COURSE REPORT

Greens Maintenance

Greens maintenance week went as planned with the green staff doing a good, clean job. After clearing up the cores, we put down around 55 tonnes of sand, which will help with thatch reduction and, therefore, surface drainage going into the autumn and winter months. 

A granular fertiliser was applied on the Friday of greens maintenance week to aid recovery. Due to the amount of sand put down, we raised the height of cut to 5mm in order to avoid picking up too much sand when cutting and damaging the cutting blades on the machine.

Recovery has been pleasing and the height of cut is now back down to 3.5mm. We are now concentrating on getting the surfaces back to being smooth and true. We have verti cut and put down a light dressing of sand, which will significantly improve the surface and ball roll and we will look to do the same again in the second week of September to bring the surface back to the expected standard.

In order to continue to achieve a true, firm surface and a healthy grass plant, we must carry out these essential works and thank you for your understanding during this period.

Fairway Renovation

The fairways have suffered as a result of the weather conditions this year, with a particularly wet start to the year followed by a very hot and dry summer. This has meant that we have lost a significant amount of grass cover.

A Bio Stimulant has been applied, which will help stimulate new growth and regeneration as well as germination of new seed.

In order to ensure we maximise the recovery of the fairways, we have taken the decision to hire in a tractor-mounted scarifier and an overseeder. These will be delivered next week to enable us to renovate and over seed all fairways.

We will firstly scarify to take out and collect dead matter, which will help clean the surface ready for the overseeder. The overseeder will cut grooves into the surface and drop the seed into the grooves, giving the seed the soil contact it requires to germinate and establish. This also gives us the opportunity to introduce different grass species, which are more drought tolerant. Good results are expected from this operation, provided we can keep moisture in the ground, with soil and air temperatures still suitable for seed germination.

Once again, thank you for your understanding throughout this period. Pictures and videos of these operations will be posted on social media.

Mark Ogden

Course Manager