Course Update

We have had a period of mixed weather over the past few weeks with snow and frosts but now that seems to be well behind us now. Soil temperatures have varied from 4 degrees to 15.5 with now more consistent higher temperatures we will see some growth throughout the greens rather than in patches which was the problem last year with the cold weather.

This year we have top-dressed more in a period when the greens are in this condition of being inconsistent which will benefit us later in the season. We have also tried to put more sand in to the soil profile to improve drainage with the greens which suffered in the winter (6,8&13) being targeted with more sand.

The 10th green has been having problems in the way of nematodes which have been eating the roots causing discolouration and loss of grass coverage. This has been sprayed with a chemical containing high levels of garlic. All the greens were sprayed initially and then the 10th was sprayed the following two weeks and more samples have been taken.

We will be trying our best to eliminate the conditions which the nematodes like to live which will also lead to us having much better greens in the future.

Our program of fertilizing will change from granular to liquids at the end of the month with the last granules being spread on the 9th which will accelerate growth and recovery.

Overall their progress has been pleasing compared to last year with increasing green speeds but we want the greens to run smooth and true.

The tees have had their first treatment of the year and will continue to have monthly treatments to improve their condition. They continue to be divoted by the green staff so the divot boxes will not be returning.

The divot bags have been a success so far and is really pleasing that members are taking time to help improve their course. I was hoping that these areas would be classed as a newly sown areas but the R and A have ruled out that possibility but I would encourage people to take relief from repaired divots in social play. I was disappointed that certain members protested to the idea of this free relief as I would hope that all members would want to help and support ideas and requests to help the course which in the end helps maintain a better course for you to play on but maybe a win in a friendly game of golf is more important to a minority of people.

Must say a big thank you to the volunteers from the senior’s section who came and helped on the course. Your help is very much appreciated and will only make the golf course better.  Another thank you goes to Steve Boseley who helped with the posts. Again your help is very much appreciated.

The posts have been erected on the 1st, 10th and putting green and improve the presentation of these plus helping to keep trolleys and buggies off the tees.

The stump grinder is coming this week to tidy up the trees which were removed.

Other works which will be carried out soon will be topdressing the tees and aprons as well as over seeding worn areas on the course. Spraying around the trees will also be completed as soon as possible.

The 3rd path is still awaiting a machine to transport materials and one is being constantly searched for to purchase.

Am hoping for a big improvement in the course through May and hope you will all help us by keeping trolleys and buggies away from greens and by repairing pitch marks and continuing to use the divot bags (returning them to the bins provided).

Help us to help your course.

Thank you.

James

March blog

Hopefully I've now managed to master this blog writing as it has been a while since one has been published.

We are hopefully coming out of a very bad winter in terms of golf. I started the winter with every intention of improving the bunkers starting with the 11th and 16th. This all went out the window in December with the constant rain which prevented us from commencing these improvements. This also stopped us taking machinery on the golf course and unfortunately with good growing temperatures (14 degrees on Christmas Day), worms and wet conditions, we couldn't define the course. This of course caused problems with losing balls and many people were disgruntled with the appearance of the course.

The frost greens have not been anyway near good enough this winter and for that I can only apologise as there is no excuse. This is something we have hopefully started to improve on by using the cores from the main greens and then top dressing and overseeding.  This should give us a better base, should we need to rest or work on the main greens in the future.

The greens have been worked on throughout the winter with us being able to use the pedestrian aerator and they have remained playable with the exception of the 6th, 8th, 13th and 14th which have all been very wet, with the 8th still suffering now. We have tined at various depths to avoid panning and have just completed our maintenance week using 10mm cores at 2 inch spacings and backfilling with 35 tonnes of kiln dried sand. We will fertilise later on this week to aid recovery but will be hoping for some warm weather to trigger some growth.

We are now turning our attention to completing the various jobs we have started on the golf course such as the 1st mound and the drainage channels on 2, 3 and 11.  We are also waiting on  some equipment to be able to help us complete the 3rd path.

The 3rd path is something I felt essential for the golf course as it will enable us to play the hole at all times and with the extension of other paths, will make the course be more pleasurable to play during the winter months. I also feel it is necessary to address the drainage issues on 7 and 11 which have been poor and feel a combination of sand banding and pea gravel drainage channels leading into existing drains or soak aways, will be an ideal solution. The 8th green is also something that needs addressing to prevent a repeat of this winter.

I hope that members will appreciate the jobs that we have managed to complete such as the new benches on 3, 8 and 9, the winter tees on 4, 8, 9, 12 and 15 plus the 3 mats for the juniors on the practice ground. There are other jobs which we have done to try and improve the clubhouse areas with more plans for improvement on the way.

I must express my disappointment in the fact that of the 18 fairway mats which were purchased to improve the playability of certain areas, 7 have "gone missing". This is not an isolated incident with divots being taken on and next to the greens and the engraving on lockers in the members area. As a golf club, we can only move forward and improve with the help and cooperation of the members. Everything we do on the course is to try and improve conditions for your enjoyment and benefit and having to spend time and money repairing damage or replacing course equipment, hinders us doing so. Please work with us and we will all benefit and hopefully, enjoy a great golfing season.

