Course Update Christmas 2020
Overall the condition of the course this year has been the best it has been in my time at RGC (Nearly 5 Years). The fairways have bounced back really well from the summer drought, we do not have fairway irrigation at RGC so we have to deal with what Mother Nature throws at us. These days its extreme weather patterns of heavy rain or drought, some say climate change, others say its fake news but its climate change! The numbers don’t lie.
The Greens have in particular, been very good all year. We have had a lot of disease pressure to cope with this Autumn but we have come out of that with very little damage. The only issue we now have is the large amount of foot traffic on the greens during wet weather. The 6th green is really struggling due to the two bunkers either side of the green and there are very few entrance and exit points, the worst part is the edge on the left hand side where people leave their bag to go to the 7th/16th tees. We are trying our best to protect that area with white hoops to try and get people to change the way they enter and exit the green. Bare in mind the RGC gets double the foot traffic compared to an eighteen hole golf course, so traffic management is essential to keep the course playable. Hopefully the rain will soon subside and we can manage it by using aeration and chemicals to keep the greens firm. Repairing your pitch marks will go a long way to helping us achieve a optimum course condition again and we provide them free of charge at the kiosk. Please respect the roped off areas, the less damage from the winter the quicker & better it will be in spring.
We will always do our best to produce a good golf course but you cannot beat Mother Nature – she’s the boss!
Stay Safe
Rob Hill
Head Greenkeeper