Bugs, features and.... Goldilocks

Hello there !

Well, we're into Spring, it's May and already, things appear to be fairly dry once more. April and May have a habit of being rather fickle. We should all really know better by now. April showers is a thing of the past. Now, it's exemplified by cold nights and warm days - precisely what we've just had. 4 days of rain total (5th, 12th 14th and 17th) and 22mm rain. That's not a great deal at all. Doesn't help kick start that much needed growth and recovery following winter work and turf deterioration

This manifests in a number of ways; dry ground conditions, limited/patchy growth, slow recovery from winter scarring - all things you've noticed out on the course recently, right? Amazing how we go from feast to famine almost at the flip of a switch - something myself and Tom Frame were discussing recently "we'll be crying out for some rain soon" so it started. And here we are....

Which leads me nicely into this.... 

"There's no grass on the fairways"

"The greens are so firm. Holding a ball on them is so tough"

A couple of comments heard recently. Both valid. Let's dig in and explore both.

4th fairway (above). Definitely grass there. So what gives? Or more precisely, what doesn't? Remember the rainfall statistics above? Here's a snapshot of what we're dealing with..

Also on the 4th. Soil literally like powder. Like it's not seen rain in donkeys years. No moisture at all - nada. Plenty of grass there though, right?

Just look at this - the surface opening up already. Cracks forming. This, dear members, is typical of clay based soils. Surfaces that hold water in that top 10mm in wet winters and then, like magic, have none of it in a dry spell. The line "there's no grass on the fairways" is actually more of "there's no moisture and forgiveness in the fairways". We're all looking for that, right, when we're going to take a divot. The resistance from club to ball to ground. Currently, there's none of it.

We want that Goldilocks scenario; not too wet, not too dry, just right

The bigger, wealthier golf clubs have fairway irrigation to solve this. They spray wetting agents to hold water for longer. Often, they're refining fairways with verticutters, brushes and overseeding regularly - usually with machinery that they have purchased for these tasks

Reality check alert: We're not them

Poulton Park Golf Club has done extraordinarily well over the last 15 years to restructure and pay down debt (hat tip Dave Ryder and the directors for being both prudent whilst reinvesting wisely in the golf club). We've reconstructed golf greens, installed fairway drainage, reinvested carefully into new machinery, reconstructed tees and bunkers, managed woodland through tree removal, increased maintenance budgets, hired more greens' staff, refurbished locker rooms and clubhouse, upgraded irrigation systems

We can't do everything. There is only so much money. All of these upgrades have improved the core areas of the golf club - the structurally important stuff 

What we would like to do now is refine it

Back to the fairways...

Ryegrass. Coarse agricultural ryegrass. Unrefined, garish, difficult to cut, unsightly. Dominates huge areas on some fairways. These characteristics are a bug, not a feature

If we didn't cut our fairways as low as we do (14-15mm mowing height) then this would proliferate. The problem would be magnified to the point where I'd hear what I did 5, 10 years ago

"The fairways look like they haven't been cut"

What's a guy to do, eh? !! 

So what we're looking at is a slow process of grass species conversion. Maybe something more what we might find on the 1st or 3rd fairways. Good density, more organic matter in the soil, supports finer grasses, allows us to maybe cut them that little bit higher. Let's look at fescue grasses, here on the 3rd approach on the temporary green area

Look at that beauty. Lovely and fine. Slow growing, refined, plenty of this to be found on a links course. Or somewhere like Delamere Forest Golf Club. Its fine texture is a feature, not a bug

So ideally, we look to introducing finer grasses into our fairways over time. Perhaps we might invest into fairway wetting agents, overseeding hire, spray tank purchases, brush attachments. However we approach this, let's not forget one thing: money. All of these refinement practices and machines/attachments cost money. There's no quick fix, no cheap fix or free lunch. We're on the right path but we have to invest sustainably in a world that's getting more inflationary with each year

Next point - golf greens. Yes, they're firm. That's also a feature and not a bug. I dare any budding golfer to play a good quality links or heathland or resort venue. Generally, their greens will be firm. Firmness is associated with better ball roll, drier surfaces, more resilient turf

