Finally some rain

As we prepare for what was a very busy week at Malton and Norton Golf Club the weather took a turn for the worse. I admit it was nice to receive some rain as the course was just beginning to dry out in places and growth as previously mentioned was slow. However the amount we got did cause a few issues. As the ground was very hard and as soon as rain arrived it stood easily and was slow to drain away. After the first few showers the ground has now softened and more free flowing. That didn't help when the thundery showers came down thick and fast. These caused problems in getting the course ready for the first big competition of the week, the ladies open day on Wednesday. Its a shame when the weather is poor and spoils what is a great opportunity to show how good Malton and Norton Golf Club is, the team did their best and we managed to get the event completed. Cutting was effected and we were left with lots to do and grass growing faster than we can manage to get on top of and the pro am approaching on Friday. Once again the team stepped up efforts with cutting happening as much as possible, myself and a couple of others working until dark to get all tasks complete before another spell of bad weather arrived on Friday.

The pro am was again a wet day, with the course only just playable in the morning after around 10mm of rain coming in the early hours, after a lot of work and some changes to the event ( changing to 17 holes) we managed to start on time, and fortunately the weather improved, get finished on time. Some great feedback from players, given the conditions.

Next week we will have a lot of catching up to do, cutting on the Derwent 9 was reduced due to the competitions held on the Weham 18, so grass is very long in places on these holes. Especially the semi rough.

One task that is now complete is the tree work on the Derwent holes. The copses between 24/25/26 and 20 have been thinned and mulched, taking out all the scrub and weed trees and shrubs that have spread over the years. It has opened the trees up so its accessible with vehicles and should be more easy to maintain. The team at GBL Timber have done a fantastic job. The mulcher they brought in was a great piece of equipment that has saved days, material that would have had to be hand mulched was simply driven over and mulched in a matter of minutes.

We have replaced the front putting green pins as the old ones were looking tatty and a couple of the tops were becoming weak.

The 16th ditch is now fully in play, the crossing has grown in well and there are only a couple of areas where we did the draining work that are still marked as GUR. Overall I think this project has been a great success and has left the 16th green area a lot drier.

The irrigation system is all but complete, the irrigation contractors are still working on the last few bits of the system. The electrical control panel that operates the pumps down near the 24th pond needed some alterations as the location of the control grp housing was altered from the original plans and therefore needed larger cabling requirements due to the increased length of cable. This is now installed and connected, the pumps are in position and just need a couple of connections before all is complete. We are having a circulating pump installed to keep the irrigation water agitated and hopefully more oxygenated. During summer the pond where we extract the irrigation water from is very still and stagnant, circulating the water helps improve the quality of water before its extracted to the tanks.

Tree work

Over the last couple of weeks the weather has remained dry, the cold northerly winds have continued which has caused more problems for the green keeper than a golfer maybe would appreciate. Firstly northerly winds are usually drier as they are not bringing moisture in from across the Atlantic as per the prevailing direction would. They are also cold as the air is generated from the Artic. These two factors coupled together can dry the ground and surfaces very fast compared to a southerly or westerly wind direction. Evapotranspiration is also a lot higher than it would be, say in the early spring when this wind direction would be considered more expected., due to the strength of the sun. Getting water on now is not so much of a problem with the new irrigation system if we didn't have constant strong winds. The relenting winds make applying irrigation tricky. The application uniformity is decreased during windy periods, leaving hand application more likely.

The hard ground conditions have allowed us to finish one of the last winter tasks, tree thinning on the 20th and 25th/26th holes. GBL Timber, a local tree contractor has been brought in to complete this work, they have the right machinery which saves valuable time and money for the club. The machinery they use is heavy, agricultural and will need to be taken across the course a number of times to access the sites. A week into the work and they have made great progress, all the trees to be removed are down and the trees have been tidied. the brash that they have removed has been piled into the copses to be mulched with a specialist machine which is tractor driven. The reasoning behind thinning those particular woodlands is firstly to allow the remaining trees room to flourish, also the copse was dense and limited any light to the floor so there was no grass growth. This then has attracted rabbits to burrow and I felt that opening up the trees would limit further damage. We will also be able to access between the trees to cut at the end of the season.

Trees are part of maintaining a parkland golf course however they do cause problems. As stated above they need to be managed to be able to grow good quality turf. Below is another example of problems we face. Its the rear of the 2nd green where there is a line of leylandii trees near to the green. The irrigation contractors have had to go past the rear of the green to install the irrigation mains, cutting through he roots in doing so. This has left the turf on the right enough moisture to thrive, whereas on the left the roots are still taking all the moisture even though its water regularly from the greens sprinklers. root pruning can be done anywhere on the course using a specialist machine, seeing how it effects turf is maybe something ill plan into the maintenance of the course in the coming years.

