Maintenance week Autumn 2017

Our Autumn maintenance week concluded 22/09/2017 and we were blessed with fine conditions, all scheduled  operations to greens and approaches have been successfully carried out by our dedicated green staff.

 A chemical application was made to greens two weeks prior to maintenance week. This application will kill the Rye grass, Yorkshire fog and weaken the coarse Bent grasses within our greens. The surface of the greens will yellow and patches of grass will die off, this is a normal reaction to the graminicide that has been applied.

Discolouring of coarse grasses

The greens are scarified in two directions at least 5mm below the surface using vertical cutting blades with tungsten tips. This will remove a proportion of organic matter from the thatch layer and rake through the dying coarse grasses.

Scarifying

Material removed through scarifying

Greens surface after scarification

This year we used two separate solid tine operations to aerate the greens. 8mm x 200mm tines and 6mm x 100mm tines punched small diameter holes into the soil profile at different depths. Aeration plays an important part in helping air and water move through the soil, air spaces between the soil particles will create gas exchanges to help break down thatch and provide space for root development.

200mm Verti-drain aeration

100mm Procore aeration

Again two different methods and seed were used to over-seed our greens. Shallow holes were made by a sorel roller in which 5Kg of  brown top bent seed was distributed per green. Fescue seed was inter-seeded behind the bent at 20g/m2. Persisting with this blend of grass species will provide us with the optimum putting surfaces year round.

Sorel rolling with bent seed

Inter-seeding with fescue seed

Greens, surrounds and approaches have all been sand-dressed and worked into the surface. In all around 60 tons of straight sand has been applied to the greens complex's to restore levels following the invasive work already carried out. Dressing not only aids us in the reinstatement of the surface but also dilutes thatch, improves water infiltration, firmness and trueness. Further light dressings will be applied as necessary.

Straight sand dressing

Working in dressings

All through these processes the greens complex's were cleared of debris, cut and ironed to ensure we could provide the best surfaces possible following the invasive procedures. The use of hole stabilizing rings will be used temporarily to aid the initial instability around the hole, these will not be used in qualifying competitions and will be removed completely following re-establishment of the surface. 

Ironing

Hole stabilization

In addition to our normal routine maintenance work the surrounds and approaches of 10, 11 and 12 needed extra attention this year. Thatch and Rye grass infestation has become problematic leading to poor surfaces. The Rye grass had been sprayed prior to maintenance week then we set about removing as much thatch as possible by taking cores from the soil profile using a hollow tine. These cores were left to dry before being broken up with the scarifier, the thatch material removed through this process was blown to the sides and picked up. Straight fescue was inter-seeded and cyclone spread over the tine holes with 12 tons of sand dressing applied and further sand dressing scheduled to reinstate the surfaces.

Hollow tine

Cores on surface

Breaking up cores

Thatch material removed

Aerating Greens

This week we've been using our Charterhouse Verti-Drain to deep tine through the surface of the greens.This equipment will aerate the soil profile to a depth of 10 inches at 2 inch spacings. Given the disruption of this particular activity on the surface only half of all the greens have been verti-drained. The second half of each green will be scheduled when sufficient recovery is seen on the first half. This is done to ensure ball roll and pin placements aren't compromised during this essential process. Five fairways have already been completed including the 4th; you may have noticed the yellow markings on the fairway of this hole, these were painted to show where the underground drainage pipes are located in order to ensure we can avoid them!

Course Update

As we move towards the winter months the tasks being undertaken on the golf course become more varied and unusual. The post will discuss some tasks that have taken place recently.

Sub-Surface Aeration

All putting surfaces have been solid tined using a 9.5mm diameter tine to a depth of 75mm. This improves the movement of air and water through the rootzone. In the coming weeks we will solid tine greens again this time using a 12mm tine working to a depth of 250mm. Beyond greens we have also solid tined all tees, surrounds and green approaches. Work on fairways is ongoing with nine completed so far.

Turfing of Path Ends

Worn path ends are in the process of being stripped, rotovated and returfed. This year we are using the turf from the 1st tee complex as this matches well with the surrounding areas. Turfed areas are roped off to ensure they can establish properly. 

Bunker Construction

Every year we refurbish a number of bunkers across the course and this year we have selected one bunker on each of holes 10, 11, 12 and 18. Work on the 18th has been completed although the bunker will remain out of play until the end of the winter months.

