Winter is well and truly here! Well, the temperatures are certainly letting us know its here, however rainfall is quite significantly down on our average.
Rainfall for May this year totalled 37mm compared with our average of 53mm and our year to date figure sits at 51mm, well down on our average for the first five months of 145mm. The dry conditions do make the management of our turf surfaces a little more challenging however with cultural practices applied recently we are mitigating some of these issues. With the lack of rainfall to flush the soil we are observing build up in sodium levels in the greens soil profiles placing extra stress on the growing conditions of our greens. To combat this issue, we have this week solid tined or aerated Greens in combination with the application of two Calcium fertilizer products to help leach the Sodium out of the profiles.
The aerating, dusting (also carried out this week) and fertilizer applications to the greens were scheduled for completion this week to allow us to focus on course preparations for the Women’s Club Championship that got underway this week.
Last week we farewelled a long serving employee, Daniel Banwell, AKA “Senna” with a BBQ supplied (and cooked!) by Daryl Sellar – thanks Daryl! Senna is a huge loss to the Ground staff and will be hard to replace however we wish him all the best for his future and thank him for his invaluable contribution to Glenelg Golf Club.
With the departure of Senna, it has presented an opportunity to employ Jordan Barber as an Apprentice Greenkeeper. Jordan has been employed by the club as a Casual Groundsman since March and has impressed since coming on board, so it was a natural fit for us to give Jordan an opportunity to gain trade qualifications through an Apprenticeship, well done Jordan!
Best of luck to all the Women competing in the Club Championships over the next week!
Tim Warren
Course Superintendent
Official Golf Club of the Adelaide Football Club and proud partners of Links2Golf.