Welcome to our August blog.

We've  been very busy over the past few months with exceptional growth rates on the course. We managed to vertidrain top dress and overseed the greens the pictures below will show the programme of work.

We will hope for good soil temperature and moisture levels to allow the seed to germinate. Sensible cutting heights will be managed throughout this period to enable the seed to establish. This work is really important in developing and renewing the grass composition on the greens. The timing of the work is so critical in achieving germination,and minimal surface disturbance that will quickly settle.

September work programme.
We hope to establish the seed on the greens and maintain healthy grass cover moving into autumn!!!!!!!!     And keep on top of the excessive grass growth around the course.

Welcome to the July blog.

Sorry for the delay in getting the blogs out on time, only we've been flat out maintaining the course and managing the rough.

The weather throughout July was changeable with periods of heavy rain followed by warm days this leading to heavy growth. the pictures below show our programme throughout the month.




Aeration on the greens.

                                 
Managing the Rough.

Spraying selective herbicide on tees and approaches.

August work programme.

We hope to vertidrain top dress, and overseed the greens in August, alongside the general cutting looks like its going to be a busy time.

Welcome to our June update.


We finally seen a period of good weather in the early part of June, but the end of the month the rainfall figures were on the rise again.

Mr Alistair Beggs from the Sports Turf Research Institute visited us to offer advice on our management practices and take various readings from our three indicator greens. He was very pleased with data he gathered from the visit and a copy of the report is available for members to read in the club house.

The pictures below show Alistair, and deputy Head Greenkeeper, David Traynor taking the readings on the 18th green.

The seed on the chipping area as come through really well, we need to start cutting it to thicken it up and apply regular top dressings to aid its establishment.

The heavy periods of rain left their mark on the paths. With this wash out being visible and ready for repair.

July work programme. 

We will continue with aeration,and applying the various sprays to the greens. We hope to apply  selective weed control to various areas on the tees and surrounds .

 Additional cutting will continue as the recent  moisture and temperature levels have created ideal growing conditions.

Welcome to our May blog.

The greens team have been busy throughout May with an increase in growth. The rough around the the course has been especially lively, with the rise in temperature and regular showers creating a surge in growth.

Aeration has continued on the greens and conditioner and wetting agents applied. Cutting height is set at 4.5mm. We've introduced our groomers into the work programme to clean up the base growth around the plant.

 The area around the practice net has been landscaped and seeded to develop a chipping area. The timing of the work was great, with germination of the seed showing in ten days.

In June we welcome our Agronomist Mr Alistair Beggs to review our management and project work around the course.

Below are some photographs of our various works.

June work programme.

We will continue with aeration and grooming on the greens.

Cutting of the fairways and rough will be continuous if the weather stays mild and wet.
The jobs list will get larger as we move into the busy time of the year.

                                                            Terry Wharton   Head Greenkeeper

Course update


Welcome to our April blog, the weather continues to have a major influence on our work programme with the rainfall showing little change from the previous months.

Throughout most of April we've had cold northerly winds with the temperatures 4-5 degrees lower than they should be for the time of the year.

 These conditions have significantly impacted in preparing the course for the start of the season.

 In spite of the weather the greens team with help of a number of members have managed to complete most of the programmes planned for April.

 Mallinsons have vertidrained our fairways, top dressing on the greens has reached 60 tonnes, the greens have been procored,and a conditioner and wetting agent has been applied to them.

A new fence has been positioned at the 5th green. Below are pictures showing the various works.

May work programme.

Lets hope for some glorious weather in May, we aim to feed the greens continue with the aeration and top dressing.

The leaves will start to dress the trees and with regular cutting the course will start to flourish.

                                                                Terry Wharton   Head Greenkeeper

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.

April Work Programme

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

Welcome to our February update.

The weather pattern continued for most of the month giving us periods of wet weather and periods of frost, however we had a spell of dry conditions at the end of the month that allowed us to cut the fairways.

The firmer ground conditions allowed us to start topping up bunkers and adding shale to the paths around the course.

We sprayed the greens and practice area with Soluble Iron to harden the plant and to control moss.

 It was quite noticeable how the course firmed up in such a short period of time, it got us thinking spring had arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frost on the greens

The picture above shows the surface of the 18th green covered in frost. The link below explains why we keep off the greens until the frost as thawed.

Drainage on the 15th tee

The area at the back of the 15th tee as struggled to drain as effectively as we would like. To achieve a better draining surface we used the hole cutter to take out a full core.

We then shattered the lower profile to break up any compaction and then back filled with 2-8mm grit. We will fill the holes with rootzone, turf and top dress ready for the start of the season.


March Work Programme. 

Lets hope for a good dry period in March, we aim to finish topping up the bunkers and finish shaling the paths.
We will feed and vertidrain the greens and tees,and hope to start top dressing the greens. Weather permitting!!!!!!!!

                                                                      Terry Wharton   Head Greenkeeper