A belated happy new year to you all. I was going to say heres to a dry one but as i'm sitting here entering last nights rain data (15th Jan) i realised its not a good start. 60.7 mm of rain here to date which has caused us a few problems. It has highlighted our weaker areas or areas that need more attention. i did cover this in a previous blog, one of the worst affected areas is our approaches. this is for a number of reasons 1) Thatch build up. We were returning the clipping to the sward (grass boxes were not collecting correctly) which is a major contributor to thatch. Thatch acts like a sponge holding the water, it also restricts the plants roots from penetrating into the soil below. 2) Compaction. Unfortunately we are a narrow tightly packed course and the majority of our greens are guarded by two bunker, one left, one right. This combination causes massive amounts of foot/trolley fall in these areas, but the main contributor to compaction is the machinery. With expectation to provide excellent playing surfaces all year round the necessity is there to cut more to provide a aesthetically pleasing course. In these bad areas the greens mower will turn also the approach mower will pass over these areas (during the cutting season. 3) Heavy/persistent/constant rain fall. Rain is a big factor here. Coupled with the issues above. Waterlogging is as detrimental to a grass plant as heat stress. Waterlogging blocks all the fissures and open air pockets restricting oxygen from getting into the rootzone allowing the plant to uptake nutrients and produce roots and become more sustainable.
So quick recap. The soil under the turf is compacted, the roots of the plant cannot penetrate the soil. Thatch has built up with excess rain, returned clippings and compaction. There then becomes a definite break between soil and turf giving you the feeling the turf is moving.
Action plan going forward. We have de-compacted the soil underneath with the Air 2g2 (which was covered in my last blog). Next will be to core the bad areas with a 19mm core at 2 inch centers and back fill with sand. In a ideal world we would like to do this twice before the season starts. Following the coring up with a deep scarify, collect the clippings and add some more sand. Fingers crossed get all the work done before the season starts and hope for a good recovery.
Below is some pictures of the course this morning, thursday 15th January
So quick recap. The soil under the turf is compacted, the roots of the plant cannot penetrate the soil. Thatch has built up with excess rain, returned clippings and compaction. There then becomes a definite break between soil and turf giving you the feeling the turf is moving.
Action plan going forward. We have de-compacted the soil underneath with the Air 2g2 (which was covered in my last blog). Next will be to core the bad areas with a 19mm core at 2 inch centers and back fill with sand. In a ideal world we would like to do this twice before the season starts. Following the coring up with a deep scarify, collect the clippings and add some more sand. Fingers crossed get all the work done before the season starts and hope for a good recovery.
Below is some pictures of the course this morning, thursday 15th January
Winter Work
Winter work has progressed well considering the weather. The new bunkers on the 8th, 9th & 10th opened 5th january and i think you will agree have grow in fantastically. We continued with the same shape and style. Buckbrick sand was used as per the previous 2 years.
I have had some mixed feedback on the clearing behind the 10th green, which is understandable. I can see the reasons why are not keen on the clearing, the golfers like to feel each hole is individual.
We started clearing the end near the 11th fairway so the ladies could see all the fairway and make it easier to see where their balls landed, after clearing that area we exposed some amazing specimen trees so we decided to carry on right through to the 10th green. We now have some mature Beech trees on show (we are called Burnham Beeches with very few beech trees on display) a magnificent Hornbeam, several towering oaks and a couple of gnarly Hawthorns. We also discovered a mass of bluebell bulbs so watch that space in spring. We have a few piles of debris to remove and half of the area to stump grind then we will selective weed kill after the bluebells have flowered and over seed with a shade tolerant fescue. And the only trees we removed was holly.
The 10th sleeper bunker has now had the sand added just waiting for a dry spell to get that turfed and finished.
9th winter tee was completed. Unfortunately the proposed winter tee on the 13th was too close to the high pressured gas line that runs through the course.
The greens have been slit at 2 week intervals during november/december with our Greentek Aeroquick Slitter with 8 inch knives on them (4 times in total in different directions).
15 tonnes of top dressing applied over the past 3 weeks has worked in nicely now. Our dressing policy in the winter is paying dividends for us, we needle tined the greens monday/tuesday with a 8mm tine to get some oxygen into the rootzone.
The side of the 4th yellow tee along with the back tees on 4th, 5th & 14th have been hollow cored, cores collected and overseeded with Barenbrug Bar Extreme RPR which is a
regenerating perennial ryegrass, offering faster establishment, added wear tolerance and stabilization, recovery and traction strength.
Little nutrition has been applied to the greens, a little nitrogen and chelated iron at monthly intervals to keep the plant ticking over and hold their colour. A penetrant is also being applied at monthly intervals. This is part of our water management programme. During the summer we need to hold the water mainly in the top 50 mm of the profile to try and stop it drying out. We use a wetting agent for this. During winter we use a Penetrant which pulls the water away from the surface and as far down as the profile as it allows. This along with our dressing programme and aeration has helped keep the greens as firm as they can be during the winter months.
A huge thankyou to those of you that are able to carry, thank you it really does make a difference and do you really want to walk the extra yardage around the ropes with a trolly.
Thankyou for reading and you support during 2014
Lee & The Greenkeeping Team
I have had some mixed feedback on the clearing behind the 10th green, which is understandable. I can see the reasons why are not keen on the clearing, the golfers like to feel each hole is individual.
We started clearing the end near the 11th fairway so the ladies could see all the fairway and make it easier to see where their balls landed, after clearing that area we exposed some amazing specimen trees so we decided to carry on right through to the 10th green. We now have some mature Beech trees on show (we are called Burnham Beeches with very few beech trees on display) a magnificent Hornbeam, several towering oaks and a couple of gnarly Hawthorns. We also discovered a mass of bluebell bulbs so watch that space in spring. We have a few piles of debris to remove and half of the area to stump grind then we will selective weed kill after the bluebells have flowered and over seed with a shade tolerant fescue. And the only trees we removed was holly.
The 10th sleeper bunker has now had the sand added just waiting for a dry spell to get that turfed and finished.
9th winter tee was completed. Unfortunately the proposed winter tee on the 13th was too close to the high pressured gas line that runs through the course.
The greens have been slit at 2 week intervals during november/december with our Greentek Aeroquick Slitter with 8 inch knives on them (4 times in total in different directions).
15 tonnes of top dressing applied over the past 3 weeks has worked in nicely now. Our dressing policy in the winter is paying dividends for us, we needle tined the greens monday/tuesday with a 8mm tine to get some oxygen into the rootzone.
The side of the 4th yellow tee along with the back tees on 4th, 5th & 14th have been hollow cored, cores collected and overseeded with Barenbrug Bar Extreme RPR which is a
regenerating perennial ryegrass, offering faster establishment, added wear tolerance and stabilization, recovery and traction strength.
Little nutrition has been applied to the greens, a little nitrogen and chelated iron at monthly intervals to keep the plant ticking over and hold their colour. A penetrant is also being applied at monthly intervals. This is part of our water management programme. During the summer we need to hold the water mainly in the top 50 mm of the profile to try and stop it drying out. We use a wetting agent for this. During winter we use a Penetrant which pulls the water away from the surface and as far down as the profile as it allows. This along with our dressing programme and aeration has helped keep the greens as firm as they can be during the winter months.
A huge thankyou to those of you that are able to carry, thank you it really does make a difference and do you really want to walk the extra yardage around the ropes with a trolly.
Thankyou for reading and you support during 2014
Lee & The Greenkeeping Team