Thursday, 20 April 2017

16th ditch work


Carrying on from the last blog, firstly the greens have now been aerated using the Air 2G2 machine, as mentioned before this machine has been used at the club before. It uses compressed air to break up any deep compaction and add air into the rootzone. This can be very beneficial to roots and can aid natural breakdown of thatch and help remove harmful gases within the soil profile. Decompacting the profile will also help deeper rooting, drainage and should encourage healthier growth.

We have had the fence to the rear of the 2nd green replaced as the old fence was rotten.

Although we have had a cold spell, which has effected growth generally however we are still seeing enough on everything other than greens to warrant a tidy up cut every few days. The last 2 days have brought frosty mornings which has put a stop to any cutting, so it was quite a relief that we could get out with the mowers.

We now have irrigation connected to the greens, this is only manually controlled until the decoders are all up and running. Its pleasing to see the water finally back on the course, it was also pleasing to see the new system working at its full potential. When testing the greens and tees we can see what the new system can do. The old system could manage one green at a time and the pressure was poor. The new system can run 5 greens at a time maintaining optimal pressure. This will reduce the run time of 30 greens by 5 hours. The fill pump well is yet to be finished so we are using the old pump to fill the tanks.


It now means we can get some spraying done, this week we have sprayed fertiliser and iron onto the greens to help regain some colour and density. This has been washed in so it can be taken up by the roots of the plants. The poa in the greens is suffering more than the bent grasses. The poa plants are always first to stress when there is unseasonal cold and dry/wet weather. They are shallow rooted and as they are annuals rely on warmer seasonal weather to promote dense growth. Until the poa is 'happy' we are limiting grooming and intense work as it would create more stress and result in a lot of seeding. The fertiliser applications will help and hopefully the weather will improve soon. Overall the course is looking good

The work on the 16th ditch is coming to an end, the team have done a fantastic job of installing drainage and now leveling out the crossing point to the 16th green. The turf is due next week to complete the 16th and the 22nd tee.




Friday, 7 April 2017

Turning dry?

Its been a busy couple of weeks, grass is growing and temperatures are rising. At this time of year this isn't a great combination. Dry spring weather often results in little recovery from any winter wear. Considering this winter was mild and fairly dry, growth wasn't too bad, as I have mentioned before in this blog the course was open throughout winter (with the exception of 3 days) so the turf took a lot of wear. A normal winter, cold and minimal growth can result in more closures, but we can also see much more wear and damage across the course. Cold weather means no recovery from that wear. Should we get a cold winter followed by a cold spring we can see very patchy growth. For April the course overall is in good shape. Fertiliser applications are taking effect, the longer cut grass showing more signs of spring growth than such areas like the greens. There are a couple of reasons for this, the length of grass has a direct result on soil temperatures. The grass through winter acts as insulation, the more grass the higher the soil temperature. We are only talking small amounts but it does make the difference. The other fact relating to grass length is the ability to withhold moisture. The higher cut grass creates more shade and again protects the soil from losing moisture through wind and heat. This is especially noticeable now we have had dry weather for over a week, the greens are showing signs of drying out, however the semi rough keeps on growing, when checking, the soil is still very moist even near the surface.


On the course we have groomed all the greens and applied lawn sand to greens 19-27. You will have noticed if played recently the greens have gone black.

 This is due to the iron content, iron sulphate is the best control for moss, in my opinion. The lawn sand comes as a powder and is extremely difficult to apply evenly. The high iron content dries the moss before it dies and then can be removed. Greens 19-27 were the worst on the course for moss so only these had the lawn sand applied. Greens 1-18 were treated with a liquid fertilser and the first application of porthcawl. This a biostimulant with an abundance of trace elements, we have found it to be very beneficial to the general health of the greens.

We have started to work on the area where the hedge was removed on the 23rd, the turf has been removed as it was a very uneven area, the soil then scraped level and in the next week we will seed with ryegrass.

We have also started work on the final stages of the 16th ditch. Before the final turfing is done we are putting in two drains in front of the green. This is always been a very wet area on this hole and sometimes stops the green being used as the access to it can be very wet. If anyone is wondering why the area around the 16th green is so poor to drain this picture of the soil type speaks volumes, pure clay.


 It also made sense to complete this before the final leveling of the bridge turf, as the drain passes through the area we need to renovate. The drain will discharge into the ditch. The bridge section is having the turf lifted and we are leveling the crossing point as its very uneven and being such a pinch point we would like this to be improved.

The irrigation system has taken a little more time than I would have liked to get to the final stages. After the installation of the pipe we were making really good progress and then have been held up waiting for a couple a important things to arrive. I'm pleased to say they are now here so we should now see more progress. If this weather continues we will need it sooner rather than later, especially as we have some turf to lay

The ladies 22nd tee is to be completed as soon as we have water, laying turf with no means of watering it would be very risky.

Next week will be another busy one, we are aerating the greens once more with the air 2 G2 machine this machine was used at Malton and Norton Golf Club in January and proved to be a massive success. We also hope to finish the drainage on 16th.

About Me

Im the Head Greenkeeper at Malton and Norton Golf Club. I began my greenkeeping career at Malton and Norton Golf Club straight from school as an Assistant Greenkeeper. Wanting to climb the greenkeeping ladder I gained my NVQ level 2 and 3 at Askham Bryan College. I continued with my education gaining a HNC in golf course management and took the position of Deputy Head Greenkeeper at Malton and Norton Golf Club in 2005.In 2008 I was promoted to the position of Head Greenkeeper, leading a team of 6 hard working and dedicated Greenkeepers. Our aim is to continue to improve the condition of the course year on year maintaining our high reputation within the area.