November update.

Welcome to our November blog, the weather has enabled us to complete  the positioning of our winter tee mats on the 2nd 4th 8th 13th and 18th holes and put in additional paths to ease wear and tear around them.

Our programme of levelling the 8th 12th 14th and 18th tees is moving along well and we hope to see them turfed very soon. Below are some pictures showing our progress on the 18th tee, and additional work.

   

The picture above shows Chris Lewis using the turf cutter to lift the turf. 

  The turf is stripped off, unfortunately because of its high sand content in the upper profile it is difficult to lift and put back down.We will be re turfing with a turf containing fescue and smooth stalk meadow grass species.These grasses are hard wearing and offer great presentation when the turf is mown.             

                       New levels are positioned on the tee, which are the white dots in the picture, the tee is firmed and raked numerous times to achieve the correct surface levels.

Throughout the past month the greens team have been busy removing the leaves off the course with hand blowers and the tractor mounted blower. The picture above shows the leaves from the 11th fairway being blown in to the colonels wood.

We recently purchased a power brush to keep the mats clean and to aid in their presentation. 

The winter tee mat at the 14th is being cleaned with the power brush.The brush does a great job in removing debris from the pile of the mat and is used regularly  

The picture above shows the toadstool Fly Agaric which as been growing  in many areas around the course.It was traditionally used as a insecticide,the toxic toadstool contains ibotenic acid which attracts and kills flies. And in Victorian and Edwardian  times it was commonly found on Christmas cards as a sign of good luck, its colours may have been the inspiration for Santa's red and white suit.

In the December blog i hope to show you our work on the cross bunker on the 13th hole, the completed tees, and the drainage of the greenside bunkers at the 17th green.

                                                      Terry Wharton    Head Greenkeeper

October up-date. 

Welcome to our October blog, the month has flew by and autumn has crept up on us, the mild temperatures have enabled growth to continue on most areas of the course.

The recent wet and mild conditions make it favourable for disease to take hold on the greens ,we make every effort to avoid it through correct cultural practices and chemical control.

 However when the disease pressure is high it is difficult to contain. The main turf disease is Fusarium which is a fungus that can kill and damage the leaf blade and crown of the grass plant.

 Winter Programme.

 We have started to position winter tee mats on various holes on the course the photographs will show the work involved in constructing them. The pictures below show the new mat on the 18th tee

                                           The picture shows the positioning of the mat

The timbers are positioned and levelled to create the frame.

Batons are nailed around the timbers to secure the mat and stone is firmed and topped off with sand. 

The mat is nailed in to the batons

The area around the mat is raked and seeded.

We cut out a new path to create various routes from the mat to try to reduce wear. 

In the November blog we will look at the tees that are being levelled and re-turfed. 

                           

                                                                     Terry Wharton        Head Greenkeeper

Welcome to our September blog.

The recent weather has been kind to us and it's enabled us to carry out deep aeration, top dressing and over seeding work on the greens and tees.

With the soil structure firm and dry it's been ideal to carry out this work. The tines have been set to around 300mm and at this depth they will brake up surface tension and any lower profile compaction.

This work will help to develop stronger root systems and allow a greater exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the soil structure.

Over the past few years the ground conditions haven't been ideal for this practice due to the large amounts of rainfall.

                                              The picture shows the machine in action

After the deep aeration the surfaces were top dressed and brushed, this was then followed up with rolling to smooth them out.

The height of cut was slightly raised and we allowed the greens to settle for two weeks.We then solid tined with 8mm tines fitted to the procore, they were then top dressed, bringing our total applications too 100 tonnes this year.

 With the top dressing on the surface we over seeded with various cultivars of browntop bent , this was brushed in,and followed with a light covering of water from the irrigation system to help wash the seed in to the tine holes.

It is hoped  the seed will germinate in around 14 days, the timing of this work is important because with good temperatures and growing condition's any surface disturbance will soon settle down giving good playing conditions going in to autumn.


The pictures below show the bottom of the hole cutter that we use to change the holes on the greens, it shows the length of the new root's after the aeration programme they measure at around 250mm.



It is very pleasing to see the development of the healthy roots.

The rooting channels will aid drainage, they also show how the profile has been opened up to enable the root system to develop.

