Maintenance week

Maintenance on the course is always an issue for the golfers, especially when the greens have been in such good condition this summer. However, in order for us to keep the greens in the best possible condition throughout the whole year, as golf is played all year now by the majority of members, it is necessary for the green staff to carry out some major renovations on the surfaces from time to time.

Having been discussed at committee level, it was decided that by completely closing the golf course on the Monday, it would give the staff the best possible start to their maintenance plans going forward. The cooperation by the members on this matter was greatly appreciated by all the staff involved.

Spiking deep

As the course was very quiet on the Sunday evening, we actually started spiking the greens then, only doing six so that we could be ahead of the rest of the tasks come Monday morning.

After Sunday evening, all the greens received a deep spike using the Wiedenmann GXi8, punching holes of 12 mm diameter down to a depth of approximately 8 inches. This is a vital aeration procedure to help alleviate a lot of the compaction which builds up after a summer of play and machinery use.

Greens dressing

This was followed by giving the greens a roll with the turf iron to firm up the surface. The greens were then topdressed, which was followed by another spiking operation, this time with the Procore, using 8mm tines down to 3 inches. This operation not only helps to close up the larger holes, but also assists with working the dressing into the greens profile.

Procore spike on the dressing

Dragmat use

The dragmat was then used to move the sand around nice and evenly. We then decided to lightly use the sweep and fill brush to try and work the sand in a bit better.

Finally on day one we gave the greens a little bit of water to aid recovery after all the disruption. Again, this all wouldn't have been made possible without the course closure.

Onto the Tuesday and we started with giving the greens another dressing, this time a lot lighter as well as applying bent seed to the greens. This was mixed in with the sand and distributed in the dressing for better coverage.

Bent seed

Then the greens were spiked again using the Procore, this time only punching down an inch. Again the greens were then matted and, in the dry afternoon, were given a cut.

Not a bad finish after the procedures

Tuesday also saw us start to carry out procedures on the tees. The front nine tees were spiked with the Procore, this time using 15mm solid tines, dressed, seeded and brushed. The back nine tees are then done the same on the Wednesday.

Tees dressed and seeded

As you can imagine it has been a very busy week so far as not only have we been carrying out all these procedures, we have also been cutting tees, approaches, fairways, semi rough and rough, spraying bunkers for weeds, as well as spraying the greens, approaches and fairways with feed.

We have also resumed out rough management work with the Super 500 going out and cutting down a lot more areas which were unplayable. These areas will be raked through so that in time more playable, wispy rough will take over.

17th rough removal

The staff have all worked hard to keep disruption to a bare minimum and we do appreciate the patience of the members during this time, especially during the course closures.

Early Dry Summer

The golf course has transformed recently into fast and firm type, a long way away from the last 8 months or so which have been very soft and wet. It requires a different type of game to be played, running the ball in rather than target golf.

 

Looking back from the 4th Green down to 5th
 

 

Over the last few weeks the course presentation has taken priority over anything else as the grass has been growing well all over. Definition has improved as the growth has kicked in. By tweaking the way we have cut the course this season, it has made us more efficient and so we are able to keep on top of things a lot better.

 

16th Hole

 

The greens are firm and fast but have struggled a wee bit in the heat of late. Water has been applied at night when necessary to keep moisture levels on the right side without affecting playability too much. They have been given liquid feeds to keep them healthy, together with some light dressings. This little and often approach keeps them ticking along nicely without producing excessive growth.

 

Watering the 14th green

 

With the greens being firm the pace has remained high. We are trying to keep them as consistent as possible on a daily basis, so they don’t fluctuate too much. Currently they are running about 10 to 10.5 feet on the stimp meter.

 

Grinders in action

 

The units for the machinery are being sharpened on a regular basis to keep the turf as sharp, true and healthy as possible.

 

Sharpened units ready to go

 

All the other areas of the course can not be artificially watered and so they only rely on what comes from above. A lot of areas had browned off nicely, but some recent rain has checked that.

