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!
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Monday, 31 May 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Course Etiquette
Following the recent rain the greens have become slightly softer so it is probably a good time to remind everyone to be extra vigilant in the repair of their pitchmarks. A pitchmark that is repaired correctly within 10 minutes of it being made will heal completely in only a day or so but an unrepaired pitchmark will take weeks to heal properly. We all love to putt on smooth, true greens so we should all do our bit to ensure they stay that way.
click on the image to enlarge
On the subject of etiquette, I have noticed evidence of players practicing on the course. Clusters of unrepaired divots on the fairways were spotted this morning. I consider this to be the actions of a selfish individual, if every player hit five or six shots from the same spot on the fairway then there would be very little grass left to play on. I imagine it may be the same kind of individual who "forgets" to repair their five or six pitchmarks on the greens also! If you see anyone abusing the course please ask them to stop or report them to myself or the course ranger. Don't be afraid to gently remind your playing partners to repair their pitchmarks and replace their divots and maybe while their lining up their putt you could repair an extra ball mark or two aswell. If only a slim majority of the membership do this then the problem will disappear.
Singin In The Rain!
Rain at last! Following a period of 50 days with virtually no rain and some daytime temperatures in excess of 80 degrees the heavens finally opened yesterday with almost an inch of the wet stuff falling in the space of 12 hours. With more rain forecast for the weekend it looks like the difficult recent weather is finally changing.
The few parts of the course that the irrigation system does not cover and all the areas turfed in the winter were in dire need of a drink not to mention the restored dune areas where the trees were removed and the section on the seventh hole where the gorse was cut back.
Hand watering was consuming far too much of our time, especially at this critical time of the year from a greenkeeping perspective. The course has had to endure one of the harshest winters in recent memory, the last thing we needed was a slow spring coupled with the freakish drought.
This week and next are two of the most important in our golfing calendar with the Island Amateur Championships this weekend being followed by the European Seniors Tour next week. Tomorrow I will write a post on the preparations for these two events.
The few parts of the course that the irrigation system does not cover and all the areas turfed in the winter were in dire need of a drink not to mention the restored dune areas where the trees were removed and the section on the seventh hole where the gorse was cut back.
Hand watering was consuming far too much of our time, especially at this critical time of the year from a greenkeeping perspective. The course has had to endure one of the harshest winters in recent memory, the last thing we needed was a slow spring coupled with the freakish drought.
This week and next are two of the most important in our golfing calendar with the Island Amateur Championships this weekend being followed by the European Seniors Tour next week. Tomorrow I will write a post on the preparations for these two events.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Top Dressing Greens
Today we spent the morning top dressing greens. This task is carried out routinely to help smooth the putting surface and to promote healthy turf. On this occasion we applied 20 tonnes of material to the greens using our spinning disc top dresser.
This was followed by a pass with a rubber dragmat to work the material into the base of the sward. Prior to top dressing we brushed the greens with rotating brushes to lightly remove organic matter and also cut the greens at 4.5mm.
This was followed by a pass with a rubber dragmat to work the material into the base of the sward. Prior to top dressing we brushed the greens with rotating brushes to lightly remove organic matter and also cut the greens at 4.5mm.
The brushes used on the greens today
Monday, 10 May 2010
Still Dry
A grand total of 1.5mm or 0.059 of an inch of rain has fallen on the golf course since the first week in April. In the past week evapotranspiration levels have been in excess of 4mm per day leaving us with a large deficit which we fill with irrigation water.
A screen shot of the weather station data. Note the two right hand columns for rainfall and ET. Click image to expand.
Just over 450000 litres of irrigation water was applied last night alone to try to replace the lost moisture. Of course there are areas on the course not covered by the irrigation system, these include some tee banks, walkways and roughs. These areas are suffering badly having not had proper growing conditions since spring 2009. Course staff are working hard to hand water areas which were turfed in the winter and also parts of the course which were seeded in the early spring but it is proving very difficult to keep up. The marram plugs on the 11th hole are struggling due to the weather conditions also. Again, hand watering is taking place but rain is desperately needed.
Monday, 26 April 2010
Chipping Area Update
We plan to open the chipping area on Saturday 1st May following the redesign work carried out over the winter. The turf has taken well and surfaces have been worked on as much as possible given the recent weather conditions. From now on the main green will be maintained in exactly the same way as the greens on the course so in time it will be of the same standard. Only short chip shots should be played to the main green.
A teeing area has been built to allow longer shots to be played to a landing area about 65m away. All shots from this area should be played from the area defined by ropes.
The new bunker practice area has a dedicated landing area. Players should ensure they play towards the dedicated area only.
Mowing The New Green
A teeing area has been built to allow longer shots to be played to a landing area about 65m away. All shots from this area should be played from the area defined by ropes.
The New Teeing Area
The new bunker practice area has a dedicated landing area. Players should ensure they play towards the dedicated area only.
New Bunkering With Landing Area Beyond
No Rain + Easterly Winds = Poor Growth
Jersey is officially in a period of drought. It is now 19 days since any rain has fallen on the golf course and our monthly running total currently stands at a shockingly low 9mm. The near constant easterly winds that we are experiencing have meant that the turf is extremely dry and grass growth is almost non existent. Although our irrigation system is fully operational, the persistent cool air and soil temperatures are preventing us from apply much water. A soil temperature of around 10C is required to enable good growing turf. Cold water landing on already cool soils only serves to further lower soil temperatures lessening the chance of any growth taking place. Irrigation is taking place during the warmest days but it is impossible to apply enough water without cooling the soil too much.
