The course is enjoying it's first taste of early season sun and is looking much better for it.  Work will move thick and fast now as we try and catch up with conditioning the golf course.  Late last week the Abbotts fairways were scarified to remove some of the dead material and moss.  This has left small balls of rubbish which will disappear as we continue cutting in the next week.  The fairways on Wednesday and Thursday will receive a mixture of fertilizer for growth, Iron for moss control, a growth regulator and selective herbicide to kill clover and weeds. 
  Unlike other years when we would simply throw on a granular fertilizer and watch the grass grow, we are now looking for better control of the plant, with the ultimate goal of cutting as little grass whilst creating the best possible surfaces.  So the sprayer will be much more in evidence on the fairways this summer.
  The product used on the 11th,12th and 14th fairways on the Abbotts to kill off the rye grass has done a great job but some of these areas need to be seeded which is being done on Thursday.  All this work on the fairways is aimed at improving the turf quality but equally as important, is enhancing definition which is something we always struggle with.
  Abbotts greens have been topdressed with .8  of a ton of sand on each green.  This will help fill in any imperfections.  The Priors is being topdressed early next week.




A picture of the improved definition on the Abbotts fairways.