Terrain Aeration - Demonstration

Last weekend we had a visit from the team at Terrain Aeration who have machines capable of aerating to a depth of 1.2 meters. The demo took place on one of our clay fairways and was successful in penetrating through to the sand. We hope to utilise this machine extensively next winter to improve drainage on the fairways of holes 10, 11, 13 and 18.

Behind The Scenes

Have you ever wondered what the greenstaff do when the course is closed due to snow, frost or flooding? This post intends to give some insight into some of the unseen work that is routinely carried out by the maintenance crew.

The maintenance of machinery is an on-going requirement throughout the year but in the winter months thorough inspections and major overhauls are carried out to all plant and machinery. In the image above Gary and Matt are preparing cutting units for sharpening with our dedicated in-house cylinder grinding equipment.

Re-painting of golf course equipment such as bunker rakes, tee markers and hole cups is another on-going requirement. We use six different colours of tee marker on the course and these need to be kept in good condition.
In total we have more than 200 tee markers and with 54 hole cups and more than 50 rakes we are never short of something to paint!

We have many benches around the course most of which have been donated over the years by members or the families and friends of members who have passed. Each year they are removed from the course to be rubbed down and varnished to ensure they are kept in the best condition possible for as long as possible.

Numerous other housekeeping tasks are attended to around the maintenance facility. The club invested heavily in the purpose built maintenance complex a number of years ago and we try to be diligent in our upkeep of the fantastic facility that we have. In the image above some of the block work from the yard has been lifted to remove tree roots.

Of course numerous other tasks are carried out regularly which have not been featured here, some of which we will highlight in future posts

Spring Maintenance Week

Our first annual spring maintenance week commenced on the 30th March. I'm happy to report that all planned tasks were completed successfully despite a frost delay on the Monday morning lasting three hours. Thankfully no further frosts were seen during the week and scarification, overseeding and top-dressing work took place.
The main task carried out was overseeding of greens, this takes place to improve the overall grass species composition in the sward. Three varieties of Fescue grass were used. These particular plants have the ideal characteristics for golf green purposes and increased numbers of fescue grasses will dramatically improve the year round conditions on the greens.

Having identified the need for new seeding equipment last year and following a lengthy evaluation process we finally purchased a new seeder in March of this year. The Vredo Super-Compact seeder chosen represents a significant investment by the club but one which will benefit the golf course for many years to come.

The new seeder on the 9th green

The machine works by using two rows of metal discs spaced 35mm apart which make thin slits in the turf into which the grass seed is delivered. The rear roller then passes over the slits causing them to close up to reinstate the playing surface. This method ensures the seed is placed to the correct depth and that good seed/soil contact is achieved. Seed wastage is kept to an absolute minimum using this method and given the costs of high quality sportsturf seed mixes this can only be a good thing.

The metal discs making the cuts into the turf


The seed lies safely in the bottom of these slits

The lines in the turf in the photo above will shortly be full of newly emerged young grasses so management practices will be tailored to ensure these are protected in the short term.
We plan to overseed greens at least four times each season using this method. During periods of good growth and following an application of top dressing the slits disappear very quickly and surface uniformity is not compromised. In the coming months and years the machine will be used for seeding other areas of the course such as weak fairway areas, walkways and roughs.