Surface water can access these channels and speed up the peculation through the soil structure.

Regular aeration work is so important in managing fine turf.

We allow the seed to develop over the next few weeks and then start our winter programme of slitting and solid tining on a regular basis depending on the weather conditions.




Preparing the mounds for autumn / winter.

This week we started cutting back the mounds between the 13th and 15th fairways, over the next couple of weeks we aim to complete the work on all the mounds situated around the course.

We cut the mounds short to weaken the course grasses,all the cut grass is raked up and removed  to reduce any available nutrients to be taken up from it.

 It is well acknowledged that the finer grasses thrive on minimal soil nutrients and in managing the mounds in this way we aim  to develop the finer wispy grasses. This practice will  make the mounds penal, yet enable the golfers to find their balls.

The picture below shows one of the completed mounds, these are cut yearly, we are seeing a significant change in grass composition from the course grass to the favourable fine species.

New path from the 16th tee to the 18th tee

We recently took advantage of the dry weather and cut and shaped the path.It is hoped this surface will allow our members and visitors to access the tees with a scenic walk on the edge of the colonels wood.



The various stages of the work are shown.

The side photo shows the basic shape marked out.

We aim to create smooth curves that blend in to the landscape and avoid straight lines.

The digger cutting out the path.

The soil was placed either side and  raked out.
When the shape was completed, stone was added to a depth of 100 mm raked  and consolidated.







The finished path.

Over the next couple of weeks we will plant daffodil bulbs along the side of the path, these will enhance the blue bells that flower regularly in spring.






As you can see our work load has been varied and busy over the past month along side course preparation.

The greens team have worked well in completing this work with minimal disturbance to our members and visitors.

Our October blog will be highlighting some of the projects we will be working on in our winter programme.


Terry Wharton   Head Greenkeeper.  

August Update.

Welcome to our August blog, the greens team have been really busy preparing the course in some glorious weather.

However what a difference we've seen over the past seven months , below are the monthly rainfall figures from 2012/2013
January through to July shows the huge differences in some of the monthly amounts.

The picture below seems a distant memory, the team were squeegeeing water from around various parts of the course last July.






   
      2012                           2013

     January    100mm         65mm
     February    39mm         62mm
     March        23mm         69mm
     April        107mm         14mm
      May          76mm         59mm
     June         148mm        45mm
     July          131mm        46mm

       Total =  624mm        360mm







12th Green Root Structure.

Our policy of controlled irrigation  throughout the recent warm dry weather enabled the root system on the newly turfed area on the 12th green to develop.

The pictures below shows a core that as been removed showing how the roots have grown stronger and deeper, if the root zone had received excessive irrigation the root structure would be weak and shallow.

The plant as sent out  roots  to develop and penetrate the soil structure. Look how the root system is developing in the sand particles on the bottom picture.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                   

Bunker Management 

The picture below shows Jack Hosker tilling up bunkers, this practice reduces panning, the tiller brakes up the sand to a depth of around  one hundred millimetres.

When the bunkers are loosened up it allows the sand to be raked evenly giving a consistent depth.

Machinery Maintenance   

We have a policy to regularly check all the machinery for basic maintenance work, the machine below is the Toro 4000 rough cutter.

 When a machine goes out on to the course a chart is filled in by the operator to show they have checked all the various levels ie water fuel,hydraulic oil, tyre pressures etc.

 The picture shows the front covers being removed from the cutting unit  to check belt tension and to apply grease.

Next months blog will cover our aeration work and over seeding of the greens, it will be the start of a busy period when we  prepare the course for the start of autumn.


Terry Wharton                  Head Greenkeeper  

Course update.

Hello and welcome to our July blog.

We've had a great period of  warm weather over the past month, this has enabled us to prepare the course to a good standard.

Agronomy Visit.
In June we had our annual visit from Alistair Beggs who is head of Agronomy and Ecology at the STRI   (Sports Turf Research Institute)

 Alistair is an official R&A agronomist and advices many open championship venues.He has been visiting us for 14 years and provides valuable knowledge and advice on analysing the performance and condition of the course.                                                                          
During the visit the speed,smoothness/trueness and firmness are measured on selected greens.

Additional testing is also carried out to determine the moisture content,organic matter content and chemical analysis of the upper profile of the greens.

