Himalayan Balsam

This link is a report carried out by Deputy Head Tony Wainwright with regard to the Himalayan Balsam issue at the club.

 https://www.dropbox.com/s/vi0pfvw5d4l1g8g/Himalayan%20Balsam%202013.docx

Work on fairways

We have started some renovation work on the fairways by scarifying and collecting the debris. Half of the fairways have been completed so far. Over the autumn period the fairways will also be vertidrained to the maximum possible depth and the slitter will also be used to help aerate and make improvements to their drainage capability.

Scarifying reels used on fairways

 

The scarifying machine is a three unit tractor mounted one which is fully adjustable to reach the required depth. As our fairways are very thatchy it was necessary to not go too deep as there is hardly any root depth. Further aeration will help to increase this.

 

Contractor collecting debris

 



Ten tons of thatch debris taken off fairways 3 and 6

Much more work is required to bring the fairways back to a satisfactory condition but with increased aeration through spiking and slitting they will continue to improve.



Work on tees

There has been quite a lot of work carried out on the tees in the last month to improve their playability. After the arrival of the Procore aerator the tees were all spiked using 1/2 in tines.

Procore spiking on the 12th tee

 

After the tees were spiked the worst bare areas were then heavily topdressed and overseeded with fescue.

 



Seed and Topdressing Levelled out



 

 

 

7th tee

Fertiliser was added to encourage growth and colour and with some favourable weather the tees now are looking a lot healthier. Aeration is the key to the tees' success and with the imminent purchase of a Vertidrain deep aerator they will improve further still. 

 

 





Greens Update- Irrigation

Irrigation

The greens are still growing well during this hot spell but unfortunately the irrigation system has let us down on a number of occasions. The way the system is configured means that the course is split into several sections. There has been an electrical wiring fault on the system in the section which controls the greens at the bottom of the course, i.e 3,4,5,13,14 and 15.



18th Green Irrigation working well.

Due to this problem these greens have not received the amount of  nightly water required to keep them in prime condition. Typically four of these greens have had drainage work done in the past and the drain lines are clearly visible. This is due to the lines having sand underneath them rather than the original soil like the rest of the green.

As I type the system is not yet fixed but we have narrowed down the problem and we hope to have it sorted out as soon as possible. The seventh green has also been affected due to vandals prising open the secured irrigation box and ripping out the decoder. Until it is fixed those affected greens are being manually watered first thing every morning. Some of the original sprinklers on those greens have been replaced as they were very inefficient. Two sprinklers on the first green have also been replaced.

Talking of the first green,  the turf which was ordered a while ago is now available and should be delivered on Monday. The golf calendar is very busy over the next two weeks but we will do our best to put the turf down as quickly as possible. All the drain lines on the greens affected will be topdressed and we have bent seed available to put in small areas to encourage new growth.

On a brighter note the dry conditions have worked very favourably for the bent grass in the greens. It has really come on this year and can be clearly visible in patches on the greens. This is the favoured type of grass that we would want in our greens and with balanced nutrition at an optimum the bents have chance to succeed.

 

Greens Update and Staff News

 

The greens are coming on all the time although it has taken a much longer time than usual. It has been very frustrating but we are starting to see signs of the work put in earlier on.

Signs of roots reaching further into the profile after aeration.



After the cold spring and all the aeration work we did we were waiting for higher soil temperatures to kick start significant growth. We had fertilised but the ground was just too cold but now it has reached a temperature enabling it to create good growing conditions. We have fertilised again using the same 10 0 10 organic granular feed we used last time. More was used this time to try and make sure we got the most benefit of the hotter conditions.

Wear from golf around a hole one day after fertilising.

 

This fertiliser has well and truly kicked in now and we have lush growth. This does mean that we are taking plenty of grass off but the greens will be slow, especially in the afternoon. Also, having topdressed a couple of times recently, the blades on the cutting units have become blunt. This means that they do not cut as they should but rather rip the grass. This means the roll of the ball is seriously affected and the grass just stands back up, again slowing the ball down. The units are going away to be sharpened and have new bottom blades fitted which will enable a much better finish with a smoother, quicker surface.

