Weather

Just wanted to start by mentioning the Scottish Open which took place at the Castle Stuart links course over the weekend. Jon is friendly with the greenkeepers down there and often calls in so we were saddened to see the damage caused by the rain. Congratulations to the team for keeping the course playable, it still looked good on the television today. Hope it doesn't take too long to do the repairs and fingers crossed for better weather next year.

The rain was very localised and Brahan escaped with just showers. Jon has continued to build further tees which are now completed and welcome players to the course. The pictures show the first group of golfers on the second green and a view of the eighth and ninth fairways taken from the sixth. Note the lovely blue skies!

Open!!!!

Great news...the course opened to the public last Saturday, June 4th. Jon & Claudia have been delighted with the response so far.

Apologies for the lack of posts recently due mainly to a failure in the supply of photographs. Jon & Claudia have been working really hard not only on the course but in the house and I am pleased to report that they moved into the croft house on Saturday after several weeks as nomads. Having moved out of the bungalow at the end of April they had been staying in various holiday cottages but now have a place to call their own. They will also have their own internet connection so hopefully I will have some new pics soon but for now, here are a couple of general shots of the course taken last summer.

Timber!!

The first picture shows Claudia and Jon's friend Willy felling the last tree on 31st March. Willy was over from Switzerland for a weeks holiday with his partner Edith but as last year, put his skills as a woodsman to use. They also helped out putting up the framework for walls in the scout hall. In the third picture, Jon is salvaging floorboards in the Croft Cottage.

Hard Work

With opening day fast approaching, Claudia and Jon have been working some really long hours often starting at 7am and not finishing until 10pm. Yesterday they laid the base for the machine wash pad which required Jon to barrow many loads of concrete from the front of the property.

However it's easier with a little help from your friends. The lovely Andy P made a recent visit and amongst other things, helped to move the old pool table from the scout hall.

Flags a Flying

The course flag flies proudly on the fourth green whilst over on the first fairway, the new bridge is finished and ready for use. As well as keeping the golfer's feet dry, this will also carry machinery and provide much quicker access out onto the course for the greenkeepers. Again, this has been built by Jon & Claudia using material sourced from the land whenever possible.

The Machine Park

The pictures show construction of the machine park which has been Jon and Claudia's most recent project. This is located at the back of the croft house on the site of an old stone built shed, the foundations of which have been used as footings.

Wherever possible materials have been recycled from other parts of the course. For example the base comprises of chunks of breeze block from the old shower block and the roofing was also saved from this building. Jon had a bit of a crisis when he was a few sheets of roofing short and discovered that the panels have a profile that was discontinued a while ago. Fortunately the local merchants had a few sheets hidden away that got the job done. The mowing machines are due back from servicing soon and it will be a luxury to park them in this shed. Up to now the machines have been stored in a regular sized garage which has required millimetre perfect, precision parking in order to fit them all in! I know that as Jon's sister I am slightly biased but I

think that constructing this is a another fantastic achievement and I am really proud of them.

Ready for Croft Warfare

Guess who?