Head Greenkeeper's Blog - June 21
Hello everyone,
It has been a busy few weeks to try and present the golf course as well as possible, given the demand for golf, the weather and the growth spurt we have experienced. In May we had 121mm of rain, which was then followed by high temperatures and plenty of sunshine. As you can see from the table below, that produced pretty much optimum growing conditions for the first three weeks of June. If 1 is full daily growth you can see how high the potential was. To give you a contrast, in April the whole month totalled around 4!!
Table Showing Potential for Growth
In the last few weeks the greens have been improving all the time. We have tried to carry out little and often maintenance tasks on them, such as grooming, brushing, verticutting and topdressing. All these tasks have meant little disturbance to the golfers and now the greens are performing well.
2nd Green
We are pleased with the definition that has been developing during this period. Many areas are starting to benefit from the new cutting regimes, with clear differences in height between fairway, semi rough and rough. We are trying to cut as often as possible to maintain optimum playability.
Semi Definition
It is always our intention to make a good first impression to members, guests and visitors to the golf club and so we will strive to make this area a focal point.
View From the First Tee
Another example of the hard work from the team below. Early next month all the main cutting units are due to be sharpened, which will see a further enhancement of presentation. This is because, the sharper the cutting unit, the healthier the turf and in turn this means a better colour.
16th fairway being cut
One of the largest areas of the course are the fairways and much work is needed to bring them up to a better standard. Selective weedkilling, scarification, aeration and feeding will all help to improve them. Below is a picture of the Sisis Veemo which the club have had for a while, and now this needs to be used to help reduce the thatch levels of the fairway surfaces.
Unfortunately, the fairways tend to hold water at the surface because of the amount of thatch in them and so gradually we will try to reduce it. It is a time-consuming job, however the more we can do, the better the fairways will be to play from. This goes for all surfaces, whether it be semi rough, tees or approaches.
Scarification of fairways needed
One of the other important areas which we need to constantly monitor is the irrigation. We have irrigation to greens and tees here and in order for it to perform at its best, we need to keep checking that the system functions correctly, i.e., it waters where we need it to.
During a review of the system, it became clear that there are several sprinklers out there that were either pointing in the wrong direction or were indeed broken. These in the main have now been corrected or replaced, however constant monitoring is underway.
The sprinklers that were broken on the putting and chipping greens have been replaced.
System auditing to correct faults
Finally, the team will continue to work hard to produce the goods on the course to try and make your golfing experiences as pleasurable as possible. As well as the main cutting areas, there are numerous other tasks carried out such as divotting, bunker work, strimming, tree work and much more.
The team and I hope to see you on the course soon!
Steve Hemsley
Head Greenkeeper
