26/04/2010
After last weeks cold snap, hopefully we are getting back to normal this week with some spring weather! Temperatures seem to be rising at least this morning.
We have been carrying out some essential overseeding this morning on parts of the course to try to establish a stronger grass cover in some weaker areas, such as walkways and carries from tee to fairways.
We also started this morning verti cutting our fairways to remove lateral growth and weaken the daisies on the fairways prior to our herbicide application next week.
Work on grandstands is progressing well with the contractors having commenced work on the 17th grandstand behind the green - this will be the largest stand on the course and will hold approximately 3,500 spectators. The contractors expect this to take around two weeks to complete.
Elsewhere on the course we are starting to up our cutting program, particularly on greens, and now are cutting daily Monday - Friday, with a roll of the greens taking place on Saturdays.
Big day for golf on the course today with the press playing prior to the official press conference tomorrow morning - hopefully all good comments from them!
Posted: by
Gordon McKie
19/04/2010
Looks like winter is on its way back to parts of the country this week, with temperatures dropping again to single figures.
Over the weekend all greens and surrounds were top dressed with sand and a small dose of volcanic dust! We are aiming to get around 300 tonnes of sand onto the greens in the run up and estimate that we have applied around 175 tonnes to date.
The Swilcan Burn was given a tidy up and removal of debris after high tides the other week.
We are concentrating our work now on the presentation of the course with regular cutting of all surfaces but with particular attention being paid to greens which are being hand cut several times a week.
Grandstand build still on schedule with 1st Fairway stand complete and stand beside 8th tee due to start on Wednesday.
Posted: by
Gordon McKie
13/04/2010
At last some Spring weather has finally arrived!
The weekend saw staff apply or spring fertiliser to the Greens and Surrounds - this will be our main feed in the run up to July.
Scaffolders are progressing well with the grandstand on the 1st fairway, no major hitches as yet! As if it is not a hard enough tee shot without having that stand staring at you! Hopefully they will be completed at 1st by weekend.
With all this sunny, warm weather it will mean grass growing, so we will be busy with setting out our cutting lines on all surfaces.
Our seasonal staff are starting to arrive from all parts of the globe and the excitement is starting to build - need to keep staff's feet on the ground and not in the stands!
Busy dealing with some Irrigation issues around course this week - hopefully we will get a chance to use it during our hot summer!
Posted: by
Gordon McKie
07/04/2010
With under 100 days to go until the start of the 150th Open Championship, today sees the start of our first grandstand build down the right handside of the 1st fairway. Contractors moved in on Wednesday morning to commence the construction which is expected to take two weeks to complete.
Preparations on the course to date are going well and we have seen the record high tides pass last week with no major problems other than washed up debris on the 1st fairway, which was cleared by the staff at end of last week.
Our focus now turns to presenting the course and putting some definition into fairway lines, we shall also be carrying out spring aeration to out of play areas such as crossing points and walkways. We also intend to commence some early season overseeding to the 1s,11th and 18th greens to encourage and strengthen grass sward in the coming days as soil temperatures start to rise.
Posted: by
Gordon McKie