Greens News - February 2018
27 February 2018

GREENS NEWS – FEBRUARY 2018

February has brought more rain to the course leaving many areas saturated and consequently course closures. It has been interesting to see that many other courses have been closed but also resorting to buggy and even trolley bans.

The greens on the whole are doing well. We have applied an organic slow release fertiliser which is high in humic acid. Ideal in the winter months to enhance the plants natural defences against disease outbreaks. They are in need of aeration with some greens retaining moisture at the surface, 5^th green in particular. The difficulty of that is travelling around the course with heavy equipment and then working on and around the greens. However we are only 5 weeks away from spring maintenance, during which we will solid tine twice and apply around 60 tonnes of sand.

For the outfield areas we will aerate all the heavily worn and well-trodden areas. These will be solid tined and fertilised to aid recovery particularly around greens and tees.

This year will see another plant protection product (Iprodione) withdrawn from use. It is a curative contact fungicide which is used after an outbreak of fusarium. Now the only fungicides available are preventative which could be expensive in the years to come.

Repairs have been made to the fence to the rear of the 6^th green. Some posts have been replaced and it will be painted once the weather improves. Repairs have also been made to the sleepers at the front of the pond. Additional wood was used to raise the level of the sleepers and top soil used to backfill the low areas and the turf rolled back into place.

Bunker work is ongoing, the greenside on 15^th and the 2^nd and 3^rd bunkers are finished. I would have anticipated this work completed by now but the difficulty has been with the soft ground conditions.

Rainfall 31.5mm

Gareth Williams, Course Director 

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