I could name a number of golf clubs in our area whose greens don't meet thesecriteria. Which would you rather have? I once talked to a golf club member at another golf club a few years ago. We got to talking about golf greens. His opinion baffled me: "what I'd like is golf greens that are soft enough to hold a ball in the summer but dry and firm in the winter" to which I replied "good luck getting that then"

Usually, soft greens are wet greens. They drain poorly. They are often slower, denser and can get annihilated by disease. Firm greens are infinitely better all round. Our soil tests are used to help us to determine the fertiliser, topdressing and water requirements for their management. These guidelines are rooted in data and sound advice. Enjoy the firm greens. Use a soft ball. Get the odd lesson to learn how to generate spin off your irons. Enjoy a wry smile when you hear of the woes of other golf clubs who suffer soft greens in the winter (* we do know - gossip gets around in greenkeeping circles too)

Moving on to bunkers..

It was some project. What started out as something we thought would be turned around in a week, actually turned into a month

We found gravel. In the face. Actually, it's a drain from the green. We found stones. So many stones. So many in fact that I almost contacted Rio Tinto to offer them a mining permit. Finally, once all three greens staff had explored muscles they never knew they owned, we were ready to have the bunker liner installed

Then came the revetting turf - used not to prevent sand displacement (as per links courses) but to secure the liner in place

Finally, once all turfing and sand were added, we got the feeling. The feeling of satisfaction, relief and not having to endure this bunker for a long time 😎

Chipping green bunkers also renovated. Sand splash removed was equivalent of around 15 tonnes. Ask Morgan when you next see him. He and James were carting it off the bunker face and collar with a tractor bucket. But, it all worked out really quite well. Much better if I may say so

Back to the greens. It's that time of year again 

Yes, it's the poa of doom. Our friend and foe all wrapped up in one

Seedheads. The bane of golfers and greenkeepers alike 

Poa annua, an annual grass. Lives for one year. Establishes in the Autumn, matures during Winter, seeds in Spring and dies in Summer. Rinse, repeat in perpetuity. It'll still be going through that same cycle long after we're all gone. Essentially, it seeds because it will die and the seeds it produces will be next year's crop - or greens surface, if you like

Difficult to manage, very fickle. Shallow rooted, demands lots of water, lots of fertiliser, very prone to disease and drought. A weed grass but also a true survivor. You'll find it growing in roadside kerbs, bunker faces, garden patios or driveways. Almost anywhere. Yet, it does provide a good putting surface too. But at this time of year, it's not fun. Those pesky seedheads cause ball deviation when putting - 'snakey ball roll' is often used to describe it. Those seedheads are very adaptable too. They sit below the mowing height to avoid being removed. Even if they are removed, the plant will produce ..... more seedheads

Come summer, they'll go and the greens surfaces will look less 'white' . But for now, bear with us. I seem to have to repeat this issue each year but I actually don't mind now. It's part of the gig and this problem will always be with us. We do overseed our greens in Autumn with bentgrass - that's the darker grass you see in the above photo. The Aston Martin of fine turf grasses. Together they are chalk and cheese in Spring. One is resilient, hardy and quick to get going in Spring. The other is not

Many thanks as always to the team of volunteers who turn out in all weather conditions. Bridge building, strimming, path work, fence work, ditch clearing. They do it all

Finally, welcome to Kieran who has replaced Morgan. Kieran has only been with us for 3 weeks but he seems to be integrating very well. Do say hello to him if you get the chance

On that note, have a great weekend and enjoy your golf

Ben

Brighter days ahead

Hello there

It's been a while since the last update. In that time, the golf club's wifi has been upgraded that makes typing this blog easier. No more blogging from home with the background noise of a 9 year old !

The decision to rebuild the 9th and 18th tees was, as is now common knowledge, a response to two par 3 tees that faced down a prolonged dry period in 2025. Reality got in the way of divot seed germinating 

It's great that these tees are much bigger and offer more wear options for us. We also took the opportunity to tweak the alignment of the 18th tee. It always seemed, to me at least, to be directed towards the front portion of the green. Now, we have a tee that is more aligned with the centre of the green. It's not a huge difference but in time, it should become more obvious

Both have had several cuts since they were turfed - and what a challenge that was. I remember vividly the pouring rain whilst trying to lay turf. I also remember James and Morgan fixing washouts for several days on the tee banks/slopes. Still, they're done and looking more ready for 2026

Members will have also noticed the many areas of returfing around bunkers, surrounds and various bare areas. Take the area back right of the 4th green. Often worn - the predicable result of attempting to grow dense grass cover below large trees. A futile battle with only one outcome and only one winner

The directors provided a range of areas to address. We listened. We agreed, We executed. The only added extra was the solution to hidden problems rather than the sticking plaster. Bare turf never starts life like that. It becomes like that for a number of reasons. We discovered them and hopefully fixed them; sandy soil, slopes and a lack of rain do not assist turf to stay damp in a heatwave

Throw in some chafer grubs nibbling away at the turf roots and you have the justification for returfing in winter. A richer soil, more likely to hold onto moisture in dry conditions is a plan of action. It's not foolproof but at least that new turf can start life with a stronger defence

In the same way that if your car starts rattling whilst you're driving, you have two options; turn the music up or look under the bonnet. We tend to look under the bonnet (the soil) to determine the issues and thus resolve them. Better that than returf the surface and leave the real problems buried

We've also started work on the 5th bunker. Yes, it has been a long time coming. But so have the foxes and they don't rake bunkers after they've explored them. Moreover, they burrow and scrape. So the plan has been to manage this challenge and wait until the end of winter to address the bunker. A liner will be installed following agreement witth the directors. The theory being that the sand will be cleaner and far less contaminated as it shouldn't wash down and deposit silt/soil in the sand after a deluge

The bunker face and surrounds will be more subtle, easier to mow and free of rocks that plagued the base of this bunker for many years. In any case, we have never added clean, fresh bunker sand to any bunkers prior to early Spring. You've likely witnessed the muck that has tracked off golf trolleys, golf shoes and golf course machinery to the clubhouse area. That's the result of rain and casting worms. Imagine that being tracked into fresh, clean bunker sand in winter. It wouldn't be clean for very long - that's a certainty

Bunker work has also been done at the chipping green, 2nd and 3rd. All have had bunker sand deposited on them. Next time you ask "why is there no sand in the bunkers?" , just remember that it used to be there and is now buried under the turf on the green surround. Boy, have we removed some of that this week and so much so that it's going to be recycled in large piles for future project work

Greens have been scarified this week as is the norm now in February time. The idea is to get the invasive work done before Easter. We, like many golf clubs (and a couple of bowling clubs that I've provided some advice to), suffered last year because the dry summer didn't permit us to verticut and topdress as much as we'd like. The result was that the accumulated material from seasonal growth remained in the top part of the profile. Unfortunate - but sometimes the weather delivers you a generous portion of humble pie with a side of custard

Some recent discussion with a director involved greens renovations and general maintenance programs. It was nice to hear that most members don't have to experience weeks of hollow coring and heavy sand dressings anymore. Our work tends to be less aggressive now. Not for us the scrolling of Facebook and worrying that we should be copying the other local golf clubs are hollow coring and dressing year after year (with terrible results too)

But here's one for any non-believers; my office door is open anytime and you are welcome to pop down for a chat about what we do, a tour of the maintenance facility, transparency about budgetary spend, health & safety documents and our greens' maintenance plan (all supported by many soil reports). I'll happily discuss any or all of these things and provide coffee and biscuits if you'd like

That's not a meeting of opposing views - that's a CPD event with free refreshments. Other greenkeepers go to the Harrogate education conference every year to gain that sort of knowledge. Some of them never listen to it as the local Wetherspoons gets priority. A sore head and nothing more learned other than "must drink less beer". 

What I'm offering is decades of experience delivered with drinks. What members can receive is additional knowledge and peace of mind. What's not to like?

Only two caveats accompany this invitation; Firstly, we keep our secrets in the golf club and let the competition continue to flail. Secondly, you tell me that the coffee I pour is great. It'll reassure me that I have good taste in the finest ground Arabica

Looking to March, the tree stump holes will be returfed. It's one of the last things to do, it will be done and luckily, these areas are usually in low priority parts of the golf course. The course will also need mowing. The weather really has been the polar opposite of February 2025 - that delivered 18mm rain total. We had more than that on February 11th this year and it's still not finished!

Many thanks again to the volunteer crew for carrying out many of those jobs that aren't glamourous but are necessary - Tom, John, Pete, George, take a bow

All the best for the year ahead. Brighter days and longer days await. That sounds good to me!

Ben

Autumn report

Hello all

We're now into the Autumn with leaves turning colour and slowly falling but at least we can say that the dry months of summer appear, at least visually, to have turned a corner

Certainly, the golf course is very green and it's now difficult to find many areas that still exhibit signs of drought stress. Whilst the recent rains have helped with this 'greening effect', other contributing factors (to fairway areas at least, has been the verticutting (done in September) and an application of fertiliser to most of the fairways (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9). This has been done to recover burned off areas and to offer more turf density/thickness as we head into the cooler months

The verticutting, done every September, is now carried out partly to refine the fairway grasses too. As some members (but not all) may be aware, the biggest headache  challenge we face is the old agricultural ryegrass that can be found in clumps on the fairways. Some, like the 4th and 9th fairways, are infested with it to such an extent that it dictates our mowing and overall management of them

Being very coarse in texture with a very waxy leaf, it is often difficult for the mower blades to cut effectively. Only when conditions are dry does it actually cut ok, the reason being that it will hold less water in the leaf and shoot during drier conditions

The conditions that exacerbate this problem are multiple:

• A fertile soil
• Higher mowing heights
• Infrequent mowing
• Moisture
• Little to no surface refinement

Hence we are often forced to 'chop' it down to lower mowing heights to discourage it and to actually present a fairway that is defined and looks as though it has been cut. This is where we are now and so I understand the frustration of some golfers that would rather the fairways be a hybrid of fairway and semi rough but often, fairways with this grass species dominant can impact a golfer's ability to control an approach shot with backspin. Get enough grass between clubface and ball could lead to more topspin imparted from a shot. That aside, it is the simple aesthetics that is so unsightly as the photos attest

With this in mind, the approach to addressing this problem, short of ultra low mowing, is soil improvement via sanding, refinement via brushing and verticutting, and longer term, overseeding with fine grasses. Given the golf club's focus on other priorities right now, the purchase of the equipment necessary to achieve these aims might have to wait a few years

You'll also notice the worms have come out to play since the cooler, wet weather arrived. They really are quite something and the worm casts can often smear with mowing (photo above). It is the fact that the casts are produced from heavy, fertile soils that cause them to hold moisture and be quite claggy in texture. On better sites, worm casts are more crumbly and thus don't smear so much during mowing. It's all good fun - until it isn't !!

The foxes of doom continue to test our patience. We have a pest control expert who is helping us but the problem is not a quick fix. We've had to permanently GUR the 5th bunker as the fox/foxes have decimated this bunker with their digging. It makes little sense at this time to renovate and restore this bunker whilst the issue remains. All that would happen is that more fresh sand and the bunker face would continue to be affected - unnecessary expense and labour for no net-gain. Please understand that this problem might take some time to resolve

Although the dry, warm weather is behind us, we're still experiencing growth and so we're still able to present a defined golf course as we head into mid-October. The greens have now recovered from the dry summer conditions but boy have they been tough to pull back. Multiple applications of fertiliser have been required and a lot of effort has gone into turning them around. They now have good coverage and density as we head into the tougher months

It is fusarium patch, a turf disease, that now presents the ultimate Autumn curveball. A very destructive disease, it is characterised by a soaked small orange patch during its early stages, leading to a ring of mycelium (white fungal spores) as it progresses. Fusarium patch is exacerbated by:

• Heavy dew formation
• Alkaline surface conditions
• Mild, damp, cool weather
• Humidity and lack of wind/drying
• Too low or too high soil fertility
• Vulnerable turf species - mainly poa annua

In Summer, the disease will often grow out. Sun, warmth, growth, long daylight hours etc all enable this and so the issue resolves quickly. But the cooler months are conducive to attack as that re-growth and recovery is less certain. Often, we rely on fungicides to help combat the symptons

