Course Superintendents Report - By David Stone
15th July
As I'm sure you have all noticed it's been a very cold week at Bayview and we received a few minor frosts early in the week which brought back memories of being back out in the western suburbs for some of the green staff. On a serious not it has had a negative effect on the colour of the turf however we will give the fairways another application of Iron in the coming weeks to alleviate the problem.
The 11th ponds are coming along well with the shaping on the western most pond being completed now it needs to be landscaped and have the pipe work connected to a nearby pit which should see the overflow taken off to the creek along the side of the 10th hole. We will continue to construct the other ponds on both sides of the 12th fairway which will intern all be connected by pipe work so they will all flow across to the 10th creek.
The 11th green hasn't been rolled all week and I'm hoping that will assist in making it more user friendly if this doesn't help we will go to plan B and raise the mowing height so at this stage we are just monitoring it over the coming weeks.
On a side note one of our green staff Ben Moylan has been away in Scotland this month representing Australia in the men's open touch football team and they have been successful in winning the world championships so well done Ben.
David Stone
8th July
It's been a dry week for a nice change so the course is getting back to normal. Obviously it has suffered in certain areas however once spring comes they will all recover very quickly.
The retaining wall across the 17th is finished & we will continue this along the majority of the waterways however we are reliant on the supply of rock which we are obtaining free of charge.
We have started works on a new retention wetland on the 11th. There will be a series of 3 wetlands created between the 11th, 12th & 18th fairways allowing for collection of rainwater runoff & future drainage works. We are anticipating (pending weather) these works to be completed within 4 to 6 weeks.
The 11th green has created some concern in recent weeks with its putting speed so we have decided to stop rolling it and monitor its progress. We are hopeful this will make it a more user friendly putting surface.
David Stone
1st July
We have received almost 20mm of rain in the last few days which has unfortunately made the course a little damp. The green staff were able to mow fairways and carry out all our normal duties. Golf carts will be ok for the week end but I would ask if everyone can be sensible and avoid the obvious wet areas.
This week we started the retaining wall in front of the 17th tee and tried to finish those new mounds on the 7th unfortunately the rain put a stop to any works on that very slippery clay. Next week we shall complete both those jobs and hopefully start on some drainage works near the wet area on 11 and 12.
Due to the rain the greens won't be overly fast this weekend however they should still be around 10.5 if we do get a few nice sunny / windy days they may improve slightly.
24th June
It's been a good week for the green staff with no rain which has allowed the course to finally dry out, this week we finished the 9th green including the fairway area in front of the green. We continued to level the new garden area behind the 7th green, whipper snipped all the creek lines, painted or oiled all the seats around the course and applied Iron to the fairways which should see them green up over the next few days.
Next week we will finish the 7th garden area and continue the rock retaining along the creek line near the 17th tee and also in front of the 1st green.
I'd also like to thank the Bayview Brigade who spread all that mulch behind the 7th green it was seriously hard work and they did a great job & was very surprised as to how much they achieved. So thankyou to all who assisted last Monday & I hope to see you all again next month.
17th June2011
Course Superintendents ReportWe have received another 50mm of rain this week so unfortunately we have been unable to mow the fairways and rough this week however they are not too bad as they were all mown last Friday. All the bunkers have been pumped out and repaired for the weekend which looks like being fine weather.
This week we installed the new plaque for the elephant ponds, also installed the new tee sponsorship signs and we are hoping to have all the new 100m, 150m and 200m distance posts in the ground for the week end. The distance posts are coloured matching the plates in the ground so Blue = 100m, White = 150m Yellow = 200m all to the centre of the green.
Hopefully next week will be more productive and we can complete those mounds on the 7th along with the front of the new 9th green.
10th June
It's been a good week weather wise for the course which is a nice change as it has allowed the green staff to finish the new 9th green with the exception of turfing the surrounds and levelling the fairway approach. We also levelled and turfed the dish drain across the 3rd fairway near the ponds and once the grass has grown in it will become fairway.
The large fence surrounding the Sydney Water spill on the 11th has been removed with the exception of a small exclusion zone however the good news is the full length hole is back in play. The next couple of projects are shaping, mulching and planting out the new garden area behind the 7th green and also installing all that sandstone on the 1st and 17th creek lines.
Id also like to advise of a small rule change which means pull buggies can be pulled across the greens hopefully this will assist in protecting some of the high traffic areas on the edges of the green surrounds.
3rd June
It's been another frustrating week weather wise, the course is obviously quite wet however with a couple of nice days forecasted it should improve.
The two major projects, the 9th green and garden area behind the 7th have been washed out for this week however the green staff have kept busy repairing the timber soil boxes on the tees so I'd love to see them all empty on Monday. We are also cleaning up the left side of the 7th fairway so balls can be found a little easier which will hopefully speed up play.
Next week we will hopefully get some decent weather and finish the 9th green and also install some new timber distance posts down both sides of the fairways providing the timber arrives. Preferred lies through the green will apply this weekend with the Medal Round being moved to next Saturday 11th June.
28th May
We received 20mm of rain this week with some pretty wild conditions on Wednesday however the course is almost back to being 100% dry with the exception of the 11th where Sydney water had yet another spill and flooded this area on Friday.
The 9th green is coming along well unfortunately the rain didn't help however it is not far off being completed. The new fence near the 2nd will hopefully be completed for the weekend.
The other major project is the new garden area behind the 7th green. The soil that has been delivered behind the green will be shaped into mounds and mulched, the new garden area will wrap around the entire rear off the green which will hopefully become a real feature of the course.
Other news on the course is that our D/A application with council for the maintenance shed upgrade was approved however some of the conditions that council required were not practical so we have changed a few things and lodged a section 96. Unfortunately it will be another couple of months before we can get started on the much needed work, however I would like to thank member David Naylor for all his help during this process.
20th May
The green staff has been busy this week working on the new 9th green which is coming along well. The shape of the green and the bunker are now clearly visible, as this is the first green being built using our own equipment and labour we are very keen to deliver a quality job and show the members what can be expected in the upcoming 9 9 works.
Besides that we have almost finished verti-draining all the fairways with only the 13th and 14th remaining. In the coming weeks we will finish the 9th green, start works on the drainage around the 11th and 12th (once Sydney water remove the temporary fence) and finally we will be mulching and landscaping around the rear of the 7th green.