Greens Replacement Program Update

27th October – Greens/Bunker Update – from the Course Superintendent Fraser Brown

18th October – Fairway Bunker Renovations (Holes 1-9) – from the General Manager Damon Lonnie

Members please note, as of Thursday 19^th October the reconstruction of the fairway bunkers on the front nine will commence. This work is being undertaken to change the look of the bunkers to be consistent with those already changed around the greens.

During this time, ALL bunkers on Holes 1-9 will be marked as Ground Under Repair from which relief is COMPULSORY to the nearest drop zone provided. This local rule is likely to remain in place until the opening of the new greens on Sunday 26^th November.

LKCC Staff & Shaping Contractors will do their very best to have little impact on Men’s & Ladies competition days, however, alternative temporary greens may be required on social days to ensure play is kept well away from any machinery and bunkers that directly sit beside a current temporary green. If by chance these renovations do affect a current temporary green for a specific Men’s or Ladies event, an alternative temporary green location may be used allowing the competition to proceed,  however will not be handicapped.

Please also note that on Monday 23^rd October Holes 1- 9 will be closed for the entire day to ensure major works can be completed without interruption.  

Thank you for your patience during these course works and look forward to another step being completed within our renovations.

2nd October – Greens Replacement Program Update from the General Manager – Damon Lonnie

The new greens are coming in very well, I am pleased with the progress. It is now 8 weeks since seeding and 9 weeks until opening. We are currently mowing at 5mm and this will be dropped to 4mm early this week. It is important that over the next 9 weeks the greens will begin to look ready but in fact they are still immature plants so if members could avoid walking on the greens it would be appreciated. In 4 weeks time, work will begin on the front 9 fairway bunkers, this is to match the new green side bunkers.

The sulphur burner is now in Australia but has been held up going through customs and quarantine, once it arrives it will be installed and water samples will be taken to compare to the monthly water testing we have already started.

Commencing today (2/10), we are once again into fairway renovations, this will be similar to last year. The fairways will be scarified, low mowed and hollow cored. We will do everything we can to cause as little disruption as possible throughout this time, but we appreciate your patience during these works. These renovations are vitally important as this is one of the main reasons why we have the fairways in as good a condition as we do have. Over the course of the year the couch fairways will produce thatch, which results in soft turf. It also reduces the water penetration and oxygen in the soil. This results in inconsistent, soft turf more susceptible to disease. The renovations will remove thatch and also the soft leaf leaving a firm surface behind. The works are scheduled for 3 weeks but we aim to be as efficient as possible and hope to finish early.

29th August – Greens Replacement Program Update from the General Manager – Damon Lonnie

During his course visit early this week, Architect Mike Cocking has marked out all of the new bunker edges on the front nine. The edges on holes 4 and 5 have been completed (see pictures right) and our staff will now complete the remaining edging over the next two to three days. A section of the bunker on the third hole (RHS bunker) has been partly completed (picture below) which gives an appreciation of the difference in appearance. The excess turf is being cut out by hand using a plaster saw.

We are also pleased to advise that the growth blankets have been removed from the greens and almost all have an excellent cover of 007 bent grass. Two sections on the first green have been re-seeded and have already germinated after some water damage. This will not cause any issues in the long run. The growth blankets will be folded up and stored away by the weekend and we anticipate all greens being mowed at 8mm later this week. Cutting heights will be progressively lowered as we move towards re-opening in late November. Course Superintendent Fraser Brown is delighted with the germination rate and the current position we are in after just 4 weeks. Furthermore it is pleasing to note that the turf nursery (picture below), which was seeded 10 weeks ago, is now being cut at 5mm and has an excellent cover.

A reminder also that edges on the fairway bunkers on the front nine will be modified when Mike Cocking returns from October 23 to ensure a consistent look.

