New forward yellow/red tee at the 16th hole.

The base for the new tee has been constructed using sand. The root zone has been placed at 150mm deep. We have started to cover the banks with fescue  turf which will sit on the pure sand and give us a wispy thin appearance to the turf. Marram will also be spriged into the turf to give a natural look along with the fescue. 

New reservoir fence.

We have started to replace the perimeter fence at the irrigation reservoir. New posts and mesh will be erected with two rows of barb wire at the top to stop entry into the reservoir area. The work is being carried out by the green staff over the winter months. 

Course flooding -- There was a large pool of water in front of the 13th green this morning. This is mostly surface water after the heavy rainfall on Thursday evening. We had 52mm of rain on Thursday but remarkably the course is still open for play. There are a few bunkers with water in them and some puddles on the 7th fairway but otherwise the course is playable.

Gorse management programme. The area between the 1st and 18th holes is showing good signs of re-growth as seen in the pictures. I have marked off small individual areas where the gorse will be left to re generate. The small areas are marked with yellow flags and will be easier to manage in the future. The areas in between the gorse will be treated with the gramicide to remove the Yorkshire fog grass.

Verti draining greens. We have been out with 19mm tines going over the wet spots on some of the greens. These holes are 9 inches deep and will take water away from the surface during heavy rain. We have done all of the putting green and the 16th green and approach which still retain too much moisture in the old root zone. We have done some small areas on their greens where water sits during wet weather.

Short game area bunkers have been revetted. We have made them shallower and easier to get in and out of. These bunkers get a lot of use in the playing season and sand splash is a major problem. We have removed a lot of this from the top of the bunker face which has reduced the overall height of the bunker.

Hand mowing greens this morning. It's the middle of December and we are still getting a bit of growth on all fine turf areas. We cut this morning at 5mm just to top off the leggy growth and give the surface a roll. Most areas will be trimmed in the next ten days to ensure the course is well presented at all times.