It is early October and Aberdovey is enjoying a wonderful period of fine weather.  Your course is in excellent condition and being enjoyed both by members and an increasing number of visitors.

We have heightened the cut on the greens from 4mm to 5mm and will, in time, increase this to our winter level of 6mm. The fairways are now being cut at 13mm, again an increase on our summer level.  The greens have already been slit and cut, causing little inconvenience to the playing surface and this will continue throughout the winter at the rate of twice a month.

The new bunker on Hole 13 short and left of the green is complete but not yet in play; it is very appealing visually and has been well received.  We still plan to increase the visual effect on both the driving bunker on Hole 13 and the existing bunker some 100 yards short of the green.  Work will continue to bring the style of existing bunkers into line with our new bunkers. There is no firm plan; each bunker will be treated as appropriate.

The new tee lay out for Hole 14 is nearing completion.  We have incorporated a new winter tee into the complex, giving us 6 individual tees.  Work on the 15th tee complex will commence soon, as will the redesign of the right hand green side bunker on Hole 17.

It remains our intention to fill in the short ditch within driving distance on the right of Hole 18, the rough being considered an adequate penalty for a wayward drive.

Two areas of rough in the middle of fairways on Holes 1 and 2 have been cut.

We will also reduce the width of the large lump within driving distance on Hole 4, using the earth taken from the left hand side of the lump to develop additional humps to the flat area on its right.

We will once again be using mats for play off our fairways.  I appreciate that this is not ideal, but it does make an enormous difference to the condition of our fairways in the following season.  The good news is that the "mat" period will be reduced and will run from November 1st to February 28th.  We thank you for your support and would ask that all members take and use mats, but do please return them after play. Our loss of mats is enormous!

Divot bags will be available throughout the winter.  It is not a requirement to take one with you in the winter months, but a number of Members have indicated they are very happy to continue to fill divots as they play.  It is strange how we get used to them; when playing on an away courses you become very conscious of unfilled divots!

Roger Allen
Chairman of Green

The new short game area is progressing well and is setting up to be a fantastic addition for the club. Turf rooting has been exceptional thanks to formal construction techniques and utilisation of high quality sand / compost mix.

The area is now being maintained as the other greens on the course. This consists of feeding, top dressing, rolling and cutting.

It is hoped that we can get the area open for the Ladies Closed Championships in May. The Sports Council of Wales are also looking to host a Wee Wonders / Tri-Golf festival on the area as well.

IH.

The first phase of the course restoration project is now complete. All re-construction activities have now stopped and architect John Kemp has left the site. Additional planting of grasses and compressing bunker faces will now commence in time for the Easter competitions.

Scrub and gorse clearance will also be suspended and affected areas will be cleaned up and seeded with native fescue grasses.

Feedback on the alterations has been very positive with lots of constructive comments coming from industry leaders, media reps, repeat / new visitors and club members.

All outstanding work will now be rolled into a phase 2 programme with a possible start date of October 09. A further set of course improvements is currently being assembled and put to the respective committees for their assessment.

Work has now begun on restoring the bunkers at various points of the course. Most of the bunkers are being modified to the rustic 'lace edged' featured here and some bunkers are being removed altogether.

The new bunkering will have a high tactical / aesthetic value and will integrate more easily with the surrounding landscape.

Bunker work will be ongoing up to the end of March. Ecology work consisting of gorse and scrub clearing will start in early February.

The aim is to have all this years ground work complete prior to the visit of the British Golf Collectors Society on th 4th April.

Scottish Power has now vacated the site and we have started to prepare the area for re-instatement. Working closely with our own staff, Golf Architect David Williams has designed an excellent facility which is focussed on replicating the shapes / contours of the greens already on the course. We will be concentrating on preparing the area over the late summer and hope to put turf down in early October. Given favourable conditions and a good grow in, the facility will be open in April 2009.