Hi there members
We're currently 2 weeks into February and it's been dry so far. No rain has fallen since the last week in January. Hence, conditions for golf are fairly decent, given it's still winter.
I just wanted to provide a round-up of what's been going on out on the golf course over the last 6-8 weeks. The weather has played ball so we've managed to get on with a whole range of tasks and project work. I'll try to be concise without getting too 'War & Peace' about things.
We put an access path in by Alex's new teaching studio. It's to enable us to access the putting green with machinery and to improve this area that looked a bit naff after the studio was completed. It took about 4 hours of work for me & Ali. Functional as well as more aesthetically pleasing.
Ok, so 4th bunker right hand side. Was a bunker, now a surround. The reason for the mound is because there are 3 other mounds around the green and so this balances out the right/left or front/back of this green complex.
We had to use around 40 tonnes of soil to create this contouring - remember, this was a bunker so that was filled in and then we raised the land in the middle of it. The mound provides a bit of interest for golfers and the run-off to the back right of the green will be extended into this area.
So imagine the (old) surround above being extended further into what was the bunker. You sort of get what we're trying to do. Only the added mound creates the required contouring and will give that element of balance that I mentioned earlier.
It's been dry enough to start harrowing the rough. Terry Broadhurst has volunteered over the last year or so and he started this work the other day. Basically, we harrow the rough to collect the twigs and branches. But the harrowing also acts to lightly groom/scarify the rough. Any dead material will be 'raked' out and this should stimulate a bit of growth after some rain and warmer weather.
Other second order effects of this work will be to thin out some areas of rough, particularly as growth is strong during the warmer months and the rough gets quite lush, dense and tangly in areas. So it has multiple benefits.
Because Terry has started to assist us so early, we can get a head start with work that we might otherwise not be able to do. There are many many things we would like to do on the golf course but 2 greens staff can only be in 2 places at any given time. So any additional assistance is welcome.
Talking of a head start, we recently threw around 15 tons of sand dressing on our approaches and some greens' surrounds. So let's dive into the whys. My aim, long term, is to extend the work we do on our greens into the approaches and surrounds. We're trying to achieve firm, dry surfaces in the green and approach complex. So why?
- primarily for golf shot making - enabling more variety of shots around the green. That might be a putt or a wedge or a bump 'n' run off the surround or the approach.
- to refine the playing surfaces. Sand dressing provides, long term, a drier more tighter surface to enable better mowing and a more refined surface.
- to discourage casting worms. Worms are more dominant in wet, mild weather. In poor quality farmland (that has been developed into golf course land), the worm casts are often claggy and sticky. They stick to machinery, golf trolly wheels and smear. This looks unsightly and causes surface capping. We won't get rid of the worms but what we can do is to try to get their worm casts to have a more sandy texture.
- to improve surface levels which might be irregular due to ground that has settled and then provides an inconsistent surface for mowing. Sand fills in those gaps, hollows etc and raises the surface level.
- to encourage finer grasses to thrive in a sandier, drier soil profile. We want the bent and fescue grasses to increase in these areas so that the texture of the turf is finer. But this can only be achieved in a lighter, sandier soil (think: Links Golf)
The photos explain the process basically.
I'm not particularly concerned as to the timing of this topdressing work so long as we aren't doing it in the period between Autumn and Winter - that part of the year (November to end of January) is not close enough to the Spring whereby the grass will grow through in a shorter space of time. Moreover, the aim is to get plenty of sand out that, over time, we change the nature of the soil profile. In short, plenty of sand over several applications to develop a sandier surface. With the recent dry weather and firm ground conditions, it has been perfect and we are only 6-8 weeks away from expected Spring growth.
Greens have just been sarel rolled. It provides a pin prick type hole in the surface. It enables the surface to become drier just before we scarify, verti-cut and topdress the greens in our now (early) Spring renovation work. Overall, the aim of the scarifying is to remove a bit more fibrous, thatchy material in the top 10-12mm of the soil profile. The verti-cutting will close up the scarifying grooves and will also rip out the surface accumulation of degraded leaf material over autumn/winter. The sand dressing will fill in the verti-cutting grooves and restore surface levels. Fertiliser will help to recover the surface afterward.
Other work includes some path end restoration (2nd, 4th, 8th tee area) that aims to mitigate wear from golfer & machine traffic as well as tee verti-draining, continued cylinder grinding (mower blade sharpening), machinery servicing & parts replacement and the renovation of the tee markers (cleaning, sanding, applications of paint) to freshen them up ready for the 2023 season.
Ok, I've failed spectacularly in my attempts to avoid a 'War & Peace' literary epic. Note to self - be more concise next time.
All the best and another update soon-ish.
Ben
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