No guesses needed as to where the main challenge presented to the team has come from this last week!
After only 397 mm of rain having fallen up to the end of September, October is certainly making up for it with almost 200mm having fallen so far with a week of the month still to go. The accumulative effect has taken it’s toll and further prolonged rain Friday night was enough to push things beyond our control, leading to the course being closed.
Taking the positives though, we have again seen how well the course does drain and recover now. Although there was some improvement by Sunday, heavy showers through Saturday night kept the course closed. However, despite rain being with us throughout the weekend and still into this week, the course had improved sufficiently by Monday for us to reopen 18 holes.
It goes without saying that the course is now extra vulnerable to damage, therefore we need your help to minimise damage through the winter to ensure the best possible conditions come spring.
So how can you help? By following these few simple tasks while on the course, will make a huge difference alone.
- Keep trolleys off the fairways as much as possible
- Do not take trolleys under any ropes, following them to the next tee.
- Repair pitchmarks
- Carefully repair bunkers after leaving them, preventing moving the sand out of position.
On the course, the main jobs undertaken last week were clearing out drainage lines and ditches. Keeping water flowing will maximise the efficiency of the drainage system and give us the best chance of getting the course fit for golf.
This week looks a little better, so we hope that the winter program of work can resume. How ground conditions are will dictate exactly what we can do, but hopefully part of the changes to Snaith’s green surround can begin.
Thanks for reading.
Greg