1st Tee Renovation

We have started to renovate and re-shape the teeing areas on the 1^st hole to improve this tired looking area of the golf course. Within the scope of this project we aim to address a number long standing issues with this tee complex the most obvious of which is the consistently poor performance of the yellow tee box. This tee is too small to cope with normal levels of play so it will be extended into the area currently occupied by the back half of the red tee. The three tee surfaces will have surface levels restored to ensure all shots can be taken from an even stance. We will also replace and reposition all of the irrigation pipework and heads as this tee was not included in the irrigation system replacement project in 2007/8. While this work is going on we will take the opportunity to change the tee banks on the road side. The hedge is being removed as this has become rather unsightly with gaps and dips along its entire length. Marram grass will be used on the new banking which will provide a natural looking finish. The steps to the new ladies tee will be reduced in size and a new set of steps will be built to access the yellow tee. As this project progresses, the tee will eventually have to close to allow the work to be done. Arrangements have been made to move the red tees to the site of the green tees and to move the yellow/white tees to a temporary tee located on the hill beyond the bottom car park. When this work is complete we will remove the hedging located at the top of the slope to the bottom car park as shown in the image below. This will improve visibility when entering or leaving the bottom car park. Where the hedge has been removed we plan to create an attractive planted area with the bronze Mythical Fish currently located in the foyer of clubhouse relocated outside and used as a centrepiece of the newly planted area.

 

Clearing the hedge from the 1st tee

Rough Grassland Management

We have recently undertaken work in some of the roughs with the aim of thinning out the grass to improve playability. In selected areas on holes 2, 3 and 18 the grass has been cut short, arisings have been removed and the areas have been scarified. This process will be repeated annually which will enable these areas to become progressively less dense and thus easier to find a ball and then play out of. We hope to extend this operation to cover many more rough grass areas in future with the aim of creating well defined, wispy rough that frames each hole without it being overly penal from a playing perspective.

18th rough before

18th rough after

Maintenance Week Update - 2

In addition to the work done on greens and collars we have been able to complete important work on other areas of the golf course.

Hole 7 drainage.

One problem area each winter is the start of the 7th fairway. This area tends to become waterlogged in the winter so to solve this problem we have installed a simple drainage system. This involved removing the fairway turf, excavating soil, installing the drain and refilling with material before placing the turf back on top. Until the turf grows in properly the are will be marked as Ground Under Repair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aerating approaches.

Selected green approaches have had solid tine aeration carried out. This operation is done for the same reasons as described in the last post. As on greens, sanding is carried out to smooth the surface behind the aerator.

Inter-seeding fairways.

To begin the long process of improving the species composition of our fairways we have carried out a single pass with the seeder across the whole of the 11th fairway. The grasses  sown will provide a superior playing surface. Crucially, they need less water to remain healthy than the existing grass species meaning less demand will be put on the irrigation system during the summer months.

Maintenance Week Update - 1

Our Autumn Maintenance week work has now been completed and all of the major operations planned have gone well. Excellent weather conditions have ensured the dedicated efforts of the green staff have been rewarded with a good result. This post will outline the tasks undertaken during this important week in the greenkeeping calendar.

Micro solid tining of greens and collars.

Each of these small holes measure only 9mm across but go down 70mm into the soil. The channels created are critical in helping to improve the movement of air and water into and through the rootzone. Even once healed over on the surface the channels will continue to provide superior moisture and gas exchanges while also providing space for new root growth.

Inter-seeding greens and collars

Seeding is carried out to increase the proportion of appropriate grasses in the sward. The graminicide application we carried out a few weeks ago has been successful in selectively removing unwanted ryegrass in the greens and inter-seeding ensures the spaces left behind are filled with high quality fescue grass seed. Our seeding unit uses discs to cut a channel through the turf before dropping the grass seed into the channel. The discs on our machine are spaced at 35mm intervals which allows a large amount of seed to be inserted into the turf at just the right depth to ensure a high germination rate. On this occasion we chose carry out a double pass on each green. A total of 160kg of seed has been used this week which will have a positive impact on the performance of the turf in 2015.

Sand dressing.

To restore levels following some fairly invasive operations sand was spread across the surface of each area before being worked into the base of the sward. On this occasion we used a little over 20 tonnes of material. Top dressing turf has many benefits not least improving surface smoothness and firmness. We will aim to apply more material in 7-10 days to improve smoothness further.

