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 - SEPTEMBER 2025

Following on from July’s report most weekly maintenance work has remained the same with the greens coring work being the exception. As we move into autumn the next few weeks will remain on a similar path but with a lot more debris and leaf clearing!

The last week of July until the last week in August was another extended dry period with just 2 rain days and some high temperatures, touching 30°C at times. This resulted in some dry links like conditions on the majority of the fairways.
9 of the next 10 days we had some significant rainfall and this has carried on until now (time of writing 11th September) with more expected in the short-term forecast.

Greens

• Daily mowing @ 3.25mm with triple mower (brief period at 3.5mm after coring work)

• Regular rolling rolling with tru-turf roller

• Spraying continues on summer program with seaweed, liquid fertiliser, plant growth regulator, wetting agents and some bio stimulants according to plan

• Fungicide sprayed as and when required

• All greens hollow cored with 12mm tines (28th July)

• Heavy sand dressings applied post coring work (approx. 70 tonne)

• 16-3-6 fertiliser applied after coring work to aid recovery

• Aeration with PlanetAir machine every second Monday

• Verti-cutting every 2 weeks @ -1mm alternating weeks with the PlanetAir work

• Regular light dressings of sand after each verti-cut (approx. 6-7 tonnes each time). Yearly total approx. 166 tonnes

• 11th green continues to be mowed with a pedestrian mower (we had a spell mowing with the triple the same as the other greens through the drier period)

   

• Regular green speed checks are back stimping consistently above 10 for general play, this dropped post coring works due to the fertiliser application and the slight increase in mowing height.

  Again, as in previous years, carrying out the greens coring work at the end of July has proved a huge success. With favourable weather conditions resulting in a drier surface we manage to get a lot more sand worked into the hollow core holes resulting in a much sandier profile, which is becoming more noticeable year on year. This has allowed us to achieve firmer, smoother and faster putting surfaces all while aiding drainage properties. It also aids recovery much quicker and with all the sand combined with a granular fertiliser application the greens return to a high standard in approximately 2 weeks. It’s hard to stress how grateful we are to carry out this work when we do and it is a credit to the club and members for their understanding of the brief spell of disruption it can cause, the trade-off being a high standard of playing surface for longer as we head towards the autumn and winter months.
  To finish on the coring work, it wouldn’t be possible to carry it all out in one day without the aid of the volunteers who have done a remarkable job. We had a core group of familiar faces and it was great to see some new faces this year also. I think in total we had close to 20 volunteers over the course of the day and we are very grateful to each and every one for their contribution and the help is hugely appreciated by all of the green staff.

  Tees, Approaches & Collars

• Tees and approaches regular mowing @ 8mm with triple mower

• Collars regular mowing @ 6mm with pedestrian mower

• Collars have been receiving the same maintenance processes and spray applications as the greens

• All collars were hollow cored along with the greens

• 16-3-6 fertiliser applied to all areas

• Approaches sprayed with nitrogen, iron, seaweed, liquid fert and a PGR

• Tees sprayed with nitrogen, iron, seaweed, liquid fert, PGR and wetting agent

• Tees divoted daily to aid recovery

• Both tees and approaches are due to be aerated/scarified while growth is still strong

  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 had another spray with urea, ferrous sulphate, ammonium sulphate and a PGR an next application due this week

• Weaker fairways @ 7th and 11th were sprayed without the PGR to encourage more growth

• All areas blown regularly over the period to remove leaves, debris and excess grass

• All fairways have had some slitter aeration work done, with 7 & 11 vertidrained with 19mm tines also

• Both 7th & 11th fairways have also had a spray with a wetting agent and this along with slitter/tining work has seen significant improvement in drainage properties, noticeable after heavy rainfall

• Extra work will continue on these fairways with regular slitting to keep the profile open and aid drainage

  Bunkers & Paths

• Bunkers raked daily with spring rakes

• Bunker sand levels checked and sand added as required. All bunkers were done but checking levels is always ongoing

• Bunker banks fly mowed and strimmed every second week

• Paths have been blown and tidied regularly

• All main areas have been weeded and this will continue as time allows

• Potholes and washouts fixed and blaize added to some areas, again, this is ongoing

  Miscellaneous

• The irrigation system has again been utilised to great affect particularly through the very warm temperatures we had during August ad also aided us in the recovery process after coring

• The next update should provide more info on our winter work plans, these are currently being discussed and finalised

• As in the previous few years, Elliot Stewart Is returning to University next week after another summer seasonal spell with us. Elliot has been a very valuable member of staff and his work has been vital in helping us achieve what we feel is a high standard of golf course throughout. We thank Elliot greatly, the greenstaff appreciate his hard work and we wish him all the best with his upcoming university year.

• Lindsay Stewart, who has been with us for a number of years for weekend and school holiday work, will be joining us on a more permanent basis in the coming weeks. After finishing up at school he has been accepted into an HNC/HND program in Golf Course Management through SRUC Elmwood. We look forward to watching and helping his progress in the industry.

  The course has held up well to the various weather patterns over the reported period, with all surfaces remaining of very good standard. As mentioned above a lot of our time in the coming weeks will be spent clearing leaves/needles and debris on top of our regular maintenance practices before we move our focus to our winter improvement program.

  We have yet again had a number of instances where divots and scuff marks have been taken out of some of the greens, usually occurring during evening play. As everyone is aware this is totally unacceptable and would appreciate if anyone who witnesses this could report it back to the club.
  
  To end on a more positive note, we have continued to receive great feedback from members and visitors throughout the last few months. We also had very good feedback from a Golf World top 100 assessor from their visit early in the season which has since resulted in us being ranked No. 39 course in Great Britain & Ireland for £70 and under! High praise and testament to the whole team’s dedication, hard work and pride in producing and maintaining such a high standard.

Shaun McNaughton