We are going into a period in the year when the crows start looking for grubs (usually leather jackets). These grubs are nesting in the thatch layer of the turf and once they mature they turn into crane flies. More often than not, the crows will leave the greens alone and go for less firm areas to peck, like tees and fairways, however they have been pecking away at some greens occasionally this year. The picture below clearly shows what one crow had been at yesterday.

All was going well whilst doing the ground works for the upgrade to the members car park until we found that one area of the car park had become locked up and water was not draining away. The mixed material of old hardcore and whin dust mixed with some sandy loam had completed sealed up making water movement through it impossible. We decided to dig a holding sump and back fill it with some larger hardcore then some new/clean hardcore and dust, that should solve that problem,hopefully??

Halfway through the risk assessment updates, it is extremely boring work but needs must.

Onto other duties during the winter months, we do all of the painting jobs in house, from buildings to tee furniture, we do them all. The wooden bench seats also need annual maintenance so they are brought in, rubbed down and treated with teak oil.

That's the 1st bunker on the left filled in at the 9th of No2. We have around 5 bunkers on this course to fill in and 2 on the No3 course. These bunkers serve no purpose on these two courses so they are just a waste of resources.

No3 is closed for 5 days this week and 5 days next week. These closure dates are great for getting on with annual tasks that would normally upset golfers. The solid tine work will help relieve any compaction and help the roots to grow deeper.

That's us starting to scarify the roughs now. Our long term objectives are to try and create a long, thin whispy grass which will make it easier to find your ball in but still offer a stiff test to play out off. The semi maintained rough is showing signs of thinning out but we should see a huge difference after another 2 or 3 years of this work being carried out.