Maintenance Week

Maintenance Week  

Our annual autumn maintenance week runs from Monday 23^rd – Friday 27^th September. We will carry out a number of vital operations to the putting surfaces with the aim of decreasing the amount of organic matter present in the upper profile of the rootzone. We plan to core the greens using a 13mm hollow tine, deep scarify in two directions, over seed and top dress. Weather permitting; we will apply around 3 tonnes of dressing to each green. This procedure is a fundamental part of our course maintenance plan and represents the single most important week of the year from a greenkeeping perspective. To enable the work to progress uninterrupted, restrictions will be in place with 9 holes open for play only on each day until the work is complete.

  

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.

Spring Maintenance Week

We have almost completed the scheduled works for the maintenance week. Scarification, micro hollow tining, brushing and seeding operations have been undertaken on greens. Top dressing work will hopefully be completed before the weekend.

With the holes made in the greens we took the opportunity to apply our first application of wetting agent. This is a product that helps the soil hold onto moisture making our irrigation applications more efficient. We apply wetting agent once each month throughout the playing season.

Growing In New Turf

Much work is being carried out on the new greens to ensure the surfaces are ready for play when the time comes. We have recently completed solid tine aeration on the turf. This was carried out to encourage the roots of the plants to move deeper into the soil beneath.

A light scarification of the turf was followed by top dressing with the aim of improving surface firmness. The greens turf has become excessively soft over the winter. This is mostly due to the fact that there has been no play and very few mechanical operations undertaken. The emphasis over the nest few weeks will be on improving firmness with repeated applications of dressing.

Deep Tine Aeration Using Verti-Drain

This week we are using the Verti-Drain machine to punch holes in the surface of the greens. The machine has been set up to give us holes that are half an inch in diameter,10 inches deep and with a two inch gap between each. For the first time this year we have split each green in two, one half of each green was verti drained three weeks ago and now that recovery from that operation has taken place, we are moving onto the other half of each green. This process is designed to ensure that hole locations can be kept on comparatively smooth areas of the greens all the time. A short video of the machine in action on the 16th green is shown below.

To find out more about why we do this work to the greens, click on the label "aeration" below.

Spring Maintenance

We recently undertook our spring maintenance week. This year we micro hollow cored the greens using a 3/8ths of an inch tine set to a depth of 3 inches. This procedure is aimed at reducing organic matter (thatch) in the soil.

Next, we scarified the greens. Again, the purpose of this work is to remove the build up of organic matter in the soils. Rotating brushes fitted to a greens mower were then used to pick up loose debris left on the green surface following the scarification.

Following this, all surfaces were top dressed. Around 22 tonnes of material was used in total to fill the tine holes and to reinstate surface levels.

Verti-Draining Greens

Last week all putting surfaces received another pass with the verti-drain sub-surface aerator. This machine punches holes in the turf to a depth of up to twelve inches. The action of the machine is designed to relieve compaction and improve the movement of water through the soil profile. Surfaces that are kept drier are much less prone to disease, compaction and general sward deterioration. In the longer term the holes made with the verti-drain will provide the perfect space for the grass roots to grow into. Long grass roots are needed to help the plants withstand periods of drought in summer.

Following the aeration works, a pedestrian cylinder mower was used to roll each green smooth. Further rolling with the turf irons will take place to ensure surface disruption is minimised. The holes will take around 10 days to heal on the surface of the green but will stay open below the surface for much longer giving agronomic benefit for months to come.

Course Maintenance Week

Work scheduled for our autumn maintenance week has been completed on time. Hollow coring, verti-cutting, overseeding and top dressing work has been carried out to all 18 greens and surrounds and the two practice putting greens also.

Coring The 15th Green

Half Inch Holes With 2x2 Inch Spacing

Verti-Cutting On 15

Some Of The Material Removed During Verti-Cutting

Broadcasting Seed Into Tine Holes

Applying Top Dressing

Around 30 tonnes of dressing was applied to the putting surfaces. Once the material is fully worked in, another 20 tonnes will be applied. The holes will take 2-3 weeks to disappear.

End of Season Aeration

Once again we have arrived at the time of year when our most intensive period of aeration takes place.

Aeration is one of the most important maintenance tasks carried out on turf. The word aeration means quite simply to get air into something. In turf it is simply the production of holes through the turf surface into the underlying rootzone (soil) to allow gases (oxygen etc.) in and out of the soil and for water and grass roots to move down through the soil.