Pine Tree & Tree Root Removal

As many members will know there are a number of areas in the roughs and on the edge of fairways where tree roots have invaded playing surfaces which is a safety hazard to golfers. Of most concern are the tree roots to the left of the 7^th fairway which have emanated from the nearby trees, most of which are pine trees. In accordance with the current policy, we advise that commencing next week the pine trees will be removed as well as the tree roots along both the 7^th and part of the 6^th fairway. The areas will be re-turfed with Wintergreen couch, which is the grass used on our fairways and promoted in our roughs. By removing the pine trees we will also reduce the shade issues on that side of the 7^th fairway which will also improve the overall health of the fairway in this location.

17th August – Greens Replacement Program Update from the General Manager – Damon Lonnie

Today the covers on the front nine greens were lifted to allow fertilizer application to further promote growth. 

As can be seen from these photos the coverage is very consistent and we are pleased with the progress. Once all greens have been fertilized the covers will be placed back on the greens for another week or so before coming off permanently.

11th August – Greens Replacement Program Update from the General Manager – Damon Lonnie

Even with some inclement weather this week our new greens have progressed well. All nine greens have now germinated (see pics below) and we hope to have the covers off permanently within the next couple of weeks. All greens will be fertilized next week which will accelerate growth even further. Our turf nursery is now being cut twice a week and is in very good shape.

Course Architect Mike Cocking will return in around 3 to 4 weeks at which time he will work his way around the front cutting out the bunker edges. This work is all done by hand and once completed members will notice an immediate change and we will all have a better appreciation for their final appearance.

14th July – Greens Replacement Program Update from the General Manager – Damon Lonnie

Week Three of our Greens Replacement Program is drawing to a close and architects Ogilvy Clayton Cocking and Mead (OCCM) have completed their work.

Below is a detailed update from Course Superintendent Fraser Brown on what has been achieved and what still remains to be completed. We have received some feedback from members about the appearance of the bunkers and their final depth. It is important to note that the overall depth of the bunkers will not materially vary from the depths prior to the works commencing and over the coming weeks sand will be added until final levels are achieved.

Further tidying up and turfing around edges with couch will be completed next week with the seeding of greens to be completed early the following week, slightly later than previously advised.

Around each green a two metre collar of bent grass will be seeded (with 007) which will create a much better delineation or definition  between fairway and green, provide a firm surface for “bump and run” shots and also acts as a layer to restrict couch encroachment in to the greens. As Fraser has highlighted below, this collar has been extended somewhat around the 7^th green which has traditionally caused challenges for “bump and run” type shots.

A clear part of the brief to OCCM was to remove some of the more extreme slopes, improve surface drainage and provide additional (and interesting) pin locations. These objectives have been achieved in addition to addressing some irregularities in the sand depth within the perched water table to ensure compliance with USGA specifications.

We are also pleased to advise that the seeding of the turf nursery has been successful with a healthy cover of grass developing.  So successful has been the growth under the growth sheet that the turf nursery was cut today with the walk-behind mower. 

We thank members for their ongoing support and patience whilst this work is undertaken.

Greens Replacement Program Update from the Course Superintendent – Fraser Brown

All greens complexes including the putting green are now fully shaped. There is some tidy/tie in work and there will be turf laid over the bunker edges which will be completed over the next week. The collars will be tied into the greens surface ready to be seeded on the 25^th July. This is one week later than I had initially indicated but it will not affect the opening date. This project has seen a huge volume of work (10 greens and 23 bunkers) shaped over 11 days. Approximately 1,400m3 of material has been removed and reinstated with 1,400m3 of new sand. The additional week will allow us to get all the final works exactly right before seeding.

1^st

One of our targets was to create more pin positions on the 1^st green. This required excavating down the rock layer and adding additional rock. This has been completed to now include a larger area for pins back left, front left where there was no pinable area previously and also a larger pin area front right. This gives more options which is interesting for the members but also important to spread wear for maintenance.

The bunker on the left has been split into two smaller bunkers which will improve access to this green. The bunker at the back of the green has been taken in towards the greens edge.