The principle behind the product chemistry is that the fungicides can be used preventatively or, sometimes, curatively. It is not ideal to have to apply a fungicide but a necessary evil. Since the EU (to which the UK was aligned) started to heavily regulate petro-chemicals as part of their increased overall regulatory framework, the greenkeeper's arsenal has become less potent. So much so that European greenkeepers now have zero fungicides to choose from. Not great for golf at all

Fungicides are now far less efficacious as a result of this regulation - in addition to being more expensive. We are limited to a handful of applications per year for the available product range and have to be quite precise in timing of applications

Hence why at this time of year, we're faced with the unsolvable conundrum: how to provide greens that have some speed for play but we're not mowing too much so as to mow out all of the product too soon. It's a perfect storm at the moment - mild enough for growth but also mild enough for high disease pressure. It's still many months before we can see Spring ahead and the chance for longer daylight hours and warmer weather ahead. So do understand that we're balancing presenting a green surface with maximising value out of expensive fungicides that offer, by legislation, mininmal applications. Expect some mowing at higher mowing heights with rolling, dew brushing in the mix. For a deeper dive into Fusarium, scroll through the blog and there is a post dedicated to it 

As we head further into the Autumn, we have taken the opportunity to mole plough the carries on 7 & 8. Often damp, they are a source of frustration for members and greens' staff. The mole plough creates a 'mole run' in the soil - a conduit for water to move through. It's a temporary fix, lasting perhaps a year but maybe this could be a low-cost method of tackling some boggy areas on the course until such time as we install proper drainage systems into these areas

Talking of which, the drainage on the 9th fairway has settled in well. The dry summer didn't help the seed to establish quickly but it is now getting there. At least this fairway, the golfer's final impression of the course, will be much drier during wetter periods

Heading into winter, course improvement work will involve some tee renovations and some other small but effective renovations. I will update the blog in due course

Finally, the club have invested significantly in the machinery fleet as many of you are aware. The new greens mower and fairway mower are excellent and will offer subtle improvements but more reliability, less downtime for repairs and offer us more flexibility moving forward. Great news!

Enjoy the Autumn colours as you play!

Ben Allen

Checking out

Hello again, all members

Well, it's been quite the summer. Hopefully, there are no complaints about how warm and pleasanr the British summer has been. I expect staycations to have been booming this year vs the summer escape to warmer climes

Bringing this back to golf, it's been a tale of two halves really; one the one hand, golf has continued uninterrupted without rain delays. Green fees have been excellent, I believe and that is very positive for additional golf club revenues. On the other hand, we've been challenged with those continually dry conditions that have really minimised growth. Rain can usually be counted on at some point during the typical summer to soften up those fairway lies or regenerate tee areas with new seedlings

So, fair to say that the weather gods have been on permanent vacation. I'm sure rains will arrive in Autumn. Careful what you wish for, I guess !

The weather records attest to the lean conditions. We can have a quick scan of the data; June provided 14 days of rain, more than any other month. July was next (9 days) followed by January (8 days). However, January provided most rain (remember the snow and flooding?) with 125mm followed by July (91mm) and May (51mm). February (6), March (5) and May (5) had the least amount of rain days

In total, since January 1, 2025, we've had a total of 58 days of rain out of 232 (to date)

How does this translate for our greens then? Well, as the blog title suggests, the poa is now breaking down and checking out. It has well and truly had enough. You can see from the photo the huge disparity between the poa (yellowing - that's anthracnose, a stress related turf disease) and the bentgrass (looking delighted, strong and very green). The poa set its seed in July and now, this annual crop is dying, as it does every year. The seed is ready to germinate in Autumn to produce next years crop

Safe to say, the poa has been pummelled by wave after wave of dry, hot conditions. Similarly, my annual bedding plants at home are also looking sickly now for similar reasons. The life of an annual plant is fleeting and ends in exactly the same way every year

Hence we overseed in the Autumn with bentgrass and creeping bentgrass, targeting the areas where poa is most predominant. Perhaps these are low spots where it sits damper or more shaded from the sun and wind. Regardless, our overseeding, as the photo demonstrates, is helping to close in around it

Herein lies a story of stress; poa demands regular water, fertiliser and some kid gloves to nurse it through before it seeds and dies. The bentgrass demands the opposite. Our philosophy is one of sustainability and lowering of costs slowly over time, whilst providing more resilient surfaces. Our particular challenge is that our greens are USGA construction (high sand content) and they are prone to drying down very quickly in warm, dry conditions so pushing them hard for those ever quicker green speeds will ultimately end in stress for certain grass species (poa) but not for the other (bentgrass)

I recently heard a cautionary tale from a golf club not that far from here. The constant demand for quick greens in summer and winter - roll, cut, roll cut, on and on, didn't end well this Spring, following a cold, dry end to Winter. Pushing greens to the limit might appease golfers for a while but it inevitably ends very badly. Your greens should be managed with a full year in mind and sometimes, giving them a rest at key times does actually pay off. This particular club have since had to resort to drastic measures 'a new strategy' to get them back on the right track - and I heard this from a number of different sources. Again, be careful what you wish for.

The 7th competition tee has finally settled in quite nicely. Sure, it would be nice if some of the areas near it had fully developed (seed coming through etc) but in time, with more rain, it will

I think it's a good example of where the golf club has finally come to the realisation that in order to get a successful outcome, some trees had to be sacrificed to allow the sun to push through. Similarly, the two trees back right of the 4th green have provided ongoing frustration of dry, bare turf some 10 paces from the 4th green. In a battle between a mature tree and the turf below it, the tree wins every time. So, with a preference for improving this area, the trees have gone and this area will start to see more grass cover in time. 

The other photo also shows the tree roots pushing through into the back of the 17th tee, drying this area out too. Needless to say, there is a familiar pattern emerging of trees outcompeting turf and causing dry turf that loses grass cover. Whilst trees have their place on a golf course, when it comes at the detriment of turf and where your ball might be positioned, the only logical question is what's more important, the tree or the playing surface turf ?!!

A large group of stubborn foxes have exploited areas like this, as well as several bunkers on the course. Needless to say, they are being dealt with

I think the last thing to say is something about a few etiquette related issues. One, which is very avoidable, is keeping trolleys off tee areas. Whilst they have smooth wheels, some hot weather can quickly highlight that shortcut across the tee. If there's a path nearby, perhaps use the path instead?

Secondly, we've had a couple of instances of divots being taken out of greens. Golf is supposed to be a civilised sport - one that reflects the behaviours and morals we should have in life; honesty, discipline, manners. If a game of golf causes someone to resort to that then perhaps golf is not for them. It really shouldn't be that serious. Let's hope that these people can overcome their anger management issues and start to control their temper during a round of golf

Greens maintenance week starts soon. See you on the other side !

Sincerely

Ben Allen

Winter '24 - Spring '25 : cold & dry to warm & dry

Hello all

Well, here we are. No trolley bans, no cancelled competitions, drives bounding down fairways - and it's not even Summer yet !!

So far in 2025, we've had around 25 days when rain has fallen out of a possible 139 days (May 19th as I write). Since February, 2 inches or so of rain have arrived. So the chances are, if you play in the week, you're going to see somebody pulling a hose and watering a tee or green on the golf course

I think to assist members to understand more, we have to communicate that both our greens and tees are constructed on a sandy root zone which is great for draining and for grass growth under less extreme conditions. However, there's always a downside and we're seeing that right now

Usually, to help retain water in these soils, we use Wetting Agents. These products are sprayed onto the surface and watered/irrigated in to get the product into the profile. The technology helps to retain water in the soil profile and thus make irrigation more effective. What they also do is to break the surface tension of the area - so that when water is applied, it soaks into the soil without it just running off

But... wetting agents don't create water. There still has to be water applied, particularly when we're experiencing dry, sunny, windy conditions that cause evaporation. Without meaningful rain, irrigation of some kind is still essential. Hence we're literally firing out water every single day at the moment without any sort of break

Plus, the tees are getting nothing at weekends and this means that there is this 'hamster wheel' effect of sleep, eat, irrigate, repeat. It's great for golf but not for turf growth or recovery. The grass is just dormant under these conditions. Growth is zero to minimal and so you're not going to see any sort of regrowth of new seed in divots etc. The seeds might germinate but likely they'll possibly die off without regular water. Rain will fix all of this

Mowing is therefore very stop/start. Every other week really at the moment to try to re-establish aesthetics and a little definition but it's fair to state that this year, there hasn't been an awful lot of grass being cut off any areas, be that rough, fairways or tees. As frustrating as it is, we just have to sit it out 

We carried out an early scarification of the greens in March. It was fairly unintrusive and just carried out to remove a little seasonal organic matter from last Autumn onwards. But we had to wait another 4 weeks or so to verticut and topdress (complete the operation) due to cold, dry conditions. That was the time when it was cold at night, dry in the day, no rain and no irrigation. Applying sand and verticutting would have just stunted growth and recovery even more so we just had to wait

The greens are actually where we'd like them to be in terms of the soil profile. Last year's soil test results were excellent but we've had to contend with challenging dry conditions and lots of birds pecking for grubs. The birds have also had a fallow period of not being able to find much food - hence they revert to pecking for leatherjacket grubs that we have to deal with in the greens rootzone. As you can imagine, with very dry conditions that are also cold or warm, recovery from pecking takes much longer as there's no real growth. So we've had to sit on our hands, much to out frustration. 

We really should have had a repeat greens top dressing by now, if not a verticut too. But carrying out these operations on already dry greens surfaces is only going to exacerbate the dry conditions and create more problems. It's a bit like rubbing a graze on your leg with sandpaper - it'n not going to help and not going to end well so sometimes, waiting and being patient is options A, B and C

You'll also experience, as a golfer, ball roll deviation at this time of year (as with every other year in Spring) when the poa grasses start to seed - see photo below. This is an annual species, much like a bedding plant, and this flowering occurs so that it can re-seed before it dies in the summer, leaving new seed to regenerate for next year's crop. The seeding only gets more prominent with, you've guessed it, less water and so this year has been particularly noticeable

Again, there's little that can be done to alleviate this seeding. Cutting the seedheads off during mowing only causes the plant to produce more seedheads. It's going to die so the seedheads are there as a means for continued survival of the species

Poa needs lots of water and so we've had to keep on top of greens irrigation. We utilise our soil moisture meter to gauge the water content of the soil and to keep the poa happy in stress periods such as this

You'll also notice some fairy rings across the greens and these tend to flare up in dry spells. Essentially, the soil borne fungus manifests itself in a 'ring'. The dark edges are Nitrogen flushes and of little harm. Again, a good downpour of rain would make them less noticeable so we continue to wait

The irrigation system itself has recently thrown up a couple of curveballs. Firstly, we needed to replace the irrigation controller in April. This is how we program an automatic irrigation cycle at night or early morning. The old controller had blown through some kind of electrical surge or lightning strike

Next, a couple of weeks ago, we had a burst on the main pipe in the middle of the 4th fairway

Yep - that'll do it !

So we were without irrigation for 36 hours whilst we excavated the soil some 3 feet down. The last foot was hard clay. Really hard clay. I think the lads slept well that night! In the end, it was a fairly straightforward repair but it highlighted that the PVC pipework is old, brittle and susceptible to leaks or breakages. It's the elephant in the room for the vast majority of golf clubs - all hoping and praying that the irrigation system makes it through another year without major problems

The winter enabled us to get a few projects carried out. Obviously, the 7th competition tee was re-sited and rebuilt as well as re-directing the path. We're just waiting for all that turf, soil/seed etc to fully grow in and recover. Rain fixes this !!

Also carried out were some bunker sand splash renovations at the 2nd and 9th. Plus we also extended the back tee on the 3rd to accommodate more wear and play now that the golf club is experiencing so much more play. Remember, the golfer numbers have increased but the teeing areas haven't really so more play + same tees = more wear & more divots in the same area

Michael departed in April to take up a Course Manager position at Hurlston Hall and James returned in his place. We wish both well

The forecast for the week ahead is more unsettled so at last, we might get a more greener, lusher golf course at last. Parkland courses always look better for this. Links and heathland courses are more suited to browning off

That said, it's for golfers to adapt to the conditions and accept that the conditions are the same for everybody. This too shall pass. I bet once the rains arrive, they'll never stop !

Enjoy your golf

Ben Allen