| Round The Traps - 14th January 2021 |
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G'day Members,
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great festive season. The weather was kind to us during December, we finished the month with near record numbers in member competition play, driving range usage and social play. The weather has certainly turned in January, with over 500mm being recorded at the course in the first 2 weeks of the New Year.
The course is draining really well with the very heavy falls but the turf in all areas is certainly jumping out of the ground. The Club is very fortunate to have cart paths covering all 18 holes to minimise the loss of play.
Next Monday & Tuesday (18 & 19 Jan) we have a contractor coming in to repair approx. 20 cracks/bumps/jumps/back breakers in our cart paths. This has been a problem for many years with both cart users and walkers feeling the effects every round. Weather depending, we’ll be needing to close some holes for worker safety, but I’m sure we’ll all be happy with the results.
Over the past few weeks we have had some instances where play (comp & social) has been halted due to lightning. If you are on course and hear 3 x loud horn blasts, it’s time to head back to the Clubhouse as play is halted. We then wait to have 30 minutes clear of lightning activity inside a 10km radius of the Club, before sounding a further single horn blast to recommence. We are using a system called Ubimet which notifies staff automatically when lightning is an issue. It doesn’t typically happen too often in FNQ, but your safety is our priority.
The CGC App has now totally failed. After repeated attempts to work through the issues with the supplier, we are going to go a different direction. As part of a planned change to our golf management software, a new Club app will form part of this build. The App (when it was working) was a great tool for Members acting as a one stop shop for all things CGC, so I do apologise for the inconvenience caused by this continued malfunction. Timing wise, we are hoping to have the new system and App in place by the end of April, ahead of the main golf season. In the meantime, all bookings, results etc. will need to go via the website which is also mobile device friendly.
All of the 2021 CGC major event dates are listed on the website here: https://www.cairnsgolfclub.com.au/golf/golf-competitions to make it easier for all Members. As the details firm up for each event they will be distributed via the usual channels.
We are also working though a changeover of 20 carts in our fleet. Its planned for end of April with the old forest green carts due for the swap. There is some significant lead times and delays caused by Covid in factories around the world so the delivery date may fluctuate.
I know we are all pretty tired of hearing about all things Covid, but the Brisbane lockdown last weekend is a stark reminder of how quickly things can change. Please continue to check in using the QR code on arrival at the Club and remain vigilant around social distancing and sanitising hands.
Hope to see you out on course soon (if the weather is kind).
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We have definitely kicked off the wet season in 2021, but I am delighted to say the course is taking it extremely well. We finished with a lacklustre 2105mm in 2020, which was the lightest year during my tenure at Cairns Golf Club. We have already had 535mm in the 13 days of January to date, but thankfully there have been a few sunny days to go with it. The drainage work we have carried out over the preceding 3 years is working extremely well and, with the exception of the bunkers, the course is still very playable. We have been able to get carts back on the course very quickly this year; even after 160mm on the weekend, they were back on fairways on Monday.
After a few short weeks and plenty of rainfall, my team has really got back on top of the maintenance this week. The greens are in excellent condition for January and we have almost mown the entire course already this week. We have even been able to double cut the fairways which desperately needed it after the rain. We have utilised the break in the weather to apply high rates of growth regulator on all short cut areas, including tees, fairways and surrounds. Our ability to get everything cut so quickly has been mostly due to the expansion of our team.
We had run one person short for most of last year after Covid kicked off, as well as losing Tanner late in 2020. We have replaced both those positions and added two more. This includes a qualified greenkeeper, as well as three new apprentices. Thankfully, there are plenty of government subsidies out there for taking on new workers, especially apprentices. Our new starters are Chris Crosbie (qualified greenkeeper), Arie Hofman, Jonathan Daffy and Jack Addison (apprentices). The expansion of our team is also partly due to the upcoming irrigation project, which will take at least myself and probably one other of the team away from the course. We want to ensure we keep the standards high across the rest of the course throughout the project and the additional team members will definitely help us to do this.
With the new additions, it will also enable us to continue improving the course outside of the daily maintenance, particularly until the irrigation project kicks off. Over the next few weeks our plans are to firstly, catch up on our regular maintenance. From here we will be looking to do some more tree pruning/removal, as well further drainage improvements and some more greens turfing. We will also attempt to apply another herbicide application on the blue couch fairways to eradicate the paspalum and carpet grass (weather permitting). Having the additional bodies really enables us the extra versatility to complete some of these works and I am excited about what my team can achieve in the upcoming 12 months.
