COURSE MANAGER’S REPORT – AUGUST 2023
Hello, I hope you have enjoyed your golf this year so far. We had quite a wet start in comparison to the last couple of previous years, hopefully this has not dampened your spirits and joy of playing!
The wetter, milder weather, has helped us to improve the definition of the golf course with added growth which we did not see in recent years. We have tried to present the course nicely, with some slightly new shaping and with a few different heights of cuts to give this progressive change of grass length as you move further towards the long rough. We have grown up some areas between the Tees to the Fairways and added walkways.
This year, again, has thrown difficult situations for us to deal with. The wetter, milder weather has made some parts of the long rough grow thicker (and slightly harder to find balls) in places. We are looking at methods to try and help reduce this in the following years to come.
The course has remained busy with more and more people recognising what a lovely place we have here at Clandon Golf. Doing essential maintenance work is always hard as it is inevitable that tasks will need to be carried out even at the busier parts of the day. We try hard to be conscientious and to not disturb your game – but there are times when we simply need ‘to get the job done’ so thank you for your patience and understanding.
We will continue to push on with our progression of the Greens with our Autum essential maintenance due to take place soon. We will Hollow Core, Overseed and Top Dress the Greens as we have done in previous maintenance windows. This should really help us repair the damage caused by the Leatherjackets again this year. As you will have seen, the small, ‘Pitting’ caused by them eating at the roots of the plant and up to the surface causing these imperfections. We have also encountered some bird pecking damage to the greens, but nothing in comparison to the last couple of years. The Top Dress and Seed, along with the continued good growing weather, should have the Greens back to a desirable surface withing a couple of weeks.
I would like to take a minute to thank all the Staff working here at Clandon Golf. With our all-knowledgeable Ali taking a step back from day-to-day things, I have been helping to oversee the Cabin. We have had changes in the Diner with Sandra coming in and a few new faces in Tahlia and Elena and also a few old faces back with Connor and Evie all helping during the holidays. Without Oddete and Linda’s help to organise and keep the reception functioning so smoothly on a day-to-day basis, your visit to us would not be as enjoyable as it is.
I would like to sing the praises of my team too, they have all been amazing this year, Jez being our stalwart, always ready for action and praise to Andy and Charlie, who are ongoing in their City and Guilds Level 2 in Golf Course Maintenance, both are receiving high praise from their assessor, so keep
it up boys. Finally, Brian, who over this last couple of years of me being here has made it his mission to keep up the improvement we have made on the tees and doing a great job of it too. He is due to retire from our ranks in December and enjoy a hard-earned break. He has however said he would love to come back from time to time to make sure we are keeping up his good work!
Many Thanks
Lee Blackburn and the Clandon Golf Greenkeeping Team
