Well Done Ollie!

We are very proud to announce that Ollie Pennington has reached the national final of the 2009 Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year contest. Ollie is almost finished his Amenity Horticulture NVQ level 3 course that he has been working on for the past 18 months. Due to the consistently high standard of Ollie's work, Nick Lush his tutor at Myerscough College, nominated him for student of the year. Out of over 1000 students studying turfgrass related subjects 45 were selected to attend regional finals. Following the completion of a questionnaire and an interview with industry experts Ollie was recently informed that he has been selected as one of eight national finalists. This is a tremendous achievement for Ollie and in fact a great boost for all the course staff here at La Moye.
The final itself will take place over two days in September. The finalists will be asked to carry out an in depth and detailed appraisal of a golf course which is to be submitted in report form. They will then be questioned on the contents of their report by a panel of top industry figures. From this process a winner will be selected and will receive the grand prize of an eight week trip to the USA which includes a six week residential scholarship to the University of Massachusettes, to attend the winter turf school. The winner will also be given the chance to tour Toro headquarters and join the BIGGA visit to the GCSAA Golf Industry Show in San Diego in February 2010.
We all wish Ollie the best of luck in the final and well done again for getting there, a major achievement of which he should be really proud.

It's The Greens That Count

If you were to ask anyone what they thought of course condition on completion of their round they are likely to talk mostly about the greens. The greens are commonly said to be either good, bad, too fast, too slow, too firm, too soft, too bumpy or have too many holes, slits or grooves! It would be fair to say that it's that greens that count most.

Work on greens this season has been focused on increasing the amount and density of fine fescue and bent grasses in the sward through carefully scheduled fertiliser and water applications coupled with overseeding. Also, to impart cultural and mechanical stress on the Rye and Yorkshire fog grasses to refine the texture and grain of the sward. We have also tried to improve the quality and consistency of the rootzone immediately beneath the turf to equalise the bounce and roll characteristic from one green to the next. Eventually this type of work will give consistent, true putting surfaces that remain of a good standard for the majority of the year.
While this work takes place we are challenged to present the greens to the highest possible standard for each days play. Inevitably on occasion, particularly after periods of stress, the greens in their current state will fail to live up to expectation.
We plan our aeration, top dressing and brushing programmes around the major competitions of the year. This means that between those competition dates we must carry out these procedures that disturb the quality of the putting surface for a short period. Due to the constraints and pressures of the diary we are inevitably compromised when trying to find a balance between short-term performance and long-term improvement. If we do not carry out these necessary operations then nothing will improve. If we only focus on short-term putting green performance then nothing will improve. A balanced approach is being sought which allows the greens to perform to a high standard when absolutely necessary but also allows our fundamental and long standing problems to be addressed in the appropriate way.

Long, Thick Rough!

As usual at this time of year, the uncut roughs on the course have become long and thick. Some players feel the course becomes too difficult at this time and we are regularly asked to cut extra sections. I feel it is worth reminding everyone of our rough grass management strategy and explaining the reasons behind our actions or even our inaction!
Our approach to the management of the rough sets out to balance the needs of the golfer with the needs of the grass plants and the needs of the diverse array of flora and fauna that inhabit the rough grasslands. We are very fortunate that we are able to play our golf in such a wonderful, natural environment and it is a prime objective of the course staff to protect and enhance that environment. The rough grasses here at La Moye are very delicate and must be treated carefully. Only in the late spring/early summer period do they get a chance to grow properly, set seed and thicken up before the summer droughts come in to thin out the grass naturally. This cycle takes place every year and it ensures we have good grass cover throughout the year providing crucial definition between the holes. If we cut too much rough at this time of year we will remove this important aspect of the course character.
Also, the rough grasslands are the most species diverse areas of the whole golf course and as such are the most valuable from an ecological point of view. Our roughs provide the perfect habitat for a vast array of flora and fauna ranging from the green lizard to wild orchids with thousands of things in between.
That said, the single most important consideration is ensuring the golf course remains playable and enjoyable for all levels of golfer. To do this we aim to maintain landing area widths of between 30 and 55 metres. This includes a fairway cut at a height of around 15mm, a first cut of rough at 25mm and a second cut of rough at a height of around 100mm. This ensures that well placed shots are rewarded with a good lie but errant shots are punished incrementally. We think this gives the fairest course set up possible.
The recent weather has given us firm and running conditions on the course of late and this coupled with the height of the rough and the wind has made for some challenging golf. Thankfully the conditions will ease in the next few weeks as the rough dies back and in fact the start of this process is already well underway.

