Following careful consultation with the Course Agronomist, Course Convener and Course Superintendent, please note that the following essential course works are planned –

*THURSDAY 23rd AUGUST

To de-thatch the 18 Greens and Putting Green, the course will be closed up until 11am on that day and then opened thereafter. This is not an invasive procedure and the greens will then be top dressed and rolled.

*MONDAY 27th AUGUST

To hollow core and top dress the ‘Front Nine’ – holes 1 – 9 inclusive, the Front Nine will be closed all day, but the Back Nine will be available for play.

*MONDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER

To hollow core and top dress the ‘Back Nine’ – holes 10 – 18 inclusive, the Back Nine will be closed all day, but the Front Nine will be available for play.

*THURSDAY 4th OCTOBER

The Fairway Sanding will take place, the course being closed all day as a result.

All of the above are part of the established annual programme of course works recommended by our Agronomist. They will help ensure that playing surfaces are maintained at their best throughout the winter season.

Please note that the planned works are weather dependent.

Thank you for your patience while these course treatments are on-going.

Thank you

Mark Gannon
General Manager

Following the sanding of the Fairways and Rough on Thursday this week, there will be Placing (6”) on Fairways only for this weekend’s play. This limited relief will allow for competitions to remain as “Qualifying”. In addition a temporary Local Rule has been introduced to allow for relief from Tractor Ruts and Machinery marks.

Terry O’Neill
Course Convenor
4th May 2018

As you are aware the back 9 are being Hollow-cored this week. 8 of the 9 were cored and top dressed Tuesday morning before heavy rain arrived. Unfortunately the drag matting of sand into the core holes had to cease due to rain and associated clogging on the surface of the greens. This means  completion of the work will not now be undertaken till today. As a result, temporary greens will be needed on back 9 today.

Terry O’Neill
Course Convenor

I would like to bring to members attention that we have commenced a Greens Improvement Programme this week following specific recommendations from our recently appointed Course Agronomist.

The specific recommendations included the following:-

1. Apply Sulphate of Iron to improve the overall appearance of the green. Members will have noticed some “blackening” around the edges of greens in particular but this will disappear over the next few days as growth comes on.
2. Hollow-core the greens with 12mm tines as an essential part of the annual maintenance programme. This process ensures decompaction of the greens and results in freer draining of greens firmer surfaces, and faster speeds. The timing of this is a little later than normal due to prevailing weather conditions but with current growth recovery the season long benefits of this programme will be appreciated for the coming months. It is planned to do 9 holes this week and a further 9 holes next week to minimise disruption. A full recovery should be evident within 10-14 days of the treatments.
3. Over-seed the greens to introduce finer grasses to improve the quality of the sward. This to be done in conjunction with the Hollow-coring when temperatures reach 11-12 degrees.
4. The 1st, 2nd and 16th greens were drained over the past 18 months and the recovery of these greens has been less than anticipated. In particular they have been susceptible to drying out in dry weather and disease when wet. It has been recommended that we apply a Zeolite treatment which will have the effect of increasing moisture balance and nutrient utilisation. Further top-dressing of these greens is also recommended to eliminate remaining areas of subsidence which is measured at around 5mm at worst. It is planned to eliminate these irregularities over the coming weeks.
5. Fairways sanding has been a consistent programme for the past 4 years in Skerries Golf Club. This is an essential aspect of maintaining our drainage works and improving the overall profile of the fairways year round. This work is now scheduled for Thursday 3rd of May. Again this is later than we would normally want but due to weather and ground conditions our Sanding Contractor has been playing “catch-up” for the past few weeks due to inaccessible ground conditions throughout a large part of March and early April.
6. Finally a word about “fusarium”. The Fusarium infestation that we experienced over the winter months has left a considerable amount of scarring on all greens. The new growth now being experienced will quickly allow for grow-in of these scars and along with the hollow-coring and over-seeding programme very significant improvement is expected over the next few weeks in relation to these scars. Moving forward a 4 weekly preventative treatment from early September through to March has been recommended. A Summer treatment programme is also in place to combat outbreaks are detected.

It has been a particularly rough Winter/early Spring for most golf courses in Ireland. Rainfall amounts, low temperatures, poor early growth and significant storm damage have all contributed to a slow start to the new season. However today certainly, Spring has finally sprung and we look forward to getting our course back into tip-top shape over the next few weeks.

Yours in golf

Terry O’Neill

Course convenor

19th April 2018

This notice is to confirm that the course is now closed for Saturday and Sunday with Monday remaining in significant doubt. Unfortunately this is due to very significant rainfall this week which is on-going and predicted to last well into Sunday. For safety and course preservation reasons it has been decided to take this action.

Members will be alerted via Pro Shop phone message and Website of any updates. Bar and Restaurant will be open.

Regards and Happy St.Patricks Day to all.

Course Committee

We wish to advise you that the Course will be OPEN tomorrow, Thursday 8th March 2018.

However please be aware that there are some areas on the course still wet underfoot and are therefore slippery, we would ask that you take extra care in these areas.

Hon. Secretary & Course Convenor

Having spoken to the Course Superintendent it is clear that drenched ground, dangerous underfoot conditions and snow in bunkers are persisting.  It is both Martin and Michaels’ view that we will be better rewarded by allowing the course to dry out at least another day or so.  On that basis I’m recommending we remain closed tomorrow and allow for proper clearance of the course.  This will also ensure member safety and a quicker overall course recovery.

Terry O’Neill

Course Convenor

Please note that the Clubhouse and Bar will be open but the Restaurant will remain closed.

Admin

Members are advised that following heavy falls of snow and the extreme volumes of snow on the course, the course will remain closed for the remainder of the weekend. Any decision in relation to re-opening the course for play from Monday onwards will be dependent on weather developments and our ability to ensure staff/member safety and course preservation following this weather event. 

Members are advised to contact the Club by phoning 01-8491567 (extension 1) where updated messages on the Course will be available as usual.

Course Committee

Friday March 2^nd 2018

Members are advised that following heavy falls of snow and the extreme weather warnings in place that the course will remain closed for Thursday and Friday. Any decision in relation to re-opening the course for play on Saturday or Sunday will be dependent on weather developments and our ability to ensure member safety and course preservation following this weather event   Members are advised to contact the Club by phoning 01-8491567 (extension 1) where updated messages on the Course will be available as usual.

Course Committee

Wednesday 28^th February 2018