 

The irrigation system has been used on a regular basis to keep the moisture levels required for a decent surface. However we did have a couple of issues with the irrigation system typically during a really hot spell. The water meter in the borehole had become silted up over the years which meant the amount of water being pumped back into the tank was insufficient. Therefore when the water had run out it meant the system wouldn't work. The meter has now been replaced and the flow of water is much better. We have also replaced three sprinklers on greens where they were broken which will improve efficiency.

 

The drain lines on the greens were the biggest casualty in the hot spell, especially on the first green. The right hand side of the green is extremely bad and additional wetting agent and extra watering has unfortunately not been able to solve the issue there. We will returf the worst areas with greens quality turf which has been ordered. However our supplier has also had problems with growth this year for similar reasons, i.e cold wet etc, and so they have suffered with the quality of their product. They have treated the turf and as soon as it is fit we will have ou delivery. I am searching for quicker alternatives of similar quality. The rest of the drain lines will be topdressed and overseeded with bent seed where required.

 

The area at the back of the first green was returfed in the winter because it was in such a wet poor state. This was mainly caused by the greens mower turning at the foot of the bank and causing extra stress on the turf there. Therefore we decided to decrease the the size of the green along the back edge and cut it as a full size fringe. This allows us to turn more freely and not cause as much wear. The back left area has not been cut as green for quite some time but unfortunately we never really got sufficient growth to show true definition. It has started to come on now and you can see the back edge cut of the green quite clearly.

 

The amount of staff has really curtailed what we can do on both the greens and all the little jobs needed to tidy up the course. We have only had three of us working on the course more or less since the beginning of April. However we have managed to source some quality staff to join us. Pat has already joined and has made an instant improvement to work standards and ethic, gladly working overtime. He has worked at Leyland GC and has gained lots of experience working on three different golf courses in the U.S. Monday sees the arrival of Tony who will take on the role of Deputy Head, a role he has successfully carried out for the last six years at Turton GC. We welcome them both and look forward to them helping improve the golf course standard. We will shortly have more staff news.



GREENS

GREENS

 

It is fairly obvious to see at this moment in time that the greens are not where we would want them to be, and believe me no one is more frustrated about it than me. This is down to several different factors including a late growing season, soil temperatures, different grass growth, lack of aeration, not to mention the weather.

 

Having had discussions with the club over the years it was felt necessary to try and include some necessary maintenance during the season and so in recent years we have tried to clear the diary during May to carry out these procedures. However these type of "maintenance weeks" seen at lots of clubs don't always work out the way you want them to as mother nature sometimes doesn't read the diary. Certainly having one Monday in May isn't the best option as maintenance should be carried out little and often right through the year if good surfaces are to be expected.

 

Due to the very cold spring and lack of any real growth at this time it was decided that hollow coring or scarifying to pull out thatch was not the best idea due to the speed of recovery. Unless conditions are well in favour then these sort of procedures are best left until the autumn.

 

Therefore I decided to aerate the greens using a Vertidrain on Monday morning. Below is a picture of one in action, carried out by Fine Turf Services as currently we do not have one of our own. The greens were cut before this operation and after each green had been aerated I fertilised with a granular application of a 10-0-10 urea based fertiliser which also included some other nutrients such as Iron and Magnesium to assist with giving the greens some better colour.

As you can see the Vertidrain punches holes into the ground with a pitchfork action.

 

Vertidrain 18th Green

As it reaches the bottom of its run it heaves the ground and this creates holes in the soil profile (see below). These holes in turn allow air, water and roots to penetrate deeper down. The roots are able to reach further down under ground, creating stronger and healthier turf and the water that lands on the surface has much more chance of draining away.

