My favourite time of year has arrived again when I get all my fan mail. Course renovation works are two weeks away.
Work starts on the 8th August with the front 9 closed on Monday, the back 9 Tuesday. This year we will be;
- Double scarifying the greens to a depth of 10mm.
- Hollow coring with 19mm tines straight through the greens into the approaches to a depth of 75mm.
- Apply roughly 3 tonnes of Leighton Buzzard B sand (Dakota)
- Brush in with counter rotating brush
- With hole 80% - 90% full over seed with Barenbrug Allbent @ 4gms/m2
- Apply another 1.5 tonnes of Leighton Buzzard B sand
- Vetri-drain over the sand prior to brushing with 12mm x 250mm tines
- Brush in to fill all holes
- Turf iron
- Top up with sand as necessary.
All this of course weather permitting. I know and fully understand the frustration of some of you regarding the work being carried out in August. The reasons for doing the work in August are as follows; the soil profile is at a optimum for tinning. We call this a friable soil which means the soil is in a perfect state to create cracks, fissures and air pockets allowing the roots of the grass plant to take advantage. Hollow cores are fully removed with no plugging. Plugging is where part of or even all the core is left in the hole. Surface tension created by excess moisture causes the plug to be broken off or left in the tine hole. August is the optimum time for recovery. Soil and air temperatures are perfect for germinating seed. Sand dressing dry out quicker allowing us to get more sand into the tine holes.
OTHER NEWS
The ladies English Amateur Stroke Play event was a huge success considering the weather. My guys put in a trmendous effort and some serious hours. 4am-9am was the morning shift back in the evening for a 5.30pm-9pm shift as well as staying on standby for any squeedgy work. With lots of positive feedback from competitors/members and the EGU the deserve a massive pat on the back, thank you. We also had a few members help divoting tees and faiways in the evening which was a tremendous help and much appreciated, thank you David Barker (Vice Captian), Steve Ball, David Keel and Dave Clement. two of my greenkeeping friends from Lambourne GC helped us in the evening a huge thank you to Callum Keogh & Matthew Weatherstone we couldn't have done it with out the extra help.
The weather hit the headlines in June again. We had 130.6mm rain in June, our yearly average for the past 10 years has been 66.3mm with only 15.3mm falling last year. The rain seems to have been heavy but in short bursts which is the worst combination. We have pushed sand up bunker face 6 times since the start of June, squeegeed water from greens 4 times. We have put some extra drainage in some of the hollows that are too deep to push the water out from. Infront of the 15th approach, back left of the 17th green and behind 3rd green. Pictures below of the rain in June/July
The weather hit the headlines in June again. We had 130.6mm rain in June, our yearly average for the past 10 years has been 66.3mm with only 15.3mm falling last year. The rain seems to have been heavy but in short bursts which is the worst combination. We have pushed sand up bunker face 6 times since the start of June, squeegeed water from greens 4 times. We have put some extra drainage in some of the hollows that are too deep to push the water out from. Infront of the 15th approach, back left of the 17th green and behind 3rd green. Pictures below of the rain in June/July
The wild flower seed behind the nets has taken well along with the bee hive. See link for more information on the wild flowers.
www.lgseeds.co.uk/uploads/Colour-Splash_2015-web.pdf and this link for the bees www.sherriffamenity.com/UserAssets/Info%20Sheets/Beepol%20iPad.pdf
I am happy to help or advise in any way i can. I have also ordered some small packets of wild flower seed if you fancy giving it a try. They should be here next week and available from the Pro Shop for £5 per 30g packet.
The rough has been a bone of contention this year with lots of people finding difficult to play from. the problem has been the density of the rough not the length. We are cutting at the same height as previous years. The cause of this problem has been the mild wet winter we had along with the mild wet June we had. We also have had both rough mowers broken down at two different times recently for between 2-5 days. This nice dry weather should help it dry out. So going forward general course maintenance and renovation week to look forward too.
Thank you for reading.
Regards Lee & Green Keeping Team
www.lgseeds.co.uk/uploads/Colour-Splash_2015-web.pdf and this link for the bees www.sherriffamenity.com/UserAssets/Info%20Sheets/Beepol%20iPad.pdf
I am happy to help or advise in any way i can. I have also ordered some small packets of wild flower seed if you fancy giving it a try. They should be here next week and available from the Pro Shop for £5 per 30g packet.
The rough has been a bone of contention this year with lots of people finding difficult to play from. the problem has been the density of the rough not the length. We are cutting at the same height as previous years. The cause of this problem has been the mild wet winter we had along with the mild wet June we had. We also have had both rough mowers broken down at two different times recently for between 2-5 days. This nice dry weather should help it dry out. So going forward general course maintenance and renovation week to look forward too.
Thank you for reading.
Regards Lee & Green Keeping Team