20000 hits

20000 hits, thanks for all who view my blog.

Over the last few days we have had 5 staff so we have been pushed to get all work done, thankfully the weather has been good and we have been working hard to get as much done as possible. All short cut turf has been cut over the last couple of days and we have applied another application of seaweed, and wetter to the greens, we have been trialling the amounts of fertiliser we are putting on to the greens as I feel the sward has been under fed in some areas effecting the out breaks of anthracnose. Over the last month we have been putting between 6-8 kg of nitrogen on to the greens every 2-3 weeks opposed to 3-4kg. The colour is deeper green and the sward is denser, however the growth is stronger so we have had to adjust growth regulator rates accordingly, applying 400ml opposed to 200ml.
The anthracnose on the worst greens has been treated with a fungicide as we are continuing solid tining next week on  greens 1-18 and I do not want to spread it further. Four greens that had the most damage were top dressed today and matted in just to smooth out the surface and aid recovery.

The bottom section of the practice green was also tined and topdressed.
Bunkers have been raked and all bunkers have been checked and sand distribution adjusted.

Maintenance week on 19-27 holes

Over the next few days we are solid tining all greens on the 19-27 course. This is an identical process to what we carried out on sections of the greens on the other part of the course. There are fewer competitions booked on this 9 so we are taking the opportunity to do the greens in one block, enabling recovery for next week. Just a reminder of how we have done them. We solid tined with 12mm tines to a depth of 250mm, spread sand on to the surface, and worked it in to the holes.

Following this the greens are to be rolled and cut to help smooth the surface.
At the moment growth is vigorous so recovery should quick, we will monitor the surface for disease, as potential is quite high at the moment due to the humidity.
The rest of the greens were treated with carbendazim to suppress worm activity which was high at the weekend due to the rainfall on Friday and Saturday. Also some growth regulator to slow down growth.

Long rough

As I mentioned in my last blog we have started cutting down the long rough around the course yesterday and today. The long grass is mostly in out of play areas where it separates holes. As the weather is starting to turn towards autumn when the conditions get wetter and lusher we are thinning/ cutting it back whilst we can. The long grass gets very thick in wet conditions and it is very difficult to find golf balls. We are cutting it all back to 8 inches so it still provides a challenge but helps golfers which stray off line. The initial cut is then collected then its cut again to remove any missed bits. The rough areas will then be cut every 2 to 3 weeks until the end of the season.

Greens 19-27 were treated with the fertiliser and chelated iron greens 1-18 were sprayed with earlier in the week.

 The greens have picked up in colour and density, stopping the spread of anthracnose, however it has left a few areas weaker than the rest. Hopefully recovery will be seen in the next couple of weeks, obviously smoothness has been effected. The greens being slightly softer are being peppered with pitchmarks which are not being repaired. An unrepaired pitchmark will scar the surface of the green and will effect putts for fellow golfers.
With scratch cup looming this weekend all areas on 1-18 have been cut and readied.

Anthracnose attacks

I was browsing through my blog from last year and around the same time last year as this we suffer from another anthracnose attack. Over the last week we have had several greens had mild outbreaks from the disease. I believe the recent rain fall we had, coupled with the colder nights giving heavy dews has triggered the disease. To aid recovery we have sprayed the greens with liquid fertiliser and chelated iron to strengthen the grass plant and provide nutrient for recovery. Anthracnose effects poa so as long as it doesn't take hold a fungicide will not be needed. The forecast for the next week or so is dry and warmer so it should grow itself out.

Trimming of the sprinkler heads have been completed, checking operation and rotation once trimmed.

The drain on the 23rd is nearly complete, this has been slower than expected as the trench had to be hand dug. This will be completed tomorrow.

In the next couple of weeks the long 'natural' grass between holes around the course is being cut down and collected before the weather turns making it difficult to maintain.

Over the last week we have been catching up on jobs around the course that take time but help with the whole aesthetics of the course. As the bank holiday week end looms it is important for the green keeping team to ensure all the small but time consuming jobs are done to allow us to maintain the course during a shortened week plus the next stage of our aeration work is to begin. Such jobs like strimming around trees, hedgerows, benches, areas that cant be reached with machinery and course buildings, also flymoing banks, bunker faces and tee sides. Other infrequent cutting has also been done, intermediate rough, copses and tree lines. Normal cutting and maintenance continues plus we have been fixing a couple more irrigation leaks and continuing with the 23rd drain problem. Some of the trees between holes are causing issues with machinery and the playability, so some branches have been pruned to solve this issue.

 The tined areas last week are recovering more slowly than the previous areas, I think this is due to a couple of reasons, firstly the weather on Monday afternoon was showery, making the sand moist and difficult to fully work into the holes, secondly the night time temperatures have decreased over the last week reducing to growth potential throughout the day. To aid recovery further we have applied another application of liquid fertiliser and wetter, watering in to ensure up take from the roots of the grass plants.

14th

5th

23rd fix

Over the last few weeks we have been having issues with water standing on the left of the 23rd green after heavy rain and after prolonged irrigation. As members know the 23rd green was altered a year or so ago, filling in the banking to the left of the green.

