We are delighted to announce the return of our annual charity Golf day after postponing last year due to Covid 19. We hope you can join us to make it a fun filled and exciting day on Tuesday 27th June.
Charities need our help even more than ever so please help us make this year a bumper success.
This years nominated charity is The King George & Queen’s Hospital.
Dear all , what grim Weather we have had over the last 6 weeks. After an incredible dry summer we now have had way above average amounts of rain the last 6 weeks . Nature has a wonderful way of correcting itself!
Interesting chart below shows the amount of rain since 3rd October to yesterday 17th November. The total rainfall for the year is presently 447mm and as you can see a third of that has come in the last 6 weeks! Way above the normal average for this period.The other issue it shows is how warm its been causing grass still to keep growing which is balmy for this time of year normally . 21 degrees is potty ! We are cutting as much where possible .
Many of you that have played the last few weeks having reported back how well the drainage is coping, which is great to hear. Drainage will never solve torrential downpours or exceedingly wet winters but it will assist in drying surfaces out quicker and allowing surfaces to be playable .
As I am sure you are all aware the Club is committed to installing approx £20-£25 k more drainage every year into our surfaces so it’s an ongoing process.
The photos below were taken by Jamie , (1st assistant) yesterday morning.
Water coming off holes 4 and 5 draining into the Irrigation Lake
Water draining from 5th,7th,8th into the Irrigation Lake
Water draining into Irrigation Lake from holes 1,2 and 3
So as you can see everything is working and we are doing all that we can, i do fear a wet Winter but not a lot I could do about that!
Greens are holding up really well to the weather and obviously far more play then we were use to pre-covid times. In light of this we are going to bring in a “3 Pin Position” system .
Next week we will cut 3 holes on each green, 2 for general play which will alternate each day , and the other 3rd hole cut will be for frost conditions. It’s important to protect our greens from ‘Winter ware’ as much as possible so by alternating pin positions daily it spreads the footfall traffic giving areas on greens a rest. The normal coloured flag system will be replaced by sets of checkered flags. I hope that all makes sense.
LEAVES ! Leaves are just a pain on the course this time of year! We clear leaves as much as we can each day but i’m sure its a thankless task for a few week. This last week with all the rain we are struggling to get the tractors out for fear of making black marks and ruts everywhere. So please bare with us this weekend as fairways will not have been blown of leaves. Hopefully next week drying conditions will allow us to clear them better. We also will be getting the ‘Trilo’ machine out to suck leaves out of ditches to keep them clear.
Work for the next few weeks apart from clearing leaves will include finishing the path fencing we have installed. We also hope to start some of the Winter tree work.
One of the most important jobs we need to do next week is to spray the Greens with a ‘Leatherjacket’ preventative.
Leatherjackets that can damage Greens and other surfaces root structures
This hopefully protects us from Spring infestations that cause damage to the root systems of our greens . I’m sure you all know we use to be able to spray far stronger chemicals to alleviate this potential problem but these are now banned. The chemical we can now spray under licence along with other cultural practices does have some effect and has worked well the last two years, so long may it continue. The process next week will involve a light Sarrell Roll of the greens , spraying the Chemical and then heavy watering the greens to wash the chemical into the sub surface. We hope to do this Monday morning when its meant to rain to assist with the process ,but ,if you do see the Irrigation working on the greens please understand we have not gone mad its a job that needs to be done!!
Well thats it for now .
Enjoy your Course , Enjoy your Club …………….It’s yours remember !
Well its not stopped raining the last 48 hours but I thought you might like to see how well the drainage is working and how it’s filling up the Irrigation lake.
If you cannot see the video below please copy and paste the link to be able to watch and keep the volume quite high.
Hope you enjoyed , must go I need the Loo !!
Enjoy your Course, Enjoy your Club…………………it’s yours remember !
The Sun is rising over Abridge Golf Club and its exciting times ahead in 2022.
After a great 2021 we intend to push on with our Course and make it even better!
Most Golfers told us the Greens and other surfaces were in great condition all Summer.
The drainage is working well, with more planned and budgeted on fairways, roughs and greens over the next few years.
The Irrigation Lake was built and is filling nicely.
And ‘healing’ nicely
The pond and fountain at the 4th has been re-instated.
We welcomed GREAT new members throughout 2021 and hope you are all pleased you chose to join Abridge Golf Club.
Jack and his boy’s service is getting better and better and Jack is looking to improve the practice facilities even more this year!
Tina and Paddy’s service goes from strength to strength and again I know they have further improvements and social events planned.
