Course Update

This update must of course start with an apology for the lack of posts since November! The greenkeeping team has undergone some major changes of personnel and roles in the past few months. First of all congratulations must go to both Richard Cutler on his new role on the Club's Management team and to Andrew Ricketts, our newly promoted Head Greenkeeper. Richard Le Moignan has also recieved a promotion along with myself to the position of Deputy Head Greenkeeper. With Richards' departure from the main greenkeeping team, he has passed on the updating of this blog to myself, (Matthew Amy) and Andrew. We hope to keep you informed about the ongoing maintenance and improvements at La Moye as diligently as Richard did. Now, I have a lot to cover since the last update so lets get started!

Winter Projects

As shown in the last post our major project this winter was the reconstruction of the 1st tee complex. This was completed in preparation for the captains drive in and we hope that the members are happy with the result. The old tee complex had been due for re-leveling for some time and so the opportunity was perfect to also increase teeing space on this short par 3. Members will notice that we have increased the surface area of the men's yellow tee by 50% which allows us to better spread the wear on the surface. 

Aesthetically the tee has been much improved by removing the old Elaeagnus hedge which had become aged and bare in places. The banking to the tee has been recreated using pure sand and replanted with Marram Grass (Ammophila). This native dune grass has been collected from other areas of the course and St Ouens sand pit, with the greenkeepers planting an estimated 2-3000 individual sprigs! The Marram Grass has been selected to give golfers an instant impact of the links character of La Moye on the first hole.

Newly turfed yellow tee on the 1st

Other winter work has included the rebuilding of some of the bunkers. Holes 10, 11, 12 and 18 have all seen renovation to their front left bunkers. The work completed on 11 and 12 saw a more extensive remodeling of the ground around the bunkers, which we believe has created a fairer obstacle for the golfers and made the bunkers look more natural in their positions.

Reconstructed bunker on 12th hole

Reconstructed bunker on 11th hole

Acorn Jersey Open 2015

After the completion of our winter program and the beginning of the main golfing season our preparations began for the arrival of the European Seniors Tour for the first time in five years. A program of regular verticutting and 'grooming' of the putting surfaces was put in place to refine the surface and remove the seeds of the Poa annua in the sward. This program is used every year for the benefit of the members and we saw especially good results this season with a prolonged period of dry weather. Two applications of top dressing were applied in the lead up to the tournament to improve surface levels and as part of our ongoing thatch dilution program. 

Greens were double cut and ironed every day of the tournament along with cutting the surround, approaches and tees. The greens performed brilliantly during the tournament with speeds beginning at 9.5 on day one and peaking at over 11 on the final round as the sun dried up the surfaces.

Perhaps the most marked improvement this year on the course has been the presentation of the fairways. The golf club invested in two John Deere 8000A Hybrid mowers and they began to pay dividends almost immediately. The fairways were cut regularly in different directions and the improvement in quality of cut from the new units has provided better ball roll and lies. For the tournament itself the fairways were cut every evening and we reverted to a 'block' pattern, which is more in keeping with the traditional links character of the course.

All of the greenstaff worked feverishly for the week before and during the tournament, putting in plenty of overtime to present the course to the highest standards. The comments we gratefully received from the professionals, spectators and members were fantastic and the whole team is very proud of their hard work. 

15th Green

Head Greenkeeper Andrew Ricketts changing holes on day 2

17th Green on final day

12th Green on final day

Next on our busy program for 2015 is the Natwest Island Games. Preparations for this tournament have already begun along with our day to day work maintaining the course for our members. 

European Senior Tour

Sorry for the lack of blog posts recently but work on the course has been pretty intense lately.

The European Seniors Tour event played here in early June was a success, Gordan Brand Jnr came out on top in the end winning by 5 shots from Carl Mason and Bobby Lincoln. Course staff worked morning and evening shifts throughout the week of the event to ensure the course was in good order. The compliments received from the players were certainly very welcome!

Tournament Preparation

I had intended to write this post a few days ago but things on the course have been rather hectic recently. Yesterday the final of the Jersey Amateur Championships was played on the course with La Moye member Stephen Purdie emerging victorious, congratulations to him.
Work on the course for the event was focused on course presentation and putting green conditioning. To present the course in the best possible way we increase the frequency of cutting key areas such as greens, surrounds, tees and fairways. Greens would be cut once each day under normal circumstances but for tournaments this is increased to at least two cuts per day. Likewise fairways, tees and surrounds are cut either every day or every other day during a tournament instead of twice each week normally. Other areas such as bunker faces, tee banks, rough and semi-rough are cut just before a tournament begins to ensure they look in the best possible shape.
Greens obviously receive the most attention though. Not only do we increase mowing frequency but we also roll the putting surfaces straight after mowing. In a normal week we will miss out mowing on the days we roll to give the turf a rest and help reduce stress but for short periods we increase turf stress to produce a superior playing surfaces. Whilst daily double cutting and rolling of greens is great way to improve surfaces in the short term it would be very damaging if carried out for an extended period. Turf density and ultimately putting green performance would decrease rapidly if this practice was carried out for too long a period. In fact, even short periods of increased activity on the greens require specific aftercare once a tournament is over. It is common to see solid tine aeration take place on greens straight after or within a few days of a tournament ending. This helps reduce stress in the green by fast tracking air and water into the rootzone. I can see the despair on some members faces when they arrive at the course finally able to tee it up following a tournament to find that the greenstaff have punched a load of holes in the greens. Please understand that this is only done to ensure the on-going health of the green in the long term.