Here we are 28th of March the clocks change this weekend, lots of daffodils out for mothers day surely spring is "just around the corner". Well it didn't feel like it yesterday 4 degrees with the wind chill factored in. But we might be in for a surprise this weekend with temperatures supposed to be reaching 20 degrees. This will be great for the grass it should bring up the soil temperatures to the magic 6 degrees which is the point at which the grass starts to respond to the microbial activity in the soil and start to grow (hopefully). Also the more sun light we get the greater chance the plant has to photosynthesize. Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and to convert light energy, normally from the sun, into chemical energy that can be later released to fuel the plants activities (i.e. grow). So while we are waiting for the temperatures to reach their optimum for grass to grow we have a few tricks up our sleeves that should help to keep the greens relatively smooth. To combat the uneven growth we have been top dressing on a regular basis with about 6 tonnes of dressing (DA30 medium moist sand) over the 21 greens we have, followed by a brush which dissipates the sand into the canopy leaving none or very little sand on the surface. Top dressing will be distributed over the green with the brush moving the sand into the lower/slower growing grass and level them up.
We have also cored the greens again with a 6mm hollow tine since my last post. The brush also stands the grass up so we cut off the longer pieces of grass levelling the grass providing a smoother surface. We can achieve the same results by vertical cutting. Below is a clip of the brush moving the sand into the canopy and filling the core holes.
We have also cored the greens again with a 6mm hollow tine since my last post. The brush also stands the grass up so we cut off the longer pieces of grass levelling the grass providing a smoother surface. We can achieve the same results by vertical cutting. Below is a clip of the brush moving the sand into the canopy and filling the core holes.
Coring of the tee's and approaches has also taken place with our John Deere 3520 compact tractor and our Aercore 1500. Cores were taken out to a depth of three inches with a 19mm hollow tine at 2 inch spacings. Tee's were overseeded with a rye grass Lolium perenne . This grass is hard wearing, quick establishment, great colour and fits in with our composition of grasses on our tees. The approaches were overseed with 3 types of fescue Festuca rubra (strong creeping red fescue), Festuca rubra subsp. commutata (chewings fescue) and festuca rubra trichophylla (slender creeping red fescue). This grass has a very high shoot density, is very fine, good drought tolorence, and low fertility. This also falls in line with our seeding programme on our approaches and is best suited for a finer quality turf. Below are some pictures of the coring being carried out on the tees and approaches.
All the patio funiture has been treated with teak oil.
We have started work on the bunkers. edging, removing weeds, redistributing the sand, adding more sand if needed, removing stones. Bunkers take a lot of man hours to maintain and are probably the most intensively managed part of the golf course.
We are now raking the faces of our bunkers with the backs of our rakes for the following reasons. keeping the face smooth allows the ball to roll to the base of the bunker, raking with the back of the rake allows the sand to firm up reducing the possibility of a plugged ball, on our old bunkers there are plenty of stones on the faces back raking reduces the risk of dislodging stones and keeping the sand firm gives us more of a chance of keeping the sand up the faces of the older bunkers. 75% of the bunkers have been done this week the rest will be finished next week.
All the grass showing through in the new bunkers has been sprayed with a herbicide (Glyphosate) which will take a few weeks to work due to the slow uptake because of the low temperatures.
On the subject of bunkers here are a few tips on how to prepare a bunker for the following golfer:
All the grass showing through in the new bunkers has been sprayed with a herbicide (Glyphosate) which will take a few weeks to work due to the slow uptake because of the low temperatures.
On the subject of bunkers here are a few tips on how to prepare a bunker for the following golfer:
- Please don't rake the bunker with your golf club or foot. (this has been seen right next to a rake)
- Please don't rake the bunker while holding your golf club.
- Please do not pull the sand to the back edge of the bunker. We are trying to preserve the edges of the new bunkers to keep them sharp and pristine and if the sand is pulled right over the edge the edges will die and we loose the shape of the bunker.
- Don't leave the bunker with our raking it at all.
- Always rake the bunkers with two hands with a light pushing motion. Refrain from pulling the sand into heaps/mounds especially to the back edge.
- Replace the rake inside the bunker with the tip of the handle upon the edge of the bunker making it easier for the following golfer to pick up.
- When leaving the bunker tap the excess sand from you shoes so sand is not transported to the turf.
- Always remember to leave the bunker as you would wish to find it.
All fairways and walk off areas have been verti-drained with a 20mm solid tine to a depth of 6 inches (see video below)
Other news
Welcome to Ben Beech our new assistant professional who most of you probably know already. Ben did a weeks work experience with us on the greenstaff. Good luck to ben.
We have started divoting the tee's starting with the worse, all the tee's will be finished in the next couple of weeks.
There is a question form to the right hand side of the blog. I am happy to answer any of you questions/queries so please don't hesitate in using the form. Thank you for reading.
We have started divoting the tee's starting with the worse, all the tee's will be finished in the next couple of weeks.
There is a question form to the right hand side of the blog. I am happy to answer any of you questions/queries so please don't hesitate in using the form. Thank you for reading.