The Downs Course

Looking back at September we have had some good growing weather and we have had a good response to the wetting agent and seaweed application which we sprayed on the fairways which was watered into the profile by the natural rainfall. Although the course is looking a lot greener than it was six weeks ago, it is still very patchy. In the last week of the month we have overseeded the fairways in one direction to promote new growth and try to fill in the bare areas.

At the beginning of October we will scarify and overseed the aprons again to promote new growth in the bare areas which have gone through one of the toughest summers on record.

Tees have had a granular fertiliser to aid in seed promotion from divoting, colour and help with wear and tear from a busy course.

The new estate pipeline is nearly complete and this month our gardens department will be sowing wildflower and seed mix onto this area, followed by a winter planting plan of trees by our forestry department. The pathways which were cut out to fix existing bursts have now been repaired too.

Our gardens department have also been on the course on holes 7, 9 and 16 collecting wildflower seeds from our natural rough to spread around the estate to promote new meadows and wildflower pockets. This is a great story of using our seeds in such a sustainable way, which also cuts costs in buying in seed and the impact of the environment from delivering brought seed from other companies around the UK. Also it is a natural local mix from our own location.

The greens were hit with a bit of disease a few weeks back which was checked once seen. We have now changed our chemistry on the greens to a preventive fungicide programme. As said in many blogs before, the preventive fungicides we now use are very weak, so we add additional seaweed and phosphite products between applications to harden the plant to help in the prevention of turf diseases. However, with the harsh summer and the greens struggling to get through the heat / drought weather we experienced, it will be a constant battle to keep the greens disease free throughout the winter, but we will do all we can to prevent this.

The bees were checked last month and are looking in a strong position going into the winter months. No honey was taken off this year, mainly with not having the time to remove it, but this means we won’t have to add additional feed to the bees to get them through the winter and they can use all the honey they have produced to go through the colder months in a natural way.

A few areas have been hit by badger damage this month. Again I have mentioned the issues we have with badgers a fair amount in the past blogs. We repair these areas nearly on a daily basis, but there is currently not much we can do about what they do.

Look forward to seeing you on the course!

Rob Dyer, Head Greenkeeper, The Downs Course

The Park Course

Playing Areas

The old saying 'can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs' was certainly the case on The Park Course throughout September. Both greens and fairways have had some extensive and well needed maintenance which will have huge effects both short and long term for the health and playability of both areas.

Greens
The two days course closure was certainly put to good use with the team putting in a massive shift both days in order to get all the work done. The GKB sand filler was hired in to remove the thatch layer in the top 25mm and replace with Kiln dried sand.

Fairways

Due to the long hot summer and the fact that the park doesn’t have fairway irrigation the fairways have suffered with the drought. There is a lot of dormant growth that has laid flat which will obstruct any new growth coming through. To give new shoots a chance to come through we needed to rake out the dead stems and stand the plant up.

Look forward to seeing you on the course!

Simon Berry, Head Greenkeeper, The Park Course