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