Progress report

This week has been full on so far, lots to do and what feels like little time. The team have been working hard to take advantage of the good weather. Firstly we have been out cutting greens on Wednesday whilst they were dry, firm and  before a spell of rain came across the country. It was a good time to test the new blades and cylinders recently put on the greens mower. Pleased to say they cut superbly. The greens and the course in general has stood up well this winter, if the good weather continues into march we may get back onto some summer tees soon.

The national teeside machines have finally been finished after we have been waiting for parts to arrive. 

We have installed the drain into the 4th green side bunker, this has to be finished off when we know it works correctly. 

The 1st soak away extension is complete. The 5th root barrier is complete and turfed with stump removed from the wind damage. 

Paths at 2nd, 7th to 8th, 8th tee, 11th tee and 13th to 14th path has been scraped off. With only the 13th to 14th path to stone, the others have been refreshed, edged and new stone laid. 

Nice to see and tidies the project at the 11th tee nicely 

 We hope to finish the remaining path tomorrow and install a drain into the path to keep it drier in future. 

Hand cutting hedges is coming to a close. Hopefully finished by early next week. 

Start of a busy week

After the weekend the course has dried up well. Drying winds and no further rain has enabled us to get all the holes open, the holes closed from the flooding have dried up well and are back open.

Now we can get on the course without causing damage we have a lot of work lined up over the next 2 weeks. 

Firstly we are trying to resolve an ongoing problem with the back left of the 16th green. There are pine trees close to the green which dry the turf out in summer, and in a low area water collects making the turf very wet after rain or after irrigation to help keep the turf alive from the pines. The solution a ring drain/root barrier in one. 

The ring drain will help take drainage water from the wet areas and the green and whilst the trench is open we are installing a root barrier membrane to prevent further roots progressing onto the greens surface. Adam and rob started this today and the compaction and root infestation was very high so going was slow, but this is an area of high traffic wear. 

The irrigation pipe also crossed through the trench 

Roots on the surround

We also have a mini excavator on hire to carry out a number of other jobs. An old soak away left of the first was causing issues as it was backing up during wet weather so we extended the pipe into nearby wood land so the water could discharge easily. 

This will be filled in in the morning 

Once the trench had been dug we moved on to the 4th green side bunker which is prone to water logging. 

The reason is due to springs which come out from the hillside channelling into the bunker. The right hand side bunker had a similar problem, we fixed that by digging through a clay seem exposing the limestone beneath which is free draining. We thought a similar approach would work again, however we discovered in the middle of the bunker the clay seem was extremely deep. 

At around 5 foot we decided that we could not dig any deeper. We did find some stone within the bunker so dug down to expose as much as we could. This project will continue tomorrow. 

Other work has been thinning low branches on the 26th hole. 

Installing open gulley drains to the 17th and 8th surrounds. 

Incorpating the sprinkler head

We also vibrate rolled the greens and continued with cutting hedges. 

The tides recede

Yesterday the River Derwent finally dropped, after over 8 weeks of flooding on holes 21-24 the floodgates were opened. 

Water has been stood on the turf for a long time so I expected it to be looking a little poor. This morning the water level had dropped to a little higher than normal with just a few isolated puddles left on the turf. Overall the damage is minamal and the turf looked better than expected. It will need a good few days to dry out properly providing the flooding doesn't come back.

On Thursday we had the fdra (rabbits) on the course so we took the opportunity to finish tidying up some fallen trees on the edge of the driving range after the last storm. Then continuing with a little tree work on the 26th hole. 

The weather has been good for the last few days so we have taken the opportunity to cut surrounds with the hand mower. With the temperatures increasing there has been a little growth in some of the more managed areas, greens, surrounds and tees. It can soon cool down again at this time of the year, fertiliser applications are planned for the start of March to help spring recovery when we do get constantly higher temperatures.

We also finished off the 11th tee edging, the path just to re stone.

An excavator is due next week to start a few small projects then on to drainage on the 27th and 17th holes.

The practice green this morning

Rockcliffe training day

Adam and myself visited Rockcliffe Hall Golf Club today near Darlington to take part in a course walk/ discussion and grinding training by Bernard Ginders. The day was organised by BIGGA, Cleveland section, so thanks to Sandra and the team.

For those who don't know Rockcliffe it's a fairly new course, fully opened in 2008. Deigned by Hawtree and built by Abbotts over 2 years. A 7 million pound build and a nicely designed course, although very wet due to the recent weather. 

Again thanks to Peter Newton, head greenkeeper for taking the time to give a presentation while on the walk. Although there is a massive difference from our course to this one we gained valuable information on how they prepare, maintain and keep the golf course in the best possible standard. 

Whilst on the tour it highlighted how the infrastructure is of high importance and relevant to the finished product. 