Starting this week we will be running two verti-drain type machines over all areas of the course. Fairways and high wear walkways will be tackled first. For these areas we use twelve 18mm x 300mm solid tines on each machine(see pic above). This allows us to make lots of holes in the turf and at sufficient depth to enable the movement of water more quickly through the soil beneath. The action of these particular machines also allows a certain amount of "heave" to be put on the soil. This lifts the level of the ground slightly allowing air and moisture to penetrate and relieve compacted areas. Compaction in the turf is caused by the regular movement of people or machinery over an area, wet soils compact more easily as the water in the soil acts as a lubricant allowing the particles to slide closer together and form a bond.

Next week we will start on greens and green surrounds. For these areas we will use a tine which is smaller in diameter but of a similar length. This smaller tine, coupled with some lightweight rolling will allow quicker recovery of the turf in these key areas. We hope to repeat this process in greens and surrounds in February 2010 and in future every October and February.

Course Update

Maintenance Week

The greens have recovered well in the past few weeks from the hollow core aeration work that was carried out in early September. It was obviously rather painful for all players when there were so many holes in the greens, with putts bobbling and bouncing across the surface it was easy to forget just how important a robust aeration programme is to the future performance of the greens. The course team have worked hard to reinstate the surface, a total of 45 tonnes of top dressing was applied to greens in the three weeks following the coring work and this has had the desired effect. This amount represents almost half of the annual total top dressing used on greens, so to apply this in such a short space of time took considerable effort. Whilst the holes were in the greens the opportunity was taken to introduce more grass seed into the greens and it is pleasing to report that this has taken well. The severe disruption to golf this aeration event caused has been noted and as a consequence next year’s maintenance week has been moved to the end of September.

Irrigation

The rain has finally arrived after an extended dry period through August and September. Following comments from a number of members I would like to briefly outline once again our watering strategy for this summer past and for future years.
Whilst we aim to provide evenly moist soils with optimal growing conditions in the spring, early summer and autumn periods our approach changes in mid-summer. In order to impart drought stress on the undesirable broad leaved grass species in the greens, we make a conscious effort to allow the turf to dry out in the peak summer months, thus creating an environment in which the desirable grasses can thrive and gain the upper hand. It is crucial during the summer months that this happens otherwise the broad leaved, undesirable grass species will continue to dominate putting surfaces. It also allows us to present a firm and fast running golf course, just as one would expect from a links course in the middle of a dry summer. You might be surprised to learn that to keep the course as dry as it was actually took quite a bit of water. In the period 1st July to 30th September we used a total of 21,400m3 of water, that’s 21.4 million litres or 4.7 million gallons to water greens, tees, surrounds and fairways!

Broadleaved Grasses In Greens

Ryegrass and Yorkshire Fog grasses are present in many of our greens. These are wholly inappropriate putting green grass types that have proved notoriously difficult to eradicate. Thankfully a new chemical has been released to the amenity market that selectively controls these species, killing them off without harming other plants. We decided to trial this new product on the 4th and 6th greens and on the 4th yellow tee. Spraying took place on the 8th October and we expect to see the grasses start dying off within a few days. We may for a period have some thin areas of turf on these trial plots but the areas will be seeded and top-dressed until good grass cover is restored. If this trial proves successful we will roll out this program over larger areas in the future.

Upcoming Winter Work

The main project planned for this winter is the redesign of the chipping area. We plan to build a large green in the centre of the area to facilitate a range of short chip shots from a number of players simultaneously. To do this we will dig up three of the existing greens, re-shape the ground and then re-lay the existing turf. The green that is located nearest the 18th fairway will be left in its present position but will have another bunker added and the existing bunker enlarged. The chipping area will be closed while this work takes place and will remain closed until all the turf knits together properly.

More trees will be felled as per the ecology plan. White paint distinguishes the specimens due for removal this winter. The invasive Holm Oak will once again be targeted but also some of the Macrocarpa trees in the dunes between holes 11 and 13 will be felled. This policy of tree removal is in line with the States policy for the neighbouring land.

Also this winter we plan to refurbish a number of bunkers around the course and also extend the 5th tee. As usual, solid tine aeration will take place on greens, tees, surrounds and fairways.

Going forward, a monthly update will be published to keep members informed of what is happening as regards the golf course.