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