More changes... for the better!

It clearly never stops at Les Mielles...

The remainder of the third is shaped and will be turfed/completed tomorrow, personally I don't like to leave jobs before they're completed but in this case it couldn't have been done any other way. The new fairway bunkers on hole four have been dug out and will be shaped over the weekend. I hope you all agree with why we have made the changes, not only to get the golfer thinking about their tee shot, but also to improve the definition of the fairway. We aim to have these completed by next week.

We then started with the bunker construction on hole 11, there will be two bunkers positioned on the right hand side, just before the elbow of the dog leg. This will improve the golf hole drastically and will make it a true stroke index 2.

The crew stripping the turf

Also trying to get the course prepared for the weekend, the team have put some real effort in this week, not only a privilege for myself to work with, but an asset to the Golf Club. 

We've had a couple of ideas from the members which is great to see, I think its important to look into what the members want, and to improve our environment. Don't be scared to contact me with your thoughts or compliments ;)  lesmiellesgreens@gmail.com

Credits Due

It was great to see no damage to the new bunkers over the weekend, and I'd like to thank all golfers for there cooperation. We've marked out on the 4th fairway where we propose for the new fairway bunkers to be. We plan to keep the large existing bunker, however reduce this in size. I hope you all agree, the new bunkers on 5 have made an improvement visually and I believe will play much fairer and demanding.

 5th hole before renovation

5th hole complete

We've had a large amount of rain over the past few days, It's good to see our drainage works we completed last month are put to the test and prove to be working. We wish to look out for more drainage issues during the winter to improve surfaces. One being on the 5th approach, Friday morning we found one of the new bunker faces to be washed out, to prevent this from happening again, we built up the brow slightly and re shaped, and will now hook up a drain cap in the appropriate place. We actually took this into consideration when building these bunkers, however mother nature proves 'tough to beat'.

 Tom repairing the damage

Always having a busy week ahead, this week is no different. We have a liquid feed planned, mainly liquid iron and seaweed. And weather permitting to start the bunker construction on hole 4. If you have any suggestions or queries please do not hesitate to contact me via email lesmiellesgreens@gmail.com

Start of the new week

With another busy weekend, Mondays a day where we get some course tidying up and the start of the weeks works. We missed a cut on the greens this morning, just rolled the greens with the vibe rollers for the seniors competition this morning. Changed holes, cut tees and surrounds. It was a pleasant surprise to see no damage done to the new bunkers this morning. If were to do more bunkers this winter it's important the golfers get the message, as it is easily avoided and a time consuming job for us to repair.

This morning we applied an organic based fertilizer 7-5-12 containing magnesium and sulphur, this is part of our winter feeding program for the fairways.

Pop feeding the 9th fairway

Also as part of our agronomy program, soil tests were taken. We chose 5 of the greens, ranging from what we feel are the worst to the best. These soils will now go away to a lab in England to be examined. These examinations will show us our nutrition levels, and will depend on our feeding program for next season.

Soil testing the 7th green

This afternoon we are progressing on with the new bunkers on hole 5. The turf is taken from our turf nursery on site, this being cost effective and on hand when we need turf. We are hoping this project to be completed by Wednesday.

The turf bed

Tom rolling greens this morning

Golf Course Update

Little rain this week, which is drying the course up nicely. Also letting us get on with some 'winter jobs' if you like. Hole 3 is almost complete, we are just waiting on ground to continue filling the right hand side bunker, this ground is from a local demolition contractor, and is at no cost. We then add black sand on top to achieve the correct grade.

We've cleared the tamarisk shrub from the back of the 3rd and 5th green, hopefully we will see some positive results from doing this. A lot of the content was either dead or over hanging, which didn't look so great.

the back of the fifth green

Also cracking on with the new bunkers on the 5th, we're starting to see some good shapes. These bunker faces will be turfed just like the ones on hole 3.

 Tom and George shaping the bunkers on hole 5

This week we have been setting up the new irrigation system, the system was installed beginning of the year, however we ran with the old system this season. We are now programming all the valve decoders to the new system, which will be in operation next year. This system will take our water management to the next level,  improving the surfaces, and to help us operate it more effective.

Mikey wiring up one of the valves

Mowing has slowed up the past few weeks, cutting fairways and tees weekly, and greens and surrounds when needed (around 3 times a week). When we're not cutting greens, we either brush to remove the dew and stand up the grass, or roll to maintain some speed and trueness. Hopefully we will apply a winter feed to the fairways tomorrow, will keep you posted if it goes ahead. Lastly, alot of the surrounds have suffered in the high traffic areas, and with the wet weather. It's noticeable that trolleys are being pushed far too close to the edges of greens, so please think about this when next playing!

If you have any questions with regards to our projects please do not hesitate to contact me via email - lesmiellesgreens@gmail.com

Meet The Team

From left to right; Augistinho a.k.a Pops, Maria, Michael, Jack, Tom, George and David kneeling

I'm very fortunate to work alongside such a reliable and hard working team. Always willing to learn new practices and methods, and put their ideas forward. Within the team, we have Michael working as Irrigation tech, and David in charge of the golf course machinery. The teams pride and presentation is getting better and better by the day, and strive to get Les Mielles in it's best condition all year round.

Maybe not a good time to post this picture as we're in shorts and shirts, but soon be christmas!

Rain Rain Rain

It was unfortunate to see some damage to the new bunkers over the weekend, there were various foot prints all over the new turf around the bunker faces. This morning we switched greens, changed holes, cut tees and surrounds, and started some tree work. With constant rain this afternoon, we got some much needed tidying up, and painting the sheds.

clearly this golfer couldn't walk the extra 2 yards to enter the bunker without causing damage

changing holes, switching greens

The tamarisk shrub is common around our golf course. This winter we plan to tidy some of the areas up, we have noticed some dead branches and unsightly growth. The shrubs look best when in bloom, and cutting back the tamarisk will develop the new growth.

cutting the tamarisk shrub right down

Windy start to the day... but progression!

Surprise on the first hole this morning

Great to see the new bunkers on hole 3 coming along nicely, started laying some turf this afternoon as it had been rolled up for a couple of days now. Drainage should not be an issue with the construction of these bunkers as there's good natural sand underneath, however we will monitor this throughout next year, and if we have to install drains etc. we can. The bunkers do look fairly deep, however once we add the sand they wont be as deep! These bunkers will be out of play now till March, and thats when we will add the sand. We have also installed steps to access the bunkers, please use these as this will keep our bunker faces in better condition.

Shaping up on the 3rd right hand side bunker

Turfing the bunker faces

Steps going in on new bunkers

The new bunkers on the 5th have been dug out and shaped, and we will get turfing these once the 3rd is complete. Course maintenance has obviously took a back seat, growth is slowing down now though with the colder nights.

We would like to look at the fairway bunker positioning on hole 4 next, and also the 12th tee complex.

Overall much praise goes to the lads out there today, knuckled down and done a great job.