Lots To Do

With competitions and society days coming thick and fast the green staff are working hard making sure the course looks its best. In this post I hope to paint a picture of what happens in an average week at this time of the year.

Monday
Aerate greens (star slit)
Brush greens
Cut greens
Cut tees, move tee markers
Rake bunkers
Cut tee banks
Spray selective weedkiller on fairway areas
Mole control
Weed granite dust paths
Pick up range balls

Tuesday
Cut greens
Top dress greens
Drag mat greens
Move hole positions, fill out pin sheet
Rake bunkers
Verti-cut green surrounds and approaches
Cut green surrounds and approaches
Cut semi-rough
Cut rough
Pick up balls from range

Wednesday
Iron greens
Rake bunkers, move tee markers
Cut rough
Cut semi-rough
Fill scars and pick up divots on fairways
Paint 150 yard markers
Cut hedges around clubhouse and car park
Rake and seed turf nursery areas
Fertilise previously seeded nursery areas
Pick up balls from range

Thursday
Cut greens
Flymo bunker faces, rake bunkers, move tee markers
Cut rough
Cut semi-rough
Cut fairways
Trim around sprinkler heads and distance markers
Check sprinkler head performance
Cut hedges at roadside
Move putting green hole positions
Strim around tee plates, steps, ball washers etc
Pick up balls from range

Friday
Brush greens
Cut greens
Iron greens
Rake bunkers
Divot tees, empty bins, fill ball washers and move tee markers
Mole control
Fill out pin sheet for Saturday
Cut tees
Cut green surrounds and approaches
Weed and top up granite dust paths
Pick up balls from range

Saturday
Cut greens
Move hole positions
Rake bunkers
Move tee markers
Pick up range balls

Sunday
Cut greens
Rake bunkers
Move tee markers
Pick up range balls

Of course, this is just a sample of the type of work we carry out in an average week in May. As you might expect we spend a large chunk of our time working on the greens. You might be surprised to learn we spend almost as much time maintaining bunkers. Many of the tasks mentioned above are repeated every week but others are only carried out periodically. In other weeks we may well carry out different types of aeration such as solid tining or deep slit tining and different areas will have fertiliser applied or be sprayed. Also countless one-off tasks arise which need to be addressed, sometimes these are the jobs that take the most time.

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.

Irrigation

In the coming months one of the most important tools the course staff will use is the irrigation system. Our system was manufactured by Rainbird and was installed in 2007/8 by MJ Abbott. It covers all greens, tees, surrounds, fairways, some rough areas, turf nurseries and the chipping area. There are six boreholes which keep the 1 million gallon capacity reservoir topped up.

1 million gallon reservoir

Three large pumps distribute the water around the course at a pressure of 150 psi through a network of pipes up to the irrigation sprinkler heads. The system has been designed to ensure that water is applied accurately and wastage is kept to a minimum. Low trajectory sprinklers are used in the most exposed spots to ensure the wind has a minimal impact. A central computer located in the maintenance facility is used to program and run the system.

Mission control!

The course has been mapped using GPS with every sprinkler head, valve and pipe marked. Any sprinkler head can be turned on either at the base station, manually at the head or by using a remote control unit. The system can be programmed to run any number of heads in any sequence starting at any time.

Course map as seen on the system display

Zoomed in view of hole 1, chipping area, 9th green and 8th tee

Record keeping is made easy with this system as it automatically maintains detailed records of application timings and quantities giving weekly, monthly or annual aggregated totals. A weather station is also linked in to the system providing real time data of wind speed and direction, precipitation, humidity and temperature. From this information evapo-transpiration rates are calculated which the system can use to determine how much water should be applied to maintain optimum soil moisture levels.

