Even more leaves

We had leaf issues last time I updated this blog however since then they have intensified. Stronger winds and trees that have turned autumnal are shedding leaves faster than ever. Every day we continue to battle against them. 

The problem being the winds are moving them constantly so greens and tees are being covered throughout the day. Firstly this causes issues with playability but secondly we struggle to cut grass when there is so much debris around. We have to have blowers directly infrint of any cutting machine. With milder temperatures continuing growth is still continuous. 

All areas could do with a trim to tidy them up. We have sprayed winter tees with worm suppressant and the greens have been sprayed with a preventative fungicide and a bio stimulant. All trees and rough areas have been strimmed and tidied. We have the hedge cutting contractor coming in a weeks time to trim all hedge rows and trim ditch sides. 

The rest of the worn areas have been solid tined to relieve compaction. We will be starting on the worst fairways in the next couple of weeks before starting tree pruning. 

Leaves

Well we have reached the point where leaves are falling faster than we can pick them up. The cold nights couple with a couple of windy days has started the mass fall. Cold nights naturally make the trees go into storage mode, when they start keeping the energy in the tree ready for the spring where new leaves and fruits will be formed. This caused the leaves to loose there vigour and detach themselves from the tree. The colder it gets the more they turn. Some trees loose them before others. But the majority now are turning and dropping leaves daily. 

We are out with blowers daily but it's a long process when you have 10s of thousands of trees surrounding the course it's not easy. Please use the leaf rule to keep play moving smoothly. 

Grass is slowly growing still so we are out cutting. This week we have cut tees, fairways, greens, surrounds and approaches. All areas are looking good for the time of year. 

The lawn sand we applied to 19-27 greens has turned the greens darker and the iron has started acting on any moss. 

Tees have now been tined. 

And bunkers blown out, tidied and raked. 

Aeration of surrounds and approaches

Last week we continued with the aeration programme for this winter by starting on the surrounds and approaches. These are done with 12mm tines at a similar spacing to the greens which were previously done. Around the greens perimeter was done a couple of times to relieve as much compaction as possible and then the front of the green to about 20 yards short of the putting surface. The rescue application on the surrounds is now showing clearly any rye that was in the surrounds. Larger patches can be seen on a few of the surrounds however these will fill in over time. Unfortunately the short term look is not great. 

The leaves are falling thick and fast so clearance is difficult to keep up with. Greens are the main priority to clear before cutting but everywhere is blown at some point. 

The greens on holes 19-27 have been slit tined twice over. Then had lawn sand applied to reduce the moss on them. Lawn sand is a mix of iron sulphate, ammonium sulphate and sand as a method of spreading the mixture evenly across the turf. 

Holes 1-18 have had a 4-0-8 fertiliser applied to the greens giving around 10kg of nitrogen and help to strengthen then going into winter. This fertiliser also contains iron to deter moss. 

Fairways 10, 15, 16, 18 have had a winter fertiliser applied to them as these are the weakest fairways come spring. It's a slow release fertiliser that will assist in strengthening the turf through the cooler winter months. 

Mirco tine and topdress

This morning saw the first frost of the autumn. When I arrived at work at 5.40 it was a lowly 2 degrees c. Unfortunately it hung around for a while due to clear skies. Once we thawed out we began micro tining the greens with 8 mm tined to a depth of 100mm and at spacings of 50mm x 50mm. This is to aerate the roots and allow harmful gases to escape which could influence disease pressure. Following this we topdressed the greens using straight sand, a very light dressing helps stop accumulations of thatch and keeps the surface drier. 

The top dressing was going to be worked into the sward via drag matting however a rain shower slowed progress and made matting the sand in impossible so this will have to be completed tomorrow. The greens are still looking good for mid October. This work is vital to continue there performance into the winter. 

The range tee is now being divoted for the last time this season before we close it until spring. Please use the mats only in the driving range building or outside on the back section to allow the grass to recover for next season. Thank you. 

Fall

The Americans describe autumn well, this time of year is all about falling leaves. Every day it's a battle to ensure the course is cleared before we can cut and ensure surfaces are in a playable condition. 

With different species of tree loosing leaves at different times it's a continuous process for around 3 months. Greens, tees and surrounds are cleared with back pack blowers the fairways and semi is cleared using a tractor mounted blower. When the quantity of leaves gets to a sufficient amount then they need collecting using our leaf sucker. 

Mornings are difficult as it is not light until gone 6.30 and staff have to start cutting and preparing the course using torches. 

Next week we will topdress the greens and start microtine the greens. We hope to start cutting out the winter tees ready for the winter. Hopefully we can remain on the summer tees for a little longer as long as the weather remains good. 

Strimming of trees and rough areas continues we hope to complete these in the next week or 2. 

Now the range building is complete the shelter sheds are to be done too. Once again thanks to Colin our greens chairman for his efforts.

 

Spray tan

Our greens chairman is not away from the club much, always keen to do something so I thought if give him a mention as this week he has been spraying the driving range building with a preservative to keep the wood work in good shape. After a few trials with colours and a practice he is tackling the rest of the building. 

A great effort as it's not small, a 12 bay range building and storage room, but he's almost done. A great effort. I'm sure I can find a few more jobs for him to do. 

Another foggy few days, it's worth mentioning that if golfers can not see where there shots are going they shouldn't be playing. Unfortunately this hasn't been the case this week and golfers have put us (greenkeepers) and other golfers in danger. We have had a number of near misses and therefore it is our intention to review to the fog policy with the intention of improving safety for all on the course. This will be notified in due course. 

The team have done a great job this week and the course looking and playing well. 

Unfortunately there is a number of members/ visitors that think that the rules don't apply to them, bunker raking seems to be one of the in going problems, etiquette states that once a shot is played from a bunker the sand needs to be raked and left in a tidy manner. If any one is seen or deemed to be ignoring this then it is all members duty to report them to the manager or myself.