Wednesday 21 December 2016

Fairway Verti-Draining Work

Verti-drain work started on the fairways following the sand dressing. The GXI 8 machine is very quick over the ground and we are pushing the tines into a depth of 200mm. This will carry the sand into the soil profile and improve surface drainage and firmness.

Tuesday 20 December 2016

Fairway Top Dressing

Sand dressing was carried out on the fairways today. Between 7-9 ton was applied to each fairway. This was drag matted into the turf and with rain forecast this evening it will help wash it in.

Monday 5 December 2016

New bunker at 14th hole on Silverburn Course

We are in the process of adding a new pot bunker to the left side of this green. It is a shallow splash bunker which will give the left side of the green some definition and stop balls running towards the out of bounds. There was originally a bunker further up the green on the left which was filled in many years ago.




5th green

Sand top dressing was applied to the newly laid turf to seal the joints. It was brushed in by hand then rolled with the turf Iron. Liquid seaweed was sprayed using the pedestrian sprayer which will encourage some root development and establishment.

Thursday 24 November 2016

5th Green Complete

Work on the 5th green is now complete. All green surrounds have been turfed and the fairway bunker has been completed to finish the project. The greens turf was rolled prior to a winter granule been applied which will encourage rooting and general plant health. The green complex and view from the fairway looks very good. The aim was to maintain the original shapes and approach to the green and this has been achieved with some subtle changes to the surrounds and  bunkers. The front left portion of the green has been flattened to give us scope for pin placement in this area that had been lost in the last few years. Martin Hawtree and Sol golf have done a very professional job throughout and have shown that it pays to get the best people available to carry out the changes to Balgownie. The green staff at RAGC have also done a tremendous job with the new bunkers and re-turfing work to the surrounds.

Wednesday 23 November 2016

5th Green Progress

This week the remaining greens turf has been laid and the green approach has been finished. New fescue turf was laid on the green surrounds and a fescue/ rye turf was laid on the walk off area and path from the 6th tee.



Thursday 17 November 2016

5th green update

Work continues on the 5th green. Martin Hawtree visited on Tuesday 15th to view the green site and was happy to pass the green for completion. The captain was also present to view the prepared surface and was happy with the green. Work has started to re-lay the existing turf back on the green. This will take 2-3 days to re-lay after which it will be lightly rolled and top dressed.

3rd hole Approach area

To allow a larger landing area in front of this green 300m2 of the approach was lifted so that we could re-contour this area. The mound where the old bunker used to sit was softened and some material was added on the right side to usher balls towards the middle of the green. The flat area in front of the green is now much larger than before and should make approach shots easier.



Wednesday 16 November 2016

4th Medal tee

The teeing platform has been moved to the left and lowered by 1 metre. This will hopefully allow us to stay on this side of the hole for a few more years. We were very close to the dune edge and were at the point of moving to the other side as it was becoming unsafe.



Thursday 10 November 2016

5th green update

The new root zone has been placed to a depth of 250mm. This will be firmed and final raking will be done before the existing turf is re-laid. Work has also started on the bunkers to revett the faces,


Wednesday 2 November 2016

5th green update

All greens turf has been removed and laid out on the fairway and rough area short of the green. Work has started to remove the old root zone which will be dumped as it is full of clay and silt. Having removed the old root zone it is clear to see where the problems lie with this green, The picture shows the layers of blue clay and silt material which inhibited the drainage from the surface. Also there is a large quantity of gravel and stones below the green that will need to be removed before we can add new sand and root zone. Drains were installed into the bunkers to remove water during the winter months.

Monday 31 October 2016

5th Green Re-build

Work has started to strip the turf from the green. The greens turf will be rolled out on the fairway whilst the green is re-built. The subsoil shape will be in place by Thursday 3rd Nov so that it can be viewed by Martin Hawtree before the new root zone is placed.
Further updates will follow as the job progresses.

Tuesday 25 October 2016

Bunker Revettment

Work started to revett the green side bunkers at the 8th hole. All 10 bunkers will be done at this hole. We have 31 in total to do this winter which will keep the staff busy for the coming months. As usual the quality of the work is very good from the staff who have a great eye for detail when it comes to revetting. This is one of the small pots on the right of the green and the two larger greenside bunkers.


Greens Verti-draining

Today we started to verti-drain the greens with 12mm solid tines going to a depth of 250mm. The greens were dressed with sand and drag matted prior to the tining work. The tines will carry some of the sand into the profile but more importantly relieve some compaction that exists around the 200mm mark. We will do 7 greens this week and then the remainder next week so that the whole course is not affected. The greens were rolled with the turf iron afterwards to smooth the surface. We have done the older greens from 6-11 & the putting green first.

Wednesday 5 October 2016

Silverburn Course

Over seeding of the greens and approaches will be carried out on Monday 10th October. Fescue seed will be planted into the sward using the vredo seeder. The greens will be ironed and top dressed afterwards to seal the seed lines.

4th winter tee update

Work has been completed on the new winter tee. Marram grass has been placed round the edges to blend the tee into the surrounding area. Tee platform and path have been turfed. This tee will be used in late December/January.

Staff Golf Day

The green staff held their annual golf day over Balgownie links onTuesday 4th October. It was a fine breezy day played on a firm running course. We played a stableford format with Euan Polson coming out the winner with 34 ponts. Mike Braidwood finished second with 30 points. A fine meal was had in the clubhouse before the prize giving where everyone had taken a prize so nobody missed out.

Monday 19 September 2016

New 4th winter tee

The site for a new winter tee at the 4th hole was cleared. This tee will allow us to spread wear  around the 3rd green in the winter months. The should be ready to use by mid November. 

Wednesday 31 August 2016

Autumn renovations

Today we started some Autumn renovation work on the tees. Hollow coring with 16mm tines used to remove large cores from the profile. These holes will be filled with clean sand and then overseeded with bar fescue. 

Monday 1 August 2016

Mini tine aeration

This morning we have carried out some much needed aeration on the greens with 6mm mini tines. Over the past few weeks we have been ironing greens almost daily and this  has sealed the surface slightly meaning heavy rain showers are slower to percolate through the profile. We punched the holes in to a depth of 50mm as we needed to get some  oxygen into the root system and allow the the turf to breath.  There is very little disturbance with this size of tine. 


Tuesday 26 July 2016

Scottish amateur championship

Morning prep work on greens for the 1st round of the match play Scottish amateur. A single cut and a double roll to greens gave us a lovely smooth surface and pace at 11 on the stimp, mowing at 4mm HOC.