coastrider: Greenkeeping

Wednesday, 10 July 2024

Genesis Scottish Open Golf 2024 Renaissance. Club

It's time again for the Scottish Open at work, busy busy last few weeks prepping coarse ready for the week long event and this year the coarse is looking amazing, hats off to an amazing team of Greenkeepers and what they have achieved in the last 12 months with changes made and new bunkers constructed, in a Country of dying Industries and trades today I can happily say Greenkeeping in Scotland - The home of golf is a strong as ever,

I will add more pics to this post as the week goes on but here are some pics from early morning starts and evening out on coarse with approx 30 odd volunteer Greenkeepers from other clubs who get paid accommodation and food for the week to help out a 20 Greenkeeping team here. Even I work 14 days straight!, as it is the time of year we all take our job very seriously and although the coarse is imacculate we always say it can still be better and we never rest on our laurels

Up at 3am and leave 3:30am for work to arrive 4am and get ready for 4:30 prep as Group, then out on coarse for Sunrise 4:45am

Here is a film from Monday,

I enjoy the week and split shifts while tiring I enjoy as only for a week and something different, esp enjoyable if the weather plays game and I can use the Enfield 350!

So that film was from Monday, previous day I got the chance to fly the Drone around over the coarse and as most of the contractors had now left and prior to players practicing Mon and Tues it was perfect chance with weather calm, here is a 5 minute edited film to Boards Of Canada track Dayvan Cowboy

And longer full unedited 20 mins of drone footage

Film from the Man cave after it all over

More soon...

Wednesday, 5 June 2013

Heat, A Hill of Rock and Gorsh, a great invention, and some Monkey Business...

Been a roasting week!, summer has properly arrived!. Today topped 21C at 3pm when i left work. Us pale skinned Scots ain't used to such heat!, though i could get used to the big sky views today at work...

Cycling to work in a T shirt at 5.30am... -:)

Early morning haze...

How quick is a day working at at Whitekirk feel?, 8 1/2 hours flies by in about the time it takes you to read this blog...
It just fly`s... Mowing the greens and aprons (surrounds or approaches away from the Scottish East coast) aprons is the traditional name because of their shape...

View from the trig point at 6.30am. 260 feet up gives great views. I need to repaint it, and add a map to the top...

Out in the Forth the morning Harr covers the Bass Rock...

Fairways and semi rough all sprayed for weeds last week, first time ever at Whitekirk - the reformation has begun, mowing will remove them forever...

Greens mowing at 4mm, i never go lower here when you have easterly salt air winds and westerly prevailing winds. They look wooly because of the meadow grass seeding. Greens should not look lush green with dark stripes like you see on the TV in USA competitions. If they do they have far too much Nitrogen and excessive water which in time will cause all sorts of problems from being too soft, to thatch and then diseases like Fusarium. My greens have had no disease for 4 years, a Links style attitude to a coastal parkland course...

Rock and Gorsh, a unique environment here in East Lothian for a Golf Course. The rock is volcanic and more seen in the NW of Scotland than here in the SE Coast...

Tacit Mesh wind flags are the only flags that withstand the wind here on the hill.
Traditional Scottish east coast are 9 red out, then 9 yellow flags home. I have them reversed, just to be different.
Pin design is `Machrihanish`. I also like to be modern thinking with new designs that work...

See the burned Pine tress and Gorsh from the cold easterlies in April and early May...

Sea harr out in the Forth burns away as the day warms...

Big Sky day at Whitekirk...

No shortage of wildlife here...

4 Signets this year from our resident swans, i plan to feed them and get them real tame...

Sadly the pair have struggled in the last two years to raise young...

You may remember this from a 3 years back....

swans and signets... from coastkid71 on Vimeo.

Loads of Pheasants and Mallard up here too...

20 minute break, then on with the work. Today some strimming, always stuff to strim...

The strimmer was invented in 1970 by a George Ballas in Houston Texas and was called the `string trimmer`
Today's strimmers are light, reliable and have a self feed head , and are a long way from the first strimmers i used in the 1980s...

Mowing the semi rough is a superb bit of kit - a tow behind Canadian Progressive 120

Me?, i am happy with my Sthil strimmer -:) ...

Superb views today...

RAF were up today...

1pm already, 10 mins on the computer down at the office and then set up some watering of newly turfed areas...

The day was still hotting up ...

Before you know it , its 2.30pm and home time!. 8 1/2 hour day done just like that, job and finished. I love it and so do the guys. Time for a detour home on the SURLY Karate Monkey 29er...

Even got a fly by from the RAF...

I headed for a loop around my local woods...

And a couple of hours silence as i cruised around the woods with only the sound of bird song for company , it was nice and cool in here out of the heat of the day. I met one person walking. Peace and quiet...