Winter has come in a big, big way. After the wet start to the season, the days have become clear and magnificent. As I write this, Brisbane has currently had 17 consecutive days where the minimum has been under double figures, the longest stretch in 15 years. Although this is not great for growing grass, it does make our job easier to get those jobs done that we generally can't through the growing season.
As most of you would have seen, drainage has been our focus recently, after many years of drought we are now trying to get the water off the course. Even though Gailes has a long history of being one of the best wet weather courses in Queensland, after the last 2 years of wet weather, we have certainly proved that correct. Whilst many clubs were struggling to stay open, we were ready to play every day.
We are concentrating on the areas that have stayed wet far too long during rainy periods. We have finished off the area about 100m out from the second green on the right hand side, this should also prove to help drain the opposing area on the first fairway. The next area was on the down hill slope on the first just past the fairway bunkers, this has also proved very successful. The area we are currently working on is around the thirteenth green, this has been a problem particularly this year. There are many more drainage projects in the wings and we will complete as many as we can before the growing season kicks in.
The next stage of our paths should be laid in the coming months, these will be continuations or extensions of the ones we have. The paths will serve two purposes, to ensure cart play in the wet times, and to attempt to eliminate cart wear around playing areas. As everybody would notice, carts are becoming more and more the norm on all courses, because Gailes was designed and built in the 1920's, carts weren't a factor in the design or even thoughts of Henry Ellerton. As carts are now a part of golfing life, and their use will only increase, we need to make provision now.
Happy Golfing and keep warm,
Stewart Poole