 Target performance levels are set with the aim to produce greens that provide smooth/true and well paced surfaces. A report giving the results and data of the visit can be found on the clubs notice board.                                                    

The picture above shows Alistair Beggs measuring the trueness and smoothness with the trueness meter the device measures smoothness (vertical deviation) and trueness (lateral deviation) of the putting surfaces.  

       The picture above shows David Traynor measuring the surface firmness of the greens using the Clegg Impact Hammer. Nine readings are taken in a sampling grid to calculate an average reading of the greens.                                                                                           

The Stimpmeter is being used in this picture to find the speed at which the ball rolls.Three balls are rolled down the stimpmeter and repeated in the opposite direction.

Readings are taken of the two distances the balls travelled,the further the ball travels the faster the surface is.

  The soil moisture content is measured by using a Theta Probe Moisture Meter as shown in the above picture.Nine readings are taken on each green and the average is calculated.

It is important that moisture content is monitored, if its too high the turf will become soft and the condition of the turf will suffer.However if its too low the consistency and uniformity of the turf can become compromised. We aim to keep our moisture content in the range of 15-30%.  

The blog in August will cover machinery and bunker maintenance.

Terry Wharton    Head Greenkeeper   July 2013

Latest Course Information

Welcome to our June blog it was recently confirmed that spring was the coldest for fifty years, however we've seen the temperature gauge moving in the right direction.

 The greens team have been extremely busy preparing the course with significant growth, allowing cutting and shaping on all areas of the course.

Greens Machine And Front Mounted Brush

The pictures below show Daniel Gildea cutting the greens,the machine is a Toro 3250, positioned at the front of the mower is a mounted brush, this follows the contours on the greens allowing the grass to be brushed up enabling a quality cut to be achieved.

The close up picture shows the bristles hugging the turf and lifting up lateral growth.

The picture on the left shows one of the units from our greens machines In the middle of the unit is a setting bar.

The bar allows accurate heights of cut to be achieved.

The unit on the right is a grooming unit, this works alongside the front mounted brush lifting lateral growth.It can be set to various depths,depending on turf quality, and the turf management programme.

The three grooming units are interchangeable with the cutting units on the greens machines.  

Irrigation

The Irrigation system has been checked over recently, this enables prudent water applications to be delivered to the turf areas on greens and tees.

Controlled irrigation will enable firm surfaces to be achieved that offer desirable grass species to be developed in the sward.

The storage tank holds 72,000 litres of water,that are abstracted from a bore hole.

A licence is needed to abstract the water and records are kept of the amounts used.

Stringent measures are used by the Environment Agency to deter excessive use.

The Royal & Ancient Golf Society suggest, 

"The development and maintenance of quality playing surfaces is, essentially, all about water management.
If the greenkeeper gets water management right then the golf course will be sustainable in all regards"

Wild Flowers

The wild flowers at the side of the second tee are showing some beautiful colours.

Early spring showed a colourful collection of daffodils.



As the daffs faded, Oxeye Daisey Feverfew, Red campion, and creeping buttercup have grown in the border, giving a great display.

It is hoped that this area will become environmentally beneficial encouraging, bees, butterflies, and other insects and wildlife to prosper.

Augusta Behind the Scenes

The information below has been taken from the Grange over Sands Golf Club blog. Special thanks to Rob Sandilands, head greenkeeper, for allowing me to reprint this article.  http://gosgcgreenkeeping.blogspot.co.uk

Here are some great behind the scenes photographs showing not only what goes into making Augusta and The Masters such a spectacle, but also how far apart it is in so many ways from member's clubs like ours where most of us play our golf.  
Special thanks to Chris Lomas, club manager at  http://www.worplesdongc.co.uk/ for the pictures.

For the time outside of the tournament, the course is closed from May-October.  During normal times of opening each hole has 2 full-time greenkeepers, this swells by over 100 for the tournament.  The course even has its own Creek Manager for it's famed water features!
The picture below shows the greenkeeping facility; a building that has 2 full time receptionists as well as a trial green and bunker for products and testing 



 Those 100 greenkeepers need a big room for team briefings as well as lots of tea and coffee!

 Below is the chemical store, putting into perspective just what it takes to achieve what is presented out on the course.

