Evening, its been 5 weeks since my last post and there is not a lot to report really apart from we are cutting grass like crazy and the weather has been unsurprisingly mixed. So i thought this months blog i would give you a rundown of the changes we are making to our scheduled work on the greens in August. We have decided to hollow core the greens this year rather than the usual linear aeration (deep scarification with the Graden machine). See the pictures below for the difference in appearance.
The reason for change of plan has been taken out of our hands really, although it is a good thing to ring the changes and use different applications. Here we go ill keep it as short as possible. There has been a big shake up in the sand industry. Most of the sand dug from the ground goes into the glass, building and water filtration industries, amenity/sports uses what is left. There have been a number of quarries close around the country so sourcing sand is very tricky at the moment. The difficulty comes when trying to match a spec of sand to the one we are using currently especially on greens that are over 100 years old. Its so important we choose a sand the has a particle size that is the same or slightly bigger. The reason for this being we are trying to create air pockets/spaces within the soil profile and thatch layer. Try to imagine a jar full of marbles. in between each marble there is air pockets/spaces. This allows water to percolate through the air pockets/spaces and for the roots to grow in, it also stops the thatch becoming too dense for the same reasons. Phew, right now pour some sand into the jar of marbles and all the air pockets/spaces fill up with sand therefore the water has no where to go and the roots cannot penetrate deeper down. This would be the effect if we used a sand with a smaller/finer particle size. The problems caused by using the wrong sand can be very detrimental over time and take years to rectify. So back to my original point of the quarries closing. Sand is harder to come by. Also the further the sand has to travel the higher the haulage costs and as usual the quarry we were getting our sand from was in Leighton Buzzard has closed (so local) now it is coming from further afield. With so many Sports Institutions using straight sand these days the availability is not as good. Because of all the above reasons the cost of our sand has risen by £48 per tonne currently. We aim to use 40 - 60 tonnes in August. The sand we buy in is kiln dried. Kiln dried sand is easier , quicker to brush into the holes and provides a more professional and productive job. The short and long of it all is i haven't budgeted for the price increase in sand so we will be hollow coring the greens ourselves with our own equipment and not using contractors to Sand Injection Graden the greens.
Just to give you a idea of the difference in thatch removal between the two operations.
When we Sand Injection Graden we can remove up to 15% of the surface area of a green.
When we Hollow core we can only remove 5% - 8% but we can go slightly deeper.
Below is a good article on the state of the greens at the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass (Stadium Course). It highlights the importance of aeration. http://www.superintendentmagazine.com/blog-7097.aspx
I hope that all makes sense. Any queries or questions please dont hesitate in contacting me.
Just to give you a idea of the difference in thatch removal between the two operations.
When we Sand Injection Graden we can remove up to 15% of the surface area of a green.
When we Hollow core we can only remove 5% - 8% but we can go slightly deeper.
Below is a good article on the state of the greens at the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass (Stadium Course). It highlights the importance of aeration. http://www.superintendentmagazine.com/blog-7097.aspx
I hope that all makes sense. Any queries or questions please dont hesitate in contacting me.
I found this short clip about why we need to aerate on the USGA (United States Golf Assocciation) web site. Basic but gets to the point. The very same principles are used across Europe and the UK as in the USA.
Other News
There has been a bit of confusion as to where the rakes should be placed in bunkers, caused by myself i may add. We are currently placing sticker on the rakes stating "please place rakes in bunkers". Yes we would like the rake in the bunker but with the handle slightly resting out of the bunker allowing the following golfer to pick up the rake with out entering the bunker. A quick note on raking bunkers we are still getting the sand pulled up to the back edge of the bunkers, please read recent blog on how to leave a bunker for the following golfer.
This is how we would like the rakes placed into the
bunkers after it has been raked
bunkers after it has been raked
All sprinkler heads have been trimmed. We are trying PGR (Plant Growth Regulator) around the edges of our bunkers (see last blog), tee banks, backs of greens etc to try to reduce the mowing hours.
Drainage work has been carried out in the fairway bunker on the 8th and the middle right bunker on the 17th, so fingers crossed no more flooding.
Thank you to all of you who attended our course discussion evening/demonstration. i hope i managed to answer all of you question. I would like to say at this point thank you very much for you support it means a lot to all the greenkeeping staff. We appreciate any feedback positive and constructive.
Drainage work has been carried out in the fairway bunker on the 8th and the middle right bunker on the 17th, so fingers crossed no more flooding.
Thank you to all of you who attended our course discussion evening/demonstration. i hope i managed to answer all of you question. I would like to say at this point thank you very much for you support it means a lot to all the greenkeeping staff. We appreciate any feedback positive and constructive.
Please refrain from taking out a bad swing on our tee markers. This is the 6th marker that has been broken and needed replacing. They are very costly to replace. May i suggest a bit more practice may be beneficial for the marker, club and the golfer not to mention the pro staff.
Congratulations to Matthew Clark and Andrew Armstrong for passing their NVQ level 3 in Sports Turf Science.
A big welcome to Chris Knight who joins the greenstaff on a apprenticeship scheme for a minimum of 18 months potentially on a permanent contract. I will post some more details in my next blog.
And finally have you seen this man, last seen cutting the range but has not returned.
A big welcome to Chris Knight who joins the greenstaff on a apprenticeship scheme for a minimum of 18 months potentially on a permanent contract. I will post some more details in my next blog.
And finally have you seen this man, last seen cutting the range but has not returned.
All jokes aside a huge thankyou to our Captain Steve Ball for coming in and spending a day with us to see how we work and what is required to provide a top course for you guys. Steve has been in on 3 separate occasions to work with us, well done and thank you skipper.
Well a short blog turned into a epic blog, sorry about that. Thank you for reading any questions please don't hesitate in asking.
Kind Regards Lee & Greenkeeping Team
Well a short blog turned into a epic blog, sorry about that. Thank you for reading any questions please don't hesitate in asking.
Kind Regards Lee & Greenkeeping Team