Building bridges

Frosty days 

Last week saw the start of building the walls which make the ends of the crossing points on the new section of ditch from the range to the 17th. In total there are 5 walls to build. We are building them using washed stones from an old collapsed ditch wall behind the 12th. These are natural sandstones and will make the ditch a real natural feature in the years to come. 

3 walls down 2 more to go. Once finished turf will be used to finish the surface and continue to turf the ditch sides and then this winter project will be finished.

Other areas turfed has been the wet poor  patch on the 15th fairway that has recently been drained 

Today we have started to slit tine fairways and start clearing some small pines out from the 3rd copse. Hedge cutting continues at the 13th tee.

Soil profiles

When moving holes it is a good opportunity to look at the hole plug that is removed to visually check the thatch layer, rooting, aeration holes, affects of topdressing and colour of the soil profile(which can show any black layer or other chemical build up), other things that can be checked whilst the plug is removed is a simple smell test, this can tell you weather the soil, root zone and thatch layer is aerobic or not. If the sample smells of rotten eggs this can mean it is anaerobic, lacking in oxygen. A sweet smelling plug is aerobic and healthy. A more serious problem in the soil is black layer. Black layer appears as a black, foul-smelling continuous or discontinuous subsurface layer in turf grass root zones. Chemically, black layer is a deposit of metal sulphides, which form when hydrogen sulphide gas reacts with metal elements in the soil. For hydrogen sulphide to be released, the root zone conditions must favour the growth of sulphur reducing bacteria, which requires water and soil organic matter.
The organic matter provides the food for the microbes, and water keeps the microbes hydrated. Soils must be relatively anaerobic (low in air) since these sulphur reducing bacteria do not survive very well in well aerated soils. The anaerobic conditions can be caused by numerous factors such as compaction, excessive irrigation, organic matter accumulation, thatch build up, sulphur application or movement of colloidal particles. Coupled with this, sulphur must be available within the soil. The growth of algae is favoured by wet soils. Algae can produce substances that interfere with the movement of water in sandy mixtures, consequently reducing water movement, causing an anaerobic soil. 
After the work we have done to the greens over the previous years we have limited problems and continuous but less disruptive aeration will keep the root zone healthy. There are a few green which still require more work but the majority improving year on year.

There is no doubt we have still work to do but we are certainly taking them in the right direction.

Trim and feed

Now ground conditions have dried somewhat we had taken the chance to get out on to the course to trim a few areas. Firstly the greens have been cut using the triple mowers at 4.5 mm, overall considering the bad weather conditions the previous few weeks look in reasonable shape. The cold weather stresses the grass, bleaching it yellow sometimes even white. When temperatures improve the colour will return. 

The 12th green which was drained in November was given it's first cut with the hand mower. It cut reasonably well with the odd area slightly low. We will continue to topdress the green to improve the levels further before the start of the new season.

Following cutting the greens were given an application of 2-0-10 plus slow release iron. This should stand them in good health as spring approaches. The tees were also given an application of 12- 4- 28 slow release fertiliser, again to help recovery and improve the surfaces come spring.

I'm back

I have been on paternity leave for the last couple of weeks after the birth of our son, so apologies for the lack of blog updates. Everything seems to have been ticking along nicely while u have been off thanks to Adam and the team. The snow has gone at last but not too warm. This week we are finishing off markers which are being painted and stained for the coming season. The machinery is still being maintained and progress has been good on cutting the hedges.

We are also starting to tidy areas with mowers to trim the small amount of growth on tees greens and surrounds. Bunkers will also be tidied and edges blown clear of sand splash. 

The new 16th tee has also had it's first cut.