So, what does 2022 hold in store for your Course ?
Well, we are presently planning and costing the continuation of the long-term drainage plan, renovating certain tees, building of a couple of new tees, renewing bunker sand where needed, remodelling of the 2nd hole with the pond moved and the back of the green built up, new Course Signage and creation of some wild flower areas at the 6th tee and 9th tee.
Along with doing as much of the above that funds, time, and manpower allow, we will continue to work hard on making greens and other surfaces be at their best they can be.
We have also just announced that a EURO PROTOUR event in conjunction with the PDC and SKY SPORTS will be held at Abridge at the end of June ! A tremendous advert for the Club and an honour to be asked to host such an event. More details on what’s happening and how you can get involved to follow on this in a couple of months. However, can I correct one RUMOUR:- WE HAVE NOT BEEN ASKED TO LENGTHEN OR MAKE ANY PARTICULAR CHANGES TO THE COURSE !
The real exciting news is the DEVELOPMENT FUND, so far 280 of you have kindly signed up to! This fund will not only allow all 280 of you the chance to win prizes each month, get HALF PRICE MEMBERS GUEST GREEN FEES and the chance to win £1000 CASH or your FEES paid twice a year but will raise money to be spent on ‘SPECIAL’ projects over and above the Golf Club’s normal annual budgeted maintenance and improvement plans.
It could be anything from a new pond, a new bridge, a sleeper walled flowing ditch at the 5th, complete renovation of the 1st Tee complex to name a few that are already being suggested.
The IMPORTANT thing is that it will be you as ‘Development Fund members’ that will ultimately decide what is done and have the chance of winning some great prizes! More on how this will work and some of the projects suggested so far will be announced in the next few weeks.
ANYONE WHO HAS NOT YET JOINED THE DEVELOPMENT FUND AND WANTS TO PLEASE LET LOL GREEN, OR THE OFFICE, OR ROGER JEFFRIES KNOW BY THE END OF THIS WEEK.
WE HAVE PRESENTLY 280 JOINED AND IF WE CAN GET TO 300 IT WOULD BE GREAT AND WE CAN REALLY START DOING SOME FANTASTIC PROJECTS CHOSEN BY YOU!
THANK YOU
ENJOY YOUR CLUB, ENJOY YOUR COURSE………………..IT’S YOURS REMEMBER!
Regards
Geoff Smith
Course Manager
THE PERFECT GOLFING GIFT AT CHRISTMAS FOR YOU LOVED ONES
WE ARE OFFERING A RANGE OF LESSON DEALS FOR ALL GOLFING ABILITIES HERE AT ABRIDGE GOLF CLUB.
Hi, I wanted to say sorry for all the works that have gone on the last 8-10 weeks. I appreciate everybody’s support, patience and understanding whilst we have been carrying out major beneficial works on your Course
ADIOS AMIGO’S AND THANK YOU!
Yesterday we said farewell to our construction team and their BIG TOYS! I’m sure you would all like to say a massive thank you to them. They have done a fantastic job and watching the work being done has been an education to say the least.
The abstraction pipes from the brook behind the 3rd Tee are now all in place, connected up and ready to pump when water levels permit. The water you see in the Irrigation Lake presently is solely water that has drained off the Golf Course!
We still have a crew to come back to put pumps, pipes, electrics from the Irrigation lake to the Irrigation tank and finish the overflow at the top of the Irrigation Lake
I am sorry for all the construction traffic and upheaval around the course but as you know these were essential works.
Apart from the 34000 cubic metre Irrigation lake we have also over the last 10 weeks :-
1) Successfully drained 2 greens
2) Resealed and reshaped the 4th pond (it looks like its holding!)
3) Installed an overflow chamber in the 4th pond which is connected by a pipe into the Irrigation Lake
4) Installed abstraction chambers, pump, pipe, electrics and water meter at the back of the 3rd tee
5) Installed a chamber, pump, pipe and electrics between the 2nd and 3rd to catch and pump water coming from the drainage from the Driving Range,1st , 2nd and 3rd holes
6) Turfed the new bunker’s at the 2nd and 4th holes
7) Carried out necessary Tree work around 1st, 2nd, 3rd ,4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 17th and 18th holes with use of a Cherry Picker
8) Added further Primary drainage to the 7th and 8th fairways
9) Started installing secondary drainage on the 18th Hole
10) Installed new Irrigation cables on the 10th hole
Been quite busy me thinks ?!
Hopefully we have maintained your Golf Course to a great condition given the time of year and the amount of ‘improvement’ work that has been carried out?