The blue couch fairways have come back very well after the two herbicide applications in late 2020, with approximately a 60-70% reduction in weeds. They could definitely have used a third application; however, the rainfall did not allow us to get to this in time. We will continue to work through this process during the high growth months and gain ground in this area. There are some bare and thin areas as a result of the spraying, however this is a necessary evil towards our long-term goal of having weed free fairways. I have included a couple of photos at the end of this newsletter where you can really see the difference after the spray.
With the new team members, Yuka has been able to spend a more significant amount of time in the gardens this week and they are already looking a lot tidier. She has been busy spraying weeds as well, which as we all know, grow quicker than we can spray them at this time of year. We have been able to do a fair amount of whipper snipping over the past week, as well as make a start on edging the carts paths. For this time of year and the rainfall we have received we are happy with the conditioning of the course.
Finally, this month we have made some contouring changes to the fairways, as well as some additional short cut areas around greens. The feedback about the shortcut areas we have cut in so far has been positive and this definitely adds a different element to the playability of the course. The subtle changes to contours in the fairways help create a better flow and some improved definition to the course.
Until next time, I hope the moments of sunshine keep coming and you are able to squeeze some golf in over the next couple of months.
  Before and afters of the reduction in carpet grass on the 11th fairway
 The line of the extent of the spraying is clearly evident up the centre of the photo, with heavy paspalum infestation to the left of the blue line. It looks even better in real life, so hopefully you can see it next time you are on the 11th hole.
Our new team members. From left; Chris Crosbie, Jonathan Daffy, Arie Hofman
and Jack Addison.
Tim Hoskinson
(Course Superintendent) |
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Happy New Year and welcome to the first edition of Round the Traps for the year.
Let’s hope this year is smooth sailing.
Well, we are starting to see a bit of bad weather at the moment, which has given the Golf Shop staff a bit of time to do some much-needed spring cleaning and decluttering. To help with this, can we ask any members or guest that have lost or misplaced any items around the course, please come and check the lost and found before it gets discarded.
Also, with the wet conditions around, can we please remember to contact the Golf Shop to cancel your round if need be. We have had a number of occasions where members have had to go home because their playing partners did not arrive. Additionally, members intending on playing, please arrive well before your designated tee time. This will give staff time to alter the time sheet to place players into groups to ensure you still get a game.
With the wet weather and mowing of the fairways, a lot of the blue lines surrounding the greens have become difficult to see. Can we please ensure that all members and guests remain at least 10 metres away from all greens and tees? Thank you to all players that have been adhering to the carts to paths rule. There have been very few occasions where staff have had to go out and remind players on course.
Coming up, on Saturday the 23rd of January we will be having our Pre-Australia Celebrations, this will be a Single Stableford Competition. We encourage you to get into your best Aussie outfit, as there will be prizes for the best dressed Bloke and Sheila. On the day we will be having a sausage sizzle, meat tray raffles, thong throwing competition and pie eating contest. We will also be running a Single Stableford Competition on Tuesday the 26th of January (Australia Day).
Fore-Out Friday is back in 2021! With the first event being Friday the 29th of January. Make sure you get your tropical shirt and some mates ready to book your tee time.
Finally, just a quick update regarding golf lessons and clinics. Unfortunately, we are yet to find a replacement for Ben who left us late last year. We are still on the hunt and hopefully will have coach in the near future. In the meantime, golf lessons will be available but times and availability will be limited until we get a teaching professional, so please be patient with us. If you would like to book please call the Golf Shop on 40476777 to check availability.
Happy Golfing!
Anton and the Golf Shop Team. |
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This Month’s Specials
Titleist prov1 and Prov1x $65 a dozen
 Titleist Player leather gloves 2 for $65 While stocks last. |
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 Thank you to all of our members and guests who have been supporting the CGC Junior Golf Containers for Change Program. Please don’t forget to drop your recyclable containers in to the bins provided around the Golf Shop. |
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100s Board:
19/12/2020
#53 – Darky, Harmsy, Ratsack & Peter Sibbald
02/01/2021
#75 – Claire & Liz
Meat Tray Raffles:
Drawn Saturday 19/12/2020
1. Joel Calvert
2. Gordon Perry
2020 Christmas Hamper Raffles:
Drawn Sunday 20/12/2020
1. Jill Matthews
2. David Wood
3. Jane Johannsen |
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23rd January
Pre-Australia Day Celebrations
Individual Stableford
29th January
Fore-Out Friday
6th February
Calanna Wholehealth Monthly Medal
2021 Major Events
1st – 2nd May
Cairns Open
22nd – 23rd May
4BBB Stroke Championships
24th July – 1st August
City of Cairns Golf Week
21st – 22nd & 28th – 29th August
Club Championships |
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