New John Deere equipment was delivered in the second week of July and included:
A computer controlled Fairway Mower that utilises electric (alternator) powered reel drive motors. The mower reels follow the contours of the ground very impressively, and the mowing height can be set in 1mm increments: This unit has replaced another smaller John Deere mower that had been used for tees and surrounds of greens. This mower can be our back up fairway mower when needed.
A Coring machine for greens, surrounds of greens and tees if necessary. We can use solid and hollow tines come renovation time. During winter you will likely see coring and top dressing done to relieve compaction at common entry and exit points of greens.
A new Groundhog Aerator arrived in June. It is attached to the back of the tractor (as shown) and the slicer blades can be forced deeper into the soil by putting weights onto the tray. It has been heavily used already out on the course (tees and fairways) and Green staff are seeing surfaces drying out quicker and they are less compacted.
During the growing season we can do deep slicing of bare patches when soil moisture is adequate, followed by gypsum to break up the clay, then topdressing and seeding/stolonising. Lime will need to be applied as soil in and around bare patches is strongly acidic.
Earlier this year, the Greens Committee accompanied by Men’s Captain, Cyril Trist identified several trees for removal for several reasons: aesthetics, safety, impacting on tee shots, to allow access of rough mowers and to reduce competition between trees allowing others to reach their potential e.g. paper barks. The committee members were very conscious of not unduly making any hole easier to play. Due to wet conditions only a few of these trees have been removed to date. They were marked in blue or white paint at the time, however that colour has faded and recently trees were marked with more obvious yellow paint. Also marked are trees that are now dead or have white ant infestations. Others have been marked for removal (coconut palms) as they limit morning sunlight onto the 16th green.
Green staff have been over-seeding a few tees with ryegrass and some low lying areas on the 16th and 2nd have been built up with sand and seeded similarly.
Volunteer Activities on course
The efforts of Rex Williams, who contributes big time on a daily basis in the Shed and on course, are much appreciated by the Cooroy Golf Club Committee, management and Greens staff. He has been given Greens staff shirts which he wears with pride, even a Toro cap. Through his mechanical skills and efforts in the Shed, our four official Greens staff members are able to maximise their input on course. Hopefully he might be thrown the keys to one of the new toys to use on course, rather than parking it in the shed.
We also acknowledge the magnificent effort put in on a weekly basis by the ladies who look after our gardens around the clubhouse and on course (Margie Lucas, Freda Bull, Lynne Dawson and Carole Clancy) and the gents who do general clean up, ball washers, line marking and other miscellaneous tasks (Jim Henderson, Don Clelland, John Sendall, Ron Blount, and more recently Doug Pearce and Graeme Caffyn)
Every three weeks approximately, our intention has been to run larger working bees to address the wish list as decided by the Greens Committee. Recent weeks have been particularly busy as four significant working bees occurred:
- Stump grinding over two days. Ninety stumps ground to below surface. Tremendous effort here by Andrew McAtee and Graeme Caffyn, with help from the Greens Staff. Special thanks to Graeme for initiating this activity and organising other volunteers (Rex Williams, Doug Pearce, Peter Buchbach, Con Russell, Jim Gregg and Dave Lyons). Special thanks to the ladies who prepared lunch on both days (Terri Cairns, Carmel Clark, Jocelyn Rabjohns and Rosemary Caffyn).
- On Monday, 11th June a working bee of 12 split up into three groups to further improve the course, specifically to enhance the course in preparation for the Cooroy Cup. Photos show clearing of underbrush RHS of 9th fairway looking to 14th green, and the big job of clearing the lake LHS of 11th near the tee. In addition the back of the mens 16th tee can now be used as branches RHS have been trimmed. The magnificent twelve were Rex Williams, Graeme Caffyn, Rod Harper, Warren Hay, Peter Buchbach, Greg Michael, Jack Timm, Don Clelland, Kev Crundall, Ron Blount, Rob Powell and Dave Lyons.
- Mulch was spread to cover black plastic RHS of 7th This was coordinated by Graeme Caffyn with help from Rex Williams, Don Clelland and Doug Pearce.
- The upgrade of the 3rd bridge has now been modified to cover all means of traffic better. This involved two retired builders (Bob Reid and Brad Lavender) and their lackeys (Doug Pearce and Dave Lyons). The builders also inspected and modified the bridge over the creek RHS of 7th.
The photos that follow show Graeme and Andrew man handling the stump grinder, the result of raising the tree canopy RHS of 9th looking through to 14th green and the huge job of clearing the lake LHS of 11th fairway.
A volunteer notice board has been put on the outside of the clubhouse next to the south facing sliding door.
