Head Greenkeepers Update - 10.07.20

Course Presentation and Changes

Present Situation

As you are all aware, we have had a few issues with the presentation and quality of turf on many of our collars and approaches over recent weeks.

The appearance of these areas is far below the standard of which I would like.  As mentioned in my previous blog, this scenario has been created by the unfortunate drought we incurred recently following essential work that had been carried out on theses long-term weak areas.

Unfortunately, follow-up operations have seemingly weakened these areas even further (Killed with Kindness) but were essential to be carried out (over seeding). The collars and fronts of the greens are proving to be the slowest to recover. This is not surprising, as they get almost continuous traffic across them. Daily, machines of one sort or another are either mowing, turning, or rolling (or all three) over them and that’s before the foot traffic across them. With these sorts of levels of traffic, it is very difficult for the grass to recover and “fill in”

We therefore must try and reduce the “traffic or stress” that incurs on these areas to have any hope.

Plan of Action

How? - This was the topic of conversation that occurred recently between myself, Darren and other representatives of the club whilst out on the course. It was from these conversations that we concluded that we would like to try and “return” the presentation of the course back to how it was originally intended when the greens were rebuilt (Ken Moodie).

Unfortunately, over time things have altered that have reduced the visual impact of this design, as an example the  “2nd cut” of Semi rough around the green complexes has gotten wider and wider. Over the last 10 to 15 years the greens have naturally “nibbled” into the collars and the collars have then nibbled into the semi. This action over time has resulted in us not only having larger/ misshapen  greens than designed but we are also trying to maintain collars on slopes and undulations that were not constructed /designed to support grass mown at such low heights of cut.

It has therefore been decided to try and return the lay out to something close to the original design. Anyone of you that has played in the last couple of days will have noticed various markings around the greens. Please ignore them. Most of them are irrelevant and will soon be mown out (hopefully). I have decided to concentrate simply on establishing the outer edge of the “greens” cut.  This has been demarcated with the white dots that can be found. These marks are primarily for uniformity when different operators are mowing the greens/collars. However please use these dots as an indication whether you are on or off the green.  Unfortunately, it may take a number of weeks to develop a distinct, clear and natural differential between the collars and greens due to a recent application of a growth retardant. When this does occur however, we will be left with stunningly uniform collars that will beautifully frame every green. Any slight loss of green size will be more than compensated for.

In doing this, we have immediately lowered the “traffic and wear” the weak areas are being subjected to. This has allowed us to apply further seed (they have had lots) and a soil mix on to these areas with hope of quick recovery. Please if possible, can you try and not walk or take your trolleys through these areas.  Sand and seed will also be being applied to the approaches in the coming weeks.

The other major decision in returning the course design back, is to remove the “sidewinder or 2nd cut” from certain areas of the course. We are therefore initially stopping the “2nd cut” around all greens and entirely on the par 3s.  These areas will now be maintained by the rough machine (or by hand) and at the same height of cut as the rest of the rough (2”).  This is a height of cut that can allow balls to be found easily. However, this height is adaptable and if problems occur we will look into it further. The thinking behind this is by increasing the definition and improving uniformity of your ball lay. This will then hopefully provide a far better visual and enjoyable playing experience around all the greens.

Thanks for reading

Matt Dobbs, Course Manager