Latest Course Report

As I write this report I look on in dismay as the wind and rain batters our famous heathland golf course. We have enjoyed the last few weeks of glorious sunshine and we have managed to get through some really big events with the course in fine fettle. We have just one outstanding major event which takes place this Sunday on the Old Course.

This year was always going to be tricky with the incredible number of major events that we have held here at Ferndown. I am very proud of how we have managed to deal with everything that has been thrown in our direction. It's always a worry when you skip a maintenance week but I have found a way for us to get through this. The main talking point on every golf course is the greens and boy have we had some incredible feedback in this area.

We will be raising the height of the cut from Monday as we begin to baton down the hatches for the winter period. We will also be decreasing the amount we roll the greens which will naturally bring the pace down to around the ‘10’ mark (other clubs' peak summer speed). If you had offered me the condition of the greens at the start of the year I would have bit your hand off!!

The next major maintenance period will start from the 30th of October for one week. During this week we will verti drain, core, top dress and fertilise so we can go into the harsh weather in a healthy condition. We will also be coring and seeding the tees along with the approaches. Solid tining the fairways will also take place with some seeding on isolated areas. We will work on 4 or 5 holes at a time to enable you to keep playing although on a reduced course. The following week, if all goes well, we will repeat the process on the Alliss course so we have everything at the same stage. More information on this will follow regarding hole closures etc.

From this Monday coming, we have a 6-tonne digger and dumper on hire to do our yearly ditch drenching (which should please a lot of you) and this process will take around 3 to 4 weeks to complete. We will strim the edges so everything is nice and clean then scoop out all the mess and silt with the digger and dispose of it at our dumping site. Please be aware of the heavy machinery around you during this spell.

Here is a rough timeline on what to expect until Christmas time.

Monday 25th September – Ditch work commences for approx. 4 weeks.

Monday 30th October – Maintenance week, lots of coring, lots of top dressing for 1 week on the Old course.

Monday 30th October – Work to commence on building the Alliss 9th tee (all play from the Gold tee until Christmas time)

Monday 6th November – Alliss maintenance (likely to be 2 days)

Monday 6th November – Bunker sand removal and replace with our new China clay sand (we will operate 1 hole at a time on this) old sand out new sand in immediately after. *I want this job completed by Christmas*

Monday 6th November – Cut and collect heather using hire machine across both courses (likely to take 2 weeks)

Mid to late November (Subject to AGM approval) -Ditch work on the 2nd hole on the Old course will commence.

As you can see this is a pretty hectic list!!

I really need to get the greenside bunkers completed before Christmas along with the Alliss 9th tee being built, turfed and irrigation in place. These are bold plans and targets to keep us on route.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this season as much as I have, there has been an amazing buzz around the place with the calibre of events we have held this year.

We will, however, never stand back and admire our work as the minute we stand still people we overtake us we need to stay on the front foot and keep pushing and making improvements to keep our reputation as one of the finest golf courses in the south of England.

Hope you enjoyed the read!

Danny

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