Over the weekend we had 35mm of rain which left the course saturated, the drainage we have recently installed is certainly getting tested. A lot of the water was stood on fairways and in the semi which has highlighted further areas where the drainage system needs to be improved in the coming years.

The staff worked tirelessly pushing off water where they could, greens and surrounds have to be the priority areas as they can determine weather the course is open or closed when the rest of the course is borderline. This morning I was expecting the worst after seeing the water stood on the course yesterday, however I was quite surprised about how the majority of the course had dried enough to allow play. There were however areas that were still saturated and unplayable, we managed to open 13 holes with work being carried out on the others to remove water from traffic areas. With the wet areas being on sloped ground buggies were not allowed on the course due to health and safety reasons.
The greens were drying throughout the day, we cut the practice green with the hand mower to tidy any growth

We have continued with machine servicing and in the afternoons started to repair some badger damage

Friday brought contrasting weather, overnight the remaining snow had thawed leaving a milder morning. We prepared the course for a North Yorkshire School Golf tournament, cutting the greens with the John Deere mower, at a height of 4.5mm, raked the bunkers and set the markers forward. All the holes were moved, we put out new flags and cups, these area changed every year as they wear. New cups were also put in the putting green and the practice green and holes moved. We put out new flags on the range and re set the hole cups. We have saved some of the better hole cups for any temporary greens we will need next winter. Sprinkler heads were all cut around ready for irrigation checks next week. Machinery servicing continues with the trail gang mowers being stripped down, reground and new bottom blades installed. The 19th hedge is now finished, there is the hedge between 19th and the range just to complete.

In the afternoon the weather took a turn for the worse, and turned to rain, fortunately the school golf tournament was completed. Over night the rain turned heavier and due to flooded and saturated ground conditions the course was unplayable this morning and was closed. Next week we will start repairing the badger damage on holes 5 and 6, complete hedge cutting and start bringing in some of the ropes and hoops from the course, depending on ground conditions the summer markers may be put back on to the summer tees. The greens staff also have a first aid training update on Monday.

Snow in march!.......again

Unfortunately the snow that fell on Wednesday had not totally thawed this morning due to a severe frost, we managed to open 15 holes at 10.15am when the snow had melted enough to make the course safe for play.

The cold weather has brought badgers back on to the course searching for food which has caused significant damage on holes 5 and 6, this will be repaired, starting next week. We hope to apply the insecticide to reduce further damage when the weather is suitable.
With the course frozen we have made good progress with machinery servicing and staining of tee bins, seats and finished off hazard posts and benches, work that often goes unnoticed, however is essential to keep the course well presented.

If the weather improves next week we will concentrate on irrigation checks, setup and maintenance, repairing damage on the course and hopefully finish off cutting the hedges.

March snow

This week the forecast has reverted back to the winter chills that we are use to in January not March. The weather at this time of the year can be very unpredictable, unfortunately easterly winds have brought cold air in from the North Sea bring snow showers and sub zero temperatures. The course was closed today, there wasn't a great amount of snow but enough to stop play. Looking at the forecast it could be a similar story for the next couple of days at least.

Work doesn't stop for the green staff the team has been busy repairing and servicing machinery and staining benches, and making hazard posts now all the markers have been finished, ready for the start of the season.

Stump grinding

After 3 days of constant grinding Adam and Alistair have finally completed removing all the remaining stumps. It took nearly 2 days just to remove all the hedgerow stumps from 18 and 19, the effort to keep the machine going constantly from 7.30am to 4.00pm every day hasn't gone un noticed, the result is very tidy and has caused minimal disruption. This is a specialist piece of equipment we hired fro Beaver Plant Hire near Stamford Bridge so we wanted to use it with efficiency in mind to maximise its use.

 

Job done

Grinding at 14th

 

 



Fertiliser applications

This week we are concentrating on the spring fertiliser applications to fairways, semi, worn areas, greens and surrounds. Firstly we have applied some potassium nitrate to semi rough areas around greens that have worn and got trampled through out winter. The potassium nitrate is an instantly available form of nitrogen so works at low temperatures with quick response on the turf. As it is instantly available it is applied at low rates, we applied a 13-0-46 at 15g/m. This could last up to 6 weeks, however we will reapply as and when needed.

We also have been applying a slow release fertiliser to all fairways. This is a 5 month controlled release 24-5-10 granular fertiliser.It is only applied once per season in spring, releasing when conditions for growth are more favourable, although there is a portion of initial release within the product. This will ensure the fairways receive the nutrition they require for healthy growth without peaks and troughs of growth. The 24-5-10 product was applied at 25g/m. We also used this fertiliser around greens where growth can be sporadic and in the same worn areas as we spread the potassium nitrate. The idea being we have the initial kick of growth with a longer release for a continual  dense sward around the greens.

 15th yesterday

9th today

Tomorrow we will be applying a 4-0-8 +iron granular fertiliser to greens and surrounds at 30g/m which will provide 12kg/N/ha. This product is ammoniacal nitrogen, ideal for use at lower temperatures but with a safer release compared to potassium nitrate.

Other jobs currently under way are hedge cutting, which is still ongoing, currently working around the 18th green.

We also have a stump grinder here for a few days grinding out the stumps from the hedge between 18 and 19, also the stumps that were left from the tree work carried out last week.



Tree work

The 9th green drain is now complete, turf put back yesterday morning so the green is now back in play. All the new drains will need a roll to smooth out the surface, then topdressing out with sand to help recovery.

Hopefully this drain will save a lot of work pushing water off this green, it also will help the health of the turf. If puddling is still an issue following heavy rain then further drains may be installed, parallel to this one. We hope to hire a trencher or have contractors install further drains if needed as digging them by hand is very time consuming and difficult, although the team have made an excellent job of the ones they have done.
We have been concentrating on tree work for the last two days removing dead, dying and unwanted trees across the course ready for the stump grinder which is arriving on Monday. In total we have removed around 20 trees, a number of them were cherry trees which we have found are dying off over the last few years.

7th hole 

We have removed some trees from the edge of the wooded area left of the 14th hole as they are starting to block out the vision to the whole of the green from the centre of the fairway. When the trees are in leaf the problem is far worse, a good tee shot to the corner of this dog leg was often punished, hopefully the work we have done will make it fairer for golfers without making to much of an impact to the woodland.

We are going to start fertilising the fairways next week so we started cutting them to tidy up any growth there is and improve presentation.

 1st

11th