From tee to green ‑ September

The Downs Course

Playing Areas

September seems to have come and gone in the blink of an eye but once again we can be happy with the work we have achieved and the playing surfaces we have produced. Warm days, cooler nights and some occasional showers has helped keep the grass growing. I can’t remember too many Septembers in my 11 years here were the course has been so green and lush.

The greens have continued to roll well. Speed has been consistent with stimp metre readings of between 9ft 2” and 10ft 2” throughout the month. The speed dropped slightly towards the end of the month as the fertiliser we applied on the 21^st kicked in and we carried out our final maintenance operation on the 26^th and 27^th. The fertiliser applied will help keep the plant healthy as we go into the winter. High in potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron will help keep the plant and roots strong and aid disease resistance.  

Our bent coverage on the greens goes from strength to strength. We are currently averaging 65% on the top greens but only average 45% on the 3^rd green. As we go through the next 2 seasons we will concentrate more effort on improving the coverage on the weaker greens such as 1^st, 3^rd, 5^th, 6^th, 17^th & 18^th.

The tees and fairways have excellent grass coverage apart from the 4^th and 5^th main tees which are now starting to struggle due to lack of light and air flow. More trees on these banks will be removed in the winter to improve these tees. More regular light maintenance will take place on the tees over the next 8 weeks to ensure excellent drainage and grass coverage as we enter the winter months.

All tees and aprons received a treatment of selective weedkiller. Daisies and clover are very tough weeds to control but as these will start to dye off over the next week or two. Due to ideal growing conditions, the grass on these areas will fill the void and create better playing surfaces.   

Projects

Our main two projects this months was to roll out our first curbed trail on the 9^th pathway. This area has always been a high wear areas with buggies, machinery and service vehicles cutting the corner on the tight bend. We have taken inspiration from the motor circuit and introduced our very own curb. The area was dug out and replaced with 4” deep cement and smoothed. Once dried the area was painted with Goodwood’s racing colours of White & Green. We are pleased with the finished look and hope to carry this on to more areas around the course.

As part of our maintenance we Verti-drained all the greens. This process relieves compaction down to 8” deep and creates channels for the roots to grow deeper. 10mm tines were used so disruption to the surface was minimal ensuring play could continue at all times.

Current Conditions

The greens have recovered really well from maintenance. As we approach the shorter days and cooler conditions our main aim is to keep the greens healthy. The height of cut will be raised in the next few weeks which will result in slower speeds but we will still be aiming to produce true surfaces. The course is still as busy as ever but if every member ‘can do their bit’ when playing to help look after the course it will help hugely. Repairing your pitch-marks, replacing your divots and raking your bunkers will really help keep the course looking and playing great.

Click here for details on the next phase of the bunker renovation project.

See you on the course.

Andy Brown, Head Greenkeeper Downs Course.

The Park Course 

Playing Areas

It has been a busy month on the park course. Greens maintenance took place at the start of the month and went without any problems. The task undertaken were as follows;

Verti-Cutting – Slicing the surface of the green with blades close together to thin the surface and remove any lateral growth and any annual meadow grass seed heads that may be present. The total amount of unwanted fibre removed was 400kg.

Verti -Draining –  Using 10mm tines to the depth of 10”. This task breaks up compaction to help improve drainage and also enables gas exchange through the soil profile plus creates channels for deeper stronger roots.

Over Seeding – Continuing with our over seeding programme we broadcasted 40kg of Colonial Bent seed across all the greens.

Sand Dressing – Once the seed has been broadcasted we applied a medium setting of sand, putting down a total of 10 tonnes across all the greens. The amount was enough to fill the channels and smooth out any imperfections.

We continue to use our folia feeds to aid plant health and density.

Spraying Ferrous Sulphate of iron has deterred the worms and kept the plant strong with good colour. Recovery has been pleasing with the green speed consistent between 9.6 – 10.4

Tees

The tees have been fertilised to keep the sward thick and healthy regular devoting and over seeding continues weekly and considering the amount of play these receive; they are in good condition.

Fairways

Our cutting programme continues three times a week and regular maintenance with brushing to produce carpet like surfaces. A spot treatment of selective weed kill was carried out to eliminate small patches of clover.

The bunkers have been edged back and trimmed and sand depths regularly monitored to ensure good playability.

The staff have worked tirelessly through the month producing excellent playing surfaces and great attention to detail on all areas.

We continue to receive a lot of positive feedback which motivates the team and gives us the drive to continue to achieve our high standards, so please keep it coming!

Continue to repair your pitch marks!

See you on the course.

Simon Berry, Head Greenkeeper Park Course.