The weather has been kind the last few weeks and has enabled us to get more primary drainage installed. The 11th is all completed and this week we have added some more drainage to holes 7 and 8 and now we move onto our next jobs!

Below is an appropriate timetable of what’s going on the next month. Please be patient with us as there is a lot going on and there will be some disruption.

Tuesday 28th Sep:- 8th hole closed for drainage works. The 3rd pond being filled in on the left of the fairway. The tees on the 3rd maybe forward.

Thursday 30th Sep:- The pond between the 4th and 5th fairways is being remodelled and resealed. Dumpers and diggers will be crossing the 4th fairway so please take care. The 4th and 5th may both have their tees moved forward for safety reasons. Works to strip off the turf at the back of the 2nd green may start today.

Friday 1st Oct:- The pond between the 4th and 5th fairways is being remodelled and resealed. Dumpers and diggers will be crossing the 4th fairway so please take care. The 4th and 5th may both have their tees moved forward for safety reasons. Works to strip off the turf at the back of the 2nd green may start today.

Monday 4th Oct:- If the 4th pond is completed then works on the 2nd hole will start. This involves the remodelling and resealing of the pond and also the ‘banking up’ at the back of the green. The hole will be closed during this work and the small par 3 hole to the left of the 8th will be used as a replacement hole. When walking to the 3rd tee please take care as diggers and a large dumper will be working in that area.

We will also be commencing extensive tree work around the course with the use of a Cherry picker. We aim to pick up all debris as we go round but some may be left on the ground for a couple of days.

Tuesday 5th Oct:- 2nd hole closed for works. 4th possibly shortened as chamber works being carried out at the pond. Tree work with Cherry picker

Wednesday 6th Oct :- 2nd hole closed for works. 4th possibly shortened as chamber works being carried out at the pond. Tree work with Cherry picker

Thursday 7th Oct :- 2nd hole closed for works. 4th possibly shortened as chamber works being carried out at the pond. Tree work with Cherry picker

Friday 8th Oct :- 2nd hole closed for works. 4th possibly shortened as chamber works being carried out at the pond. Tree work with Cherry picker

Mon 11th Oct to possibly the 29th Oct:- Tree work with Cherry picker

Also during October we will be turfing the new bunkers and also the back of the 2nd once the ‘banking up’ is completed.

During all of this!! the Irrigation lake will be continued with. They estimate they have 2-3 weeks work left. Its really looking great and we think it will become a great feature of the 3rd hole as-well as the obvious savings the storage of water will bring us.

On the w/c the 25th October they hope to be laying the cables and pipes from the chambers by the 3rd tee to enable us to start filling the lake by abstracting water from the Brookhouse Brook which runs behind the 3rd tee.

Finally MJ Abbotts our Irrigation Company are back in on the 26th to redo some of the Irrigation on the 10th and 18th holes. They have discovered that the cables are not deep enough to their required standards . Its a genuine error and like all good company’s would do, they want to come back and put it right .

So as you can see plenty of exciting work going on !! Amongst all this the leaves will be falling and thus begins that clearing up job!

I ask that you appreciate all this work will cause some disruption but hopefully you will be happy with the eventual outcomes. Also please note the above schedule is subject to change and I will try to keep you all informed as much as possible

A little note re the 1st and 13th greens. These have come back really well and we have wanted to give the surface as long as we possibly can to recover. We really appreciate everyone’s patience with regards to being on two temporary greens. Some people have said its improved their putting!! Anyway, we hope to open the main greens up sometime during the week of the 4th October.

Also people have been asking about the fairways that are suffering with small brown patches over many areas. It’s a disease called Dollar Spot. We have had it before and is brought on typically by heavy dews, and damp warm conditions, which we had pretty much through late August and September. Many many Golf course are reporting the same issues. Those that remember us getting it before know that it will come back. Whilst it looks a little unsightly the roots do not die and the top surface part of the plant will recover. To spray a fungicide over all the fairways and the approaches would cost in excess of £9000 and although it may check the spreading of the Dollar Spot it would not aid the recovery. We are however spraying the areas with some iron, sugar and molasses to help the areas recover.

Let’s hope the weather remains good for us during October with all this work going on!

Thank for your anticipated understanding again

Regards Geoff

Enjoy your Golf Enjoy your Club ………………It’s your remember!!

Greens renovations went really well last week and recovery is coming along nicely. The new seed from overseeding of the greens is ‘flying’ through as you can see. Yesterday morning they received a further top dressing to help smooth the greens out.

The greens will be slow and a bit ‘hairy’ for a few more days yet, but by next week things should start to get back to normal so please be patient and understanding with us. Any of you that have played other Golf Courses will have seen most have also carried out these essential renovations and are at similar stages of recovery.

Wednesday and yesterday we have been installing drainage systems into the 1st and 13th greens. Recovery should be about 4 weeks max and should make both the greens much more playable in the wetter periods. Hopefully you will all appreciate these improvements and understand playing on a couple large temporary greens during this period of recovery.

Click on the play button below.

25mm perforated pipes are trenched in at 300mm deep and backfilled with Lytag 250mm and then the last 25mm is topped up with sand and finally overseeded

Next week and the rest of September we will be installing further drainage into fairways. The plan is to add a few more primary drains to holes 4, 7 and 8, and then install mains and primary drains into holes 11 and 14. The weather and other pressing jobs will determine how much we get done but as always we will be doing our best.

September will also see the seeder to go out and overseed a few areas on fairways and some of the drainage lines from our work in the Spring.

Early October we will be finishing off reinstating the bunkers at 2 and 4 and seeding the old bunkers at 1 and 8. We will also start installing secondary drainage, weather and ground conditions permitting, will start installing secondary drainage to certain fairways weather and ground conditions permitting?

I am getting lots of requests re the Irrigation Lake in regards to how its going, how long it will take, what will it looked like when finished to mention a few. Hopefully you appreciate we have been busy with renovations etc the last couple of weeks, but i intend to find the time next week to take some video of the area and produce a separate report on just this subject. Also it will include the work will be doing at the 2nd hole

All I can tell you re the Lake for now is that its a bloody big hole !!!

Thats it for now

ENJOY YOUR GOLF ENJOY YOUR CLUB……………….I’TS YOURS REMEMBER !