The End of the Year

The Greens are being spiked every week at the moment at different depths to avoid Panning.

The Greens are Draining better and the Thatch and the Black Layer are being reduced as airflow increases.

The Greens are rolled afterwards to void surface disturbance.

To allow us to complete the work as effectively as possible we will have the Green being worked on put on to a Temp Green until the work is complete.

We are currently spaying a mixture of chemicals to deal with the Fusarium; hopefully we can stay snow free which would help.

You may have noticed that we are lifting the branches of the trees to allow us to cut underneath and to improve playability and some nuisance trees have and will be removed.

SO FROM ALL THE GREEN STAFF HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS AND A FANTASTIC 2015

Update

Sorry it has been a while we have had some problems logging in but Adam seems to have got it sorted we hope!!!!

Anyway lots have happened since last time

 The greens as you are well aware are recovering from the work that was done in October and we were very disappointed not to get them all filled but after the warmest September we had the Wettest October Mother Nature Hey!!

This however keep the greens open during this very wet period we are constantly monitoring the greens for disease as this warm wet weather is perfect conditions for fusarium.

We are very disappointed to see the amount of Pitch Marks and Divots on the greens lately can we sort this out please.

If we ALL look after the course you will reap the benefits next season.

We have have started the paths on several holes which will be completed as soon as conditions allow.

LEAVES we try our hardest to put leaves in areas we have put cages on the course to house the leaves these are Immovable obstructions and should be treated accordingly but this is a war of attrition and we will endeavor to keep on top of this.

7th we have undertaken a program to reduce and help the trees here this on going and should help with a variety of issues.

16TH Hole 

Contractors will grade the mound in between the 6th Tee and the 16th Fairway before finishing with top soil and seed.

the Ridge in the fairway will be topped up with Topsoil to create a more gradual slope this will help with play ability and maintenance this will be finished with Turf.

 We appreciate your help and understanding and I am sure that once finished will add to the hole not detract from it.  

The Spiker that many of you will have seen around has been purchased and will add to the continual improvement of the greens working along side the Greens Iron and Verti Cutters already Purchased early on this year.

We have also brought a Bunker Master which again lots of you have seen and also commented on this with the addition of Sand to some bunkers had a marked effect before the wet weather set in.

Once again Thanks for your Support and your understanding in what are trying conditions for Greenkeepers

Cheers

James(Weasel)

Thank you

Firstly I would like to say a big thank you to all the members who supported the green staff on saturday. Congratulations to Russ Chapman for winning the gentlemens competition and Jill Atkinson who won the ladies. Lorraine Howd won ladies closest the pin in three on 13 and Paul Newell closest the pin in two on 17.

 We have continued to crown lift the trees to make it easier to cut the rough plus making balls easier to find.

Other areas on the course are being tidied as time permits.

The course recovered well after the rain the other Sunday and it gave us the opportunity to trial a machine which helps maintain bunkers by 'fluffing' up the sand. Sand in bunkers is being monitored and added as required.

The greens are still  being verticut weekly and spiked to a depth of 30mm which helps with thatch reduction. Topdressing was also put on the greens last week with another 5 tonnes being used.

We have also topdressed the tees and aprons which in time will improve the playing surface.

With the help of cultural works, topdressing and chemical applications we really hope to improve these areas with the help of golfers. By continuing to keep trolleys and buggies away from the green aprons it will improve the quality of the turf.

 Spraying of various chemicals to improve appearance, health and playability  have been applied in recent weeks and we are monitoring results to try and establish the best program for the course.



Thanks again

James, Mick, Richard, Paul, Alan and Billy

We have finally had a bit of rain which will hopefully green things up again. Some areas have suffered in the dry period with the green aprons taking a particular beating, which is why the white lines have been sprayed to help keep buggy's and trolley's away from these worn areas. I personally think that this should be on a permanent basis so that we really improve the quality of the aprons.

The greens have been sprayed today with a concoction of wetting agent and a concentrated seaweed extract which helps the turf recover from excessive wear and the stress from the hot weather.

The tees have been sprayed with a selective weedkiller and will be sprayed again in the next week with another chemical concoction which will improve colour and turf quality.

The rest of the course hasn't been growing as much which has given us time to start crown lifting the trees and replenish sand in some of the problematic problems.

Thanks

James

Update

As you are all now aware we have been doing lots on the Greens since the last report,

We have Top Dressed twice in the last 2 weeks putting on 8.5 ton of dressing we have also put 2.5 on the Tees.

We have sprayed the greens with a wetting agent which helps to break down surface tension.

The course held up well in the wet weather this is down to the Cultural works being carried out on the Greens.

Please can you keep all trollies and Buggies away from the Greens Please.