Daily weather records are automatically maintained

As you can see, our system makes it easy for us to apply water accurately and at the rates we want. However, we must remember that this does not mean we always want the golf course to be green and lush. Inappropriate and overuse of the irrigation system can cause serious long term problems to turf which can take years to rectify. We aim to use the system only when the health of the desirable grass plants would otherwise suffer, not just to soften the greens so the ball is easier to control or to green up the fairways to make them look "nice".
In late winter and very early spring we rarely irrigate even in extended dry periods because the cold water only serves to lower soil temperatures causing what little growth we have at that time of the year to stop completely. Much better dry, firm and slow growth than moist, soft and no growth! We generally irrigate in all dry spells throughout the mid-spring/early summer period to ensure the turf has optimal growth conditions to recover from the stresses of winter. Once mid summer comes we will relax the irrigation to allow the turf to dry out somewhat in order to stress the undesirable grass species and to encourage the fine grasses to develop deep rooting. Without doing this the shallow rooting grass species - which also happen to be the least suitable grasses for golf - are allowed to colonise and take over the sward. In general terms we are trying to present firm and consistent surfaces which have a dense cover of fine grasses. Our watering strategy is tailored with this in mind so please don't be surprised if surfaces get a bit brown in colour come mid summer, it will not mean the irrigation system is broken, we will merely be letting nature take it's course!

For more information on this topic please click on the title word IRRIGATION at the top of this post.

Broken Tee Pegs

The broken tee pegs picked up from the course today

In an attempt to keep the golf course as litter free as possible, we are aiming to address the issue of broken tee pegs. Every month we spend many hours picking up broken tee pegs from the tees. Not only do they look unsightly but they also knock the mowers off cut, potentially causing damage to the grass itself. To try to combat this one of the tee markers on each of the tees has been replaced with a tee caddy (see pic. above). It is hoped that all players will use the tee caddy to deposit their broken tee peg after they have played their shot thus maintaining a tidy appearance to teeing grounds and helping to keep our mowers sharp and correctly set to ensure minimum injury to the grass plant.

The Start Of A New Season

The start of a new season is almost upon us and the greenkeeping team are working hard preparing the course for the season ahead. One of the biggest challenges we have ahead of us is getting the new bunkers ready for play. When the bunkers were being refurbished in the winter some of the sand is removed and this now must be returned to the bunker. Before the sand goes back in it is screened to remove any debris then it is put in the bunker and shaped to form the ideal bunker base. Next it is compacted to try to reduce the likelihood of balls plugging in the sand then finally it is raked to provide the perfect finish.
All bunkers are raked on a daily basis, it takes around two hours each day and more if shaping work is carried out, add to this the weeding and cutting work that takes place and we soon find ourselves putting in well in excess of 1000 man hours of bunker maintenance annually. All this for an area of the golf course that everyone tries to avoid!

4th Hole Drainage

It has become clear in recent months that the drainage system under the 4th fairway was failing to do its job properly. There has been some debate amongst the course team as to the exact configuration of the drainage system and the reasons why it was failing. To address the problem the team set out to properly identify the location of the pipes, examine their condition and repair any damaged sections. Although old plans existed of the drain pipework it had been felt they were incomplete and did not tell the full story. Since accurate mapping was carried out on the golf course prior to the irrigation system being installed it is now possible for us to complete a more detailed plan of the drainage system.

More Tree Work

In keeping with our policy to manage the spread of the non-indigenous holm oak trees, we have embarked on the second phase of felling mature specimens.
Some trees have been removed from the bank that separates the 9th and 10th holes and more trees have been removed from the right hand side of the 18th hole. Due to the steep bank on the 18th a large excavator was used to move the felled trees into an area suitable for chipping to take place. Inevitably a certain amount of damage to the turf has occurred around the area where the excavator was working but this will be reinstated by course staff in the next few days.

Excavotor moving a felled tree into position

The areas around the felled trees will be scraped back to bare sand/soil to allow the indigenous plant species space to re-establish. Please click on the ECOLOGY label at the bottom of this post to learn more about why we cut down trees and what we are trying to acheive.