The Downs Course

I’d just like to start by saying how pleasing the greens are for this time of year after a long winter of heavy traffic. We have applied an extra foliar feed to thicken up the sward before maintenance, which took place on Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 March.

This maintenance will include hollow coring the greens with a 12mm hole core, to a depth of 7cm, going at 5cm square spacing’s. This will remove about 5% of the putting green surface. We will then fill up the holes with sand and top dress until they are running true again. This maintenance is vital to reduce thatch levels in the green, which in turn will increase the firmness and trueness of the greens. Please be patient whilst we recover the greens, as they will be improving yearly with this maintenance programme. The quality of the surfaces over the last season was because we resumed this type of cultural maintenance last March.

The long rough has been treated with an herbicide to control the thickness of the coarser grasses. Doing this will increase the chances of finding your ball and speeding up pace of play. Although a few areas have been left to see if the cultural practices need herbicide applied or not. 

The 5th tee will now start to reduce in height to bring back to a playing surface for the season. Also depending on the forestry department’s resources, 60% of the trees will be removed from the 5th right tee bank to allow more light and air to reach the problematic teeing ground.

Whilst on tree removal, after the storm it has been deemed by the forestry department that there are four dangerous Ash trees on the 3rd left bank, these will hopefully be removed during the closure of the course on the 21st and 22nd March. In the autumn we will then plant three times the amount of trees we have took out as part of our regeneration programme.

Whilst on ecology, we have planted a small whip hedge down the right side of the 7th fence line and also the top left fence line of the 15th hole. This is to improve the bat corridors on the course and link up woodlands to allow bats to move more freely. 

So why go to all the bother for bats? Well due to insecticides coming off of the market, we have seen an influx of leather jackets on the course. Leather jackets will eat the roots of the greens and destroy the turf, also birds and mammals will try and dig them out the ground as a food source, leaving damaged turf in the aftermath. So with most chemicals now banned to kill these insects, we need to look at a cultural way to reduce these numbers. All bats have very big appetites, because flying uses up lots of energy. A common pipistrelle can eat over 3,000 tiny insects in a single night. Therefore increasing the amount of bats on the course and flying corridors will reduce the insects, whilst they are laying eggs in the turf. 

With regards to The Downs team, we have said goodbye to two assistant Greenkeepers this month. After eight years, Chris has left to become a Deputy Head Greenkeeper and Danny has moved to Switzerland to work at Links Leuk Golf Resort. Both will be missed and we wish them all the best. We have already recruited one full time team member in Sam, whose experience at The Wisely and Sunningdale golf club should be a great asset to our team. 

Rob Dyer, Head Greenkeeper, The Downs Course

The Park Course

Aeration work this time of year is key as disease is always threatening. We have been sorrel rolling the greens weekly to improve aeration by putting 1” spikes into the surface to help with air flow in the top layer. Along with this we have been pencil tinning the greens with a 12mm tine once a month with the aim to aerate a little deeper 4/5” to help dry out the greens and to help aid drainage.

We continue with our spraying programme that consists of soil feeds which helps root development and enhances nutrient uptake while our foliar feeds help to increase sward density and aid leaf strength. Hand mowing with brushing three times a week has kept the greens well-presented and has kept them performing well with good smooth surfaces and modest speeds.

The tees have received some aeration work with a small tine to relieve compaction and help aid drainage. We have applied a granular fertiliser to aid strength and colour and to help kick start the recovery after a heavy winter use.

In the coming weeks we will once again slit the fairways with a deep slitter, this procedure has been a real benefit for the playing surface and playability.

The park has its maintenance dates of Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 of March, with nine holes closed each day. During this time, we will be carrying out some more aeration work on the greens which will include:
• 10mm tine going 75mm deep
• 12mm verti drain tine going 200mm deep (to break up the compaction lower down)
• Putting a heavy top dressing of sand on the greens (about 30 Tonne)

We have seen a nice break in the weather recently which has given us a window to put some definition and character back in the course.

Benefits of Aeration

I won’t bore you with the details of all the different typs of aeration work that we carry out not just on greens but to all surfaces on the golf course, some are more labour intensivre than others and some forms are less disruptive to the playing surface such as pencil tining. This has no surface distruption but benificial to releive turf stress and promoting oxygen levels in the soil. Aeration is vital to keep the turf healthy and it helps improve drainage, increases stronger, deeper root development, reduction of thatch levels, gas exchange and improves the effectivness of fertilisation. We understand that some aeration work can be disruptive but the benefits of aeration out way the short term disruption.

Look forward to seeing you on the course!

Simon Berry, Head Greenkeeper, The Park Course