 Many of you may think the pine straw beneath the trees is all naturally occurring on the site, but in fact hundreds of bales of it are imported and spread out on the course.  Below is there dedicated storage area.

Many parts of the course are given a helping hand with systems such as the 'sub-air' which is capable not only of drawing water down through the surfaces but also blowing air back into them. Not only is this system installed on the greens, but also on the grass walkways so as to keep the patrons feet dry!  This system costs over £1 million.  Below is another tool used to help growth and condition; these lighting rigs give grass an added boost when sunlight is at a premium.  You may have seen them in action at football grounds in the English Premier League over the last couple of years.

Nurseries serving the site have a replica tree and shrub for each one out on the course that is covered on TV and feasible to replace; monitoring their health as well as that of the hallowed turf requires a dedicated on site turf laboratory, pictured below.

Out on the course, you may well have seen the famous shots of the 15 or so fairway mowers all cutting in formation going from green to tee to make the ball roll 'into the grain' and slow it down, although each on of these machines cost £45,000 breakdowns do happen and the picture below shows how a tennis ball is carried by each operator to throw into the path of the operator in front of them in the line if they develop an oil leak.  A great idea that is used in all major tournaments and one that I have used myself while working at the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart in 2011.

I'm sure you'll agree that it is an impressive amount of resources and a real eye-opener.  The most important thing for us all to remember is that these things are all relative and each club has their own individual level of resources which they must use in a sustainable way that ensure they live within their means, whilst also being mindful of their role in the landscape and their responsibilities to the environment.  Here is a link that sums up the reccomended approach to golf course management in the UK:
The R & A - Sustainable Golf

 Many thanks to Rob and Chris for such an interesting article.

                                                                         Terry Wharton   Head Greenkeeper        June   2013

Latest blog

Welcome to our May blog,in the earlier blogs we were asking for a period of dry weather,well we've certainly had it with minimal rainfall throughout April.

As greenkeepers we need a balanced programme of weather conditions, yet we seem to move from one extreme to another.This recent dry cool spell as held back growth on the course with the greens needing the    areas of annual meadow grass to catch up to the larger areas of bent grass.The bents grow in lower temperatures than the annual meadow grass and this causes slight unevenness on the greens surfaces.

The picture shows the desirable bent grass on the greens with its broad leaf colonising the sward, the thinner leafed annual meadow grass is also visible.

 We continue to change the composition of the grass species on the the greens to the bent grass because of the following reasons, it is hard wearing, good drought qualities, less prone to disease, enables all year round play, against the annual meadow grass that doesn't have the same characteristics of the bent grass


With better growing conditions sensible cutting heights,grooming, minimal feed, and regular top dressings the surface levels will soon become smoother and better ball roll will be achieved.
                                                                 

The recent rise in soil temperature allowed us to feed the greens the picture shows Chris Lewis feeding the 11th green.Chris is still wearing his winter clothes in early April, roll on summer!!!!


 We apply a low Nitrogen feed that aims to create minimal healthy growth,yet enables the plant to develop a strong root structure.The bent grass will grow well with controlled feeds alongside regular aeration top dressings and applications of seaweed.

This picture shows a new tine on the left and a worn tine on the right that are fitted to the procore aeration machine. The tine on the right has been used three times on the greens and once on the tees and surrounds.
The heavy sand profile in the root zone creates the wear.

Its a busy time for our sprayer through out the growing season with regular applications of wetting agents, turf conditioners,and soluble iron being sprayed on to the greens.

We recently used a wacker plate in the 16th fairway bunkers, the plate is used in construction and building to consolidate surfaces,We used it firm the sand and reduce balls from plugging.

Deputy Head Greenkeeper Dave Traynor can be seen operating the plate.

We came in to work on the 18th April and where surprised to see that a large oak tree had blown down in the colonels wood, unfortunately as it fell it brought down two smaller trees. These will be cleaned up and in the autumn new trees will be planted in their places.

It must be spring, the picture shows a mass of frog spawn in the pond near the 8th green.We hope they can develop before the ducks and herons decide to investigate them. When your near the pond over the next few weeks keep a look out for our new additions to pond life.

Our blog in June will cover wetting agents, top dressing, and the irrigation system.  

                                                                   Terry Wharton   Head Greenkeeper  May  2013