1-9 greens maintenance

Firstly sorry for the delayed post this week, it's been a busy one and finding the time to get all things done had been difficult.

On Monday Matty Turnbull our new apprentice greenkeeper started at the club. I'm sure he will settle in well. He will be starting at Askham BryanCollege at the end of September to get trained and receive a qualification. His on course training started straight away putting him into the thick of the action. 

His first day was cutting tees, led by alistair he ended cutting a few on his own. Second day cutting fairways again with alistair and yesterday cutting a few greens. His attitude is good and is keen to learn. I hope he continues to develop over the next few months. If you see him on the course please stop to say hello. 

Very early on Monday morning myself and Adam started on the annual greens maintenance. 1-9 holes have been closed all week to ensure we could carry out the maintenance without delay. 9 greens have been tined with 12 mm tines in 3 seperate directions at 50mm x 75mm centers. This creates thousands of holes which create stronger, deeper rooting and the air needed for healthy growth. Around 40 tonnes of straight sand has been applied and incorporated into the surface by brushing and watering in. 

The sand put on in 3 seperate applications to ensure it dries correctly. 

Once the greens have been tined sanded and brushed the recovery stage starts. We have a turf iron on demo at the moment which is ideal to re establish levels and improve surface conditions. There is still a fair amount of sand on the surface. This will slowly disappear as the grass grows through it. 

The greens received there first cut today at 4mm which is higher than normal due to the sand so once the greens come back into play they will be slow for a period of time until the sand is not an issue. Depending on recovery which is all down to surface trueness will determine weather we apply another light dressing which would be matted in. 

This is the practice green which was cored and double tined last Wednesday. 

Still has a bit to go until full recovery is complete but has come a long way in 7 days. 

If anyone questions if it's all necessary then here is what is all about. Soil improvement= grass improvement. 

Sand channels through the natural underlying soil at 150mm - 250mm depth from the 9th green. You can just make out the rooting penetrating through the sand channel bottom left of the picture. 

10-18 starts Monday. Updates will follow next week.