Dear Members,
Overnight the course again received severe downpours that has caused some damage and washouts in bunkers, as you see from the picture below.
Over the next two days, staff will rebuild these bunker faces, so please be mindful of employees working “in play”, and GUR areas. We thank the outstanding work of Stewart and his team who continue to repair damages and get the course playable after such weather events.
The winter rains have not just been in showers, but multiple “torrential” rain events. The extremes in weather over the last nine months has highlighted areas of the course that has issues in design and therefore susceptible to poor playing surfaces, which the Board and Committees will be reviewing as priority areas in the Master Plan works. This picture of the 10th green this morning highlights such issues and the inability to maintain fine grasses on a green, when faced with this constant problem.
As part of these strategies, we have requested to Council the removal of a tree behind the 13th green, a non-native species, which will allow some sunlight, and improve the inherent problems with this green.
Whilst strategies are being put in place to adapt the course and environmental designs, we impress the importance of traffic flow to assist protect the course.
Whether in carts or walking, avoiding wet or worn areas is imperative, and even if you see areas roped off, avoid going in that direction. Driving and parking at the ropes, only pushes all traffic to one area.
If you are in a cart and can’t walk the extra 10m to a green, then please see me, as the Board will allow a special exemption to drive closer. It was only a recent Saturday competition, where the hoops protecting the wear areas on the 5th hole were all moved and stacked to the side, which allowed traffic over this high wear area. This is inexcusable, and fellow players should be calling out this behaviour.
We have had improvement year on year with managing traffic and therefore the wear areas, which we continue this year, but these heavy and constant rain events cause longer term water saturation, where traffic has a greater detrimental effect on the surface, hence the importance in being mindful of how you move around the course.
Regards
Grant Shortland-Jones, General Manager
