Tree work

With hole closures more frequent, and very little growth we have started to carry out some of the jobs that have been waiting for this time of the year. Firstly all the winter tees have been turfed, following on from Eddie Ruddocks work. These will need a few weeks to allow the turf to root before golfers walk over it.

We have also had a tree surgeon to look at a few dangerous trees, firstly the willow at the rear of the 10th green was leaning quite badly.

After we had three tree surgeons to look at the tree, all three agreed it was not immediately going to fall but a section of decay within the trunk would spread weakening one side and eventually it would break off. I decided the safest option was to remove the tree, if it did go it is in an area where golfers pass constantly, also it would have fallen on to the leylandii hedge, ruining its shape. The tree surgeon took it down piece by piece, the only damage a bit of a muddy area where we were working. There was also two dying leylandii (of a different species to the rest of the hedge) that have been removed and will be replanted to match the rest of the hedge. The fence will also be replaced over the next few weeks.

Hers a picture of the rot spreading in the trunk, believed to be caused by an old branch which would have stemmed off the side of the tree.

And a section from higher up the tree, the dark area is the rot beginning to take effect.
We also took down two dead elm trees near the buggy/trolley shed which were dangerous. Whilst at the club I took him to see a number of other trees which I felt were effected by decay. Unfortunately a large ash tree near the 15th ladies tee also needs to be removed because of the angle at which it is leaning. Most of the others can be left with judicial removal of dead and decaying wood.

Finally we are now beginning to look at the irrigation installation, I visited Moortown and Sand moor golf clubs in Leeds to see their installations. Thanks to Steve, John and Rob for allowing me to look around their facilities. Moortown has had a full installation this Autumn and Sandmoor had a full installation 8 years ago. They have parts of their systems which are identical to that being installed at Malton and Norton Golf Club, it was good to see first hand what we are going to get for our money. The installations have been completed by Full Circle which are the contractors we are using. We hope to begin our installation in January 2017 with an approximate 10 week work schedule weather dependant.

This week we hope to get most of the leaves collected, a lot have now fallen and we are nearing the end. We are also going to start slit tining the greens and applying some iron to most surfaces. Next week we are beginning to turf the 16th ditch when we have hole closure on 10-18 Monday -Wednesday