and shaped . Please be patient with us on this one as you as golfers and us all have been so careful not to leave too much mess anywhere so we don’t want to get out there with big machines too soon ! Though by next week if it stays dry I will be letting the boys with their toys loose!

All the Tee markers and Tee stones have been painted for a fresh feel. And we have started overseeding the Tees and Topdressing them and this work will continue over the next couple of weeks. The approaches have also had a feed this week.

So, what busy times lie ahead next week? On Monday and Tuesday next week we will complete our 2nd Spring Green’s Renovations . This will include a further deep Verti-drain going down 11-12 inches followed by some overseeding and a nice bit of feed for the plant. If conditions stay good we may apply some topdressing. This feed will cause the greens to go a little black in places owing to the Iron content in the feed, but that will soon disappear. Have a click on the video below to see the great verti-drain on the greens at work

Also we should be turfing the 13th Bunker complex on Thursday and I will release a report on that hopefully next week.

The work on the 4th Green will continue and this will be on a temporary Green all of next week as we need to give it time to recover.

Finally the Irrigation work continues with sprinkler installation on the 14th Fairway and the starting of the Pumps by the new water tank . Please be aware that the 14th hole will be closed from Today until we anticipated Monday/Tuesday

Phew!! I think that’s all next week!!

Enjoy your Golf. Enjoy your course. Enjoy your Club, remember it’s yours!

Ballards Gore Golf Club travelled to us for an early start to the season saw the Teams play in all four seasons! Two evenly matched sides battled hard and had to dig deep in difficult conditions. At the turn, the singles matches looked to be evenly balanced at 3 games up & 3 down. These matches finished 2 wins, 2 loses and 2 halved. Some tremendous finishes down the last from the top two matches with Adam Nossek & Lewis Shurlin producing battling halves. Darren May and Warren Whiteman were beaten by opponents who took a liking to our course. Andrew Durrant & skipper David Phillips then added strong wins to help the “goal difference” with 2&1 and 8&6 respectively.

Over to the pairs who were naturally some way back in the timescale of the afternoon! Abridge maintained dominance through these games with early leads that were built upon gradually. ‘Birthday Boy’ Spencer Fenton & Eitan Fox opened with a 3&2 win, followed by Menashy Cohen & Jonathan Lewis who secured the winning point with a convincing 4&2 victory. With the light dwindling rapidly, the two Stephens…..Golding & Tall closed out for a half point on 18th.

Final Score 5 ⅟2 -3 ⅟2. A valuable home win, always essential in Jubilee Cup. Next up AWAY to Crondon Park, a tough challenge against a seasoned & experienced Jubilee side. By then it may have warmed up, but in the mean time we can bask in current success and reflect upon a good job done in the right spirit.