The Greens are being spiked today 8,11,12,15,16,17,18

I enjoyed Captains away day visiting different course give us food for though

Cheers

James(Weasel)

WOW

Well that was one busy week Leukaemia Day ,Irish against Liverpool, Our Open , and the Seniors Open.

The feedback we have received has been so encouraging in terms of Course presentation and the the Greens.

The Greens are currently being Vericut once a week and we are cutting them at 3mm as many of you are aware we have had a trial of a Greens Iron/Roller which we have used several times and the results are very encouraging Stimp meter readings after use of the Iron increase and the roll is truer as I am sure a few of you may have noticed!!!

We have got the greens upto 11 which is Tour Speed but the roll is getting more consistant.

On the back of this we have purchased this one which also has the capabilities of aerating as well which will ease the compaction issues.

However this is not a quick fix we still need to carry on the continues improvement of the Greens using Spiking Topdressing Micro coreing over the year.

We are continually cutting but we now have Billy who is doing an apprenticeship and he is looking after the tidying up on the course.

Clearing Up
We are in the process of cutting back certain areas on the course be aware these will be cleared up but it is easier to cut them back and then collect everything afterwards
Thanks

Tee with a View 

Hope you are all enjoying this fantastic weather!!!!!

The sun has finally slowed the growth down and we are getting more time now to concentrate on the tidying up areas around the course.

The Greens are being watered every other day and were sprayed last week with a wetting agent which helps brake down surface tension to allow the water to soak in quicker.

A second cut has now been included in the cutting regime which will complement the fairways and be less punishing on golfers.

The 1^st Tee has now had a couple of cuts and I am sure you will agree is starting to look great thanks to Dad(Chris Harper) for all his hard work.

We look forward to seeing the finished article soon.

And last but no means least a Muntjaq Deer was spotted on the course last week by 2 members and Richard our Greenkeeper so keep your eyes out for it or them.

Enjoy the weather while it lasts

1st Tee Update
The Turf is here and being laid as I type Mick is putting in the irrigation and Chris is returning this evening to carry on with the top of the wall.

Our Newest Member
Thanks Brad and Bose for getting a photo of our newest member (their have been several names put forward for it)

These Snakes are Harmless unless your a Frog!!!!

Bunkers and Pitch Marks
Can we all be very aware of Raking Bunkers and Repairing Pitch marks this is becoming a problem again and it seems that Members who have spikeless shoes seem to think this does not apply to them it does
Can we all please remind our playing partners of this if they do not rake them or repair pitch marks
Thanks.

Morning
This is my first Course up date in my new role and I hope to keep you up to speed as much as the Grass alows!!!!
The Work at present is focused on grass cutting as you can see the grass is growing at a rate of knots.
the Tees are being divoted on a daily basis but I would encourage you all to help by using the divot bags provided on the course.
the 4th Tee has now been cut twice and over seeded again we imaginge that another month will see a huge improvement and help us with a tee box that will grow in the shade.
The Greens are being spiked on a 3 week cycle with 6 being done each week,this week it is 1/6/7/9/11 and 18 the spiking helps with drainage and compaction helping root growth whilst helping eliminate black layers by encoraging arobic microbes this will also help reduce the thatch levels.
All the greens were Top Dressed last wednesday an 80/20 kiln dried dressing using approx 6 Tonnes we will endevor to to this every fortnight to dilute the thatch and promote a truer faster putting surface.
we are hoping to make strides with the first tee but the grass growth is our priority at the moment.
Thanks 
James
appendix
We are currently experimenting with different size tines to try to find out what is best for our greens and try not to dissrupt the surface to much during this essentail work

James

James

We have had a change around at the Top in the Greenkeeping Dept.

Our thanks go to Mick for all the hard work he has put in as Head Green keeper over the last 10 years has decided he would like a younger man to take over from him.

Mick will be staying with us here at the Grange as a Greenkeeper But James will be taking on a new Role as Golf Course Manager with the Help of Myself and Ian and the rest of the Greenkeeping Staff,we have a New Trainee Greenkeeper Billy Joining us full time from September and some of you will have already seen him around the place on Saturdays and Sundays.

I am sure you will all give James your full support and welcome him into his new role.

4th Tee and 1st Tee
The 4th Tee has now been seeded with Bargold Shade a type of Grass Seed that grows in shade we have used Fiber sand and fiber root to help with the wear and tear this gets.
The 1st Tee is just about ready to turf we have now put down another layer of good top soil pea gravel and sharp sand to aid the drainage and Fiber Rootzone to help the grass this should be ready to be turfed by next week then as the Greens we need some sunshine and then let mother nature take her time to create the turf we want.