The 23rd hole, when the banking was filled in.

A drainage gully and pipework was installed to the back left corner which is a natural low point gathering water. The out fall was discharging out of the side of the old bank, when the bank was filled in the pipe was extended into the base of the greenside bunker which was then connected to a new drain. The water on the 23rd green has been very slow to get away, making me think that the pipe may have been crushed or damaged when the banking was being formed. So to solve this issue Adam and Rich opened up the gully and re connected the pipe, checking the drainage pipe was OK on the green. Then opened up the drain on the bank side, which will be connected straight to the new drain we installed at the bottom of the bank.

Else where tees and fairways cut, work continued on the aerated greens and the rest of the greens double groomed ready for spraying with growth regulator and fertiliser tomorrow. Now the bunkers are presented in a good condition it is noticeable that a number of golfers think it is acceptable NOT to rake the bunker after playing shots from the sand. I would like to remind members and visitors that it is there responsibility to maintain bunkers as and when they are used, it is general basic etiquette to carry out simple things like repairing pitchmarks, replacing divots and raking bunkers. Please help us to help you. Thank you

9th green

Tine for a change

As another batch of greens were aerated today we have come to the half way point of the surface to be covered. The work we are doing is progressing nicely and the recovery so far has been excellent. The initial greens now have filled in completely, all residues of sand are worked in to the sward and the surfaces putt nicely. The greens are remaining firm and the irrigation is used when necessary, however the recent aeration is creating deep voids which water, new roots and air can fill providing excellent healthy growth that can with stand drought better, limiting the need for extra water. We are currently experiencing a high amount of superficial fairy rings on the greens, although the aesthetics of the surface are slightly spoilt they do not cause any issues to trueness. The process of aerating causes a lot of wear on the tines, when new the tines are 12mm wide and 270mm long, after covering 1 hectare of greens the tines have lost around 60mm of length and are certainly thinner at the bottom.

Although wont negatively effect aeration initially, over time the wear will decrease penetration, if the tines were used for the whole 2 hectares of greens 120mm would have been lost. Giving only 150mm of depth at the end, this is not what we want to happen so new tines are used for the second hectare of aeration work. Once installed the tines were set to a depth of 250mm once more. The old tines aren't wasted, we use these to aerate surrounds and approaches where depth isn't so critical, in fact we do not go deeper than 200mm as there is potential of hitting irrigation lines around the greens.

The weather this afternoon was very showery but the greens on the course were completed in between the rain. The 900 square meter practice green, pictured above was the only one we couldn't get matted in so this will be completed tomorrow.
Else where we have been cutting, divoting tees, strimming areas and tidying ditches.

This week we have been helping the aerated greens to recover by brushing, watering and matting the affected greens to work the sand into any remaining holes and encourage growth through the sand layer. As the initial greens we did, recovery has been good and by the weekend the holes will not be noticeable. We have tined the top of the 6th green as this will not affect play at the weekend due to the size and shape of the green.

6th green

On Monday next week we will continue to aerate sections of 7 greens, again seeding sanding and rolling. Following this we will have a break due to competitions on the course. Following the Bank holiday we will then start 19-27 greens for 3 days. Then we will continue with greens on 1-18.

During our rest period from aeration we will try and fix a problem with the drain to the rear of the 23rd green.

Else where we have been cutting all areas, following the rain everything is green and lush once more. Extra cutting is needed in some areas such as surrounds, teesides, fairways and tees to ensure presentation is at its highest.

 

We have fixed several more irrigation leaks which were highlighted a couple of weeks ago when the system was under pressure caused by the dry period of weather.

 



Mid season renovations

7 days after starting our renovation work to the greens, I'm really pleased how they are recovering after tining. This morning the pins were placed back onto tined areas as they are smooth enough not to cause any issues when putting. In fact 5 days after tining smoothness was back to a near normal level. With this in mind we are to continue tining on 10-18 greens tomorrow, 6th August. Further work on 1-9 greens will start in the next 2 weeks.

Above 17th this morning, below the same green 7 days ago

 

Work continues at pace on the course, towards the end of the week we have been concentrating on cutting as the start of the week we lost time due to tining of some of the greens. Fairways, semi, greens, surrounds, tees have been cut. The hedge down the entrance lane is being trimmed as the passing places have grown considerably this year. We have an Articulatorrough mower on demonstration this week to try it under our tree'd rough grass areas. We usually cut these areas with a deck mower on the back of a tractor which can be time consuming, but does make a good job. The Aticulator mower is a zero turn 'skid steer' type mower which is 100 inches wide. It is very manoeuvrable so makes cutting rough between trees easy and quicker.

Adam on the demo mower .................................................'wishing he could keep it'

We applied some fertiliser to the surrounds via a drop spreader to try and thicken the sward where wear affects growth. Its a 8 week release fertiliser so should give continuous growth until the end of the season, when we will start renovation to the surrounds and approaches.

Overall the course looks good and with the recent rain has once again brought good definition to most areas.