Course Update

Course Update

Whilst the weather is yet to improve and we have had to deal with some high rainfall in the past few weeks, winter is coming to an end and the golfing season is fast approaching. This time of year is spent making the finishing touches to our construction projects, completing ecology works ready for spring and preparing the golf course for the coming season. I will touch on all of these points in this post and show the hard work the team has been doing in challenging conditions.

Course Maintenance

Both the greens and tees have been given their first verti-draining of the year with pencil tines to a depth of around 8". This is to improve air and water movement in the profile and has numerous benefits to plant health. This was followed by 10 tonnes of straight sand top dressing on the greens as part of  our on-going thatch dilution program. We have been managing the greens carefully throughout the winter with particular care to avoid excessive weight on the surfaces. A combination of hand cutting and ironing has allowed us to maintain performance even during the extreme wet weather.

Pencil tining greens

Applying sand top dressing to greens

The members will also notice that a cutting and scarifying operation has been completed around the 9th green. This bank had become rank with Ryegrass and any balls played into the area were more than likely to be lost. Now that it has been cut we will allow it to regenerate whilst managing it to avoid it again becoming too dense.

Construction

The flooding on the service track behind the 14th green has been a long running problem and having completed our tees construction we began work on resolving this issue. The track has been raised with hardcore, drainage sumps installed and the surrounding area returfed.

The finished product

Ecology

After the success of the sandy waste area created on the 8th carry, another area has now been established on the opposite side. The principle for this area has been the same however we did not have to bury as much gorse in the process and were careful to avoid some small heather plants in the surrounding vegetation.

Small heather plants amongst the existing vegetation

Before and after photos of the second area

As with the first area we have planted a mixture of natural sand dune species on the site including Marram, Dune rose and Bents. Creating these areas improves sustainability as they require little management, benefit the environment and speed up play as golfers are more likely to be able to find and play their shot. With the completion of these two areas we are starting to form a link between the front and back nines. Whilst La Moye will never again look as it did in 1902 when George Boomer first laid out his holes in the dunes, in the coming years we hope to return at least some of the course to its natural links pedigree. Notice the sandy waste bunker in the foreground of the photo below (Photo from 'The Boomer Legacy')

The 18th green in 1938