There are a lot of leaves falling at the moment and the new amazone machine is working great (if we could only get on to the course to use it), as soon as we can get on to the course we will have a full round up of all in play areas. It only takes one man a couple of days to cover the course, by far easier and quicker than the previous machine we had. The time saved has allowed us to spend more time on other areas. It's mainly been swallowed up by the amount of time we have to spend switching and brushing casts, and to be honest I don't think I expected the damage to be quite as bad as it currently is. The worm casts are worse in some areas than others but most areas are seeing visible damage and some turf loss. The amount of rain coupled with cutting and general play from golfers is making the damage more evident.
To limit damage we have been out with hand equipment only, back pack blowing leaves from around greens and tees, using hand mowers to cut banks and wet areas around greens and tees.
We have a number of areas roped off to prevent long term damage, please could I ask all golfers to abide by the restrictions and to not move hoops and ropes to allow access. If a ball hits the ropes and hoops then you are entitled to retake the shot.
As we go into winter and the weather deteriorates further we may have to adopt a more sensible approach to the course playability. If we feel there is going to be long term damage caused to the course we will have no option but to limit play in some areas.
I have to thank the buggy users, so far the new restrictions we have applied this year seems to be working and the buggy users are sticking mostly to the semi rough.
All 1-18 fairways have been sprayed with iron, in an attempt to slow worm activity, but will help strengthen and add colour to the sward. The greens have been sprayed with a preventative fungicide, this was done on Monday of this week, thankfully before the weather took a turn for the worse. This will help limit damage to the greens turf caused by turf diseases such as Fusaruim. Another big chemical taken off the market this week has been announced. This is an extract from the Bayer press release which can be found online
''Products containing the chemical iprodione are to be withdrawn from sale following an EU ruling by the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed banning use of the substance.
Bayer makes iprodione products Chipco Green, which controls fusarium patch, red thread, dollar spot, anthracnose, leaf spot and rust, and Interface is used on microdochium patch, red thread/pink patch, dollar spot, anthracnose, leaf spot/melting out and rust.
Bayer professional product manager Steve Bishop said the company would update industy in the coming weeks with timescales for the sell-out and usage periods of iprodione product based registrations.
Bayer professional product manager Steve Bishop said: "We have a large regulatory team based in the UK who’ll keep the industry informed on all of the latest updates."
Earlier this year, Bayer launched Exteris Stressgard, which increased the available number of fungicide groups from five to six, with the new turf SDHI fluopyram.
"Unfortunately the loss of iprodione will reduce the available turf fungicide groups back to five, meaning that rotation strategy remains a critical element of integrated disease management," Bishop said.
"With other chemicals also due for assessment, a further reduction in the total number of products on the market, and therefore the number of available groups for rotation, for turf disease control is not out of the question.
"This is why we’re constantly investing into the research and development of new chemistry, to continue to deliver solutions to our customers well into the future."
This is another bitter pill to swallow for anyone who has to manage turf, especially after the withdrawal of carbendazim. This fungicide active is the sole contact/curative left which can be used once active disease is visible. As greenkeepers we now need to be proactive, rather than reactive. Most greenkeepers will already be on a preventative fungicide strategy of some sorts but now we will have to be more careful both culturally and chemically, with more focus around preventative measures to keep the turf in good order. To now say we can keep the turf disease free is a stretch, even with all the products available it would be expensive and sometimes difficult to implement given such factors outside your control such as the weather. We still hope other alternative effective chemicals will become available over time.
The team have started to edge some of the practice bunkers, we are looking at ways to solve a recurring piece of feedback ive been receiving over the last year, the ball finding its way under the grass lips around the bunker edge. On the practice ground we are taking the grass edge a lot further up around the perimeter of the bunker, shaping the ground beneath to allow the ball to run into the center of the bunker. This style requires more maintenance as the sand constantly works its way down from the bunker edges, needing to be pulled up on a daily basis. Please try and view the bunkers in question and give us feedback.
