Following on from last week's first in a series of course updates ahead of the 2023 ISPS Handa Australian Open, The Australian assistant superintendent Marlon Johnston and The Lakes assistant Michael Ervin look back on maintenance activities at their respective courses as the countdown to the tournament continues...

 

COURSE RENOVATIONS SET UP THE AUSTRALIAN'S SURFACES FOR CLUB CHAMPS, AUST OPEN RUN

Renovation of our short-cut turf surfaces here at The Australian Golf Club took place in late August and early September. The timing of this allowed eight weeks to condition and maintain a good stand of grass for the club championships leading directly into the Australian Open. The recovery has been positive and the golf course is coming into the growing season with a healthy stand of turf.

The cool-season and warm-season playing surfaces maintained their integrity through a mild Sydney winter this year. The low rainfall total was advantageous with only 158mm recorded across June, July and August. Over the same period in 2022, we recorded 471mm and 239mm in 2021. Both the cool- and warm-season grasses were also the beneficiary of more sunlight and higher soil temperatures, allowing us to carry a good stand of grass through this period.

Although the winter was mild, renovations were still necessary going into spring. Our independent testing allowed us to make mechanical and agronomic decisions, ensuring that we provided our short-cut grass the ability to display the best possible playing surfaces for the membership and the pending tournament.

The processes for both warm- and cool-season renovations were as follows;
 
COOL-SEASON (pictured top middle)

• Coring the greens;
• Sweeping in kiln dried sand; and
• Applying soil conditioning products and adding amendments in line with results from root health analysis and soil testing.

WARM-SEASON (pictured bottom middle)

• Lowering mowers to desired height of cut;
• Grooming the surfaces with a range of machinery;
• Brooming the turf;
• Spiral mowing;
• To maintain the desired height of cut, turf density and optimum playability, light grooming and spiral mowing continues as part of regular maintenance.

From everyone on The Australian Golf Club maintenance team, we look forward to sharing more with you in the coming weeks including updates on tree and landscape management, our bunker renovation project, infrastructure upgrades and tournament preparation.
 

Marlon Johnston - Assistant superintendent, The Australian Golf Club

 

 

 

 

HOT SPELL, HEAVY TRAFFIC TESTS LAKES SURFACES 

We have had a tough run these past 10 days thanks to a short week because of the NRL Grand Final public holiday on Monday and the weather deciding to have an early crack at us. Temperatures got to a maximum of 36 degrees for a few days in Sydney (Sunday and Tuesday), with winds reaching 40-50kph at times. Combined with 200-plus golfers a day from the Friday and all through the long weekend, it made last week a busy one for The Lakes crew with plenty of spraying going on.

Early last week we applied preventative herbicide, insecticide and a wetting agent to all tees, fairways and roughs (Hydroforce, Barricade, Compell and Pride). Later on in the week we applied preventative fungicide, insecticide and fertiliser to the greens (Signature, Provaunt and Nutrafeed soluble on Thursday and Quali-Pro Compass and Perk Up on Friday). This week, weather pending, we hope to put out a nematicide on greens.

Over the past couple of months we have sprayed out our bunker surrounds to rid them of any weeds and kikuyu growing through them and leaving the already established fescue. We have then been seeding these areas with new fescue seed, filling in any of the gaps created by the herbicide. Given the weather, hoses have been out a lot lately to try and keep the seed damp until it is properly established. Pictured above is the 15th green bunker surrounds and below is the 18th green bunker surrounds.
 

Michael Ervin – Assistant superintendent, The Lakes GC