Spring Blog 2022

With March comes the start of meteorological spring and flowering daffodils, I thought a course blog would keep members updated on all the things golf course related. This year the wildlife seems to be getting excited earlier than it normally does. Maybe they know something we don’t.  

      

In January the weather was really kind which allowed the green’s maintenance to be carried out.

The following procedures were completed:

·      Vertidrained to a depth of 300mm

·      Top dressed (30 ton)

·      Solid tined to a depth of 125mm

·      Brushed using our new speed brush    

·      Rolled

 

This work is essential to how the greens perform for the rest of the year. Doing it early allows the greens to recover when the golfer’s expectations are perhaps slightly lower, as its winter golf.

 

In late March the greens will have another form of aeration carried out, the GKB Sandfiller. This work will be done over 2 days, doing 10 greens one day and the remaining 10 greens the following day. Winter greens will be in use as this work is carried out. Greens will however be reinstated as soon as the work is complete. This procedure removes organic material and replaces it with kiln dried sand, creating firm and dry playing conditions. In total approximately 25 tons of kiln dried sand will be worked into the top 25mm of the greens profile. Again, this is a great bit of work with a long term very beneficial effect to the greens. Once this work is complete the focus is to get the greens back to summer conditions, as quickly as mother nature allows. Let’s hope for a good spring for a change. 

Here is a video showing the GKB sandfiller in action. 

        

 

Working outside I have a keen interest in the weather, and record data daily using a weather station. As explained in previous blogs this helps during the springtime when the grass plant starts to grow and particularly for the greens as golfers wait for the surfaces to come back to their best.

Here is a summary of the growth potential from our site from last year. Growth potential is a model that uses the daily average temperature, to express the growth rate of the plant.       

                       

You can see from the graph that anything above 40 is good growing weather. You would expect April to be a good month, but recent trends have shown it to be poor for growth, especially on the greens. Applying fertiliser when the conditions are cold can waste the product. The plant will not uptake the fertiliser, so it’s leached away, wasting money and potentially harming the environment. By tracking and using the growth potential model, this allows the correct application of fertiliser and the plants capability of absorbing the nutrients.        

 

The rainfall totals in (mm) for the year and past years.

 

                  

The winter work continues and will be completed before the start of the season. All the machinery has been serviced and sharpened using our grinders. The focus now before the growth starts is to work on bunkers and paths. Sand depths will be checked in all bunkers and new sand added if needed. A cultivator will be used to fluff the compacted sand up, providing an even distribution. All paths will be weeded, and grey dust added. The green yardage posts will be replaced with fairway discs. These will be placed into position before the season starts.     

The dry weather of late has allowed us to get some cutting done and some rolls on the greens. The iron helps smooth the greens surfaces out, especially after the recent aeration practices. The greens, fairways, tees, approaches and rough have had a trim putting some definition back on the course. The mowers will be out more as the growth starts to pick up.

The recent storms caused severe damage to trees. In total approximately thirty-five trees were lost. A contractor was brought into process some of the trees and limbs that had fallen awkwardly. Lots of debris also fell and the work collecting the material is still ongoing. Most of the trees that fell were all soft wood.     

Lots of animal damage is occurring on the 1^st, 2^nd and 15^th holes. Badgers are digging for worms and grubs on a daily basis. This is causing lots of damage very close to greens and tee boxes. Some disruption will occur until the temperature is warm enough for new grass seed to germinate. From a greenkeeping perspective this is really frustrating, with areas that we are trying to protect over the winter months are getting dug up. Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do, as badgers are protected animals. The chemicals that were used to control worms and grubs were removed a number of years ago. Lots of sports turf facilities including horse racing venues are seeing the impact of these chemical bans. Hopefully the damage will ease as the ground becomes firmer.  

        

                                

A new Toro rough cutter will be arriving in the next few weeks. This machine covers the most ground out of all the machines, so gets well used. Another addition to the fleet is a charterhouse speed brush. This brush is used to work the sand into the greens when we topdress. Two excellent investments that will help massively help on course maintenance.

 

A kestrel and owl bird box were kindly donated recently. These have been put up and hopefully will attract these birds. Kestrels are often seen around the 6^th tee and owls heard around the clubhouse early in the mornings.  

      

                                        

Staff

The team are looking forward to a change in the weather and getting the golf course back to its summer best. Craig will be enrolled on a level 2 golf greenkeeping apprenticeship over the summer months. This will help his continual professional development.   

 

Finally, thanks to all the members who support myself and the team, it’s very much appreciated. We hope you have a great season.      

 

David and the lads