From tee to green ‑ October

The Downs Course 

Playing Areas 

The weather has continued to be kind to us throughout the month enabling us to still keep the greens to an excellent standard. Growth has slowed over the past couple of weeks as the night temperatures have fallen. Greens speed on average have been around 9ft-9ft 6” throughout the month which is very encouraging. The height of cut has now been raised on the greens mowers to help give the plant more protection as we head into the winter months. This will reduce the speed slightly but consistency, trueness and good grass coverage are more important to us at this time of the year. 

We have continued our foliar and soil feeds on the greens along with another granular application on the 24^th. This granular will help keep the plant healthy and resist disease for the next 4-6 weeks. The fertiliser was low in nitrogen so there was no flush of growth so ball roll was still very good.

We have been micro managing some of our worn tees over the past few weeks too. Verti-draining, solid tinning and overseeding have all taken place to encourage better drainage and grass coverage before winter. Holes 4,5,6,11 and 12 have been highlighted for needing this work. These tees are very shaded and struggle for growth at this time of the year. It is planned to thin some of the woodland areas around these tees in the new year to help improve the current situation.

Badger damage in the semi rough areas has continued to be frustrating. The team are regularly out repairing the damaged areas with seed and soil. We have tried to encourage the badgers to stay in the woodland areas with some success but we are not totally winning this battle yet.     

Projects

Another busy month on the course with the start of phase 3 of the bunker renovations. Work has been completed on holes 2, 3 and 18 with only the sand to be added to these bunkers once the turf has grown in. As we enter into the wettest time of the year please can you reframe from walking on any of the new turf. Ball retrievers have been provided but should you still be unable to retrieve your ball then please help yourself to the honesty basket in the pro shop on your return from the course.  

Another task undertaken this month was for a contractor to cut and collect the natural areas. This work went extremely well despite the heavy rain just before the job was started. Our team will now strim and clear the remaining areas such as tee banks and under trees. This will be ongoing for the coming weeks. These areas will then be treated early next year with a selective weedkiller to control the weeds and brambles and encourage the fescue grass and wild flowers to flourish. 

Current Conditions

The course is still playing very well despite the work being carried out by the contractors. The use of temporary greens is not something we enjoy but we hope you understand the importance of getting the bunker work completed safely and as quickly as possible whilst the weather is kind to us. At the current rate the re-modelling work should be finished by the middle of November. The turfing crew are also progressing well but there are still bunkers to line with upside down turf and then sand needs to be added. We hope that all the contractors will be finished and off site before Christmas.

As we approach the winter months please be aware that ‘winter rules’ will be coming into effect. Although ground conditions are still firm the lack of growth on the fairways has started to lead some inconsistent lies so we feel it is the right time to implement ‘pick and place’.

We will continue to lightly aerate the greens over the coming weeks to help keep the sward healthy so it can take the wear and tear throughout the winter months. After each aeration, we will cut or roll behind to ensure we leave a true putting surface.

All in all, it’s been a busy, productive and rewarding month on the course. I hope November will bring much more of the same.  

See you on the course.

Andy Brown, Head Greenkeeper Downs Course.

The Park Course 

Greens

It is important at this time of year that we go into the winter months with no disease scaring and a healthy thick sward. The maintenance carried out this month to help achieve this is:

• Sorrell rolling greens (pricking the top 20mm of the surface)
• Pencil tinning greens (using an 8mm tine going to the depth of 100mm)
• Folia feeding greens (spraying a fine mist onto the leaf so the plant nutrient uptake is maximised)
• Soil feeding greens (spraying a larger droplet size so to bypass the leaf and help increase the soil efficiency)

Tees

We have verti-drained all the tees, this task breaks up compaction, improving the drainage and allowing gas exchange through the system. Spraying Ferrous Sulphate of iron have deterred the worms and has kept the plant strong with good colour.

Fairways/surround

Brushing has been an important maintenance procedure to the fairways and surrounds, removing worm casts

And standing the grass leaf up for a cleaner cut keeps the playing surface consistent and uniformed. We have sprayed a worm deterrent to reduce worm activity and casting which is high this time of year.

Rough

As part of our on-going conservation/habitat management plan all the long natural rough areas around the course have been cut and collected. Although the course does look a little bare at the moment, the benefits of carrying out this task are:

• Thins out and removes unwanted weeds and course grasses
• Allows the natural fescue grasses a chance to grow by not being over powered by courser species
• Gives the course definition whilst still maintaining its playability
• Carried out this time of year it doesn’t effect nesting birds or wildlife.

See you out on the course.

Simon Berry, Head Greenkeeper Park Course.