Following on from my Club e-mail last Sunday, I thought I’d share some of my experiences from working alongside Head Greenkeeper Marc and one of his team Martin over the last 7 weeks or so. Week 1 started with me divotting the fairways, no problem I thought that's an easy enough job to get me into it only to find that apart from a morning spent cutting the greens which was definitely not as easy as it looks, I finally reached the end of the 18th fairway the following Wednesday much to me and my feet's relief. Never did I for one minute think it would take over a week of wandering almost every inch of each fairway bucket of soil and seed in hand and head down looking for holes to fill to get them all done and I’m sure I’ve missed one or two out there somewhere. By far the hardest hole mentally was the 14th having took almost 4 hours one day to get from end to end, certainly not a job for those of a short attention span. I also started filling in rabbit holes and scrapes but quickly realised it was a bit of a lost cause as no sooner had I filled them in that the next day they were dug back out and this went on day in day out much to my frustration. The club have since enlisted a sharp shooter to try and cull them and so far he has managed to lessen the numbers by about a hundred but the effect on the course will take some time to see a difference and until the numbers drop significantly then rabbit holes and scrapes will re-appear overnight as unfortunate and unsightly as they are, however, they are not being overlooked or ignored. Week 2 into week 3 was another painstaking job, de-weeding all the bunkers and their faces and after the previous almost 2 months of desperate weather boy did they need some work on them having been filled with water for such a long time. Next on the list of jobs to do was to top dress and seed the worn areas from tees to green and greens to tee that never really get a rest any time of year and suffer badly from the amount of footfall the course gets. Well some 2 weeks or so later and they were all done and I’d shifted mostly by hand about 25 tonne of top dressing and it makes such a difference to general look and tidiness of the course. Some of these areas have been roped off to allow the seed to take so please try to stick to the routes that have been put in through the use of ropes and hoops and avoid taking or making new shortcuts otherwise the hard work is for nothing and it is your course that suffers in the end. The last few weeks have seen me learn to cut tees and greens, trim round both tee and greenside sprinklers, hand watering the greens, fix machinery in fact a bit of everything really and little jobs that get done on a day to day basis that mostly goes unnoticed by the golfer. I've enjoyed every minute of it and its all done in a timescale I’ve not experienced for nearly 30 years, an average working hourly week compared to my average of 50 - 60 hours per week which is something I could certainly get used to, if only!! Those of you who have had the chance to play already will see how good the course is looking and playing and for those who haven't I’m sure you'll be pleased with the condition it’s in once you get the chance to get out there and air your clubs, swing, body and mind. My role working alongside the green staff will remain in place until such time that the government give Golf Retail the green light to open back up fully, I'm aware that some Pro Shops have re-opened but this is purely for administrative purposes only and they are not allowed to retail other than for light refreshments. I am looking into the option of a Click & Collect service for those members who require products now they’re getting back out onto the course so please get in touch via the contact tab on my website www.andrewblakepro.co.uk for any enquiries you may have and I’ll do my best to source the products for you if I don't already have them in stock.
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