4th Tee and 1st Tee
James is now screeding the 4th Tee after allowing it to settle we are then going to seed it with the shade resistant Grass seed this should be done by the back end of next week.
The First Tee is still ongoing we have a Digger and a Dumper coming next week so we can get started on the Irrigation and Drainage for the Tee Chris is still trying to find an appropriate coping for the top then the steps and fence can go in.

The sun is out and the grass is growing  making us keep on top of the cutting and allowing us to define the fairways. Growth on the greens however is relatively slow but will pick up as temperatures rise. The gentlemen's tees have now all been hollow cored and are currently being top dressed which should be finished by this afternoon. A lot of  tidying up is being undertaken with the help of Billy who is helping us over the Easter period. Divot bags have been placed on some of the tees and it would be appreciated if members could use them on the fairways.
 Thanks.

A Huge Thank You

We would like to thank you all for your patience over the last 2 weeks as we have undertaken a massive job on the Greens the Coring and Top dressing is now done and we are applying the Oxy Rush which will help brake down the Black Layer Today and we are fertilizing Tomorrow.

This was a huge job and it went nearly according to plan except for the weather.

And we should start seeing a huge improvement on the greens this summer.

Once again Thanks for all your Support.

Micro Coring
Well if you played this weekend you will have seen that the Micro Coring is well under way we had to change our plan slightly and do 16 of the greens we have Top Dressed 9 of them but we put on more sand than anticipated and ran out!!!!!
It is coming today so we will have them all ready for Saturday at the latest.

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR COOPERATION

Micro Coring Of the Greens

The Work to Micro Core the Greens will start on Monday and will last about 2 Weeks we are aiming to do 4 Greens per Day but with Top Dressing and the other processes we are undertaking will take a little longer.
the order of the Greens to be done is 9th 11th 8th 1st these will be on Temps on the day of the work
then 7th 12th 18th 3rd Then the 2nd 4th 5th 16th then 15th 10th 17th 13th then 6th 14th

 This is Essential work so please bear with us at this time we will all benefit in the long run.

Rakes in Bunkers
It has been agreed at Greens Committee that Rakes should be placed in bunkers after use thanks for you cooperation

Thanks
Colin Hammond sent us this brilliant picture 

.

15th Bunker
This Bunker is now G.U.R as we are digging it out to but some drainage in it this is one of the most problematic Bunkers on the course and we are going to put a soak away in and then a drain away.

On Going Work

The 1st is getting there all the Block work is up and Chris is now facing this with Bulwell stone the next thing will be the irrigation and drainage then pea gravel and rootzone(fibresand) then the Turf then pray for good weather 

Why We Aerate 



 This is a classic picture from the greenkeeping world illustrating brilliantly how foot traffic on a golf green causes and concentrates compaction.  The highlighted footmarks in the picture show what happens when ONE FOURBALL enters, putts out and exits a green; multiply this by 100 for a major competition and by many thousands for the main playing season and you have some serious compaction to undo!  This is why regular aeration is the single most imprtant operation carried out on the golf course; left compacted, greens hold water, become soft and uneven and have little or no root growth which makes them very poor and disease-prone surfaces.  More aeration means better, firmer greens which are healthier and more playable year round.  Put simply, short-term pain, long-term gain

Course Update

The Course is fully open and we are allowing Electric Trolleys back on the course. we are also willing to allow Buggies if you have a valid certificate from the Doctor.

Course Update

The Course is fully open and we are allowing Electric Trolleys back on the course.

On Going Work

14th Path coming along nicely the Gold Conda arrived today and is being filled in as I write we have a problem with the 4th Tee as it get very little sunlight so we are going to try Fibresand with a Grass Seed called Bar Shade Fibresand is the product most Football clubs use on there pitches.

I will put photos up when we have started and of the 14th path as well

the 12th Path has started and the wood is being put in now.

 

Saturday/Winter League

We Regret that this Saturdays Winter league will have to be Postponed the course is very wet and with the weather forecast we have decided to do this.

The course will still be open but on a limited number of Holes 1,2,halfway on 4,Halfway on 6 on a Temp,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 then walk across to 18 please be aware of Golfers playing on 11 and 10 as you walk across

Thanks

WOW

We think we have had it bad check out Sherwood Forest They had a Mini Cyclone!!

http://www.sherwoodforestgolfclub.co.uk/storm-damage

Such a Shame

A 45 Foot 160 year old Cedar has come down at Keepers Cottage at the Bottom of the Drive as you can see lots of damage done but the interesting thing is a Tree that big and such little Area of Root to hold it up

On Going Work

14th Path coming along nicely 

 

On Going Work

So i have finally ventured out to see whats happening the 15th Path Looks Amazing the first lot are 1 week ago the 2 lot are today

Today