From tee to green ‑ April

The Downs Course

A surprising month to say the least with the weather we have had in April. We are now desperate for a couple of good spring showers to improve the health of the plant. Although we irrigate there is nothing like natural rainwater to aid in plant health. A lot of how the course plays depends on the weather. Although we have had summer-like temperatures out on the course soil temperatures still are inconsistent leading to un-even growth for our multi-species greens. This leads to the green becoming slightly bumpy as some of the grasses need to catch up to the height of the others. We are currently cutting at 3.75mm effective and we will keep at this height until I feel it necessary to lower it any further. We have also applied a 7-0-14 fertiliser to the greens to boost the plant growth.

This month we have also completed our first sand dusting to smooth out the playing surface. A few more dressings are needed to increase the trueness to get them up to 100%. We now apply our foliar feeds at a half rate twice during the month to try and keep the Poa annua stress free to minimise the production of seed heads which is common for this time of year. These seed heads slow the greens down cause a decrease in trueness.

Irrigation has been problematic so far with a few leaks and leaking sprinklers. Also trying to apply water to the target area has been difficult due to the high winds which cause the sprinklers to mist and miss the green or tee. With these summer-like conditions, we are operating a full irrigation schedule during the evenings to keep the grass plant alive.

New shapes are being cut into the fairways and aprons as over the last year they have become a bit straight or one big curve, so creating some more bending shapes around the green complex’s will give the course a bit more character. Notable changes are the 16th fairway and apron which have opened up more on the right allowing a fairer shot into the green as the apron slopes off left and had a difficult approach shot. Also, the 15th fairway will have more of a dogleg in it by pushing the fairway more to the left and growing the natural rough up behind the fairway bunkers. Also, the Tees will be widened as they have come inwards over time which will create more playing area to be used.

The 5th tee has now been opened back up. We have carried out some root zone amendment to the two middle tees, also some tree removal and increased aeration work have improved this area. Although improvements are still needed we seem to be moving in the right direction. The winter mats have saved a great deal of wear and tear and I just want to thank you for your patience for using this during the winter.

This month we had our first members walk of the year, it was rather disappointing having such a small number as this is a great opportunity to meet your greenkeeping team and find out what we do the course and more importantly understanding why we do the practices we do. We have a few more coming up this year so please come along, especially if you have any questions you would like answering.

The Downs team welcomes two new members of staff this month. James Lynch who you may know from working in the golf shop, and Daniel Carter. James has had an impressive start and already is improving the course with his passion and determination to always get everything correct. Daniel comes to us with a great deal of greenkeeping experience from the PGA European Tour where he would spend a few months at certain events of the year maintaining the course before the tour turned up. 

The first phase of the bunker renovations has been completed on the 11th hole. Please see additional information for this work here.

Fairways 7, 11 and 15 have not recovered completely from the drought damage last year. These have now been overseeded and watered regularly to try and fill in some of the damaged / dead areas. Fertiliser and wetting agents will be applied to these fairways to help the seed germinate and grow strong.

Look forward to seeing you on the course!

Rob Dyer, Head Greenkeeper, The Downs Course

The Park Course

Work is well underway with the bunker renovation project on the 4th and 13th holes. Eventually, all the bunkers will be reconstructed in spring and autumn each year. The Bunkers are in desperate need of some renovation work, I do not think these have been re-lined since they were part of the original build in the late 80s. Bunkers require continual on-going maintenance to varying degrees. One of the main work schedules is for us to reline the bases, usually on a three- or five-year plan, in order to reduce contamination of weeds, stones and provide a smooth base for the sand.

The Park bunkers are a very large and unsightly shape. The Park has twice the square meterage in bunker size as compared to The Downs course, even though the Park only has 38 compared to the Downs 65. We are taking the opportunity to incorporate more up to date shaping and reducing the size of the bunkers, this will benefit in fewer man hours spent on bunker maintenance and more time available for greens etc. We spend nearly twice the amount of time on bunkers than we do on greens maintenance, with tasks that include daily raking, strimming, edging, fly-mowing and weeding stone picking, for what is a hazard.

When turfing the base we would normally use upside down turf, however, this degrades quickly. Therefore we have gone with a new idea in the industry of growing turf in the bunkers to create a denser root system to allow the turf to knit in tight We will then strim it down and spray it to stop any more growth. Doing it this way will give us another year or two of life out of the bunkers before renovating them again.

Look forward to seeing you on the course!

Simon Berry, Head Greenkeeper, The Park Course