Chafer attack

Today we had a contractor in to spread insecticide on holes 2-7 where the worst infected areas are for chafer grubs. As members will be aware this has been an area for badger damage over the last few years. The badges search for the grubs which they feed on during the winter months. They cause lots of damage during the winter and treating the grubs with insecticide should remove the food source thus preventing damage. Chafer grubs have a life cycle of between two and four years so repeat applications and necessary. We have treated isolated areas of the last five years. However this is the first time we have done a blanket application to ensure complete control. 10 ha were completed in four hours using a tractor mounted applicator which was hired in via a contractor. It is a specialist job as the insecticide needs to be applied at 3 g/m². 

Elsewhere grass continues to be cut ready for the weekend and before the rain arrives. Weak areas that were seeded in the spring have been fertilised. And the ditch on the 10th has been tidied up.

Overall the course is in great condition let's hope we do not get too much rain over the next few days.

Still dry

After a nice week off I have returned to find the course in magnificent shape. The definition is coming on really well and the rough especially is growing up fast. Over the week I had off there was only 9mm of rain so the ground conditions are still fairly dry.

Grass growth is more vigorous due to constantly higher soil temperatures as nights have been much warmer. 

The irrigation system has been used on a night to irrigate greens and tees. E. T. Rates have been high especially over the last few days so water needs to be replaced, using the irrigation computer we can control the amount of water on each green and tee. Some areas need more than others, daily checks are made and adjustments made.

In simple terms when you get heat and water at the same time that creates growth. In a more scientific view, we call the relationship between soil/ air temperature levels throughout the day and moisture 'growth potential'. 

Basically when the temperature reaches a level that a grass can grow at it's maximum, given the right supply of nutrients, water and light, this is it's maximum growth potential. We can control the amount of nutrients and water to some level, and using plant growth regulators we can regulate growth. 

During the last week growth potential has been incredibly high. The last application of growth regulator was applied around 12 days ago at a low rate as at that time growth was slow due cooler temperatures. Today we reapplied growth regulator to greens, this time the amount of growth regulator was increased due to increased temperatures, upcoming rain and an scheduled application of fertiliser. This should take the flush of growth from playing surfaces. 

Tees fairways and semi are also growing very fast however we can't spray all areas. The tees will get an application of growth regulator when time allows this week or next. Before I went on holiday the remainder of the weed areas were sprayed. These areas were sprayed with a selective weed killer to kill mostly daisies and dandilions. 

With limited staff resources this week we concentrating on mowing. Getting a dry cut is helping but with a four day week sometimes we don't have the luxury to wait everyday until the dew burns off.

Last week all secondary jobs were completed. Divoting tees, bunker faces teesides and range work, this should save us time this week. 

On Thursday this week we have a contractor coming to spread an insecticide on holes 2-7 to treat chafer infestations which the badgers search for in winter. The 1-9 holes will be closed until dinner time. 

Ladies week

Wednesday and Thursday this week has ladies open day and ladies at home day. These are usually very busy competitions as Malton and Norton seems to be very popular for any of the open days throughout the year. 

Before Wednesday we needed to top dress the greens and micro tine to complete our spring maintenance. Fortunately the weather was ideal with windy warm and dry conditions followed by the isolated shower. 

We used 8 mm tines down to a depth of 100 mm. This is just to open up the surface and creates better rooting. It also insures play is not disrupted as there is very little surface disruption. After a couple of days recovery is complete. With a busy calendar of fixtures this is the only time that we are able to complete the work. Followed the tining we rolled the greens and matted to ensure that the sand is worked into the surface and holes are closed up. 

Other jobs has been to get on top of cutting of semi rough intermediate rough tees surrounds approaches and fairways. As the temperature has risen grass growth is a lot stronger than it was last week. The intermediate rough especially is becoming a thicker. In preparation for the ladies days, we have cut everything and the course is looking great. 

Let's hope this weather continues. 

Tree pruning 12th tee

The 12th tee shot is always going to be a tricky one due to the narrow gap to find the fairway. However I felt it was getting a little too narrow. It is a difficult area to try and open up due to the spruce trees on either side. These trees cannot be cut back to regrow. If branches are taken off back to a point with no living growth then they will not send out shoots, the branches will remain dead. So to try and do what we can, we have remove branches selectively where we can and to a reachable height. Some other species of tree have been taken as back as possible knowing these will fill back in over time. 

Else where we have seeded the remaining area on the 20th hole where the hedge was removed, we are still waiting for the irrigation to be completed on the new 20th tee before that can be tided and then turfed. The badger damage has been slow to recover due to the cold weather and poor spring. But now warmer weather is on its way and rain is due we hope to see recovery soon.

After the rain the 10th green surround and 13 Tee area drained very well.

Now soil temperatures are improving the grass is starting to grow, The course is looking good however along the rough will start to be a test over the next couple of weeks. We plan to leave a lot of long rough similar to last year due to time constraints.

We have had a demo turf iron to test against our current vibrating rollers which need replacing. This machine is a self propelled sit on vibrating roller. Whereas our vibrating rollers are placed on a triple machine which is also used for cutting greens. We are going to try other sit on machines and a new set of vibrating rollers to compare the difference in speed of use and speed of greens. 

Boom April showers.... In May

After a dry but cool week last week we have finally had a good splash of rain. Firstly a massive pat on the back to the green staff for what was a very busy few weeks in the lead up to the pro am and club competitions held over bank holiday weekend. The course was in great condition given the dry conditions. The pros and amateurs and our members commented on how good the course was and the greens were exceptional  for the time of year.

Over the weekend we had 22mm of rain and then another 17mm today. The first batch soaked in well due to the very dry conditions previously. Today the rain fell heavy and puddled up a little. 

The 10th green with wet areas on. Thankfully the weather improved this afternoon and the water had chance to drain away. It was nice to see on Monday and this morning the newly drained 12th green was mostly dry. 

The drainage working well. Today we made an application of fertiliser to the greens. A 4-0-8 fertiliser to aid recovery and get some growth. The rain washing it in well and just before the wind arrived