Greens News - September 2019
4 October 2019

It was very noticeable the change this month with our working practices as the very dry conditions slowed grass growth. Our attention turned to flailing the hedgerows and ditch banks and clearing the debris. Some of these boundary hedgerows have to be done by hand as they are inaccessible for the tractor mounted flail consequently this can be time consuming. We began around the property “Twin Acres” although offsite it has a considerable impact on the drainage for the holes 5 – 14. The ditch itself was cleaned out last year and didn’t show any signs of silt build up.  

Paths have also received a little bit of maintenance with the edges being strimmed and the red shale being sprayed for weeds. This should keep the paths weed free through the winter months.

During the first few weeks of September to help relieve stress and a few areas of dry patch, two spray applications where made to the greens. The first being a liquid feed with seaweed, phosphite, calcium and magnesium to harden the plant against disease. The second application being a wetting agent to rejuvenate the dry patch mixed with humic and fulvic acid for plant health.

Continuing with our aeration program the greens and collars where solid tined with 8mm tines. This not only helps with the gas exchange but allows surface water to drain more freely. We are currently aerating the tees with the larger 12mm tines to relieve compaction moving onto the approaches later.

While the weather has been dry, certain areas of ecological rough have been cut back. We followed this up with strimming around the trees to keep the presentation tidy. This is ongoing with a few areas to finish once a minor breakdown has been repaired and drier conditions return.

Finally while the water level is low in the pond on the 11^th hole, we took the opportunity to remove weed and leaf litter. Hopefully with the recent wet weather we should see an increase in the water level and the return of the fountains following a service. Also a big thank you to Colin Davy (ably assisted by Chris Reed and George Mason) who has donated 6 large carp to the reservoir, some of these fish he has reared for over 30years.

Gareth Williams, Course Director

Rainfall 70mm

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