Auchterader Golf Club

Golf Course Update - in order to keep members fully updated of developments on the golf course, we will be distributing a course update following every Committee Meeting.

Course Update - MAY 2026

In the last report back in March, we were coming out of a tough winter period of excessive rain with things just starting to turn more favourable…. this didn’t last! The start of April was extremely wet which led to a very difficult start to the season, losing several competition days and exposing some underlying drainage issues which we will come onto in further detail.
From the chart below you can see that the we continued on the trend of above average rainfall each month with April over double. 6 months in a row above average. April is actually our driest month of the year on average but the first 18 days this year we had 97mm. In comparison, 2025 we had zero rainfall for the first 14 days!
Things improved drastically after that, and May has been relatively dry with the forecast for the next week or so showing some dry and warmer weather.

The underlying drainage issues mentioned refer to the 7th and 11th fairways, in particular the 7th. Excessive flooding has led to these areas becoming completely unplayable, contributing to the loss of some competition days. On non-competition days we took the decision to play holes 1-5 & 14-18 (‘the old 9’) to allow golf to continue away from the areas of concern. It should be noted that although these were the worst affected areas the whole top side of the course was extremely wet, due mainly to the make-up of the land.
We carried out the installation of 70 metres of drainage pipe to the worst area of the 7th fairway. Exposing and replacing existing pipework that wasn’t functioning as intended. The work here will be ongoing with more pipework to be added and also the hollow-coring of the fairway to allow water to penetrate through the initial top layer.

Greens

• Mowing heights gradually reduced to current height of 3.5mm 
• Rolling frequency has increased and allowed us to achieve smoother faster surfaces
• Spraying has moved over to our summer program, with wetting agent, plant growth regulator, liquid fertiliser, micronutrients and fungicides applied according to plan
• A spring starter (10-4-4) fertiliser was applied at the end of march to promote some stronger growth leading into the season opening days
• Aeration work has been carried out using our PlanetAir machine, which uses slit tines to relieve soil compaction and improve water, air and nutrient penetration with very little disruption to the playing surface. This has been very successful over the last 2 seasons and with new tines this year should be even more effective
• 2 more applications of topdressing sand have been applied since the last report with another due imminently. The yearly total so far is approx. 37 tonnes of sand, slightly down on last year due to the weather windows for application. We will continue to apply regular light dustings throughout the season
• We have recently carried out our first verti-cut of the season and will carry this on regularly, usually before our light topdressing dustings. This will help reduce thatch build up, reduce grain and promote smoother, cleaner and faster surfaces
• With wet and cold conditions growth and recovery has been very slow. We set up a walk mower @ 4.5mm to mow some weaker areas of our greens on a daily basis allowing us to keep the triple machine away and help increase grass coverage. This was extremely successful and these areas are now almost fully recovered and strong enough for triplex mowing

Tees, Approaches & Collars

• Mowing frequency has increased considerably with both areas currently being mown at least twice per week, height reduced to 8mm with triple mower
• Tees and approaches both aerated with 19mm solid tines
• Both areas have had the same 10-4-4 spring starter fertiliser as the greens applied to promote some stronger growth
• Both areas verti-cut to remove thatch, reduce lateral growth and promote upright dense growth
• Topdressing applications have started and will continue through the next few weeks
• Collars mown 4 times per week with height reduced to 6.5mm These receive exactly the same treatment as our greens
• Daily divot patching of tees carried out

Fairways, Intermediate & Semi-Rough

• Fairway mowing carried out twice weekly @11mm height of cut
• Intermediate mowing also twice weekly @ 19mm
• Semi-rough mowing carried out once per week
• Fairways and Intermediate have both been sprayed twice with urea, ferrous sulphate and ammonium sulphate with a PGR also added into the second application to regulate growth
• All areas blown regularly over the period to remove leaves and debris
• As mentioned above the 7th & 11th fairways will be hollow cored when the opportunity arises and conditions allow

Bunkers & Paths

• Bunkers raked daily with spring rakes
• All bunkers were relevelled, this will be done again in the coming days
• All bunkers were edged with a reciprocator at the start of the season
• All greenside bunkers have been assessed and sand added as required over the last 2-3 weeks. Attention will move to some of the fairway bunkers in the coming weeks
• Bunker banks fly mowed and strimmed every second week
• Paths have been blown and tidied regularly
• Most main areas have had weeds removed and this will be ongoing
• Potholes have been fixed and levelled and blaize added to worst areas
• Work will be carried out on the path at the first tee to improve the surface both visually and from a maintenance point of view, starting this week.

Miscellaneous

• The irrigation system was switched back on at the end of March and has been utilised during the recent drier spell. Again, this year we had an issue with one of the pumps, the same fault that occurred last year but on the other pump. The faulty control box has now been replaced, and we are back running at full capacity again.
• The on-course toilets are back up and running after a slight delay due to a burst pipe
• The redesigned 10th bunker and surround was back open for play at the start of April and we have had very positive feedback from both members and visitors so far
• Work has started on the flower beds around the course and more will be done as time permits
• Some divoting work on fairways will be carried out in the next few weeks, this will require a team of volunteers, and more info will be published shortly
• The Ladies, Gents and Senior Opens have now passed with course conditions receiving very good feedback from many who played. Credit to all the green-staff for achieving championship standards on a daily basis early in the season after what has been incredibly challenging conditions.
• Our apprentice greenkeeper Lindsay Stewart has completed his first year of course work for his HNC in golf course management. He has also recently applied to work at the Dunhill Links Championship and was successful with his application so will be heading to gain valuable tournament experience in October.
• Some new sponsor pop-up signs have been placed around some tees this week. They will remain out over the next few months to give more exposure to our hole sponsors

Overall, the golf course is in very good playing condition, the greens are firm, fast and smooth with very good grass coverage. As always, work is ongoing to improve every area and aspect of the course including flower beds, paths and native rough areas.
After a tough opening few weeks of the season things have improved drastically, and we hope that all golfers have an enjoyable and successful summer season.

Attached are some pics taken over the last couple of months including one of the 7th fairway at its wettest and some from the better weather during the Gents Open.