Summer Blog

It is great to see the course busy with golfers after a tough start to the season. Golf seems to be booming at the moment with lots of new members and people coming back to the game.

The feedback we have received from everyone who has played the course has been very positive. This season one of the aims was to keep the greens at a consistent standard throughout the summer months. To achieve this Primo Maxx has been sprayed on a fortnightly basis with regular spoon feeding applications. Primo Maxx is a plant growth regulator that works by redirecting the plant growth. The growth of the plant is diverted to the roots, producing a denser, thicker sward. With above surface growth reduced, consistency is improved with less clippings removed when mowing. Once the cooler autumn weather arrives, applications of this product will be reduced and then eventually stopped.         

                                                    Fig 1: 18th green 

The height of cut on the greens is currently at 3.5mm for everyday play. This year a set of brushes were purchased with the new green’s mower. The brushes stand the grass up before it is cut, creating a smoother putting surface which provides a truer ball roll. Brushing is less aggressive than the grooming process which has previously been done on the greens, particularly on the clean up cut.          

Greens have been sarel rolled every fortnight. These are small prick holes (25mm) deep, which break up any sealed surfaces and allow the greens to breath. This procedure is great as there is very little surface disruption. Light topdressings have also been applied on a regular basis. This little and often approach helps dilute any surface organic matter and also improves ball roll.

 

The planned maintenance on the greens in September is

• ·       Double verticut
• ·       Vertidrain to a depth of 300mm    
• ·       Topdress with sand, approximately 30 tons
• ·       Solid tine to a depth of 125mm
• ·       Brush the sand in  

Members possibly wonder why this maintenance will be carried out after the course was shut for nearly two months during lockdown. The greens still need this work as levels of play since the course opened have been high and whilst foot traffic from golf is good for greens the compaction caused still needs to be alleviated. The deep tine holes allow the greens to breath and when the wet weather arrives the soil percolation rates are massively improved.   

 

The greens will then be overseeded with a browntop bentgrass mix. This helps improve the finer grass species of the greens. The two cultivars of bentgrass that will be used in the blend are Charles (40%) and BarKing (60%). Charles is a New Zealand bred variety and BarKing is a European bred variety. Excellent results have been achieved over the years from overseeding.  

                      

Turfgrass Diseases

The two main diseases that attack cool season grasses are Fusarium (Microdochium patch) and Anthracnose (Colletottichum graminicola). Fusarium thrives when the plant leaf is wet for prolonged periods. The fungus lives in the thatch layer and when environmental factors are right the infection takes place. Anthracnose is a stress related disease caused by low mowing heights, low nutrition mainly nitrogen and potassium, wet and dry cycles and a longer playing season, which increases stress on the grass plant. Anthracnose mainly targets annual meadow grass, making it have a yellow appearance and eventually killing the plant. When anthracnose attacks the key is to get some bent seed into the weak turf, replacing annual meadow grass with finer species. Anthracnose is becoming more common on golf greens as turf managers push greens to the limit.           

Fig 2: Top photo is anthracnose on the 14th green. Bottom photo is two weeks later after seeded with bent grass

   

                                                     Fig 3: Active fusarium 

Tees

The tees started off the season in good shape, with lots of grass cover. The dry spells that have since followed have made some tees struggle. The problem we have is not all tee boxes have irrigation to them. All the par 3 tee boxes, the 1^st and the 17^th tees boxes have water, the rest rely on Mother Nature. Once it becomes really dry and hot, some grass cover is lost on the tees and these areas don’t recover fully until the autumn. Water really is the key on keeping turf alive throughout the summer months. A tee with the correct moisture content in the rootzone will look and play a lot better than a tee that is low in water and is hydrophobic. Members may ask why tees are not hand watered during dry periods. The simple answer is that the greens remain the priority for moisture management, than the tees.                   

 

Golf Etiquette

With the ongoing pandemic all course furniture and bins were removed from the course to protect staff and golfers. Over recent weeks myself and the staff have seen an increase in litter been left on the course. This is unsightly and damaging to the environment, particularly the local wildlife. Some members have been picking up litter whilst playing golf. I would like to take this opportunity to thank these members, it shows they care about the golf course. If members could take their rubbish home that would be great.

 

A big thanks to all the volunteers who help out with tasks around the clubhouse and course. Your work is appreciated as it allows us to focus on your golf course. Little things like weeding and tidying flower beds are a massive help. 

 

Hope you enjoyed the update about the course and enjoy the rest of the golf season.

 

David and the lads