Winter time traditionally has been a time of rest for a golf course and a time where the ground staff can carry out work on the course that would not be feasible during the busy playing season.  Of course traditions are not unaffected by the changing times we live in and through and it has gradually happened over the last few years that more and more people keep on playing throughout the winter with the result that the course itself does not get the 2 months rest it might otherwise get.  Of course this is good for some and not so good for others.  For the ground staff it means they need to carry out the essential work but now have to contend with so many people on the course.  The course itself not getting the total respite it perhaps once did requires even more maintenance so really for the ground staff in Castlebar Golf Club, as in every other club, the winter season can be just as busy as any other time.
The back end of 2009 however was a particularly hard one for all courses in Ireland.  With record amounts of rain falling the course became quite wet underfoot, although it is a credit to our staff that the course remained playable throughout.  Then we had almost 6 weeks of sub-zero temperatures, snow and ice and the ground frozen to a depth of almost a foot!  This of course necessitated the closure of the course for over 5 weeks.  During these 5 weeks the staff was busy carrying out maintenance work on the tees and greens, the paths and indeed they even did a lot of work on our clubhouse renovations.
Let us not forget nor take for granted Stephen and his crew, they are the ones keep the course in pristine condition, through the most difficult and often atrocious conditions they are out there toiling away. Well done to you all!
One of the most obvious works the ground staff have done so far in 2010 is the new extension back of the 3rd Tee.  The back tee was unfortunate insofar as the trees surrounding it were blocking it getting any decent amount of sunshine with the result that it constantly struggled to recover from any substantial use.  However, a lot, though not all, of those trees have been felled and the remaining ones pruned, the tee itself has been extended back approximately 7 metres and now this tee presents its own challenge to us golfers when we get to play it, hopefully in the early summer.  It is a great job and just one example of the ongoing work the course committee and the course staff carry on all of the time.