Storm Katie

The end of last week have us the chance to get all the cutting finished and we started on the 9th drainage. This area was similar to the 13th. A couple of low areas to the front right of the green always remained wet after rain. We have put an open drain into an existing drain previously however this was not directly connected to an outlet so overtime filled with silt and grass which slowed water movement. The new drain and outlets are now directly connected to the ditch to the left of the first hole. 

The route the drain took also took out a low area to the rear of the winter 1st tee. This square will be returfing with fresh turf as the turf was poor after a long time stood in water. 

The levels were checked to ensure we could get fall to the ditch. Unfortunately the existing main drains were 20 cm lower than the ditch which is at the highest point on there run. This could explain why the 9th fairway is a wet and slow to drain area. 

The drains we have installed are shallower to ensure they run to the ditch. 

Today the drains were finished with them just to pipe and fill. 

We have taken a drain across the front of the green and installed an extra open drain on the front of the green where water stands often. 

Over the bank holiday weekend storm Katie took us back to wet and wild conditions. 26mm of rain fell on Monday. 

The course was very wet and had to be closed on Monday. However with a dry afternoon and night we managed to get 18 holes open on Tuesday. There were wet areas but I was happy with how some areas had drained down. 

Today we put some lawn sand on greens 19-27 to control moss on those greens that are wetter lawn sand is basically sand used as a carrier mixed with sulphate of iron and sulphate of ammonia   The iron turns the moss and grass black. The grass will recover however the moss remains scorched. The ammonia is basically a fertiliser which helps the grass recover. 

All hedge cutting is now finished. A great job done by Will and Rich. 

Drainage

This week we have made great progress with drainage on the 13th hole. The whole area in front of the green was becoming increasingly wet. This week we have discovered one of the possible and most likely reasons, blocked drains. The main drain taking water from all the drains on the 10th fairway was full of roots and sludge from 30 years of use. This is the only way water from a fairly big  area can be discharged. To overcome this problem we will be installing a new drain which will lead straight to the 10th ditch. 

Hopefully work on the 13th will be completed today and then we will start on the 9th green area where we have been also have issues on the front right of the green with standing water. 

We have also taken advantage of the dry conditions and cut a lot of areas. The teesides, fairways, surrounds and selected long areas of semi have been cut. 

We have also taken our new greens mowers out for the first time to check and set them up for the coming season. 

A lot to catch up on

A few days since I last updated the blog, and a lot has been happening on the course. We carried on from where we left off from the previous post. Trees. We have completed all the course planting and are now moving on to felling and thinning. We have removed a number of trees from the right and left of the 14th green area.

Three thorns from the left and 4 thorns from the right. Some of these were dying or dead and the others were causing issues cutting the area with large equipment. There was also problems with grass growth to the right of the 14th green where the walk off is to the 15th yellow and white tee. 

We have removed 3 large trees which reduces the shading and competition for light on the floor. The existing trees will slowly grow into the gaps. after a couple of years we will reassess to weather more trees need to be removed or not.

Initially we had another period of heavy rain which took us back to winter greens and shortened holes, merely to keep the course playable and open, in some areas of the region there was snow cover, fortunately we missed that and just had water to contest. 

Some areas of the course were fairly saturated, thankfully the weather has been a lot drier over the past few days so we have been all go trying to get some of the jobs done which were simply impossible over the last couple of months. The last of the paths were completed, the 11th and 2nd paths topped with new stone.

We started felling some leylandii which are growing into each other. We have removed one from the back of the 1st green, this was a poor tree and the area to walk to the 2nd tee was decreasing, creating a lot of wear. With this removed we will monitor the situation to see if it improves or another tree needs removing.

We have remove one more leylandii from the copse left of the 7th hole, there are a few which we will remove over time as the new pines grow bigger, the tree removed will make cutting the copse a lot easier. All stumps will be removed with a stump grinder once all tree work is complete.

We have lifted a poor area of turf and roots near the 8th tee, this is to be returfed.

With the greens and tees being a lot drier we have finally got on to do some maintenance to both. Firstly the tees have been cut using the national until the ground firms up. Then an application of slow release fertiliser was applied. this should aid recovery in to spring. The drier summer tees are now back in to play, more will be moved back on as they and the surrounding areas dry out.

The greens have been slit tined which is a non disruptive way of aerating the soil. it also cuts the roots to help create new fibrous roots which are more able to take up nutrients and water. They were tined in 2 directions at a 150mm depth.

Following tining they were cut with the John Deere at 5mm to roll and tidy any uneven growth.

Some of the bare and wet areas around greens and tees have been sanded, this will help dry out the surface increasing grass growth and recovery from high winter wear. They will also be fertilised using the same slow release fertiliser as on the tees.

We have managed to start some drainage which was scheduled right back in November. We have to prioritise the worst areas because we will not have time to complete the whole drainage schedule for this winter now we are into March. First up is an area which is always wet in winter, front of the 13th. There are a number of low areas in front of the green and is starting to effect the turf. We are running two parallel drains running into one main drain which will be connected to the main drain on the 10th hole. An open drain will added at the front of the green to ensure no puddling occurs.

We have also repaired a couple of sunken wet areas near the 17th ditch. 

Should the dry weather continue we should make good progress 

Trees trees trees

Last week we were busy with, you guessed it, trees. All the dead new trees that I talked about in the last blog have been removed, and new ones put in their place. We have ensured the rootballs were bigger this time, this should keep a lot more fibrous roots when lifted. We have replaced the 9 dead trees and planted another 12, some down the 10th hole, a couple on the 16th and the rest right of the 20th green. They should be a great addition to the course.

We have started with the removal of the dead and dying trees on the course, there are a lot more to do but we started on a cherry and thorn around the 10th hole. 

Now all planting is finished we can do a lot more in the coming month, especially if the weather remains wet.

We noticed bark damage on the chestnut tree on the 17th hole, this tree has looked weak for a number of years. On closer inspection there is rot starting on one of the bigger branches coming off the trunk. If this spreads the tree could eventually die. We will have to get our tree surgeon to have a look to see what are the recommendations for limiting damage.

We have had a mini excavator in to remove roots from trees on the 1st tee. these have been causing issues with turf health and overall safety gaining access to the teeing area. Fortunately they were mostly on the surface. So easily removed, just the edge of the tee to tidy and re turf the area.
The weather has remained unsettled at best, frosty mornings and wet days isn't ideal for getting on with crucial jobs such as aeration and fertiliser application. Merely taking machinery on and around greens what just cause more damage, so this has been delayed until the weather improves.