My staff have worked very hard and I thank them for that. The feedback i am getting is that the greens are playing really well
Thankfully the works are nearly all finished but here below is a list of the rest of the jobs to get done weather and conditions permitting over the next few months.
Install Secondary Drainage to fairways 10,11 and 16 and possibly more on 1,4 and 5
Re direct the ditch across the 2nd to catch more water.
Trim back all perimeter and internal Hedges
Top up paths where possible and re –roll them.
Overseed the banks and top of the Irrigation Lake.
General Winter Tree work where trees are over hanging or are diseased/dead.
ALL BUNKERS WILL GET TOP UP WITH NEW SAND IN EARLY SPRING . IF WE DO IT NOW WE RISK THE CHANCE OF WASH OUTS AND MAKING MORE MESS WITH HEAVY TRAILERS GETTING TO THE BUNKERS THAN GOOD.
A QUICK MOAN ABOUT PITCH MARKS. IF YOUR GREENS HAVE SCARS AND ARE BUMPY IT MAY BE OWING TO WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON’T REPAIR YOUR PITCH MARKS!! I OFTEN HERE MEMBERS MOAN THAT ITS SOCIETIES THAT DON’T? FOR THE RECORD WE HAVE NOT HAD ANY SOCIETIES FOR ALMOST 2 WEEKS
SO PLEASE DO REPAIR THEM !
Once again I apologise for all the work that has taken place but hopefully you can see the benefits of what we and the Club have invested in.
I am, (slowly), putting together a video of Drone footage and stills which will show the whole construction of the Irrigation Lake and how it all works. Once finished I hope you will be able to watch it on the Tv’s in the Clubhouse
Enjoy your Golf, Enjoy your Club ………………it’s your’s remember!
Regards Geoff
Course Manager
Well as I’m sure you see we have been busy out on the Course. As promised I said I would give you an update on Course works and a revised schedule
The rain we had Saturday and then the horrendous rain we had Tuesday morning has caused havoc I’m sure you will imagine. Any of you that tried to go through Abridge Village would have seen the 3 foot of water on the roads and the fields below us are well and truly flooded!
The good news is is that the Course has held up incredibly well. All greens were back on by 10.00 am Tuesday morning and those Golfers that went and played reported the drainage that we have installed on certain holes to be working really well.
The 4th pond thats been resealed also has enjoyed the rain and is filling nicely!
The 1st and 13th Greens that have had drainage installed are draining brilliantly and I am pleased to let you know that these are back in use. The rain has disturbed the sand in the lines a little but this should settle again with a bit of dry weather .
Sadly with so much rain so quickly we have a few issues to sort out!
The Irrigation lake is looking great , unfortunately its not finished yet to start filling too much so to stop the ‘run off’ going into the lake they have had to redirect this onto the 3rd fairway! The 4th pond also is not ready yet to fill to the top so the flow from the drainage and Clubhouse also had to be diverted away from the 4th pond and onto the 4th fairway.
These were the reasons we had to close the four holes yesterday as it was too slippery everywhere.
Some of you may have also noticed that some of the hard work my staff had done with the drainage works on the 7th, 8th and 11th holes has been washed away by yesterday’s deluge. So we have had to spend yesterday and today reinstating some of the works. This means that we have not had time to get Bunkers back in play yet but will as soon as we can.
You will also have noticed that a few areas of the paths have been damaged by the heavy rain. We will get to repair them in the next couple of weeks but presently we have the cherry picker on hire,(which is not cheap!) and we need to concentrate on the tree work. Until we can get to the paths please take extreme care when using them.
The deluge of rain has also made areas very soft especially behind the 2nd green. It has been decided between us and the Contractor that it will make far far too much mess if they attempt to re-configure the pond and mound the back of the 2nd green up next week. They have agreed to come back mid July next year and do it then when ground conditions would be much better and we can get the repair works done and recovered much quicker . I am sure you all agree with this decision ?
They will be however finishing off the 4th pond and the filling in of the 3rd small pond on the left of the fairway next week.
For health and safety reasons we will have the first four holes closed on Monday to Wednesday inclusive next week (11th -13th Oct), as large machines will be crossing over these holes to carry out the works needed to be finished and also we will be carrying out tree work with the cherry picker and other works on these 4 holes. If things go to plan the holes will re-open on Thursday morning.
Thank you all again for your patience and support
ENJOY YOUR GOLF ENJOY YOUR CLUB……………..IT’S YOURS REMEMBER!
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 !
