As David has reported in his blog from the green keepers perspective below, May has been pretty poor weather wise. There have been some amazing showers, coupled with some high winds. Hopefully you have managed a game or two in between the showers, but if not, then please put our annual Pro Fun Day in your diary, taking place on Sunday, 24 May. We really hope you can make it along.

This year there will be a reduced holes format to 15 holes (holes 1-3 and then 7-18) with all the trimmings, and a few extra from previous years. There will also be a meal or BBQ included dependent on the weather along with many excellent prizes. This has to be a day not to be missed. Not only that, but with the reduced holes format it won't keep you away from the family for the whole day!

It's been a bit of an unsettled start to May on the weather front, with some very heavy showers. We only recorded 22mm rain for the whole of April yet we have seen 61mm in the past 7 days, not that you would know it by playing the course as things are still very firm and dry.

Previously I touched on the fact that the greens sward was establishing very well and that uneven growth was levelling out. We now turn our focus to fine tuning the sward and concentrating on uniformity, which in turn will produce truer, faster greens.

The main challenge we face is managing lateral growth on our bentgrass dominant greens. There are a few tasks we do to encourage the grass plant to stand up, whether it is through spraying specialised products or grooming/verti cutting.

After the recent addition of a 'sweep n fill' rotary brush to our fleet we now have another method which has proved very effective. Its main purpose is for brushing heavy sand dressings into aeration holes, but it is also very good when used to stand up the lateral growth prior to mowing. This is something we will do around once per week to achieve a finer grass sward with less nap or grain.

This season has seen a change in cutting patterns on our greens complexes, with our aim to make these areas more defined and create tighter lies.

Growth is typically slow in the spring at Ladybank but this operation is now well underway and I'm sure this will become apparent in the coming weeks….or when we get some reasonable temperatures!! Our new trim mower is very manoeuvrable and can mow closer to bunker edges, leaving a very neat finish.

This week we had the first of two annual visits from STRI as part of the objective testing programme which we have subscribed to for some years now as well as an assessment of the golf course set up.

During this visit we will be tested on Trueness, Smoothness, Moisture levels, Firmness, Green speed, and Organic Matter levels.

This is a vital part of our course management plan as we have strict targets set in all these areas.

The STRI report will be received in due course - see future blogs for details - and the summary will be posted on Greens notice board at reception.

It's great to see our Junior golfers turning up in their droves again at the club. Sunday past saw 15 junior golfers take part in the short game league.

Our Junior members deserve great credit for their enthusiasm and willingness to participate in the new junior schedule.

Gregor and I really appreciate your taking part and getting involved at the club with the junior activities. We hope you keep on having fun and enjoying your visits along.

Click here to find out more.

Thursday, 14th May

Get out of bunkers - GUARANTEED! 20 min appointments available 3pm-6.30pm £10

Sunday, 24 May - Pro's Day

Our Pro Fun day on Sunday, 24 May is starting to fill up nicely now. Hopefully there are still some of you deciding on your team of three or four players! At only £15 to enter per team, this event is hopefully becoming one of the must-play events in the club calendar! Please come out and make it a day to remember in 2015.

Make sure you book in the pro shop.

An evening with John Mather Golf Psychologist - 11 June

- 11 Jun 2015 - Golfing Psychology Evening With John Mathers HPC Registered Golf Psychologist at Stirling University. As an elite amateur golfer himself he may provide some help in unlocking your golfing potential? 7pm - 8.30pm. £12 per ticket Tickets available to buy in the Pro Shop - limited to 50 people

As little prelude to our Golf Psychology evening taking place on the 18th June at 7pm, I wanted to highlight an area of importance in this field as I see it.

The Practice vs Play mind sets!

Many people don't differentiate between how they operate mentally on the course with what they do when they practice. This I believe is one of the biggest areas holding people's performance levels back. I strongly believe that you must operate in practice in a left side of the brain mode I.e being analytical, thinking about what you are physically doing and making repetitions of the same movement again and again to in grain a new technique or skill.

However the opposite is true when you operate in a playing golf mode on the course. It then becomes key to switch the side of the brain you utilise and operate in a right side of the brain mode. I.e not thinking about what your body is doing, not thinking technically about body movement. Once you get on the golf course you have to hope that any practised skill is becoming in grained/learned. This obviously takes time and is the main reason people jump around looking for quick fixes or band aids as many like to call them.

Many simply don't understand the time factor required to efficiently learn a new skill to its conclusion. Ie once you can do it without thinking about it. I strongly suggest when you play golf that you play with the right side brain and go out there visualising what you hope the ball is going to do rather than what you are going to do over a shot.

I can guarantee more success if you operate like this in the future with any golfing time you may have. The greatest golfer of them all, Jack Nicklaus, once said "my most powerful tool was my ability to use visualisation on the course." Powerful stuff indeed from a great.

2014 model bag SALE

We are running a 33% SALE on ALL bage from last years range. Please pop in store and see what we have to offer. There are some great deals to replace that old bag.

Now in store in Ladybank pro shop - Motocaddy S7 Remote Control Trolley

The first remote control model in the Motocaddy range boasts one of the trolley sector's most sophisticated guidance systems, utilising two motors to provide a combination of power and precision, plus an anti-tip wheel to ensure stability on the most challenging golf course terrains.

- Rear anti-tip wheel
- Patented USB charging port 
- QUIKFOLD assembly mechanism 
- EASILOCK™ compatible