Evening all great to see so many of you again today, day 6 of golf after lockdown was pretty uneventful but we still had 200 members playing today. I have been at the course again this morning from 6.30 am and will continue to do so to ensure the safety of our members and also to try and ensure that I can eventually get back to my proper job. We also have a team of members at the ready going forward to help you safely onto the course and I would ask you all to be respectful of their requests. Ged Ryder, Dave Jones, Dave Hignett and Paul Kearney will all be helping you plus a few more volunteers. There are some questions being asked and each day I try my best to answer them for you, a common one is why can't I play 18 holes? or when can we start playing 18 holes? But there are a lot who are more than happy with 9 or 11 just at present. The simple answer is we currently have 200 plus members each day wishing to play and we simply cannot accommodate that number over 18 holes. Please for now accept that we are only playing 9 or 11 but rest assured we will endeavour to get this to 18 as soon as possible. Another question is why are the greens slower than usual? I have copied a statement below from all of Golfs governing bodies which will hopefully explain. See you tomorrow for day 7 sleep well but have a read of this below. Peter x Statement from Golfs governing bodies. OBVIOUS ISSUES WILL BE: • Reduced pace of greens through higher cutting heights • Higher cutting heights in all / most maintained areas • Lengthier rough areas, particularly in ‘out of play’ areas • Untidy bunkers • Lack of golf course furniture such as bunker rakes, bins, ball washers, benches Whilst some golfers may be disappointed with conditions, it does present an opportunity to remind golfers of the fine balance between turf health, maintenance cost and presentation. It may be that golfers enjoy a more natural, less manicured feel to the golf course and some of the changes may become permanent. In returning the course to a more ‘normal’ condition, greenkeepers will ensure that heights of cut that have been raised during the course closure period are reduced slowly so as not to put undue stress on the plant. If heights are reduced too quickly it will encourage disease and weed / pest encroachment. Additionally, it is likely that annual maintenance plans for the course will have been severely affected by the course closure period, this means that some projects planned for 2020 may be delayed or cancelled. Consideration should be given to the amount of invasive maintenance, such as aeration and topdressing that needs to take place in light of the shortened golf season. This may have an effect on the quality of surfaces in the longer term. It is possible that staff levels or hours of work will remain at a reduced level during the initial stages of play being permitted so progress may be slower than usual.
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