Pines greens

As most members will be noticing the greens on the Pines appear to be struggling. Recent wet weather and more importantly prolonged periods of cloud cover make growing conditions particularly unfavourable. Since the start of November we have averaged less than 4 hours of sunlight per day, not great for growing turfgrass. It has long been recognised that the greens on the Pines are long past their use by date and this was outlined by John Neylan, head agronomist with the Australian Golf Course Superintendents Association, in the reports that he supplied to the club in both 2007 and 2010. John's most recent report can be viewed in the Course Maintenance section of the club website. Plans are now being put in place to rectify the issues with the greens on the Pines so that they meet the expectations of the members in the long term. In the short term we will be applying an application of granular fertiliser combined with light, regular top dressings to keep the surface smooth. At the end of March we will once again be overseeding the greens with Poa trivialis which has proved very successful in providing satisfactory surfaces over the winter months.