Topdressing

At last we were able to apply the first dressing of the year to the greens, with the temperatures higher and rain forecast on Wednesday, we took the opportunity to get them done today, even though we were pushed to get them finished before a ladies competition this morning. First we cut and groomed the greens with the John Deere mowers, the groomers on the mowers were set at flush, this means the vertical blades are rotating just about on soil level, some might say this is actually scarifying however the terminology can be used in different ways to explain the methods we use. As we aren't removing thatch, soil or sand I tend to describe light verticutting/ grooming as grooming, a deeper pass over the green that removes thatch, soil and sand say 3mm below flush then i would describe this as scarifying. Scarifying is usually done with more width between the blades as this can cause damage to the crown of the plant, and sometime roots (usually meadow grass). Grooming removes some of the lateral growth that can build up over winter and when the finer grasses start to grow in spring.

We then applied around a tonne of straight sand to each green with the toro propass topdresser, fortunately today there was no dew and there was a constant breeze which dried the sand within 15 minutes. The sand was then matted into the green, with virtually all of it being incorporated into the sward, this operation is done around 6 times a year to ensure the greens are kept smooth, help increase pace, dilute thatch accumulations, help drainage, improve firmness, reduce disease pressure and fill in aeration holes. We use around 150 tonnes of sand per year over the 30 greens at Malton and Norton Golf Club.
Other jobs on the course have been moving holes, collecting balls, moving markers, repairing badger damage, watering trees, edging bunkers and servicing the stiga rotary mower.