Possibly our wettest week in the wettest winter on record? Last week we had over 50 mm (2”) of rain, including over 21 mm in a single day. We’ve been closed 5 days out of 7, as have all our neighbours. After a short warm dry period, things have eventually improved but the short-term forecast has again deteriorated. We are not out of the woods yet.

Without machines, the team can do little other than routine maintenance e.g. path edging and stream banks but finally, on Friday, they were able to get a cut on the greens. Unsurprisingly, a lot came off - 15 'boxes' in all. (A normal day's mowing yields 2-4 boxes, but they hadn’t been cut for well over a week). On the positive side, we are pursuing a machine that could turn out to be a bit of a game-changer - watch this space.

When it’s really wet, surface water can be seen flowing onto the course from the fields beyond the 9th. It’s that which creates the flooding by the 18th green and thence down 14. There is a 12” buried main drain from that field which flows down to the brook but in the worst of the weather it is being overwhelmed. Gavin doesn’t know whether the drain serves just the field or possibly also the near edge of Waverton. The pipe flows at full bore, so it’s not a blockage problem. He's started excavating on the course boundary to see if he can create some form of relief, but he daren't divert anything into the course drainage for fear it also might be compromised.

Gavin and Callum have replaced the temporary boundary round the patio extension with a rather more attractive rope and post edging.

Course Committee
14 April 2024