Welcome to our March blog.
We had a great dry spell for the early part of the month that allowed the course to dry out significantly. It seemed that we were going into a period of prolonged dry weather which would allow us to get the course into good shape.
However the the weather took a turn for the worse and the rainfall continued to fall. We had rainfall figures of 89mm in March. We managed to complete most of the programmes that we had planned to do with pictures below showing them.
The deep aeration on the greens was vitally important after the prolonged rainfall.Breaking up any surface tension and allowing root development.
We've followed up with regular top dressings and considering the wet conditions managed to apply 50 tonnes to the greens so far.
The dressing have been brushed in with the sweep and fill brush system, this piece of equipment is excellent. It really works the dressing into the canopy of the plant reducing particles on the surface.
This work was followed up with a feed on the greens to stimulate growth after the winter play. The take up of the fertiliser was good giving us controlled growth and colour.
Wear and Tear
The picture shows our worn out turf lifting iron alongside the new iron .
Its took many years to wear it down,and we were surprised when we compared it with the new one.
Work on the bunkers has significantly altered the size with the sand particles reducing its shape!!!
The picture on the right shows a large amount of Frog spawn in the pond at the side of the 11th green.
Its great to see and is a good indicator for our correct management of pond enviroment with the Birds Fish, Frogs, and plant life thriving in the area.
We hope to continue our aeration of greens tees and fairways. The greens will be top dressed and a conditioner and wetting agent will be sprayed on to them.
Bunkers will be edged and the divoting on the tees will be increased with the additional play.
Terry Wharton Head Greenkeeper
