Head Greenkeeper’s Blog – Winter 2018
The
drought of the summer is now a distant memory and normal service has resumed
with the weather. November has been wet, but the course has stood up well to
the change in conditions. To date December has been dry which has provided us
with the opportunity to carry out some of the planned winter projects.
Winter Projects
The
first tees (yellow and white) have been levelled and new turf laid. The turf is
made up of the following grass species: 25% chewings fescue, 25% slender
creeping red fescue, 20% smooth stalked meadow grass & 30% perennial rye
grass.
This work
will both improve the playability and aesthetics of the area, our first
impression to members and their guests. The final stage to complete the project
will be to level and turf the Ladies tee which will take place next winter.
Bunker LHS 2nd green
The left
hand 2nd bunker has been rebuilt and turfed. The photograph
immediately below illustrates how the old bunker lost its shape with a sand
face. The second photograph shows the reshaping of the bunker with a grass face
construction. Bunker sand will be added at a later date, however the area will remain
out of play as G.U.R. until it is ready to be reintroduced.
Bunkers
on any golf course take up a huge amount of time and resources. This is the
case whether they are grass faced like the majority of our bunkers, or sand
faced. The depth of sand in a particular area of a bunker can be affected by the
way the bunkers are raked or by high winds if the bunker is exposed. Sand
levels are regularly checked and topped up if needed. During the winter the
sand may also become more compacted with rain water.
Greens
The
greens are in really good shape for the time of year and feedback from members
is extremely positive and greatly appreciated. The coverage and overall plant
health is strong, which is desired by greenkeepers across the U.K. for the
extremities of winter. The height of cut is currently at 5mm and it is intended
that this will soon be raised to 5.5mm.
The
greens have been sprayed monthly with a tough turf package. This consists of
chelated iron, phosphate and potassium.
Applying these products hardens the grass plant for the winter.
Soil
temperature on the greens continues to be recorded on a weekly basis. Currently
as I write this the temperature of the soil on the 11th green is 4
degrees Celsius. This time of year there is little growth on the greens but the
grass plant puts a lot of resources into root development. This root
development is encouraged by aeration. Slit tining is carried out on a regular
basis when weather conditions allow. This is a great form of aeration during
the winter months, with very little surface disruption.
Walled Garden green
The
green in the Walled Garden has made a great recovery from last year’s take all
patch disease. This disease attacks new greens, mainly bent grasses that have
high pH values. This disease can be devastating as shown in the photo. Lots of
hand seeding and some TLC made sure the green has made a full recovery. Spoon
feeding every two weeks using sulphur-based products and some manganese helped prevent
any repeat attack of take all patch this year.
Tees/ Approaches
Winter
tee positions are now in use, allowing the main tees a chance to recover from
the tough summer they endured. All tees have been solid tined using the Procore
648 aerator. An intensive wetting agent was applied to the tees allowing water
to infiltrate into the soil profile more easily and speeds up the recovery
process.
All
approaches have been solid tined using the Procore 648 aerator and
vertidrained. Like the tees an intensive wetting agent was applied to all
approaches.
Bare
areas on approaches that were affected from the drought will be turfed. Parts
of the 11th and 16th tees will also be turfed. These
areas will be not be in use until the turf to become established.
General maintenance
All
course furniture is brought in over the winter and given maintenance. The
seats, ball washers, bins, marker poles, yardage posts and tee signs will all
be treated ready for the season.
Our
maintenance and storage facility, the sheds, receives a de clutter during the
winter months. All machines are serviced in house and any repairs carried out
by our latest team member, greenkeeper/mechanic Paul Walton. All machines are
deep cleaned which gets them looking nearly new. Below is a before and after
photo of cylinders from a greensmower.
The
pending purchase of a grinder which will arrive in the next couple of months is
a great addition to the fleet. This will allow us to sharpen cylinders on site
and therefore do so more regularly. Mowing greens is one of the most important
maintenance practices carried out on sports turf. Healthier turf is produced
from sharper cutting units. The grinder will provide the facility for our
mowers to be sharper.
Rough
All long
areas of rough have been cut with our Amazone flail mower or strimmed. This
management of scrub and rank grasses encourages flowers and finer grasses to
thrive in these areas. This is repeated every year.
Wildlife
Recently
there have been some areas of damage to the course caused by wildlife. I have
recently had use of a remote wildlife camera, so installed it close to one of
the areas that was being damaged. The camera caught the culprit confirming what
we thought. Badgers are protected under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. They
are digging for worms in the turf, so some damage will be inevitable. I have
recently read that they are not as active during the winter months, so let’s
hope for a cold winter to keep them below ground.
Finally,
I would like to thank all the members of Hexham Golf Club who have supported the
team and I throughout my first year as Head Greenkeeper. The extremes in weather
conditions at times made it a difficult one but I hope you would agree that the
course has stood up well, thanks to the efforts of the team.
Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year!
David and the Greenstaff
