Great news for the greens team this week. We have a new apprentice in the ranks. Welcome to James, who has had a really good first week of work. He will assist Ryan and I in developing the golf course further.
He has already started to edge bunkers, trim the fairway yardage discs, change holes, rake bunkers - and learn the art of topdressing greens!
We had to topdress the greens again this week to top up the surface levels that we were unable to complete during greens maintenance week.
Under normal circumstances, we would have applied a heavy topdressing following the hollow coring. However, that week, we had heavy rain and that prevented us from applying and brushing in a heavy topdressing. Hence the need to do two lighter dressings a few weeks apart.
The greens are now firming up very well and hopefully, surface trueness will improve and be more consistent.
We also applied a Plant Growth Regulator and liquid Iron. The PGR has been applied to reduce the annual meadow grass seed heads that are flowering at the moment (they are the grasses that produce a white seed head that cause bobbly putts). In time, the seed heads will diminish.
This is a yearly occurrence that is frustrating for both golfers and greenkeepers. Please bear with us! We do not like this part of the golfing season either in respect of this issue!
Many thanks also to Connor Yarwood who had been a great help with strimming duties. What a grafter he is! Top man Connor (hope I spelt your name right).
It was also pleasing to take some members on a course walk on Thursday. I was delighted that I could talk about our aims and ambitions for the golf course as well as listening to members' feedback. Hopefully, the members that did attend were able to understand some of the challenges that we experience. In addition, it was a useful exercise for me to receive positive feedback and constructive criticism from the members.
We are now into our second week of double cutting fairways with boxes (removing grass clippings from fairway surfaces). Already, they look so much cleaner and tighter. Jeff Perkin made the comment that they look much improved and that the definition between fairway and rough is that more pronounced.
Next week, they will be brushed prior to mowing to help stand up some of the grasses that lie too prostrate for the fairway mower to mow effectively. We welcome your comments regarding playability of the fairway surfaces.
Have a great weekend and enjoy your golf!
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