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   

 

 

            Autumn Blog

 

As we reach the end of another season of golf here is an update on what’s been happening and what will be happening on the course.

This season the feedback we have received regarding the course has again been excellent from both members and visitors. The greens have been maintained to a very good, consistent standard all season. The work we do to the greens during aeration week remains a huge contributing factor to them been good throughout the main playing months. The addition of the turf iron (roller) has negated the need to be aggressive with the height of cut on the greens and still achieve performance. As we are now well into October, cutting frequency has reduced as daylight, temperature and therefore growth decrease. The greens are currently cut at 5mm and rolled when conditions allow.               

The greens aeration went to plan at the start of September with the following work carried out:

• ·      Vertidrained – 325 mm depth
• ·      Top dressed – 35 ton
• ·      Solid tined – 125 mm depth
• ·      Brushed using the sweep and fill
• ·      Overseeded with bent grass- 65 kg in total   

The subsequent warm weather we experienced really helped the greens recover. The bent grass germinated after only eight days. 

                                   Fig 1: Bent grass germination

Everything from a lean nutrition program to aeration practices helps promote the perennial grasses over the annuals. The greens at Hexham are a mix of bent/poa with the bent grass now having the advantage. The main turf grass diseases that I have talked about in previous blogs have made an appearance lately. An attack of Fusarium came in on some greens at the start of September, but with good growing conditions the grass plant recovered well. Anthracnose attacked some edges of greens. This is a stress related disease and it mainly targets weak annual meadow grass (Poa). Bent grass is hand seeded into these areas. 

                       Fig 2: Bent grass germination in some anthracnose 

Work to the right hand side of the 7^th green was recently completed. The following work was carried out:

• ·      Area dug out with a digger
• ·      Rotavated
• ·      New soil added
• ·      Turfed
• ·      Coverlawn layed on top

The coverlawn helps to protect the grass from the high levels of play and wear.  The natural grass will grow through the holes from the underside and the combination of the two provides a surface to play golf from.

                                                        Fig 3: Area dug out 

                                                              Fig 4: Area turfed

    

                                        Fig 5: Coverlawn layed  

                                              Fig 6: Before and after 7th hole project  

 

With the digger on site we made time to fill in and landscape the 10^th winter hole bunker. 

Recently ropes, hoops and mats have been phased in as we prepare the course for the transition into winter. Golfers often ask why we need to put so many measures in place. These measures are done to protect certain areas of the course and are one of the reasons conditions are good throughout the main playing season. If areas were not protected, then grass cover would be lost. It would be great to be able to keep grass tees on all winter, but these playing areas are too small to take the wear and would be destroyed for the main season. Grass seed doesn’t germinate in the colder months so tees would be bare soil from the high levels of play. If members could follow all the measures in place that would be great.

Another concern this time of year as the greens become softer due to wet weather, is the number of unrepaired pitchmarks on greens. An unrepaired pitchmark affects the roll of yours and other people’s putts. If members could take time to repair their pitchmarks, this helps keep the greens at a high standard.          

 

The tees and approaches have been aerated with the Toro Procore. The wetting agent and nutrition these areas have received over the last few years has helped. They still suffer from drought stress through the warmer months as they have no water to them. Wetting agents and nutrition will be applied to them over the winter months to help rehydrate the soil. The fairways will be slit tined over the autumn months when conditions allow.   

The remaining sprinklers will be replaced over the coming months. Half were done last year and have been a great addition to how water is distributed to the greens during hot spells. They have a lower trajectory, so the wind does not affect them as much as the older ones. During the summer our irrigation contractor increased the bar (pressure) to the system. This work really helped us water the greens a lot more efficiently.

Over the last few weeks, the badgers have been foraging for earthworms and grubs. This damage is now starting to occur on the edges of some greens. 

                                Fig 7: Badger damage on the 2nd green  

There are no insecticides that can be sprayed to stop the turf from getting pest damage. Crane fly are now a big problem in all sports turf, from racecourses to football pitches. They lay their eggs in the turf and the larva (leather-jacket) eats away at the roots of the plant, which can seriously damage the turf. Meanwhile birds such as crows and other wildlife damage surfaces searching for the larvae. Nature at it’s finest.        

         

Staff      

We are now back up to full strength as Craig recently returned to work. Over the summer months we have had help from Jimmy Richardson and Steven Riley. This has been a massive help to the greenkeeping team, a big thanks to them both.   

                              

And finally, a big thank you to all the members who support the greenkeeping team, its greatly appreciated.

David and the lads. 

