Golf between Rock and a hard place!

When I leave the hotel for a couple of days I am always slightly concerned how much will be achieved in my absence and probably in truth I always imagine more will happen than actually does so I return to a disappointment however this week I was delighted to see the progress on the golf course. As I have mentioned in one of the earlier blogs, the work on the course hard to be postponed as with water pouring from above and even rising from below it became very difficult for Ronnie Macoll to see where the drains were most urgently needed and where the water was flowing so we decided that discretion was the better part of valour and agreed mutually to stop work.

I had seen the stop as a postponement and Ronnie had seen it as abandonment but after a moderate discussion and helped by the fact that we held some of his equipment for ransom, we persuaded him to return and probably in the back of his mind he imagined the weather would drive him off so he could get back to proper work and I had a feeling that would happen too but it was all worth a try. In reality the weather has been perfect with cold nights making soft ground stable and warm sunshine keeping operators hands warm.

So now we have broken down the rocky outcrops and used the material to refill the old drains making the fairways long and rolling rather than short and dangerous with cross drains every shot. It has killed two birds with one stone removing unnecessary hazards from the fairway and also giving good drainage material for the ditches which have now been piped. Although I accept they will take a bit of settlement and need a chance top let the grass grow back I also can now really see potential and the 6th hole especially is a real proper golf challenge with a narrow fairway- imposed by the nature restrictions not allowing semi-rough because of the wonderful butterfly collection in particular- but at least with three good shots the green is achievable and even for a short hitter such as me I have the chance of getting there with the same ball.

Now we need the same weather to hold till the middle of the week and the finishing touches can be made before the rain can return and wash the excess dirt from the surface.