Many thanks for your patience and understanding throughout this difficult period of poor weather and golfing restrictions.  

James

Course Update

The weather is starting to deteriorate after a very mild period.

 The mild weather combined with the heavy dew and rain is perfect weather for fusarium which we have sprayed for. 

Spiking will continue on a regular basis throughout the winter months to aid drainage and to continue to breakdown the black layer and thatch. 

The greens are also being treated today with a granular turf hardener to give them some extra resistance to the threat of disease.

Ropes have been put up around the course so we would appreciate if people would respect and not leave them lying around on the floor.

 They may be annoying but they’re there for a reason and for your benefit. 

Washed sand has been spread around the course to help cope with the heavy traffic. 

It would also benefit the course if people could carry when possible and if using trolleys please stick to the paths and stay well away from the greens.

The temporary greens have had a first cut and have been marked out so please take the appropriate relief.

Work has commenced on thinning out trees in areas where we cannot access with the ride on mowers and in some areas leaving larger gaps in between to get the mowers in. 

The stumps will be ground out when we have finished all the removals to save on keep hiring the same machine. These stumps in the meantime are G.U.R.

Many thanks

James

Course Update

We are cutting the Temp Greens which will be marked with Yellow Spray if your ball lands upon one you MUST take a free drop away from them

Thanks

James

Course Update

It has now been just over a week since we started the maintenance on the greens and after applying more dressing yesterday the work is now complete and we can focus on getting the remainder of the course up to scratch.

The work didn't go as smoothly as planned with late deliveries of the sand and top dresser forcing us to close more greens at once than anticipated. We are of course sorry for the inconvenience caused and I have certainly learnt a lot from the week. Am sure the next time we do our maintenance certain elements can be changed to ensure a smoother process.

The kiln dried sand which we do have to have delivered last minute to ensure it remains dry has been worked into all the greens using a total of around 38 tonnes and the dresser we normally hire has agreed to be purchased which will give us more flexibility in the future.

Greens were fertilized on Thursday to aid the recovery and are now being cut daily at a slightly higher cut. Once the sand has completely disappeared from the surface we will continue cutting at a reduced height with our new mowers.

The greens are currently being ironed and will continue to do so to improve the surface.

The greens are also being pencil tinted at around 2 inch depth which will help with the recovery process.

General maintenance is back under way and we can get back on top of the cutting and defining the course once again.

Would like to say thanks to all the greens team for their extra efforts last week as well as a thank you to Adam, Ian and John for their help.

Also a big thank you to all the members for their support and patience during an unpopular process and am sure we will all benefit from this week for months to come.

Thanks again

James

Last week we unfortunately had another leak on one of the mowers which I'm sure you have noticed on the 11th green. The hydraulic fluid was quickly washed with wetting agent and water to minimise the damage.

The greens were sprayed with a pre competition mix on Tuesday and with a fungicide cocktail for some diseases which are prominent at this time of year.

Dry patches have been hand watered again using wetting agent

The majority of the bunkers have been topped up using a total of 32 tonnes and hopefully this will bed down nicely.

Thank you for all the golfers who are repairing their pitch marks as a noticeable improvement has been made. Please continue you to help us out.

The aeration work will commence today and hopefully the weather is on our side. Temporary greens will not be in use so please pick up and go to the next hole if the green is being worked on.

Thanks

James

Course Update

After another busy week where we had 2 shotgun starts and a two tee start in which it is difficult to work around the golfing schedule we overcame a few obstacles. Difficulties with the greens mower at the start of the week caused us problems but having the hand mowers fully serviced in the winter and the greens iron saw us through okay.

The old mower was scalping which is what you may have noticed on the greens but also mechanically wasn't working at full capacity.

We have now upgraded our greens mowers with two more modern mowers which will help us with busy schedules and also competition preparation. One of the mowers will allow us to cut at heights which we have never been able to achieve which gives us more options.

A big thank you to John Pownall for his continual support.

The greens have been sprayed with a liquid feed and some plant sugars to maintain health and the tees have been sprayed with a pgr/ fertiliser mix.

The leaks have been fixed whilst I have been on holiday and the mixed weather allowed us to do this as we to drain the system.

Sometimes when we're a staff member or maybe two down some areas of the course do slip and I have heard a few grumbles regarding this. Don't forget it is not the green staff that put the footprints in the bunkers.

We now have a bay full of sand and will be topping up the bunkers as time permits. The bunker master will be used when it is required and not just for the sake of it. It is the ideal tool to use during wet periods after the bunkers have drained.

This week we will spike the greens and verticut the greens and catch up on jobs from last week.

I know some of you may be frustrated in knowing that the greens maintenance is quickly approaching. This will benefit you all in the long run and we don't do it for the sake of it. If the weather is kind recovery should be relatively quick and we should reap the rewards. The process will be as follows:

Cut green

Double verticut

Micro core at 2.5 inch depth and at 2 inch spacing’s (increasing to 2.5 if required)

Top dress with 100% kiln dried sand

Brush

Iron

Fertilise and water

We may pencil tine after wards to aid recovery.

Continuing ironing every other day

In the meantime enjoy your golf

Thanks

James