Page 5 - 2019_January Bush Telegraph_WEB SITE_Neat

A decision was made to take throughout winter ready for the
The Course advantage of the lack of water in growth in the Spring and Summer.
Planned opening will be August
the pond and carry out this work
ourselves using a long-reach 2019.
excavator and large dumpers to
Greens team: Pond, paths? remove the silt. A busy year
It has been an extremely busy year
Work took five days to complete
and resulted in over 100 tons of on the course but also a very
All in a days work silt being extracted at a fraction of rewarding one with many and
varied tasks being completed.
the cost, saving the club many
thousands of pounds. The greens staff look forward to
Clearance work Once the pond was filled with tackling many more projects to
One of our favourite jobs in the water a new fountain was located make the course even better and
winter is clearance projects to in the centre and lilies planted to to a produce one we can all be
enhance overgrown areas of the finish off the project. proud of.
course and help speed up play. On behalf of the greens staff we
This year we carried out extensive Practice area would like to wish all our members
clearance to the area behind the Finally we end the year with a Happy New Year and look
5th tee. It was choked with another new project in creating a forward to seeing you all on the
vegetation and dead wood that short-game area on the practice course very soon.
built up over the years. area. Ground works will continue MARK WATTS AND GRAHAM CAREFORD
HE golf course during 2018 Once the vegetation was cleared,
sowed wild flower seeds that we Graham and his team tackled some
Tunderwent many changes, all we lightly rotovated the soil and
of which benefitted the golf course
to provide a better experience for trialled for the first time. big jobs to improve our course
our members and guests. With careful nurturing the seeds
Last winter saw the installation of started to germinate and before
the new Rain Bird irrigation system long this once drab area was
which involved heavy plant transformed into a burst of colour
trenching lines for over three miles creating interest during the
of pipework to be installed. summer months.
Work started in October 2017 and
continued throughout the winter Spring
until completion in March. We Other springtime projects included
have experienced a few teething the re-modelling of the 16th
problems along the way which bunker that was being
have now been resolved, but continuously damaged by foxes
overall the Rain Bird system has digging into the face. Drainage
worked admirably, providing The technique uses recycled astro-
excellent coverage and reliability turves to form a strong revetted
during one of the hottest summers face that foxes cannot penetrate.
since 1976. Work took two days to complete
and totally transformed the
bunker and the hole in general.
Drainage works We also cleared the banking
Last winter also included the behind the 16th green and planted
installation of drainage to the 12th it with shrubs using money from
green - probably the wettest green the tree fund.
on the course prior to the works. These shrubs, once established,
Drainage was also installed in the will look stunning and give the
area in front of the 5th green green a fabulous back-drop when
which was prone to becoming wet viewed from the tee. Paths
and extremely muddy during the In April we undertook some tee
winter months. levelling - namely the 1st medal
All work was completed in-house tee and the 3rd tee that lost their
at a fraction of the cost of using levels due to subsidence. Turf was
outside contractors.
removed using a turf cutter and
stored whilst rootzone was added
Paths to restore levels.
Two new paths at the 7th and 12th Tee levelling is such an
were constructed. inexpensive project to carry out
The new path at the 12th allowed but can make such a big difference
golfers to exit the hole to the rear to the look and playability of our
of the green, which avoided tees, more work of this nature is
walking on the approach where planned for the future. Bunkers
large bare areas appeared through
foot traffic. The new location of Summer
the path has helped the approach Our most recently completed
recover and allow golfers to leave project was the de-silting of the
the green much quicker, thus 13th pond which was last carried
speeding play. out over 20 years ago.
The second was an extension to The pond was choked with
the path at the 7th leading directly vegetation and silt and had little
to the tee. water due to the very dry summer.
The path creates a far better We acquired quotes upward of
walking experience to and from £25,000 from outside contractors
the tee and prevents this area to carry out this work which were
turning to mud in the winter. way above our set budgets. Tees