Portsmouth Golf Course – Fresh From The Fairways – January 2023
General Manager Update
After some pretty foul weather over the past few weeks, it’s great to receive a bit of much needed sun. Our efforts throughout January were pretty much dictated by the wet and cold conditions, we had a mix of 10 and 14 holes and even closures following the severest of downpours. These conditions are as frustrating for you as they are for us so we appreciate everyone’s patience. Right now, we look to the future and commit to our winter projects that we have planned. These projects will enhance the course further still for the up and coming 2023 season. From a team perspective, we welcome two new members of staff to the workforce and are half way through the recruitment process for a new full time assistant greenkeeper. The next couple of months will be busy as we rapidly approach the warmer months of the year. We are all looking forward to another successful year!
Greenkeeper Update
The golf course has been very wet over the past few months, with more rainfall from November 2022 until now than the period January – October 2022. This has caused a lot of disruption and difficulty for golfers, as well as having a major impact on the condition of the golf course. Now conditions have settled a little, we can continue with our planned winter projects which will be our priority over the coming weeks.
The latest batch of tree works is now complete. We are at a stage now where all high and medium priority survey works have been completed, which puts us in a much safer position. The works have been conducted professionally, with felled trees being cleared and stacked where possible.
Over the coming weeks, we will look to carry out our green renovations. This is a rigorous task but is much needed to ensure we have healthy putting surfaces going into the season. As always, we try to keep disruption to a minimum and will look to conduct these works during the week. Hopefully, this year we will receive an earlier, milder Spring, unlike last year where we had more frosts in April than we had in February! We will appreciate your patience here and state, ‘ It’s short term pain for longer term gain’. On the subject of greens, we have just sprayed all greens with an application to combat disease and provide a feed to help strengthen the leaf. This will be followed by a granular fertiliser over the coming weeks.
Following investment, the team have taken delivery of a brand new tractor and tipping trailer, which will be put to good use. The forms part of over £100k spent in the last three years on modernising the fleet. We’ve also started the recruitment process for a new full time assistant greenkeeper to join the existing team. This will give us more strength and depth as a team throughout 2023 and beyond.
Golf Days, Societies And Events
The diary is filling quickly for 2023 dates for both function and golf societies. If you are looking to book either, please speak to us sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.
We have plenty of free events planned throughout the year, kicking off with our ‘Night at The Movies’ being held on the 31st of March from 7 pm onwards with fancy dress and movie-themed music played throughout the night by our Dj. For this event, please contact our staff for more information.
Thank you for taking the time to read this edition of Fresh from the Fairways. We hope you enjoyed reading about the latest golf news and updates.
We look forward to seeing you next month when we will have more exciting stories to share. In the meantime, make sure to keep an eye out for our upcoming articles, interviews and videos on golf-related topics. Thank you again for your support and we look forward to bringing you more great content in the future!