 

Holes created in soil deep below

 

Having had around half an inch of rain fall on Tuesday night and then an inch fall on Wednesday alone closing the course in the morning, it was possible to open the course late in the afternoon, something which would have been impossible without this procedure.

 

 

On Tuesday we topdressed the greens with almost twenty tons of a sandy, composted soil blend which has been mixed together and heated before being delivered. This type of topdressing gives a small amount of its own nutrition to the greens due to the compost content. You could actually still feel the heat off the pile when it was delivered.

 

The topdressing was then ran over with a dragmat to smooth it into the green. However unfortunately during this operation we had some rather heavy showers of rain which were not ideal. This meant that the topdressing was rather smeared into the surface because it had got wet. I thought it best to carry on though as the forecast for Wednesday was horrible.

 

Wednesday morning we arrived at work to find the course under water and it was clear as the morning progressed that no work further work could be carried out on the greens that day. A whole day lost on such an important task is far from ideal and in total we had 44mm of rain in approximately 36 hours.

 

On Thursday the greens were dry enough for us to brush and cut them for the first time since Monday morning. It was clear to see that much of the fertiliser and some of the topdressing had been well washed in but in many areas where growth is weak the soil was still clearly visible. Obviously it helps when it is dry so that it disappears lower into the base. Many of the holes from the Vertidrain had been closed up although their benefit will still be working underneath for time to come and it will hold the greens in good stead in the long run.

 

 



 

On Friday the greens were again brushed and cut and this time they were ironed as well using the Tru Turf roller. Obviously the greens are not in their prime condition but it has been quite a disruptive week for them, but very beneficial. A huge amount of work has gone into them which will only be for the better. Short term disruption for long term gain.

 

Once the soil temperatures pick up enough to promote stronger growth we should see an improvement. The greens will drain better and the roots now have more room to grow stronger and deeper, again producing better quality in the future. This amount of disruption is not the norm but I felt it necessary especially having worked hard to create space in the diary. On a more regular basis we will sarel roll the greens and topdress very lightly to help smooth out the surfaces. Also the greens will be verticut to thin out more of the coarses looking grasses, thus providing a more uniform appearance. This will happen shortly and will be discussed on here at the time. Patience is key at this time.   

  

 



 

 

 

 

 



No Growth

No Sign of Greens Growth

 

 

The greens are still not showing any real signs of growth, especially with the temperatures remaining colder at nights. Talking to other greenkeepers in the area and reps who visit many clubs the feedback is the same. They talk about being around a month behind schedule with regards to where they should be. We can try many different things such as use of fertiliser and other products but unless we receive some help from mother nature with regards to sunshine and an increase in soil temperatures, the greens will continue to make slow progress.

 

 

 

Bent and poa grasses

These photos show the different types of grasses that we have in our greens. They are predominantly made up of poa annua and bent grasses. There are also small amounts of fescue and rye in certain greens. Now just to make things difficult, these different grass types grow at different rates to different heights, which cause the greens to have a patchy appearance. The bent grass has a much more desirable colour and it is much more disease tolerant and doesn't rely as much on water and fertiliser. Poa (annual meadow grass) has a much weaker appearance, is more shallow rooting and requires more food and water to survive. Ideally the greens would be made up of bent and fescue grasses, what you would find more commonly on a links green, but this would require much needed maintenance, time, money and commitment.
 

 

The following diagrams show how the last few years have varied with regard to soil temperatures. Generally conditions require temperatures to be above 6 degrees to achieve any growth. The first diagram shows how many days were higher than 6 degrees. The second shows how many of these days there were in total. It is clear to see how fewer we have had this year compared to last, accounting for the lack of growth. (These figures were accumalated in the midlands, but a similar pattern if not worse has happened in the north west).

Courtesy of Mark Hunt, Headland

 

 

Courtesy of Mark Hunt

Usually this subject of uneven growth and bobbly greens rears its head around April time, or Augusta syndrome time, but we are only now at the middle of May and the growth still resists. The next topic will be spring maintenance, the value of aeration and the use of topdressing.