F-Troop and the Greens Staff worked long and hard today to restore the course to some resemblance of tidiness. After yesterday's gale force winds tore through the course ripping off large branches, and millions of small twigs and leaves and spread them from one side of the course to the other. There was not a fairway that was not affected with some very large branches down that required a chain saw to remove. To make matters worse two of the greens were vandalized yesterday which took up more of the greens staff time to repair.
Many thanks to our volunteers that materialized this morning knowing that they had a huge job ahead of them in addition to further work to be done on the 18th tee garden fence. We had on hand Duncan Dyer, Geoff Bridge, Richard Casey, Peter Martin, Kerry Cubis, Des Wilson, Rosalie Dyer, Bev Way, Georgina Lamb & Di Beechey & we managed to inspire Felicity Mead to do some timber pick up for us at the 18th.
Working on the 18th tee garden fence we had Duncan Dyer, Geoff bridge & Richard Casey. They did a brilliant job & were almost able to get the fence completed bar a few more palings. The fence looks great & will look even better with a coating of protective oil to give it the finishing touch. We have a dam fed watering system in this garden that is being put in place by Peter Martin. Bev Way is the gardener looking after this garden & Bev will be adding some mulch this week for some summer protection.
Doing the hard yards on the timber raking and pick up were Kerry Cubis & Bev Way on the 1st to the 9th fairways and Peter Martin, Georgina Lamb & Di Beechey on the 10th to the 18th fairways. We raked & picked up what seemed to be tonnes of timber & rubbish & with the assistance of the Greens Staff managed to clear up the majority of the damage. It would have been impossible to stretch ourselves to every fairway so there is still a lot of clean up to do however the course looked vastly improved by the time we finished today. The Wedding Garden area looked like a bomb site yesterday & that has now been restored back to a tidy state by Georgina Lamb. The Ladies 3rd tee garden, the 5th tee garden & the 13th tee gardens also got a tidy up after the wild winds had caused a lot of mess in these areas. Rosalie Dyer did some good work at the garden at the back of the men's 10th tee & raking around the putting green.
After watching Georgina & myself raking up at the front of the clubhouse we inspired Felicity Mead to volunteer to help pick up some loose timber at the 18th - thanks Felicity ! Every bit of help is appreciated & a little less work for us to have to do.
F-Troop morning tea was very welcome today as we had all worked very hard all morning. Croissants, Jam & Cream and an assortment of mini muffins and fruit pastries were enjoyed by all. Thanks to John's staff for a lovely morning tea & a cheerio to Chef John who is on leave at the moment having a minor op. Best wishes John! It was good to meet up with Frank Whittington at morning tea as Frank is going to be a future F-Trooper when time allows him to join us. You are most welcome Frank & we are looking forward to you joining us on Monday mornings.
It is a shame that the gale force winds picked this week to arrive as this Thursday is to be the inspection day for the local garden competition. So much to do and so little time. My thanks and appreciation to all the F-Troopers who have more than pulled their weight giving me the assistance that I needed to get our gardens up to scratch in time for the competition. We have done our best under difficult circumstances with heavy rain & winds interfering with our schedules. We will know in a few weeks if we have done enough work.
The painting work has commenced at the Pro Shop and was supervised by Des Wilson. The painters have started at the "Merchandise" end of the shop & will work their way through to the Members Lounge and restrooms.
YES! WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
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