Course Closure Operations

The pre-Winter course renovations will be taking place from Monday the 7th of April through to Wednesday the 9th and members are reminded that the Club and all facilities including the practice nets and Trackman simulator room will be closed during these dates. There will be some staff here from various departments that can assist with collection of clubs or buggies to take home or elsewhere during the closure but the clubhouse will not be open for food and beverage services.

Farewell Max Dakic

Dear Members,

It is with mixed emotions that I write to inform you that Max Dakic will soon be leaving Oatlands Golf Club to pursue an exciting new chapter in his career.

Max has accepted the role of Assistant Professional at the prestigious Montecito Club in Santa Barbara, California. This opportunity is a dream come true for Max, and while we are sad to see him go, we are also immensely proud of him for chasing his dreams and taking a chance.

Since joining Oatlands, Max has been an outstanding asset to our Club, particularly through his dedication and enthusiasm in working with our Junior Development Programme. His contribution has had a lasting impact, and he will be greatly missed by both staff and members alike.

Max’s final day at the Club will be Easter Saturday, 19th April. In the meantime, I am currently in the process of searching for a suitable replacement to continue the great work he has done.

Please join me in wishing Max all the very best in this exciting new chapter of his life. I look forward to following his journey and am confident he will continue to thrive and make us proud.

Jeremy Ward

From the Course

Rainfall for the week – 45mm

Rainfall for 2025 – 336.5 mm

Dam – 100%

Green speed – 10 feet

The recently completed applications of growth regulator to fairways and roughs have taken effect this week which is enabling the course team to prepare and present better quality playing surfaces heading into the weekend. It doesn’t mean the team can relax though, with preparations for next week’s autumn renovations also being performed to ensure the renovation period is as successful as possible.

Greens were treated on Thursday morning with a fungicide that will protect the greens from Pythium. This fungicide is absorbed by the roots of the turf so therefore we had to irrigate this product into the soil which wasn’t ideal after the weekend’s rainfall. A soil penetrant was added to the tank mix to reduce the amount of irrigation required while still achieving the correct placement of the fungicide.

During renovations next week, greens will be heavily topdressed with sand before 12mm solid tines will aerate all greens to a depth of 200mm. The holes left by the solid tines will be filled with the sand and allow an avenue through the soil profile for new roots to grow. The sand filled aeration holes will improve infiltration rates of the putting surfaces which will be beneficial during wet weather periods.

Fairways are also going to be aerated with the verti drains but no sand topdressing will be performed during this renovation period. Fertilising and fungicide applications will be made to control the leaf diseases which were diagnosed from the recent samples taken. These fungicide applications will also help control the usual patch disease that occurs in the fairways during the winter months.

The practice green is ticking along nicely with the height of cut being dropped to 9mm this week, handling this reduction in the height of cut without any side effects. Fertiliser was applied after the cut on Thursday to help this green’s development. The seed on the 19^th green hasn’t established as well as the practice green did, so we will be adding more seed to this green early next week after it is pre-germinated over the weekend. The turf surrounds of this green have established well and will receive its first mow over the next week.

Our volunteers were on course Monday morning edging pathways, trimming the hedges at the 6^th tee, trimming suckers from tree bases, and cleaning along the fence line of the 6^th hole. The roses were trimmed with many flowers on display this week. Thank you gentlemen for all your efforts this week, your assistance is very much appreciated.

Greens will be cut and rolled on Saturday and cut again on Sunday morning. Garry will be setting pins on Saturday morning, and I will be setting pins on Sunday morning.

Happy Golfing!

The Course Team