Evapotranspiration (ET) is a term used to describe the sum of evaporation of moisture and plant transpiration from the ground to the atmosphere. Evaporation accounts for the movement of water from the ground to the air while transpiration accounts for the loss of water from within the plant itself. We are currently seeing an ET rate of around 3mm per day, just over 70mm for the month so far. The 9mm of rainfall that has fallen and 26mm of irrigation that has been applied in the same period has left a large deficit.
We use wetting agents on the greens which help the soil particles hold onto available moisture for an extended period, because of this the moisture level in our greens is being maintained at an acceptable level despite the difficult conditions. We do not have enough moisture to promote strong growth but there is enough to at least ensure survival in this testing time. Of course ideally, at this time of year, we would like a more typical spring weather pattern with sunshine and regular showers. A cycle of sunshine and showers is ideal to promote grass growth and allow recovery from the harsh winter months we have experienced. Current conditions means that any fertilizer applications are compromised and frequent top dressing is impossible. Mechanical operations carried out to refine the turf texture and smooth the surface have been postponed until stronger grass growth comes. All this leaves playing surfaces in a less than perfect state for golf and makes the job of a greenkeeper a very difficult one. We can't fight mother nature, we must simply wait until conditions improve enough to allow us to work effectively on the surfaces once again.
Evapotranspiration (ET) is a term used to describe the sum of evaporation of moisture and plant transpiration from the ground to the atmosphere. Evaporation accounts for the movement of water from the ground to the air while transpiration accounts for the loss of water from within the plant itself. We are currently seeing an ET rate of around 3mm per day, just over 70mm for the month so far. The 9mm of rainfall that has fallen and 26mm of irrigation that has been applied in the same period has left a large deficit.
We use wetting agents on the greens which help the soil particles hold onto available moisture for an extended period, because of this the moisture level in our greens is being maintained at an acceptable level despite the difficult conditions. We do not have enough moisture to promote strong growth but there is enough to at least ensure survival in this testing time. Of course ideally, at this time of year, we would like a more typical spring weather pattern with sunshine and regular showers. A cycle of sunshine and showers is ideal to promote grass growth and allow recovery from the harsh winter months we have experienced. Current conditions means that any fertilizer applications are compromised and frequent top dressing is impossible. Mechanical operations carried out to refine the turf texture and smooth the surface have been postponed until stronger grass growth comes. All this leaves playing surfaces in a less than perfect state for golf and makes the job of a greenkeeper a very difficult one. We can't fight mother nature, we must simply wait until conditions improve enough to allow us to work effectively on the surfaces once again.
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Maintenance Week Update
Despite the high winds and rain work on the greens this week has progressed well. All surfaces have been scarified using the pedestrian machine pictured above. Due to the need to work in dry conditions, much of the work was carried out between the many rain showers we have had in the last three days. Half the team worked late in dry conditions yesterday afternoon to ensure the work could be completed.
Overseeding
Overseeding work has been completed on 18 of the 20 greens. Only the 11th and the Western putting green remain. Two passes of the seeder were carried out on holes 4 and 6 to improve sward density following the application of herbicide last autumn. All seeded greens have been top dressed and ironed to reinstate levels and smooth out the surface.
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Spring Maintenance Week
Our spring maintenance week starts from Monday 29th March. We plan to carry out a number of tasks which I will explain in this post.
Greens will be scarified in two directions to remove some organic matter from the base of the turf. A pedestrian scarifier will be used and the arisings will be collected. This process will not disrupt the short term playing quality of the greens. Dry conditions are required for this task to be carried out effectively.
Following the scarification we will overseed the greens. Our disc seeder will be used to introduce a browntop bentgrass mix of seed into the greens. The new grass will help fill out the sward, improving density to achieve a smooth as surface as possible. Greens 4 and 6 will particularly benefit from this process following the chemical treatment carried out in those areas last year. Again, dry conditions are required for this task to be carried out properly.
Finally greens will be top-dressed. We aim to apply around 20 tonnes of material to the putting surfaces. Dry weather is again required for this task to be carried out properly so fingers crossed for a sunny few days next week. To allow work to be carried out in good time, one tee starts will be in place and greens will be removed from play while work is in progress. Disruption to play will be kept to a minimum but I hope all players will understand the importance of completing the prescribed work in a timely manner.
Greens will be scarified in two directions to remove some organic matter from the base of the turf. A pedestrian scarifier will be used and the arisings will be collected. This process will not disrupt the short term playing quality of the greens. Dry conditions are required for this task to be carried out effectively.
Following the scarification we will overseed the greens. Our disc seeder will be used to introduce a browntop bentgrass mix of seed into the greens. The new grass will help fill out the sward, improving density to achieve a smooth as surface as possible. Greens 4 and 6 will particularly benefit from this process following the chemical treatment carried out in those areas last year. Again, dry conditions are required for this task to be carried out properly.
Finally greens will be top-dressed. We aim to apply around 20 tonnes of material to the putting surfaces. Dry weather is again required for this task to be carried out properly so fingers crossed for a sunny few days next week. To allow work to be carried out in good time, one tee starts will be in place and greens will be removed from play while work is in progress. Disruption to play will be kept to a minimum but I hope all players will understand the importance of completing the prescribed work in a timely manner.
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