In the last month, Grange has received more than 40mm of rainfall, a welcome reprieve from the long irrigation season we have endured. The rainfall has filled our wetland systems, enabling us to capture stormwater and begin recharging our bore network. This additional water, known as our “injection allocation”, will bolster our reserves for the 2026/27 irrigation season where the total amount injected is added onto our “general allocation” during that financial OR water use year.

We have also made progress on turf recovery, particularly in areas impacted by tournament activity. A new variety of couch grass, TifTuf, known for its drought and shade tolerance, has been trialled in these sections. Only a few small areas remain to be completed this week with other areas soon to be earmarked for turfing as well.

Our nursery, located adjacent to the 16th East Fairway, has been seeded with the same Bentgrass varieties currently used on the courses. We have also allocated space to trial newer Bentgrass cultivars for potential future use. Germination is expected soon, although cooler seasonal conditions may cause slight delays. The trial work will be in readiness for the West Course rebuild and includes some of the newest varieties of Bentgrass available.

Additionally, this week we are replacing the turf edge along the East putting green with fresh sod from our West nursery. This area sustained damage through event week where tournament signage used for player and spectator separation was required, recovery of the area was slow and therefore turf replacement has been the best option.

The 15th West Green will also be an area of focus for us in the coming months. The front right-hand edge of the green has consistently given us poor turf performance with factors such as high traffic, poor water quality & pooling, mower turning & roller directional changes adding to the turf loss. We currently have the area GUR’d however, we will soon remove the right 1/3rd of the green surface and bunker edge before lowering both and reducing the bunker size. This will adjust the slope to promote surface water movement whilst creating more pin positions at the front and right-hand side of the green.

Upcoming works 

  • Recent rains will see the commencement of the planting on the 1st East fence line 
  • Sand to be incorporated into the right of the 1st East rough line and 16th East Tees in preparation for turf
  • Running our Air injection machine across greens to relieve compaction and increase infiltration of rainfall

Additional Works Completed in Recent Weeks:

  • Relocated an irrigation pipe on the 9th West greenside bunker
  • Plugged bare areas on greens to improve surface quality
  • Recent storms felled five trees across the East and West Courses. Two full days were required to cut and chip these
  • A wetting agent applied to the West Course Greens ahead of the rainfall to assist with flushing sodium deposits from the long irrigation season
  • We also repaired a large irrigation failure at the front of the East Pump shed (11th East Tee)