Maintenance weeks done

After a very busy couple of weeks we can finally breathe a sigh of relief as the maintenance weeks are finished. This is always a busy period of the summer for us, we obviously have more work to do to get all greens cored, collected and sanded, but there is also the tees, worn areas, wet bits to vertidrain and all the bunkers to edge during the weeks we have the course closed, that's not to mention all the normal cutting we have to do. This year hasn't been helped by the growing conditions, grass has been growing at a phenomenal rate for a long period of time. The weather has got itself into a pattern of thunderstorms and humidity which is going to be difficult to get out from according to the weather forecasters.

The other piece of news which I'm delighted to announce is Richard Malthouse and his wife Victoria have just had their first child, Harry was born last week and all are doing great, Rich is currently on paternity leave, enjoying his time away from picking up cores.

The maintenance on 19-27 holes went as well as expected given the routine we were in from doing the rest of the course. Many thanks again to our Director of Greens for the help he gave us picking up cores. Fortunately we were able to finish off all work and get the greens sanded before a torrential thunderstorm on Wednesday afternoon. 22mm of rain fell in and hour, I have heard that other areas not too far away received more, and some of the images and videos from the Scarborough area made the water stood here at Malton small in comparison. Fortunately the course had over 12 hours to drain before we arrived the following morning. On inspection the course had stood up well with only minimal damage to bunkers and paths, no real standing water and we were able to complete a full course cut. This goes to prove the work we do in terms of compaction relief and installing drainage is a great investment for the playability of the course.

The rest of the greens have recovered very well and on reflection the plan to decrease disruption has been a success, the greens are more playable and overall in good condition, there is a little anthracnose lingering on greens 2-7 but the majority of the surfaces are disease free. 

 

Since mid-aeration treatments subsequent applications of biostimulants, humic acid, seaweed and fertiliser have been put onto the greens to help water retention and boost turf vigor for the upcoming month during a period when anthracnose disease pressure can remain high. Applications of the mixes will continue to be made until growth slows.

We will be starting to cut all long rough back again in the next month or so, in conjunction with leaf collection. Removing the top growth will also remove some of the nutrient content, hopefully reducing vigor over time, as mentioned in the July report. This year is the first year of using the new Amazone machine to collect leaves, we are looking forward to seeing its improved efficiency and saving on manpower. During September, we will be clearing some areas on the course to tip the leaves which are composted back to soil over time and used out on the course, we have some areas already but we have found the new machine collects a lot more debris and grass, meaning more disposal areas are needed. These areas will be away from the main course, in trees, woodlands and waste areas, so not to effect play.

One issue the wetter summer has given us and will be a massive problem into the future is worm casts, I have mentioned this many times before, but I cannot emphasise enough what issues they give, not only us, trying to maintain good quality turf, but the golfers that play the course too. There is now no chemical to suppress worms on turf. All have been banned due to their toxic properties to the soil and the micro-organisms that live in it. That is understandable, we don’t want to pollute and harm the environment, however for over 90% of golf courses built on heavy, fertile land, worms are a big issue. Already in August we are faced with a daily challenge of casts on all surfaces. Golfers will have noticed casts collect on balls, effect ball roll and during wetter periods make the course muddy and untidy. We are trialing a few organic products which claim to have some effect on casts without harming the soil, but these are yet to be proven. In the short term please understand we can’t stop the casting problem and we are looking at alternatives to make the course as playable as possible heading into what is going to be a difficult Autumnal period.