Its that time of year again i can hear the groans from here, why, why when the greens are good. Unfortunately it is imperative we carry out this work. The demand to play golf 365 days a year is part of the reason but the main goal is to provide consistent surfaces all year round and stay off of temporary greens. We are slowly winning the battle.
This years work will be very similar to last year. We have double scarified the greens yesterday (Monday 27th). We will try and get the putting green and chipping greens done this week to speed up the process.
We start on Monday 3rd, the front 9 will be closed on Monday with the back 9 closed Tuesday. The process will be as follows;
1) Solid tine with 12mm x 175mm tines
2) Turf Iron (to allow collector to pick core up more efficiently)
3) Hollow core with 19mm x 75mm hollow tines
4) Collect core with core harvester
5) Blow remaining debris from green
6) Top dress with 2EW kiln dried sand 2 tonnes per green
7) Brush sand in with sweep and fill brush filling holes half to three quarters full
8) Over seed with Johnsons J All bent
9) Top dress with medium sand moist 2 tonnes per green fill holes to the top
10) Turf iron to compress sand into the canopy
11) Water in
12) Apply nutrition
This years work will be very similar to last year. We have double scarified the greens yesterday (Monday 27th). We will try and get the putting green and chipping greens done this week to speed up the process.
We start on Monday 3rd, the front 9 will be closed on Monday with the back 9 closed Tuesday. The process will be as follows;
1) Solid tine with 12mm x 175mm tines
2) Turf Iron (to allow collector to pick core up more efficiently)
3) Hollow core with 19mm x 75mm hollow tines
4) Collect core with core harvester
5) Blow remaining debris from green
6) Top dress with 2EW kiln dried sand 2 tonnes per green
7) Brush sand in with sweep and fill brush filling holes half to three quarters full
8) Over seed with Johnsons J All bent
9) Top dress with medium sand moist 2 tonnes per green fill holes to the top
10) Turf iron to compress sand into the canopy
11) Water in
12) Apply nutrition
If all goes to plan and the weather holds out we should be looking at a speedy recovery of around 10days, fingers crossed.
OTHER NEWS
Well a half decent summer so far which has tested the irrigation to the max. A premature warning went out suggesting we may not be able to water the fairways, that seemed to have done the trick and bought the rain. We have the system working really efficiently. i.e. only watering fairways not the rough and no green sprinklers on a 360 degree arc. This will all help conserve water. The irrigation system is only there to keep the plant alive and aid a speedy recovery. A good water management strategy has been essential this year. trying to keep the water where it is most beneficial to the plant is tricky. Too near the surface and the roots get lazy and only work in the top 20mm. Push the water too far down and it goes beyond the root system. Product selection is critical. We try to rotate our strategy between a penetrant which pulls the water down and keeps the profile moist and a surfactant which works nearer the surface especially in heat stress periods.
Fairways, tees, approns and surrounds have been sprayed with PGR and a slow release fertiliser (See to Grow or not to Grow April 2014) now we have some growth and the plant is not under stress. We have managed to keep up the regular top dressing, we are up to 70 tonnes to date with another 75 tonnes due next week then 60 tonnes through the winter and we should hit the 200 tonne mark for the first time.
Back to the usual routine now the rain has come some grass to cut now.
Thankyou for reading
Regards
Lee & The Greenkeeping Team
Fairways, tees, approns and surrounds have been sprayed with PGR and a slow release fertiliser (See to Grow or not to Grow April 2014) now we have some growth and the plant is not under stress. We have managed to keep up the regular top dressing, we are up to 70 tonnes to date with another 75 tonnes due next week then 60 tonnes through the winter and we should hit the 200 tonne mark for the first time.
Back to the usual routine now the rain has come some grass to cut now.
Thankyou for reading
Regards
Lee & The Greenkeeping Team