 

Digging out the old practise bunker

 

The practise bunker has had a makeover recently with the old overgrown base dug out, new drainage installed a liner put in to stop further contamination and new sand installed. This should make its use much more user friendly.

 

Further drainage installed

After the drainage was installed a load of sand was put in to form the bowl base. Then a liner was installed to stop further stone and weed contamination.



Base liner installed before fresh sand on top

 

Finished Product

 

Finally some staff news, we have found a suitably experienced replacement to bring the greenkeeping team back up to full strength. Lee McAndrew is settling in well and has previously enjoyed two spells at Fairhaven GC, as well as spending time as Course Manager down at Rugby GC. Conor has also rejoined the team for the summer after his first year of university. We will all do our best to keep on top of the course and be as efficient as possible.

Spring Course Update

Over the bank holiday weekend the weather was really hot and the golf course suddenly sprung to life. All of the outfield areas such as fairways and roughs really started to grow and we are having to cut them frequently to keep on top of this spring flush.

However the greens are behind with their own growth potential, even though temperatures have started to warm up. We have not really experienced any significant growth on the greens (which isn’t a bad thing, pace wise) and so we are faced with the annual fight of different grasses growing at different rates, as well as the emergence of the Poa seed heads coming to the fore. This can cause bobbles on the green, but we are trying to combat this.

 

A small example of the ongoing issue.

Please Repair Your Pitchmarks.

The greens have received some topdressing to help with smoothness, but without the growth it was difficult for the sand to enter the profile. Once growth picks up, light dustings of dressing will be necessary to improve both smoothness and trueness. Currently we are cutting at 3.75mm on the greens and also using the iron to help the cause. This Golf Club has a reputation for good quality, fast greens and so in the middle of May, we are reasonably happy with the surfaces, considering the winter they went through.

PLEASE Repair Your Pitchmarks.

We must not forget about aeration too and the greens will be tined when competitions and weather conditions allow us to put some air into the soil profile. This will give space for roots to grow deeper and help with any water movement through the profile.

Any Pitchmark, doesn’t have to be yours!

The tees and approaches have all had a feed as well as a growth retardant application to help limit the amount of top growth so that we can keep on top of presentation. We have also reduced the height of the tees, collars and approaches so that a tighter lie is more achievable. These areas will also receive a light topdressing soon to increase their quality. We have cut out some run off areas around the greens too, this helping with playability and presentation. These areas will also be dressed in the future to aid improvement of the sward.

 

Tees Definition

 

People are reporting repairing 15 to 20 a green, this is unacceptable.

As for staff news, we recently lost James to another golf club and we thank him for his service over the last six years, as well as wishing him well as he looks to further his career. The task of replacing James is well underway and hopefully we will be in a position to announce his replacement very soon. Conor, who left us last autumn to go to university, is rejoining for the summer months and his experience of the course and machinery will provide a welcome addition to the team.

Please repair any pitchmark, they tend to be at the front of the greens, whereas your ball may end up near the back.

Obviously when you are short staffed, especially in a small team, it is sometimes impossible to keep on top of every single job you want to carry out and so you have to prioritise. Our main focus at the minute is general course presentation on the larger area. However we know there are areas that need tidying and we will endeavour to carry out these extra tasks as quickly as possible.

 

13th Approach Drain

17th pit culvert repair

 

Such areas include the trees between 3,6 and 13, the tee banks, steps and benches, ditches, the tee sponsorship signs and the bunkers. All these “little” jobs add up to a lot of time in man hours and so we will work our way through the list of jobs we have as soon as possible. We thank you for your patience during this time.

We have managed to tidy some areas up which were left over from late winter. These include raising the level of the ground around the drainage chamber on the left of the 7^th hole. Also we have raised the level of the drain in front of the 13^th green and cleared, re-covered and turfed over the culvert which was affecting the playability of the pit on the 17^th. More of these jobs, including repairing tractor wheel damage from the winter will be carried out as soon as possible. But the main focus is general course presentation, defining the course as it comes to life.