 

                Spring Blog 2021

 

As I write this blog it is less than a week until members will be playing the course and the perfect opportunity to provide you with an update on where the course is condition wise and the work that has been carried out over the last few months.

The planned winter work has been completed and now the focus is getting the course polished up, ready for the return to golf. A couple of jobs still to do are:

• ·      The practice nets will be renewed next to the Pro’s Shop
• ·      Grey dust will be added to the paths
• ·      A stump grinder will be hired in to remove tree stumps

The first crop of leylandii next to the 5^th Medal tee have been felled and the stumps dug out. The second crop next to the Leapers oak were left, allowing some protection to the ancient tree. Leylandii don’t support much wildlife, are bad for blocking light and pull lots of moisture out of the ground. This area has been prepared for seed and will be cut as rough. The plantation right of the 6^th green was thinned out, these trees were tall and skinny, reaching for the light. As well as felling trees we have planted over sixty saplings this winter. Some were kindly donated by members and where the big oak at the 2^nd was felled, fifty oak and rowan were planted.  

     

The irrigation system has received some updates this winter. Thirty five sprinklers around the greens were replaced with a more modern unit. These sprinklers will improve efficiency of the irrigation to the greens this season. The remaining sprinklers on the course will be replaced next winter.

                   

 

With having no golfers, I decided to bring the greens maintenance forward to February. This work is normally carried out about now, but a nice mild spell of weather in February following the many weeks of snow coverage, then what seemed like perpetual rain, allowed us to push on and complete the tasks.

First, the greens were double verticut aggressively. This procedure removes a lot of organic material and creates a more upright growth habit. The greens were cut and then vertidrained to a depth of 250mm. Following these procedures approximately 40 tons of sand was applied to the greens. The greens were then solid tined to a depth of 125mm, this really packs the sand into the tine holes. The final procedure was the sweep and fill brush, which works the remaining sand into the holes and is a great piece of kit. The greens were then left to recover and with no golf being played, we didn’t have the urgency to cut. 

 

 

This week the greens are getting cut and rolled, ready for the return of golf. March is not a good growing month especially for fine turf. I follow and record data for a model called ‘Growth Potential’. This model estimates how grass potentially grows, using the minimum and maximum daily temperatures which are then put into a formula to give a figure.

0 = no growth

1 = maximum growth

0.4 (40% of the plants optimum) is a good number for spring growth and as you can see on the attached graph, only a few days in February were above this number. This model is really good for this time of year, as the greens slowly start to transition from their winter dormancy. This model is used also as a tool for when to apply nutrition, which I will discuss in a later blog. Obviously, you can’t beat your own eyes and being on the greens on a daily basis tells me what I need to know about where they are condition wise, but this science does have a place alongside that and reaffirms our thoughts and plans.             

 

       

Over the last two weeks we have started to cut the course to get some definition back. The fairways, tees and approaches have had a couple of cuts. The rough and tee banks have had a trim, along with both practice fields. This year the worm casts have been exceptionally bad on fairways, tees and approaches. Speaking to other greenkeepers this is one of the hottest topics and becoming a real problem in the industry, as more chemical restrictions have came into place. The worms smear the surface and can kill the grass, so cutting has to be carried out when its dry. Even then the build up on the rollers when dry is bad (see attached photo). Once the first few cuts have been carried out it does however get easier.     

          

All the bunkers have been fly mowed, edged and topped up with sand ready for play resuming. Small turf repairs were carried out on some bunkers, as erosion has appeared due to sand splash.  

From this time of year onwards the course does get better on a weekly basis as daylight and temperatures improve. However, even though no golf has been played since the start of January, some worn areas do not recover until the grass is fully growing, which is generally May.

As members return to the course the main tees will be phased in over the coming weeks as the weather improves and conditions allow.

 

One of the negative aspects of having no golfers is animal damage around the course. We enjoy and encourage wildlife but we have had badgers digging tee boxes and green approaches for worms. The crows are pecking at some greens for grubs. I think with no human smells around the course from golfers, the animals have the place to themselves. Let’s hope this activity stops once golf starts, as some of the digs on tees are quite bad. 

 

 

Last year I showed two people from the local swift group around the clubhouse carparks, as swifts are often spotted flying low around the buildings. They identified that the old buildings could be suitable swift nest sites and recommended that we put up some swift nest boxes. If any members are good with wood and have the time to build a swift nest box, that would be greatly appreciated. Here is a one we received from a member and this will be put up in April, before the swifts return.  

              

 

Hope you have enjoyed the read. The lads and I are looking forward to seeing members out playing on the course again.