There storage facility for sand, fertiliser and aggregates. 

Bigger than most. 

The mechanical side to keep things cutting perfectly is a building of its own dedicated to maintenance. Including a large purpose built wash off area. 

Another seperate building for machinery storage. 

Of which they have plenty. 

Overall a top class set up, which is needed for a top 100 championship course. Again part of the course was grinding training and mower set up to achieve the best results. Steve Nixon from Bernard gave an interesting presentation which had us thinking of our methods and resources for the journey home. 

Storm clear up

Well like everyone we suffered on the golf course after the very high winds of Wednesday night. Gusts of up to 80mph battered trees, buildings and spread debris every where. On Thursday morning the severity of debris and damage was so bad we had to close the course until the staff had inspected, cleared and made safe fallen trees. All told we lost around 10 big trees, mostly pines and silver birch. Some up rooted, some snapped off but overall the damage evident on every hole. 

To get the course back open we started clear up, a couple of lads went out with chainsaws to remove the large trees. A couple with back pack blowers to remove debris off every single green. One with the tractor mounted blower to blow debris of fairways and semi into the tree lines. Finally one collecting any branches that couldn't be blown. Following blowing greens we then started the massive job of collecting all the debris. Yesterday and today we have cleared 90% of debris, with over 20 2tonne trailers of branches. The staff have done an incredible job to get the course back to normal, turning a disaster zone into a tidy course in 36 hours. Here's some of the pictures from the past 2 days. 

5th

5th during clean up

6th

7th tee

11th fairway

With another storm front approaching let's hope we don't face another massive clear up operation come Monday. 

Snow....... Just

Well we have been thinking the snow would arrive for the first time this winter for a while, and when it came this is all it could manage. Not a bad thing. Although not a lot it is enough to suspend play until the green surfaces are clear at least. Times like these give us opportunity to get on with non turf related jobs, but essential ones that need to be done before the spring. We are staining benches, painting and staining fence posts and finishing off tee markers. 

We have also had an Am Am competition over the last few days so we have completed the bunker work ( sand distribution and blowing ) put out new hole cups and ferrules on the flags and tidied debris around the course. 

We have cleared out a blocked drain to the left of the 1st green which was causing the turf around the front of the green to become saturated. 

The 11th tee is continuing, however the weather has slowed progress somewhat. 

The current rainfall is still causing flooding problems on holes 21-24. The river derwent is still exceptionally high, so there is no signs of water levels receding on those holes for the next week at least. 

Looking towards the 24th green!

Billy foster pops in for a chat

Unfortunately not just to see me, but a club house full of eager members waiting to be entertained. Billy Foster, the current caddie for Lee Westwood, had many stories to tell, he has worked with a lot of the greats such as Tiger, Seve, Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke. Witnessed some unbelievable golf and some heartbreaking moments. Some great moments that some of only dream of. Overall a great night, that given the amount of people was organised extremely well.

On the course the weather continues to be at the forefront of our concerns. With wave after wave of low pressure bringing rain and gales across the country we are battling to keep the course open and in a playable condition. 

The green staff have done a great job to ensure the members can get out on to the course when conditions are suitable. 

Walk ways seem to be our biggest problem, sand is applied to maintain access to the next tee and a revised route of holes has kept us going so far. 

The 11th tee continues, with the sleepers in place turfing now is under way to ensure the side of the tee blends into the top edge. 

11th tee improvements

Over the last couple of days the team have been working on the 11th tee side. Over the past few years the side of the tee has been wearing away where golfers congregate at the side of the path. It has started to look a bit tired so we are re edging with sleepers, leveling out the side of the tee and finally stoning the path when the weather improves.

Starting work yesterday

Sleepers installed, looking great. 

Recently we have discovered a blocked drain on the bank of the 14th pond. A bubble of turf appeared indicating there was water under the surface.

 A quick dig revealed an old clay pipe drain, with quite a back up of water inside. Here it can be seen bubbling out beneath the waters surface.

This can be piped into the edge of the ditch so where it is draining water from can at least dry out quicker. 

We have also finished servicing the trail gangs. 

Bunker work

Yesterday all the staff took part in a first aid course to ensure we stay qualified first aiders. This training covers the basics such as cuts, injuries, choking, heart problems, burns and unconsciousness. This will at least ensure we can care for ourselves, other staff members and golfers should they require assistance. The training was given  by Gill and Jenny from DTC organised by Linda Bower of Land Based Training, and our current ladies captain.

On the course we have blown sand from bunker edges to stop it smothering the grass. Following this we have checked sand levels and pushed sand to low spots. They were finally raked using the bunker machine. 

Service of the trail gangs continues along with hedge cutting. 

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Richard Jacques
Head Greenkeeper