Course Update – Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Current Course conditions are good, but there’s still plenty to do. Greens are healthy and improving every week, and we are seeing the edges tie-in more and more every week. Speeds are getting more consistent as all the Greens mature together, which has not been a focus during the growing in period, as we first look to establish a healthy putting surface before refining the playability of these Greens. There will be some edges of greens that may still be growing in when the weather starts to turn, and we will just have to manage those going forward. We will likely choose some of the larger areas to turf/plug to speed up this process.
The TifEagle Greens are known to generate plenty of thatch, which we are always looking to eliminate with our regular top-dressings and bi-weekly vertical mow. Both these processes take time, but vastly improve putting performance and turf health. This procedure may visually appear to impede on ball roll but doesn’t to any great effect.
Progress is being made on the 1st Tee and Putting Green project, as Atlas have completed the Greens drainage and the 100mm gravel layer has been graded to the right contours. Sand will be carted onto the Green in the coming days, as they wait for the surrounds to dry out a little so the gravel layer isn’t contaminated with mud. Turf and Stolons are scheduled for the surrounds and green early next week all going well. The Greens on 14, 15 and 16 were stolonized last Thursday, just in time for the rain over the weekend, a good coverage has been applied to ensure a quick strike as we go out of the growing season.
If you have been paying attention to the weather, we seem to have dodged a few storms in the last few months and last weekend was no exception. We welcomed 30mm over the course on the weekend, a great amount of drizzly rain to soak into our playing surfaces and top the creek levels up without causing too much standing water. That said, a few of the bunkers have obviously not enjoyed the excessive moisture and are taking a little longer to dry out. Mostly, they are all in fairly good shape, and in time, when we can get in and rectify some of the poor drainage issues, we will eliminate the need to stake bunkers from small rain events such as this one.
The new Tee markers are out on the course and are proving to be a breath of fresh air, now that we are back to four Tee markers, the course can be shuffled around and we will be able to spread the wear better. A reminder that the order for the Tee markers is Navy Blue, Gold, White & Light Blue as the forward Tee. You can opt to play from any Tees, by informing the lovely pro shop staff before your round (except for certain events).
Next Monday we will be verti-cutting the Tees, this was due to take place this Monday (the 15th) but due to the conditions and the moisture still in the ground we opted to push it back to not put any stress on the playing surfaces. We also didn’t go out with a dust on the Greens after the verti-cut, this will happen occasionally, and we will make it up next Monday all going well. We’ll be aiming to do this process in front of play on Monday, granted there aren’t any surprises. Golf won’t be impacted at all by this and they should recover quite quickly with the good coverage we currently have. This will be the last form of maintenance for the Tees before the winter months. We will continue to do light work on the Greens through winter, likely putting the Pro-core into the program and give them a solid tine to assist aeration and resume with the dusting.
A busy couple of weeks ahead, which hasn’t changed too much in the last 12 months but it should see the project work come to a close. Once Atlas has wrapped up and we are growing the last few Greens in, a focus will be on the course to further improve playing areas and member experience.
As always, stay excellent.
Alex Blakey
Assistant Course Superintendent
The Brisbane Golf Club