7th Grid

Please help us to produce the best greens possible by searching for and repairing a pitchmark. Thank you.

Winter Update

The weather continues to play havoc with our on course works with another load of snow dumped on the course, preventing us from carrying out certain tasks. Lots of the work already carried out is at its final stages, so everything is in place ready to finish the jobs as soon as the course is fit to do so.

Storm damage at the 4th

The drainage on the 1st, 9th and 10th is ready for turf, which has been ordered. (Turf suppliers are also feeling the brunt of the weather too, as you can imagine). The double bunker on the 9/10th has been filled in and shaped ready for turf too.

New shaping underway at 9/10th bunkers

All the tee bank steps on the 3rd, 4th and 7th tees have been prepared ready for turf. The old sleepers were removed, the area rotavated and new rootzone added and shaped.

Steps at the 7th Medal Tee

The bombhole to the right of the 15th fairway has had soil added and shaped ready for turf. Drainage runs through the middle of it and joins into a culvert which runs down to the 5th.

15th Pit shaped for turf

The area behind the 5th tees has had soil added and shaped. This area will have heather planted on it, transported from elsewhere on the course, as well as new turf.


Mound shaping at the 5th Tees

This week we will also be concentrating on removing all the tree stumps with a hired stump grinder. Although a slow process, the light and air movement now created from removing the trees will be of benefit to the surfaces in the long run.

The greens have received a granular fertiliser to help with their nutrition and they have responded well to it. The scarifying plan is currently on hold due to all the works underway and the weather problems, however the tining and dressing will commence as soon as possible.

The rest of the time when not completing winter jobs will be taken up with tidying the course in preparation for the opening of the upcoming season.

Winter Course Update

"The Beast from the East" followed by Storm Emma have certainly brought some very cold and wintry conditions to both the course and the whole country. Usually this means we have to change our plans from what we thought we would be doing out on the course, to actually what we can do.

 

2nd hole at dawn

 

The planned renovations on the greens, which consisted of scarifying the top 20mm or so, followed by solid tining and topdressing has had to be postponed for obvious reasons. We will still need to carry this out, but it will have to wait a while until conditions approve.

 

Scarifying to be carried out soon

 

Also, having the course full of snow and frozen ground, the drainage work at the 9th and 10th has also had to be stopped for a short while. Most of the major works in that area has been done but there is lots still to do to complete the process.

 

One of the drainage ditches going in



 

The trenches dug across the 9th fairway and in the 10th rough have all been piped and stoned. These will be filled up to the top with rootzone and then turfed. The trench on the 9th fairway has had added pipework installed which will be fitted straight into the main culvert running across the fairway.

 

A sample of the thatchy turf found in the wet rough areas with clay underneath

 

A sample of some of the large rocks found under the surface when digging

 

The area near the trees on the right of the tenth has had drainage installed. This has gone straight through the double bunker, then into the main trench across the 9th. The bunkers have been filled in and will be shaped and turfed to contain the original design features.



 

Although all this work is being carried out, the condition of the very heavy clay subsoil will dictate that it needs much more work in terms of aeration and dressing in the years to come to help the drainage to work fully. However much of the standing water will hopefully find its way much more quickly to the culvert below. There is a lot of compaction in the whole area due to the amount of traffic that it receives and we must spread the wear by driving and walking in different areas.

 

High traffic area means much compaction, especially on clay

 

Since the turn of the year, members of the greens committee and greens staff carried out two course walks, front nine and back nine to discuss areas of the course that need to be finished, or problem areas that need solutions as quickly as possible. When the weather is like it is currently, it is a chance for us to try and work through some of these areas so that the playability for the members and visitors is at its best possible level when you can start playing again.

