St Andrews Links Blog

A wintry week in St Andrews

This has not been the best of weeks to prepare the golf courses. With the start of the medal season underway, we have had snow early in the week which then froze and continues to lie in some sheltered low spots and bunkers throughout the New and Jubilee.

The nights have also stayed cold with temperatures plummeting to -2 degrees resulting in course closures and frustration for greenstaff who cannot get any surface preparations, such as mowing or rolling carried out to the putting surfaces.

So what have we been up to?

Basically, we catch up with tasks such as machinery maintenance, staff training and repaint course furniture like discs and stakes.

All the machines have been thoroughly lubricated and cleaned up for the season ahead. The picture below shows two items in our fleet; a fairway mower and our new rough mower. Having equipment at the cutting edge of technology doesn’t come cheap, therefore, it is only proper that they are well looked after and this is where continued training is essential.

Words by Graeme Taylor, Course Manager – New & Jubilee Courses