Greens News - October 2017
7 November 2017

The seasons are without doubt changing, winters are becoming wild and wet, consequently mowing continues into October and November when attention should be on construction or repair work.

More recently with this continued growth, we were unable to mow fairways due to wet conditions. However we did cut a single strip around the perimeter of the fairway to improve definition, a practice we have been undertaking for around 10 years.

As of the 1^st November the winter course will be in play. Hoops and ropes are out and are situated to preserve summer traffic routes. Please help us to reduce wear and tear by observing the winter routes. Ultimately it is for your benefit.

Aeration continues into the winter, the greens will be slit tined to keep the surfaces open and free draining. The tees have been solid tined this month to relieve compaction. The Wiedemann was set at 200mm depth with 12mm solids. We followed this with a granular feed application to maintain health.

Mid October we top dressed the greens with approximately 10 tonnes of sand. Conditions where dry and growth was good. The more top dressing we can apply to the greens the firmer they will become. Thus being more playable during the wet winters and not having to resort to temporary greens. A granular feed was applied post top dressing to give the greens a boost going into the cooler months. However monthly foliar feeds will be made to harden the turf through the spring.

Other works that have been going on is the repair to the 17^th winter bridge. A number of laterals were rotten and loose hand rails so it was necessary to revamp the bridge. You will have noticed the new addition to the 15^th ditch. This was installed to reduce wear around the cross bunkers but also for access when reconstruction of the bunkers takes place.

All but one path have been weeded. This was a manual task as we have found in recent years that the herbicide travels with foot fall in cooler conditions.

Ongoing is leaf collection around the course, a slow process which can be problematic in wet conditions.

Finally a note of thanks to Darrell Slingsby and Chris Reed for their efforts clearing weed from the 5^th pond.

Gareth Williams, Course Director

Rainfall                        September        29.5mm

                                    Year to date       554mm

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