 

Right at the very start we focussed on first impressions and it was clear that standing on the first tee you are not able to see a pin on the right hand side of the green, or the right hand greenside bunker due to the trees that are surrounding the pond. Players driving the ball to the right have no idea where the ball is landing as the trees block out the landing zone. It was deemed necessary to take out some of the trees to give the player a much clearer view of the hole. This work has been started and we will keep cutting back until we can see the bunker from the tee.

 

The right side of the hole has closed in so you can't see the green

Trees being removed around the pond

 

From the second competition tee, it was clear that overhanging branches were interfering with golfers' ability to drive down the left of the hole. Those branches were removed, along with a couple of dead trees to aid play in that area.

 

View from second tee without the interference

 

I'm sure you will have all seen by now the trees and scrub taken out between the left of the 5th and the 6th holes. Having carried out the work it came to our attention that many times buggy users had caught a particular tree that was leaning over the path leading to the 6th tees. This became a health and safety issue and so it was decided to take it down.

Tree at the path near 6th tee

Also during the course walk, when stood at the back of the 14th tee on the left hand side, it was clear that no tee shots could be played from the very left, due to overhanging trees on the out of bounds line. We have removed a couple of trees to improve the sight line. There was much discussion about the 14th hole in general and how we can improve matters and several ideas were brought up. However for now no major works will be carried out until further planning is discussed and budgeted for.

 

The dangerous trees that were leaning near the 16th tees have been felled and removed. There are still some stumps to come out but at least now the area has been made safe. There is also a snapped branch further up near 17 which needs to be dealt with to make that area safe. This will be done as soon as possible.



Area to left of 16th with dangerous fallen trees

 

The area behind the 5th tee has had some material placed there in order to carry out some shaping. This will then be added to with topsoil and turned into mounding so that heather can be imported from other areas of the course and planted there.

 

Recycled material used to create mounding

Early shaping before new material added

 

The staff are working hard to carry out all the tasks needed to be finished, sometimes in very poor, wintry weather conditions so that our focus can turn towards the course in general and preparing it for the upcoming season. Hopefully we will have a drier year and we can all look forward to forgetting about this winter in a hurry!

 

 

Trees and Turf Quality

Trees and Turf Quality

There has been a lot of debate recently with regard to the use of trees on a golf course and recently an email was sent out to all the members explaining some of the main reasons why trees are sometimes removed.

 

The purpose of this blog is to explain in more detail what effect trees have on the reduction in turf quality and give solutions to the problems. It is certainly not an instruction to take all the trees out on the course, it is simply some information to digest, that by carefully planning some work around the course, the quality of the holes could be improved if so desired.

 

Just to explain in full, trees are a major cause of poor turf quality on many courses up and down the land. There are four main areas where the negative impact of trees can be summarised, and they are:

·         Shade

·         Poor Air Circulation

·         Tree Root Competition

·         Interfering limbs and branches

 

 

Shade can harm greens and tees, causing frost to stay longer and disease to form

 

 

Shade

This is probably the biggest cause of turf weakness on a golf course. If you combine shade with golf traffic from buggies, trollies and machinery, the results can be very serious. The grass plant needs light to photosynthesize and produce food to grow and regenerate. When turf sits in shady conditions the food sources are depleted and it becomes too weak to recover from traffic.

 

Shade on 14th green. As he sun comes higher and further round the shade cast by the trees develops all over the par 3.

 

There is also plenty of evidence to suggest that certain diseases, such as Fusarium, favour shady conditions rather than out in the full sunshine. Greens and tees are very susceptible to damage as they receive a lot of traffic condensed over a small area, but also rough areas which receive a lot of traffic (on 5 and 14 for example) can also suffer.

 

Shade on the right of 5th. Another area of very poor quality turf

 

The lack of direct sunlight on any turf area also prolongs any potential drying out period after rainfall. This leads to greater disease activity and increased soil compaction.

