Greenkeeper Newsletter

Dear members,

Season start
Firstly a very warm welcome to our existing and new members as we enter the start of Simon’s Golf Club’s 30^th season. Everything is in place for it to be the best season ever. I appreciate my season start newsletters are always very detailed and this year is no different, I urge you all to please take the time to absorb the information. My Newsletters are also published on our homepage should you wish to read or reread past editions.

Frost delays
Going into April the forecast is showing night frosts with warm daytime temperatures, this means we should still expect frost delays but with the course opening during the day. Again, with the night frosts forecast, this will slow the potential growth of the grass and I must therefore plan accordingly to continue to protect the course moving forward.

The frost delays will also have an effect on how much work we are able to carry out on the course f.ex raking bunkers, mowing and rolling greens. On Wednesday 29^th March we mowed the greens and rolled.

Due to the night frosts being forecast the ITC will remain open over the coming weeks, I will advise when it will close for the season.

Trolley ban
The trolley ban will remain in place through Easter, I always plan to have the trolley ban lifted before the Seniors first day of the season which this year is 17^th April. I will send an email to all members the day before the trolley ban will be lifted.

Winter wear
I am starting to notice some winter wear around the greens and tees, this is not surprising when we are entertaining 300 members over a weekend, if that was 300 members pushing trolleys and with any significant amount of rainfall the damage would be much more severe. As it is, if we continue to proceed with caution as the temperatures start to rise, I believe recovery should be fairly swift.

Winter course
With regards to the winter course, this too will remain in place over the weeks ahead until the soil temperatures are warm enough for the divots removed from the tees to recover in adequate time. I aim to have the summer course in play by the Clubs first tournament on 23^rd April, again, I will inform you closer to the time.

Preferred lies
Preferred lies will remain in place until we have positive growth and our spring aeration holes have closed over.

Range balls
Range balls, as throughout the winter, will be picked whenever possible. Frost delays and rainfall affect us being able to collect balls. We continue to place the information on the Splash on the website when balls have not been able to be collected.

First Aid
On Monday 6^th March 15 members of SG A/S staff including Admin, Bar staff, Marshalls and Greenkeepers took a first aid and heart start training course from Falck. As I myself have had to be a first responder on the course a number of times over the years I wanted as many of my team as possible to also be trained to assist should any of our members, guests or staff require it. Should there ever be an incident on the course please call 112 and also contact Admin or Albatross Bar so a member of the A/S staff can communicate with the emergency services. As stated on the back of the course guide and scorecard the Heart Starter is located passed the terrace at the back entrance to Albatross Bar.

Members questions
I ask that should you have any questions, comments, or praise regarding the golf course that you direct them to the club’s Green’s Chairman, Jesper Zerlang (via: klub@simonsgolf.dk) and if needed we will add them to our agenda for our next Greens Committee Meeting of which our Head Pro, James Petts also sits on. My team, although extremely keen and committed, are not best placed to answer many of your questions.

 Seasonal staff
Our seasonal staff return to or join the team on 3^rd April, a number of them have not worked on a golf course before so it usually takes some weeks for them to fully understand the intricate details of setting up the course, I ask for your patience while we train the new members of our team.

Pro-Shop
A note from the Pro-Shop, please remember to confirm your tee-time booking in Golfbox prior to play, this can be done either in the new app or in person in the Pro-Shop.

1. Go to My Times
2. Press the time you need to approve
3. Select the 3 dots on the right hand side
4. Go to time
5. Scroll to the bottom and press Confirm

It was great to see Jeff Winther and Søren Kjeldsen who were enjoying some early season practice on the course, I would like to thank them both for their compliments regarding the condition of our course and greens and I wish them both the very best of luck for the season ahead.

On behalf of myself and my team, I would like to wish you all a very happy Easter and a great golfing season.

Kind regards

Reamonn O’Neill
Golf Course Superintendent