From tee to green ‑ January

The Downs Course

In January, we have started our winter maintenance on the greens and due to our continued work to improve the putting surfaces, we will be carrying out maintenance on greens 1,3,13,17 & 18 in the next four to five weeks, which is weather depending. Greens 1 and 18 have now been completed. These greens will be hollow cored with 10mm hollow tines to a depth of 75mm. We will be removing about two to three tonnes of the soil profile. We will then leave the holes open overnight for vital gas exchange in the soil. The next morning we will apply around 250kg of RZA (root zone amendment), which will help with water movement through the profile and increase the C.E.C (Cation Exchange Capacity) which will increase nutrients uptake for the grass plant. Then we will apply two to three tonnes of kiln dried sand to the green and brush this into the holes. We aim to do one green a week and that green will be rested for the week. Therefore when green 17 is out of play 16a will be in use. When 3 and 13 are out of play a temporary green will be in use.

Last year we did this maintenance program on greens 1,17 & 18 and the results we had were extremely pleasing. These greens will be done again as well as green 3, which has similar characteristics to green 1, and green 13, which has double the thatch levels as the rest of the greens. Thank you in advance for your patience as I know this does cause some disruption.

The cores taken out of the greens are being recycled to repair pathway edges and low undulations or dips on the course. These cores work as turf pots which grow and establish well in time.

We are now experiencing colder weather and are getting more frosts which ease disease pressure. Whilst on frost, I thought I’d explain the reasoning for 10th tee starts. If you have been on any of the Members walks you would have heard me talk about having three different types of golf courses in one. Parkland holes (1,17,18), Valley holes (2,3,4,5,6) and Downland holes (7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16). In the Valley the temperature in the winter is normally a few degrees Celsius lower than on the top part of the course, therefore frost conditions take longer to go. If we start on the 10th it gives the valley holes more time to thaw out before play gets to it. Sometimes it may not look like much of a frost whilst playing off 10th, however down the valley it can be a hard frost.

With the cold days now here we concentrate more on our Woodland Management and Ecology programme. The Estate has suffered in the last few years from ash tree dieback. Young trees are particularly vulnerable and die quickly once they succumb. Older trees can be slowly killed by a yearly cycle of infection. Spread of the disease on the golf course is more than likely from wind-borne distribution of the fungal spores. Therefore we will be starting to remove some of the ash trees on the course. The first group will be areas where sunlight for the grass is a concern, for example, the ash trees will be removed from the 5th tee bank. This is beneficial from a woodland point of view to reduce the spread of the disease and from an agronomy point of view allowing more light to the grass plant leaf on the tee to increase photosynthesis and health.

This month we will also have tree surgeons coming in to remove three dangerous trees in the woodland to the right side of the 12th hole. This area is ancient woodland, as well as a listed iron age site, so work carried out in here must be approved by the correct authorities. This has been completed by our forestry department who also advised us on any tree on the course which needs to be removed. We take tree removal seriously and aim to plant two to three trees for each tree removed.

On Ecology we will be carrying out pond maintenance on the 17th this year as the ponds have started to become overcrowded. We will be removing some of the reeds on the fairway side and thinning some on the back edge. This will also improve the aesthetics of the ponds in the summer months.

Unrepaired pitch marks are becoming a concern. These become more noticeable in the winter months as they take longer to repair. A few statistics which you might find interesting. The average number of ball marks made on greens is eight per golfer. We average about 35,000 rounds of golf on The Downs a year. Which means on average 280,000 ball marks a year, 767 a day. Please help us by repairing any pitch marks to help with the trueness of the playing surfaces.

Look forward to seeing you on the course!

Rob Dyer, Head Greenkeeper, The Downs Course

The Park Course

This month on the course we continue to be fortunate with the weather, Dry days allows us to proceed with our winter greens maintenance, sorrel rolling three times throughout the month. This is a small spike that pricks the surface to the depth of 1”. We also pencil tined using 10mm tines to the depth of 4”. Spraying of Sulphate of iron on the greens helps harden the grass against potential disease and the aeration helps with airflow in the top surface.

This time of year, frost is also a friend when it comes to disease. The cold conditions gave us the opportunity to flail a lot more of the overgrown areas in our woodland and small copses. We have continued to thin these areas out and raise the canopy to allow more airflow and sunlight to the surface.

Away from the day to day running of the golf course, we took the opportunity to network with other Head Greenkeepers and Course Managers to enhance our knowledge and to understand best practices and techniques in attending B.T.M.E. (British Turf Management Exhibition), attending various seminars including a presentation on successful habits by Head of Sports Turf &Grounds Manager, Phil Helmn.

We were lucky to have prolonged dry spells in January so we were able to continue to let buggies out, but please be mindful of where you are driving, stay off the fairway and follow traffic management signs.

The pitch mark problem isn’t getting any better and this time of year it takes longer to recover and even longer if ignored! Please repair your pitch marks.

See you on the course!

Simon Berry, Head Greenkeeper, The Park Course