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

Course Update

July so far has proved to be a busy month and the diary shows no change is on its way so please give a thought when we're trying to prepare the course

Last week started with a disaster with a big hydraulic leak on the putting green with the affected area now cored and dressed. Some more dressing does need to be worked into the holes.

We managed to get a lot of work crammed into the three days we had to work on the course with the other two just solely based on course set up.

This week we have tined the greens and been out with the hose pipes applying wetting agent through a hose connection. These operations are essential but time consuming so sometimes other jobs are left as the greens do and will remain our priority.

For those who practice you will notice an improvement to the practice facilities. Hopefully this is just the start as we aim to maximise the use of a limited space to create the best we can.

The muntjac deer have been spotted on numerous occasions so keep your eye out for them.

In the meantime please repair pitch marks, rake bunkers and replace divots. There is only so much we can do and whilst it is extremely frustrating for us to see course damage it doesn't affect our rounds.

Course update

Summer is officially here and apart from the dry patches the greens are looking relatively good. The dry patch can be caused by several different factors such as tree roots, undulating ground or the soil profile being hydrophobic. We are trying to address this problem by watering and using wetting agents which have been sprayed and also administered through an adapter attached to the hose.

 Pencil tyning and using the slits on the greens iron will also help with water penetration.

The greens will have been slightly slower this week due to our cutting cylinders being taken away for sharpening and having to use older cylinders which don't cut as fine. The freshly sharpened blades will be in use from Monday onwards.

We are continuing to try and tidy up areas on the course as time permits and also try to cut the course as well as possible.

The 4th tee unfortunately had a hydraulic spill on it after a pipe split and this has been covered with seed and dressing

We have a number of leaks in the irrigation  system  mainly on the 3rd and next to the bridge on the 14th. If you look at the ground under the pipe on the 14th you will see how brown the ground is due to the iron content in the water.

These leaks will be fixed when we are confident of rainfall as we will have to drain the system and at the minute that is out of the question.

In the meantime enjoy the sun and a big thank you to all the members who supported the green staff last Saturday and throughout the year.

Thanks