Tuesday 18 December 2018

October Course Report


Course Report – October 2018



It’s been a mixed month weather wise, the pattern of very little rain continues, generally dry with spells of breezy and warm weather with the occasional cold spell thrown in. For this time of year, the ground is very dry in places after the warm and dry summer we have just experienced. However, I would take a drier spell through to Christmas after last year’s continuous wet weather that started in September and didn’t relent until March. Reflecting on the wet period from last year, the fact the turf was severely wet for so long would have caused considerable stress to the grass and possibly caused increased compaction increasing the damage we have seen through summer, as the grass plant had very little time to recover.

Growth on the course is slow, we now have the opportunity to start to de-compact some of the areas, to allow better rooting and encourage more vigorous grass growth. Hopefully we will start to see some recovery before the real winter weather approaches. So far, we have micro hollow tined some of the poor approaches and surrounds, which will be done again, weather permitting. Following those, we have micro hollow tined some of the poor greens again, selecting the worst areas, the 2nd, 5th, 10th, 12th and front putting green have had sections tined and backfilled with sand. We have seeded the 2nd, 5th and front putting green to improve the sward composition. These greens are very poor primarily due to the drainage characteristics of the soil, other factors that make these worse than others on the course are shade, shape and air flow, all these can be improved over time. During such a dry year it is hard to think that a green struggles to drain, but due to the amount of irrigation that has been needed to keep the high areas of the green alive the low areas have really struggled on such greens.

The fairways are being disc seeded, using the disc seeder will cause short term disruption to the surface, however the action of cutting through quite a thatchy upper surface will allow water to penetrate into the soil freely and it will also help create new grass growth. The fairways will be sprayed with liquid fertiliser once the conditions become suitable.

Next week (w/c 15th Oct) we will start the aeration on the greens using the Air2G2.  With use of the hired machine we can penetrate up to 45cm, blasting air into the soil structure which will cause fracturing and allowing pockets of air where water and new root structures can penetrate. The great benefit of this machine other than aiding drainage, is that it causes very little disturbance, so from a golfer perspective we can keep the greens in a good condition for winter golf.



A granular fertiliser has been applied to the greens and surrounds (except 19-27), 4-0-14+Fe applying 9kg/N over a 4-5 week period. At this stage of the year it is important not too over stimulate growth as it leaves the grass plants more susceptible to disease, however some nutrition is needed to keep the plants healthy to enable recovery when growth is slow. A preventative fungicide has also been applied to the greens (except 19-27). Now chemicals are becoming less toxic to the environment, and rightfully so, fungicides are becoming very specific to the target. Rather than being able to treat curatively, they are now applied preventatively to stop initial disease infections. This is far more time consuming and overall more expensive to ensure turf is under the minimum risk of attack. Once the turf shows sign of disease it will not recover fully, we can only limit the damage. Fungicide applications will increase from 4/5 to around 6/7 mainly throughout winter for fusarium and during July and August for Anthracnose. Applications will be made at intervals of 21-28 days based on potential disease pressure. The increased applications would increase costs significantly. To stay within the annual budgets, greens on 19-27 are not being treated in the same way, I would expect to see increased disease activity on those greens this winter, we have also reduced other expenditure on the Derwent course to stay within allocated budgets for 2018.

The greens that were scarified during summer are now fully recovered on 10-18, not quite as knitted still on 19-27, this is mainly due to the reduction in fertiliser applied. The whole process has been interesting from a turf management point of view. Initially we were happy with the amount of organic matter the machine removed, we estimate the GKB machine removed 4 times the amount we removed via hollowcoring, the GKB machine was faster and less labor intensive, however, and this is the big issue we are faced with in planning next years renovations, recovery was slower. From a golf point of view, we need to balance both sides. I still feel it is too early to make a judgement as we may see significant long-term improvements to the greens using the new method which outweigh the short term negatives.

Elsewhere we have cut all long rough areas with a tractor mounted rotary mower, these were the areas which could not be accessed with the Amazone machine during spring.

The leylandii hedges are being cut, the hand cut areas are being started initially then a contractor will come to finish any areas that he can access along with sections of thorn.

Now the leaves are starting to fall we will constantly be clearing priority areas, the tractor mounted blower is used to clear large areas of leaves, the back pack required for small, more difficult areas. Once the volume of leaves starts to increase they will be collected using the Amazone. Currently the tractor used to pull the Amazone is tied up disc seeding the fairways. The local rule regarding lost balls due to leaf litter is now in play. I stress this only applies to casual golf only. If balls are lost it entitles the player to drop a ball without penalty in the area which they feel it was lost. This is to speed up play and not to punish the golfer during casual play.

Preferred lies are now on (1st Oct) due to the aeration work which is under way and for any poor conditions we now may experience coming into the winter period.

Unfortunately worm casts are becoming a real issue once more, as previously stated there are no cost-effective chemicals to remove worm casts, we are continuing to apply sand and iron to deter activity.



Winter tees are being cut in preparation for use and mats will be taken out onto the course in the next few weeks where needed but will not be in use until weather and growing conditions dictate the need for them. The use of winter mats does shorten the length of the course but without the use of them the course would suffer greatly and remain unplayable for longer.



The winter programme of tree work includes removal of all dead or dying trees and branches marked with white paint and removal of obstructing and interfering branches with reduce playability from certain areas of the course. Some woodland is also to be thinned such as left of 5th. Other work in the winter programme will be finalised for the next monthly report.

2017                                                                            2018

January -         23mm                                                  January -         58mm

February -       52mm                                                  February -        30mm

March -           41mm                                                  March -           75mm

April -              18mm                                                  April -              40mm

May -               41mm                                                  May -               26mm

June -               66mm                                                  June -               6mm

July -                112mm                                                July -                38mm

August -           82mm                                                  August -           24mm

September -    68mm                                                  September -    64mm

October -         55mm                                                  October -        

November-      52mm                                                  November -    

December-      45mm                                                  December-     



2017 Rainfall - 655mm                                                           2018 Rainfall – 361mm

Average annual rainfall- 620mm                                           



                        Richard Jacques

                                    Head Greenkeeper


About Me

Im the Head Greenkeeper at Malton and Norton Golf Club. I began my greenkeeping career at Malton and Norton Golf Club straight from school as an Assistant Greenkeeper. Wanting to climb the greenkeeping ladder I gained my NVQ level 2 and 3 at Askham Bryan College. I continued with my education gaining a HNC in golf course management and took the position of Deputy Head Greenkeeper at Malton and Norton Golf Club in 2005.In 2008 I was promoted to the position of Head Greenkeeper, leading a team of 6 hard working and dedicated Greenkeepers. Our aim is to continue to improve the condition of the course year on year maintaining our high reputation within the area.