Tee Reservations 11th - 20th January

Intruder on the premises - Thursday 9th January

An intruder entered the premises on Thursday evening, while there were members and staff present, and items were stolen. Members are reminded to remain vigilant at all times, ensuring personal belongings are secured and vehicles locked when using the club.

Members are welcome to collect any of the wood from the car park. Please be aware that some of the logs are quite large. Donations should be made to the Captains' Charity - the Rob George Foundation. A collection box is in the clubhouse or you can pay online here.

Repairing a divot or pitchmark takes no time at all. If you use a trolley, please take a bag of divot mix with you when you play.

CGC Lottery

The February draw is taking place in the clubhouse at 3.30pm on Friday 17th. Please ensure you enter this month's draw as soon as possible if you would like to be in with a chance of winning! The sortcode is 60 06 06 and account number 57912211 with the reference number CGCL followed by your surname.

Dogs

The trial allowing dogs on the course after 12.00pm during social rounds has been extended to 31st March. A full breakdown of the rules for the trial can be found here.

Course News

Following the past weekend’s weather event that brought a combined 28mm of snow and rainfall, the golf course demonstrated remarkable resilience and performed relatively well under these conditions. The inconsistent nature of the soil profile and specific microclimate in areas across the course has resulted in a partial thawing of certain surfaces throughout the week. This has required the use of some temporary greens to safeguard against potential root shear.

Maintenance work has continued this week in the ditch to the left of the first hole. Scrub and overhanging branches have been trimmed back, leaves have been cleared and removed, and the banking has been strimmed and tidied to improve the drainage efficiency. A number of inlets have also been cleared and drain rodded to ensure water is moving off of the site.

With the presence of some standing surface water in isolated areas of the course we have undertaken some manual spiking and aeration to alleviate the standing water and reduce water retention in the soil. There are one or two areas of concern specifically at the front edges of the 2nd and 12th greens. These areas have been marked as NPZ and I would request that we avoid accessing the greens through these areas currently. I believe the likely cause is an element of compaction as these are high traffic areas for green access. We will be utilising the Oxy-Shot in these areas when temperatures increase and we can access the site with required equipment.

Work has continued on the 4th tee this week, with the remaining turf removed. We have taken some preliminary levels and have begun to site mark the level reference points. We have marked new string lines to square and even the tee surface area ahead of the rest of the site stakes being positioned.

We have attempted to resolve the reported issues regarding some of the winter mats and steps following a period of sustained frosty conditions recently. We have brushed rock salt into the artificial pile to alter the freezing point of the retained moisture and have had a degree of success in reducing the slippery conditions. This has obviously left the surfaces a bit messy and is not the permanent solution. I will be trialling an environmentally sound liquid de-icing compound as soon as it arrives.

The recent weather has restricted an element of our capacity to undertake some of the scheduled work this week, and the previously milder temperatures in late December and the overlaying snow recently has contributed to some turf disease that current conditions are preventing us from resolving. An application of granular iron will be applied to the greens as soon as temperatures increase. The conditions have afforded us an opportunity to inspect and clear out a number of bird boxes on the site ahead of nesting season.

Please enjoy your golf

Kind regards

James Rattenbury

Hospitality News

Treat your loved one to something different this Valentines Day! Instead of a romantic meal why not invite them to test their knowledge (and enjoy some of Chef Tony's cooking!) with our love themed Quiz on 14th February. Tickets are online now.

The resident fox joined some of our braver(?) members out on the course early this morning.

Colchester Golf Club
21 Braiswick
Colchester
CO4 5AU
Tel: 01206 853396
Email: secretary@colchestergolfclub.com

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