2^nd

This green had a slight issue with surface water being trapped from exiting the green at the front left edge, which has been fixed. The shape of the green has changed slightly with the mound at the back slightly more pronounced but largely as before. The pinable areas have again been increased in size.

3^rd

This green has not changed significantly however there is now a back right pin position which was previously not there. Bunkers have remained largely the same size but the shapes in the bases have changed back to a bowl shape which prevents lies against the edges.

4^th

Again this green has had subtle changes only and increased pin area. The surface water issue on this green has also been addressed to ensure surface water exits the green. The bunkers look different but have not been designed to be any deeper or bigger than previous. The floor shape has been changed to a more bowl like shape to encourage balls to end up in the middle of the bunker.

5^th

When probing this green for sand depth this was the most inconsistent. When the sand was reinstated to consistent levels the green slopes changed, we have softened these features now. The green will have more pins, the front edge is now a little steeper when looking from the tee but there is now a larger flat area behind it. The bunkers at the back of the green have been brought towards the green slightly and deepened. This will allow members to get a fair lie in the back bunkers compared to the previous bunkers which fed  into the greenside bunker lip.

6^th

Again this was one of the more inconsistent greens in terms of sand depth. The green has now been returned to a more consistent depth and the shapes only have subtle changes. The bunkers have again been reshaped and the floors returned to a bowl shape.

7^th

The slope coming off the green on 7 has been softened to create a more natural look to this green. As a raised green the bent collar will be extended slightly to allow shots that land on the collar to have a more natural bounce rather than be held up in the couch. The greenside bunker on 7 is in the process of being turfed now and when completed will be an indication for members of what we aim to achieve with the rest of the bunkers.

8^th

Again this green had water run off issues which have addressed. The green has stayed largely the same with some small variances. The bunkers have been reshaped and floors bowled.

9^th

This green only has subtle changes and has increased areas for pins. The bunkers on the left have been reshaped to create a bowl, this gives the appearance of them being deeper but a distinct bowl shape needs to be created in these bunkers to ensure balls remain in the base of the bunker and give a fair lie. The back bunker has been made smaller and the shape improved.

Practice putting green

The putting green has now be re-contoured on the Western side. The severe breaks have been removed and replaced with a large fairly flat area. This required the green being excavated to the rock layer and in some areas an additional 500mm of rock was required. As the lie of the land is quite steep the ridge remains but has been softened and the 9^th green edge has had to fall away sharply to ensure a flat area with a seamless tie in to the collar. This means that the greens edge will move in by roughly 1.5m. This reduces the total area of putting surface slightly but increases the useable area.

30th June 2017 Update –  The greens replacement program started on Monday 26^th June. The week has been extremely busy and we are ahead of schedule. This week’s work was completed in house with the assistance of two contracted excavator operators. The week’s progress has seen turf cut and lifted manually on greens 1-9, excavated 100mm of material from the greens surface and 300mm from the couch collars on holes 2-8, till the existing green profiles and apply nematicide on greens 2-8, reinstate sand on greens 2-5 & 7 and finally use a skid steer to move the sand to correct levels on greens 2-4 & 7. This has been an excellent effort from our staff who have worked hard to ensure we are ahead of schedule.

Next week will see the team from OCCM (course architects) arrive. We will continue our in-house work and finish reinstating sand to the correct levels next week on greens 1 & 9 while also assisting OCCM in their bunker and greens reshaping. This work will start with the 7^th Green. The practice putting green will be left until either the end of next week or even the start of the following week depending on our schedules. This enables members to use it for a little longer and minimise disruption around the clubhouse area.

We are also pleased to advise that the 007 bent grass seed which has been planted in our turf nursery has started to grow under the germination sheets.

Also a thank you to the members for their patience with the noise and activity that is going on around the front 9 currently while competitions are still running.

27th June 2017 – The first stage of the greens replacement program commenced on Monday 26th with Course Superintendent Fraser Brown and his staff all working hard to strip the greens back on the front 9 and repair patches on the back 9.

The timetable for the program is as follows: