Tee to green

The Downs Course

It's been a strange month in relation to weather. With hardly any rainfall we have seemed to have missed spring and have gone straight into summer. Although the temperature has been high and moisture kept at the correct levels, the soil has remained cold during the month and has now slowly started to creep up.

At the start of the month, the greens were slightly bumpy as the multi-species grass on the greens grew at different rates. We have brushed and cut the greens regularly to try to stand the grass up as much as possible before cutting to increase smoothness. We are now at our summer height of cut of 3mm and should also improve the trueness of the green. We have applied 20 tonnes of top dressing this month as per our greens maintenance programme. Our aim is to apply 100 tonnes throughout the year. This can be very difficult during the playing season due to pressures of competitions and golf days, therefore, if some days there is a small amount of sand on the greens, please accept that this vital maintenance to improve the greens year after year.

We look to micromanage each green to improve consistency across the course. Currently, we are playing catch up with the 13th green, as this was the last green to be hollow cored in the winter and it sits in a frost pocket, so the soil temperature has been a few degrees lower than the other greens on the course, therefore we have had more of an issue with it being slightly bumpier as the green is not growing at the same rate as the others. To combat this, more dressing will be applied to bring the trueness in line with the other greens.

The greens have had a slight attack of the turf disease fusarium (Michrodochium nivale). Although disease is a big concern, we are normally only concerned in the autumn when the growth rate is slow and will more than likely cause scaring for the winter months. As the grass plant has started to increase its growth rate, I have seen no need to treat it with current fungicides on the market, as the disease will be grown out soon. Also, it will increase the grasses defences against the pathogen by naturally fighting off the disease. It is kind of the same as a person getting sick and loading up on drugs each time, eventually, the drugs will become ineffective as the body gets used to them and the cells not adapting to fight it off naturally. However, we have sprayed the greens with iron so stop the disease from spreading by lowering the PH to be more acidic. Aeration will also increase the grass plants defences, by increasing aerobic bacteria and fungi in the soil and around the cell walls of the roots which act as a defence from any attack.

I keep mentioning aeration in my blogs but this is key to improving the greens. If you get the soil profile correct and healthy, the greens will perform better and more consistently throughout the year. Something which has always stuck with me from a young age was an agronomist liking a green to a skyscraper, 'To get what's on top right, you must get what is underneath correct, otherwise, it can all fail very quickly.' This is so true with golf greens. Eighteen months ago when I took on my current role I looked at the soil profile on the first day. A lot of work was needed to be done using the correct cultural controls (hollow coring, micro coring, solid tining, sorrel rolling, verti draining and fracking air 2G2). Samples were taken within the last month and the results are extremely pleasing and the soil is now more aerobic than it has ever been. The profiles have been cleaned up, albeit not perfect. More work is needed on some greens which are not quite in line with the others to bring them up to standard.

The bunkers on the 11th are now back in play. I'm sure many of you will agree with me that it has made quite a visual impact whilst standing on the tee looking down the fairway at them. Although the sand is a greyish/ white, I think it suits its location on the chalky downs works rather well. Feedback so far has been good so please continue giving your feedback on them. All the work was done in house by the greenkeeping team and I am extremely pleased with the work which has been carried out.

We have had our toughest month with badgers during May than any other in the last few years. Areas of the fairway are now being completely destroyed and my team and I have to deal with the aftermath every morning. They are digging looking for a food source which is currently in the form of leatherjackets. As most insecticides have been taken off the market, it is now a big concern in the golf industry how to deal with them. We will be trialling a new organic conditioner this month which we hope to have success with, but in the meantime please understand that some parts of the course may look a bit scruffy at times due to the repaired damage. We are constantly researching and trying new ideas, however, they are a protected species and live within the course boundary.

A massive thank you for all those who helped on the divot party at the start of May. This was a massive help as having 30 people helping make a job which can a few people a couple of days, complete within two hours. I would also like to thank Tim Martin from the Golf Ops team who was the driving force behind such a successful event.

Look forward to seeing you on the course!

Rob Dyer, Head Greenkeeper, The Downs Course

The Park Course

We have continued with our foliar feeds which result in the greens having a more uniform growth and consistent conditions. Foliar feeds are absorbed rapidly by the plant so the turf gets the nutrients it needs quickly and efficiently.

A light greens maintenance took place week of the 6^th and included sorrel rolling which is a small tine into the surface of the green which aerates the surface and Verti-Cutting which is 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. This also gives us little seed plots for our colonial bentgrass to germinate in.

In time, our overseeding programme will out compete the poa annua that invades the turf. The poa species is not an ideal grass type, it is shallow rooting and has a coarse leaf which produces seed heads which are unsightly and can reduce green speeds. A light sand topdressing of 10 tonnes was applied and brushed into the surface. The benefits to the green are to keep the surface rolling true, firm and fast. As well as reduce compaction and increase the efficiency of fertilisers. The tees and aprons have both received a fertiliser to help encourage more consistent growth and gives the leaf an improved colour 

The mowing heights being reduced to 3.00mm and with regular brushing, we are confident the speeds will stay consistently above 10.

The final work has been carried out on the bunkers. This was to spray the bases with total weed killer and install new sand with consistent depths. The project was a huge success for the team and we look forward to autumn when we can continue re-shaping and re-lining some more. We hope to have the entire course completed within three years.

In recent weeks it has been noticeable that unrepaired pitch marks have got a lot worse! So when your ball kicks of line or jumps in the air it’s not always the greenkeepers fault so please repair your pitch marks!

Look forward to seeing you on the course!

Simon Berry, Head Greenkeeper, The Park Course