Fairy Ring Activity

Despite the fact the greens remain smooth and in generally good order it is noted there has been a marked increase in the presence of dark green rings on the putting surfaces known as fairy rings.

 Dark rings visible on the 18th green

Although these fungal pathogens tend not to cause the turf any actual harm, they are very unsightly and the ball reacts slightly differently on the lush green rings compared to the adjacent lighter areas. A chemical control is available but it is difficult to apply it correctly. It must be sprayed onto the soil below the affected grass on two occasions four weeks apart when the rings are active. To get beneath the turf we must tine the greens to open channels into the soil and then spray the chemical down the newly created holes. Top dressing can then be used to help reinstate a smooth surface with the greens fully recovering in a week or so. Four weeks from the initial application we would need to repeat the process – tine greens, apply chemical, top dress and wait for full recovery to take place. Clearly, carrying out these processes at this time of the year is far from ideal from a playing perspective. In the coming days and weeks we host a number of important events along with several ladies and gents medal competitions. We need to balance the need to rid our greens of this largely superficial problem with that of the short term performance of the greens in this critical phase of the playing season. It would seem that by the time we have a suitable space in the club diary to carry out the work, it will be past the period of efficacy for the chemical. On balance this treatment will be best carried out in the early part of summer 2011, assuming of course the rings return next year.

Controlling Bracken

We have taken steps recently to begin to control bracken in selected rough areas around the course. Bracken is a highly invasive species of fern which is widespread throughout many of the out of play areas on the golf course. The plant has the potential to form huge dense stands of monotonous vegetation which dramatically lower the ecological value of the inhabited areas by stifling the growth of almost all other plant species. Interestingly, the large stands of bracken which cover huge areas are often made up of only one plant with each stem connected via a massive underground rhizome system buried deep in the soil. This fact alone makes effective control of the plant extremely difficult.

It is worth pointing out that we recognise that in certain circumstances bracken can have a positive impact on both ecology and golfing aesthetics. It can provide both height variance and texture to out of play areas and can also provide a valuable nesting and roosting habitat for several bird species. Even some plants species can thrive under the bracken canopy provided it is not too dense. In fact size, density and location of the bracken stands are what dictates the ecological and aesthetic value to the area. Due to this we have selected specific areas where we deem control to be appropriate.

In many of the areas where shade has been removed with the clearing of holm oak and degenerate gorse, bracken has taken over. Areas such as the right hand sides of the 7th and 18th holes, which have previously been subjected to clearance works, have been selected as areas suitable for bracken control following rapid ingress into the newly created open spaces. In both of these locations chemical control has been carried out to stop the bracken dominating.

Chemically Treated Bracken Dying Off

Establishing Marram

The Marram grass planted in the dunes on the left side of the 11th fairway following the tree removal last year has established well. The difficult spring and early summer weather meant that planting success was far from certain but thankfully things have turned out well. Nearly every Marram plug has taken and most are now thriving.

Of all the small pockets we planted the ones on the backs and sides of mounds and in hollows have taken best of all. The shelter from easterly winds provided in these areas has allowed the young plants the ideal environment for growth. Plants on mound tops are doing less well but most have still taken and continue to grow and spread albeit more slowly. For the time being we continue to request that players take a lift and drop when they land in the Marram plantations (marked by a white line) to help provide the most protection possible to these still vulnerable plants.

Further planting will be carried out on hole 11 in the autumn to add more texture to the lovely dune formations in this area.

The image above is of a section of the area next to the 6th tee which was previously home to a copse of the invasive Holm Oak tree (Quercus Ilex) and virtually nothing else. In 2008 we removed trees and scraped away the brash on the ground to expose the sand below. This was followed by extensive planting of Marram grass plugs and the introduction of some gorse plants. 

As you can see from the image above the gorse has established very quickly and has already spread over a significant area. Our aim for this area is to provide a fairly open, species rich dune grassland so with this in mind we will shortly begin chemically controlling further spread of the gorse plants. I am very surprised to be considering gorse control measures so soon after introducing the plant but it just goes to show how aggressive the plant is when provided with favourable conditions. If left unchecked the area would be completely covered in gorse which would be to the obvious detriment of biodiversity, just as it was with the Holm Oak tree before we intervened in 2008.

New Tee Signage

The tee signage on the course is being replaced with new bronze plates. On white tees these will be mounted on locally sourced granite boulders, which are felt to be in keeping with the natural look and feel of the course.

Yellow and red tees will have their bronze plate mounted on the underside of the existing granite plinths, which will be sunk into the tee surface so as not to cause any issues with health and safety. The non-intrusive look of the “mow over” style of tee plate is again in keeping with the natural feel of the golf course.

Blue tee markers will cease to be used on the championship tees with the white tee markers being placed on the championship tees on occasion instead. Members should pay close attention to which tee surface is in play on holes 9, 13 and 15 when playing in competitions.

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.

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.

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.

The brushes used on the greens today

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.