As to be expected this time of year we are waiting for the weather to break.  Surfaces are in the main in good condition, greens are just in need of refinement.  Some dressings and light tining will be undertaken in the next 2 weeks.  By then we should have had rain and greens will come alive.  We have fitted a new valve assembly to the 17th London, which has fixed an annoying leak but will also improve pressure to the green.

17th London

The new 3rd Tee London is taking shape and I would expect to see this turfed in the next few weeks.  This will obviously impact on yardage but we are planning to move the centre of the fairway left to gain a few yards and make the shot a little more interesting.

3rd London

All the tree work we have undertaken in the last few months is coming to an end.  The final few areas of bramble at the tree edges is been finished and that will be it till next winter.  Woodland edges are already looking better, more bluebells poking up but also less potential from falling bits as we've cleaned most of the weak, problem areas

Bramble clearance

As the weather has improved, so the list of jobs has changed tack.  Greens have had a 10mm solid tine down to 100 mm.  Each green has also received half a ton of sand.  This along with a heavier than normal application of fertiliser has helped push them along.  Still a fair bit of scaring but overall, looking and putting well.  Cutting has begun on most surfaces and course is starting to improve across all areas.

This false spring will soon give way to more typical weather which will help us get back on course with other work.  Still to complete new ladies Tee on the 1st Old course and maybe 13th Old along with the back Tee on 13th old.  Also yet to start but a high priority is the new Tee on the 3rd London.

The 1st Tee Old has had a little tidy up, we have added a terraced bed behind the Tee and will bark and plant it this week.

1st Old

Ready for plants

We have also rebuilt a new mat at the front of this Tee ready for the new winter season.  A good deal of the mats are in poor shape across the courses so addressing these will be an aim before next winter.  We also have a number of improvements and additions to make on our pathways before the next winter season.

New Mat

 

 Its all about the trees at the moment.  After some incredibly windy days, clearing of damage has been an ongoing job in the last week.  A number have fallen, plus a few branches have snapped of in problem areas but mainly its just the volume of bits littered everywhere around greens and tees.

17th Fairway Old course

Endless tree work

Through the last 5 weeks and probably onto the next 4, we are concentrating on woodland management.

We had planned to start last winter but for obvious reasons are starting a little later.  Dead, diseased and dying trees, plus any poor specimens and rubbish growing out into the fairway line have been removed.  In most places we have gained between 5 and 8 metres on each side of the fairway.  This improves light and air movement to both the rough and the tree canopy.  We are hoping to finish at least 6 holes this winter and continue rolling on in the next 4-5 years before we start it all again.

The first batch of turfing has been finished with 3 bunkers on the Old removed and turfed plus lots of other little areas tidied with the turf.

14th London

7th Old turf

 

Course slowly starting to dry out so we can continue with more jobs around the course.  Long overdue and much needed, mats are now being power-washed with our new petrol machine.  We can also now clean various other items of furniture around the course and will not wait until winter in the future to clean mats.

Mat cleaning

We are continuing with changes to bunkers on the Old course.  The 7th has had left and back left bunkers filled in.  Left, will be a smooth roll of making the tee shot harder and more fun.  The right bunker will become a grass style bunker but will make a get out for a shot pushed that way making this a little easier from the tee.  For now the front bunker has been tidied with new sand but will be redesigned later this year.

Left 7th Old

 

Nearly finished

As we continue with tree work the 7th Old was tackled.  Mass tree removal, a new ditch added and this area is looking much better and should attract lots of errant shots this year. More light and better airflow will have a massive impact on this and all tree clearance areas

7th Green complex old

In the coming weeks all areas half finished will have turfed, more paths are being added across the courses and and woodland work is planned to continue.

The course was looking pretty good through till late December but as always the weather has it's own agenda.  With 1 more poor day to go the next 2 weeks looks much drier and brighter.  To stay of the course as much as possible we are undertaking reinstatement to woodland edges.  Pushing the tree line back to enable a wider golf hole with improved airflow.  The 12th and 14th London are finished with the 13th being next on the list.  We are using some of the arising to block up the perimeter around 2 and 3 which will help keep people off the course.

14th London

                                                                                    

With the course being wet, getting to surfaces is very difficult.  Disease patches have spread slowly in the last 3 weeks creating small poor areas on most greens.  Although not ideal we are not to concerned as the amounts are small and once weather improves we can begin to repair these areas.

 

Microdocium patch

New 1st Tee on the London has been measured up ready for building.  This will be a high quality mat and is long overdue in replacing one of the worst tees on the course.  This should be finished within the week.

1st Tee

Although we have put bunker rebuilding on the back burner temporarily this greenside on 13th Old has been filled in, with rarely a customer it will be better served as a grassy swale once complete.

13th Old

Ditch clearence has been an ongoing feature in the last 6 weeks with most now complete.  This will help move water off the golf course and also identify any pipework that has been lost with the passage of time. 

4th Tee London

 

With the weather for the whole of November being dry the course is in very good condition.  We have completed aeration across much of the course including tining on tees and aprons and slitting across all fairways.  Rope is going out with more still to come and we have started sanding high wear areas. 
The steps on the 15th Old have had matting across, to improve purchase in winter and the 1st London has had a new drain installed across the low point of this green.

15th Tee Old

Finished

Back filling

Path continued from 12 around behind the 13th tee and on to the fairway.  This is the last of the major path improvements this year with some extensions and topping up needed across the courses.  In due course we will also redrain and reiinstate the 9th green London to stop water lying on the surface.

Still more cutting on fairways after slitting on all holes.  We have now moved onto winter tee mats, 7th Upper has been moved and mat on the 3rd London will be moved closed to the ladies this week.

Slitting

The job has some compensations this time of year with the falling leaves.

14th London

 

 Cracking on with the jobs at the moment.  Re-turfing around putting green and 18th greens.  A job we started months ago which shows how busy we have been.  We have still to fit a drain to divert water and increase planting to the scrub bed in the next month.

PG surrounds

Perennial problems on both the 17th and 18th old course have seen mounding behind green trap water causing damage to the green over the wet winters.  We have smoothed out these banks and re-turfed which should make small improvements to these areas.

18th Old

Back of 18th Old

17th Old

Project of the week has been to the 12th London.  Access has been very difficult every winter with heavy muddy conditions.  We have installed a path extension in front of the green and dressed with around 8 ton of sand to smooth out and improve this area along with seed.  The path by the green has had a sleeper edge to divert water away from the green and we have cut all the scrub behind the green ready for part 2. 

Sleeper edge London

Path extension

We are continuing the path behind the 12th green and up past the back of the 13th Tee.  A number of the trees behind the 12th will be removed this winter.  The path behind the 13th green will have a sleeper edge keeping buggies of the tee and this will allow us to pay more attention to the back Tee area on this hole.

View from behind the 12th London