 

All the best,

David Thompson and the greens staff.   

 

 

                           Winter 2020/21

 

During this latest lockdown the weather has been relatively kind to us, with some decent winds drying the course up considerably. The course though does not recover this time of year as there is very little growth compared to spring/summer. This break has however helped the high traffic areas get a much-needed rest, particularly the 1^st and 9^th fairways.

The wildlife thrives having no golfers on the course, adapting very quickly to this absence. The deer have been spotted most mornings and two buzzards are often seen feeding on earthworms on the fairways. Lots of other birds are feeding on the berries around the course. The resident tawny owls are very vocal on the dark mornings. A negative of this is the badgers are very active and damage has occurred on some greens and tees. We always get this type of activity from the wildlife at this time of year as they are looking to put on weight before the winter. Hopefully this settles down, as it normally does.   

 

The leaf clearing is nearly finished for the year. The strong winds have brought most of the leaves down and only a selected few trees are hanging on. The forecasted frosts should get the remainder down. The leaves on the trees are spectacular but from a maintenance perspective they require lots of man hours and use lots of fuel. The tractor mounted blower and the collector are working every day. The leaves that are collected are dumped in the woods around the course. This leaf mould is an excellent soil conditioner and is added to all the beds around the clubhouse.

All the cutting and collecting of long roughs has been done. This yearly procedure improves these areas by removing scrub and rank grasses, which encourages wildflowers and finer grasses.  Whilst we have been closed two fungi experts came in and surveyed the course. They found over forty different species and a Northumberland first, an agaricus porphyrrhizon, which was located near the 3^rd tee. Amazing what you can find when you have a good look about. They loved the site and will be back to survey the woodlands, next year. 

 

 

 

All the fairways have been slit tined and this will be done again over the winter. This helps get air into the fairways and removes compaction from the high levels of play.

The two greenside bunkers at the 6^th have been rebuilt. The bases will be smoothed out and levelled with a digger, before new turf is put down. This work improves the course aesthetically and helps the golfer get a more consistent lie in the traps.   

 

 

Bunker repairs on the 1^st and 15^th bunkers have also been carried out and are ready for turf.

The 3rd greenside bunker has been filled in and rebuilt to the right. The aim of this work is to make the approach shot fairer without reducing the degree of difficulty the hole presents. The area front left will still provide a challenging up and down and in time will allow improvement to what is one of the weaker greens in agronomy terms. More pin positions will also be available. 

      

The 3^rd tee has been stripped and will be levelled off with new turf laid. This tee really suffers with the lack of light it receives. Other tees with worn areas on them have also been stripped and will be prepared for new turf.  

 

 The trees at the back of the 11^th green have been thinned out. This will allow more light and airflow to the back of the green. The trees that remain in this area will flourish with not having to compete in a crowded space.

 

 

Some trees have also been thinned out at the back of the 15^th green. This again will allow more light to the green. Shade issues on fine turf have a big impact on turf grass diseases. With chemical restrictions getting tougher, we will see more trees around greens having to be removed.  

The greens have been getting slit on a regular basis. Cutting has eased back with no golf being played. The greens were cut towards the end of November and will be cut again prior to play resuming on 2^nd December 2020. Disease pressure has been high this autumn with the mild weather and no golf course is immune to attacks. Fusarium is the main disease this time of year and it thrives on mild temperatures and plant leaf wetness (dews). Products that keep the dew from forming on the greens have been applied, along with acidic products which the fungus does not like. These dew removal products keep the dew off for about 5 days and if sprayed at the right time can really help with disease severity. The only problem with them is they have to be sprayed onto a dry leaf which allows the product to coat the leaf surface stopping the dew from forming. These spray windows are however few and far between at this time of year. With further chemical restrictions these products are important for turf managers, in the continual battle against disease.    

            

Another issue the turfgrass industry has is worm control. Worms are good as they aerate the soil. They like heavier, moist soils and are really helpful for the soil eco system, but the negative side of this is the worm casts. This mud forms the casting and chokes the plant causing it to die. With worm casts on the surfaces you can’t really mow certain areas because the soil gets stuck on the rollers and the blades. This raises the height of cut and dulls the blades on the mowers. This problem affects the fairways here at Hexham. With trying to mow the fairways at this time of year you are doing more damage than good. Should you notice the fairways are slightly longer, this is the reason why.        

            

Hope you have enjoyed the latest information and we look forward to welcoming golfers back and seeing everyone out on the course again soon.

 

David and the lads.                           

 

     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