As part of our commitment to continuous improvement and to enhance the overall golf experience for our customers, we have scheduled greens and fairways maintenance and tree felling works taking place across our golf courses.

As the works take place, there will be necessary course closures on the following dates:

25 & 26 September – Balnagask Golf Course

Course closed to allow greens maintenance works to be carried out.

2 – 4 October – Kings Links Golf Course

Course closed to allow greens maintenance and targeted fairways scarification works to be carried out.  

4 – 6 October – MacKenzie Championship Golf Course

Course closed to allow greens maintenance and targeted fairways scarification works to be carried out.  

16 & 17 October – Hazlehead Pines Golf Course

Course closed to allow greens maintenance works to be carried out. 

23 – 31 October – Hazlehead Pines Golf Course – Tree felling works

Partial closure for 7 working days to allow for tree felling works to take place. The course will be open as normal on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 October. 

Please note: There is only a partial course closure whilst the tree felling works take place, and only holes 10, 11 and 12 will be closed. Golfers will go from hole 9 to hole 13, playing a 15-hole course. These works are required by SSE to remove trees beside the electricity pylons on the 11th fairway.

Image above: fairway scarification at MacKenzie Championship Golf Course

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused while these works take place. We strive to provide the best playing experience possible across our golf courses, and these works are required to ensure the ongoing quality and health of the greens and fairways.

A detailed account of the works is outlined below: 

• Following greens soil sample tests analysed by the STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute), the greens will be scarified in two directions to a depth of 25mm to target the organic matter build up in the top 25mm of the soil profile. This will help to reduce levels of organic matter down to around 4-6%. 
• Greens will then have a pass with the verti cutting units followed by a deep solid tine with a 12mm wide x 200mm depth tine.
• They will then receive a light top dress with sand and will be overseeded with a Fescue/Bent seed mix.
• This will be followed up with another top dress, with the target volume of 30-40 tonnes of sand per course working into the soil profile.
• A granular fertiliser will then be applied to help aid recovery.
• At Kings Links and the MacKenzie Championship Golf Courses, targeted fairways scarification will also take place, which involves top dressing with sand and seed mix.

This is an intensive but necessary process to ensure the greens and fairways playing surfaces are healthy. It is vital that these processes are done now to allow recovery before the grass growth regresses as the temperatures start to drop before the winter season.

Images above: brushing and sanding of the greens at Hazlehead

We thank all of our golf members and pay and play users for their support and patience as we carry out these important works.