To overcome a shade problem, it may be necessary to remove canopy and understory trees to increase the chance of sunlight hitting those areas.

 

Poor Air Circulation

Another consequence of too many trees in close proximity to important play areas is poor air circulation. In areas such as greens and tees where air is poor, the temperature of the air is usually higher, and usually little or no breeze is available in the area. Also, soil temperature and soil moisture levels tend to remain higher for longer periods due to the lack of good drying conditions.

As a result of these factors, disease activity, heat stress and soil compaction effects are common in such areas. As with shade, all these factors favour Poa annua taking over, a grass species which always performs poorly during stress periods.

 

A typical example of damaged and fallen trees in the woodland



The key to resolving problems with air circulation is to open passageways for air to move through the area. Removal of shrubs and understory trees can significantly improve the situation while generally thinning the canopies can also be of benefit. Removal of larger trees, especially those that block the prevailing winds, can prove very helpful if smaller measures fail.

 

Allowing air to flow through to bottom of course, clearing out the dead or decaying trees

 

Shade and air circulation problems usually go together, but this is not always the case. For example, some greens or tees may well receive full sunlight throughout the day, however they may well be suffering from poor air movement. This is particularly true on poorly drained soils, and large pockets of this golf course is built on heavy clay. So, each problem area has to be looked into on its own merit.



Poor quality growth and lack of previous tree management programme

 

Tree Root Competition

One of the main hidden (and sometimes clearly visible) dangers of trees is the effect of their roots on the turf nearby. Trees and turf both absorb water and nutrients through their roots to live and grow. And like turf, the roots of trees are mainly active and located in well aerated areas of the soil profile. In other words, turf roots and trees roots can be in direct competition for any water and nutrients, and usually it will be the turf that suffers during periods of weather stress.

 



Poor quality tree with visible tree roots

 



A way to reduce or eliminate this tree root competition is to mechanically prune the tree roots. This is normally done around greens and tees, but larger scale areas could also benefit if the need arises. There are various machines available to carry out this kind of work and they can be hired in. It would be recommended to carry out this kind of work every year or two and many golf courses have adopted root pruning as an annual practise in those areas of need.

 

Interfering Limbs and Branches

Maybe you are wondering how branches or parts of trees that interfere with a golf shot may cause problems to the turf quality, but this is exactly what happens on tees. Trees planted years ago, either next to a tee or down the fairway, can eventually grow to the extent that their limbs interfere with a tee shot. (A perfect example of this right now is the right hand side of the 15^th tee)

When playing from the affected tee, golfers compensate by teeing up on the opposite side of the tee. As a result one side of the tee receives most of the wear and the other receives less and less play. This can affect the playing quality of the tee. The side not used as much can develop thatch problems and the overused side can become thin of grass cover, weak and then dominated by inferior grass species.

6th Tee clearing on the left and visible overhanging branches on the right

 

Rather than trying to force growth on the tee or spending extra time and resources on trying to improve playing quality, tree work is the best solution in the long run.

 

Summary

Trees greatly affect the turf quality on the golf course by the shade they cast, the air circulation they block and the roots they produce. They can also reduce the useable area on a tree by maybe 30-50% by producing limbs that interfere with play on a side (or both sides) of the tee.

When planting trees on the course, great care must be given to the planning of where the trees are to be planted. For our established trees, a good programme of tree removal and branch thinning would increase sunlight penetration and air circulation, and limbs can be removed to allow the full use of tees. Root pruning should also be considered for the future. It is very clear that although many trees were planted over the last 30 or 40 years, there has been no tree management in place for their future welfare. If there had been a 5, 10 and 15 year follow up regime, we probably would not be facing the issues we have now and the golf course would be better for it.

The effects of trees can cause unwanted stress to turf which may be already suffering from traffic, extreme weather and other issues. By carefully considering the above, it will hopefully be possible to improve the health and playability of the turf, especially where trees are an integral part of the area.