GREENS NEWS

Welcome to the latest edition of Greens News. Below you will find details of the works carried out this year by the Greens Staff in the continued improvements of your golf course. I must apologise for the delay in completing this edition, from January 2009 I will be producing a report detailing works that have been carried out and any planned works for a three month period, i.e. : Jan-March, April –June etc. You will find a hard copy on the notice board and a copy will also be placed on the web site.

GREENS

As you will all be aware from the last edition the main problem on the greens is the excessive amount of thatch.  This layer has been reduced and continues to be so with the aeration programme.

The greens have been hollow tined (soil exchange) twice this year, removing a small percentage of the thatch, The same process will be repeated this year, although for the first time ( week commencing Tuesday 14^th April ) we will be using a deep scarifier as opposed to the hollow tines. This process will remove around 10% of the thatch as opposed to the 5% achieved from hollow tinning. Deep scarification will also not leave as much disruption to the playing surface as hollow tinning, enabling a much quicker recovery. The second date for this process has been brought forward to week commencing Monday 10^th August.  This has been done as last year recovery was slow due the drop in Temperatures in the middle of September.

As well as the hollow tinning this year the greens have been regularly solid tined to various depths during the summer and slit every couple of weeks in the winter months. As stated in the last edition, the process of reducing the excessive thatch to a manageable level will take 3 to 4 years although hopefully you will notice the improvements each year. The greens this year definitely drain a lot quicker than in previous years but they are still soft and there is a more work needed to bring them to the standard I would like.

The pictures below show samples of a core that was removed from the 6^th green in 2007. 

This picture shows a core taken from the 6^th green. You can clearly see the water held in the 1 ˝  inch thatch layer, this thatch acts like a sponge, holding all the water, preventing percolation through the profile, resulting in a soft playing surface.

The same core when opened up shows a very shallow and rotten root structure. A shallow root system will not tolerate low cutting heights which are required on the greens.  There was also a strong sulphur smell and evidence of black layering which suggests a lack of soil aeration.

Below is a core taken from the same green this year. You can see that the profile is not as wet or matted as the above pictures. It is also encouraging to notice fresh white rooting, although this is still shallow, regular aeration will encourage these roots to go deeper. Roots do not grow in a compacted soil, they will grow in the air spaces provided by aeration.

The aeration programme will continue this year, I am very aware of the fact that Golfers do not like the greens disturbed, but this work is essential if we are to bring the greens back to how they should be, FIRM, TRUE AND CONSISTENT. All aeration work will be planned around the diary to avoid, where possible, any competitions, it will also be placed on the notice board and web site for the forthcoming months.      

During the wet winter months the greens are being cut weekly with hand mowers to avoid extra compaction.

As well as the aeration programme, soil sample results have shown high levels of nutrients such as Nitrogen and Iron. A new fertiliser programme has been drawn up to correct any in-balances.  This programme has been in place this year and I am awaiting the results, these are due in January so I will inform you in the April-June edition.

The new top dresser will allow us to dress the greens with a light dressing on a regular basis, as opposed to the old method of a heavy dressing a couple of times per year. Regular dressing will increase the speed and uniformity of the putting surface.  

BUNKERS

The bunkers on the club house side have been re-furbished and new sand placed in them, this sand will take a while to settle, the depth of sand in these bunkers is between 3-4 inches. I am aware of a few problems with balls plugging in the 18^th bunkers. Sand has been removed from these bunkers and small teethed rakes are in place to minimise surface disruption during the settling process. This will be monitored and and hopefully as the sand firms, issues with balls plugging will be eliminated.

It was planned to continue with the bunker programme this winter, however due to the current financial crisis this has been deferred for a year.

FAIRWAYS

The fairways have, like the greens undergone aeration work. They have been solid spiked to a depth of 6 inches. This will be an ongoing process with increased depths each season to improve drainage and grass coverage.

We have discovered a problem with the drainage on the 6^th fairway. The existing drains are old solid clay land drains. Investigations have found that these drains are smashed and blocked causing water logging on the surface. I am currently waiting on quotes to install new drains and run them into the pond on the 6^th.

TEES

The tees have been divoted weekly, I will attempt to keep the tees on grass for as long as possible. Once the tees are worn the blocks will be placed on mats where possible. The tees will undergo remedial repairs once the temperatures allow in March/April. This will include, spiking, slitting, over seeding, fertilising and top dressing.  The 11^th tee area has been tidied up, new sleeper steps constructed around mat and old steps re furbished and re sited in middle of tee.

New Tee mats have been placed on the 11^th and 18^th tees. These mats are maintenance free and do not require any sand fill. Member’s feedback will be collated on their performance before ordering any more.

PATHS

The club has purchased a mechanical brush sweeper which is being used weekly to clean up the old astro turf paths. They are slowly improving. The paths are also being edged and weeded.

A new path has been constructed from the 14^th green to the 15^th tee. Unfortunately the weather turned against us so the contractor will be returning, when the ground conditions allow, to roll the path. The end of this path has become some what of a bog due to the heavy machinery used in wet conditions, again this will be addressed when conditions improve. For the mean time we are roping off the area and directing golfers around.

The contractor will also be installing a new stone path down from the 13^th tee to the fairway and also to the 6^th tee.

COURSE INSPECTIONS

The course is inspected every morning by the Head Green keeper ( Deputy in HG absence). Any restrictions or closures are then communicated to the Professional who up dates the course message.

The same applies to Trolleys.  An inspection is made daily in the morning before any decision is made. What I am trying to do this year is allow pull trolleys instead of having a total trolley ban as in previous years. Pull trolleys do not cause as much damage as electric ones, this is clearly evident if you look at the usual areas that are worn at this time of year, between the 1st & 10^th, Slope leading from the 2^nd tee etc. Also the last few recorded slips on the course have involved electric trolleys, these are hung on to when the trolleys slip causing people to fall and injure themselves.

As stated above this is checked daily and as soon as ground conditions allow the ban on electric trolley’s will be lifted.

If you have any questions about any of the above please feel free to speak to me or any of the greens staff on the course.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a “Rain” free New Year.

Gary.