I'm pleased to welcome Lynsey Frost to the greens team, she has come to work part time throughout the summer to help carry out all the tasks and help improve the consistent great condition of the course.

We have started to edge all the bunkers again, the edges of the bunkers grow in over time making them look untidy. We use a strimmer to go around the edge of the bunker to remove any long ends. The sand is then shimmed to remove any underground stems and weeds, before the sand is checked and redistributed to any low areas. The sand is still very soft as we have had little rain since filling the bunkers back in March. Hopefully it will integrate better after some rain. The type of sand that we have in our bunker is naturally soft and free draining, something that cant be changed without changing the type of sand. That would be difficult as not all sands are compatible when mixed.

The dry weather has improved rooting on the greens, all roots will be fighting for any moisture available, the deeper they go the more moisture present. This photo shows that deep tining helps the roots go deep in the soil, and therefore remain healthier during dry periods. It has to be said there are only certain varieties of grass that will root to that depth. Generally the bents and fescues will out compete poa during dry weather as there roots will extend deep into the soil profile. Poa roots are general very shallow and love wet warm weather, or when moisture is in abundance.

Today we have started to groom and cut the greens slightly lower, the bench setting has been reduced to 4mm giving an actual height of cut of around 3.5mm. The groomers are now being used to remove lateral growth.

Lots to catch up on

Over the past couple of weeks we have been very busy now we are finally seeing some consistent growth. As mentioned on the previous blog the weather took a turn for the worse after what was a dry and warm start to the golfing year. Cool, dry and breezy weather came down from a northerly direction for around a week, which knocked the grass back. Coverage was good but there was no real growth and definition disappeared. We especially noticed the poa in the greens and worn areas go downhill quickly, looking pale and weak, poa really struggles when those conditions prevail as its shallow rooted and needs wet and warm weather to thrive. Fortunately since then the weather, if still dry is getting warmer.

We managed to apply some sand to the greens, essentially this is to smooth out any wear from the winter play, pitch marks have been especially bad this winter as we were only closed for 3 days and the course received a lot of play. Applying sand also helps dilute thatch accumulations, for anyone not knowing what I'm referring to when I talk about thatch, its essentially dead material from grass clippings and leaf regeneration that builds up on the surface of the sward. Overtime this will create a layer of organic matter which is spongy and limits water penetration, root growth and can effect disease likelihood, to name a few. Thatch, in my opinion is one of the biggest green keeping challenges as it effects a number of different maintenance practices we carry out. Balancing the amount of thatch in the greens is critical in maintaining healthy greens. The sand applications or topdressing help add non organic matter and dilute the organic matter as its deposited. Naturally the more the grass grows the more the likelihood of accumulations, hence the reason we apply more sand during the growing season. Applying sand during maintenance weeks differs to a light topdressing as heavy applications are put on to the surfaces during maintenance which are to be brushed into holes and aid the drainage ability of the soil, light topdressing put on the surface is merely to be worked into the sward. The application put on in April used around 15 tonnes of sand over 30 greens whereas August maintenance uses around 120 tonnes.

The 16th ditch is now complete and the main section is in play. The short section and the recently turfed areas are still GUR.

The irrigation contractors have now installed the well which will house the fill pumps, The well was installed next to the 24th pond. the excavated soil has been placed in the trees near the 25th bank until it dries completely and can be covered and seeded.

We are now fully testing sprinklers around the course, there are a number of sprinklers which will need replacing as they are either damaged, leaking or worn. This is to undertaken by the green staff. Now we have a fantastic irrigation system to deliver water where we need it we are trying to make the existing sprinklers as efficient as they can be. The irrigation system is being used regularly to water in fertiliser, keep moisture levels up and dampen sand dressing to make cutting cleaner. It is however still hand operational only until the pc controller is installed.

The greens have been sprayed again with fertiliser, porthcawl, magnesium and iron to aid density. Cutting heights will be lowered over the next week, we are still at 4.5mm bench setting as I'm haven't been happy with general growth as previously mentioned. Cutting lower would only increase the problem. I expect to lower the height to 3.8mm over the next 2 weeks.

The photo below shows the problems we face as greenkeepers in providing top quality turf when trees are in close vicinity to greens, although tis area receives ample irrigation it struggles every year due to shade rooting and competition from the tree. Something I'm keen to address in the future.

We are spraying some areas on the course for weeds, mainly daisies, buttercups and dandelions, which seem particularly bad this year. I'm only spraying longer areas of grass as the land is so dry there maybe a risk of scorch, plus we have a contractor coming to do the fairways in May.