5th Green Bunkering Pt 4

Most of our day was spent removing excess sand from the site. Some shaping work was started around the first two bunkers.The stakes in the bunker were used to establish how high the revetted faces will need to be in order to see them clearly from the fairway. Incidentally, the height required is nowhere near the top of of the stakes! If you click on the image then zoom in you may just be able to see some yellow tape which is tied to the green and white post. The tape marks the approximate height of the top of the new bunker face.

5th Green Bunkering Pt3

The excavator arrived today allowing work to start on the removal and shaping of the soil. First of all we  scraped off the top soil and piled it up for use later.

We then spent the rest of the day removing sand to the desired levels. The excavator loaded  tractors and trailers with material that was dumped in an area adjacent to the 15th tee. This material will be mixed with composted material to form a sandy loam for future use.

5th Green Bunker Refurb Pt 2 - Turf Cutting & Removal

Today work started on the refurbishment of three bunkers on the left side of the 5th green. The area was marked out immediately prior to the turf cutter arriving on the scene.

The turf was cut using a 12 inch wide blade to a depth of 1 inch. It was sliced into pieces of 2 feet in length.  Of a total work area of 550m2 just over 50% of the turf will be reused. All reusable turf was lifted by hand and stacked to one side. 

 The remaining material, which was too weak to be lifted and relaid, was removed mechanically and taken to the composting area to be left to rot until ready for screening into divot mix. The shortfall in turf for this project will come from our nursery area at Corbiere.

We have an excavator on hire from tomorrow which will be used for digging out the bunkers and for rough shaping work on the surrounding ground.

5th Green Bunker Refurbishment

Starting next week,we plan to refurbish the five bunkers around the 5th green. The bunkers on the left side of the green will be subject to fairly major reshaping work with the aim of making the bunkers more visible from the fairway,  improving aesthetics and making access and egress easier. 

As can be seen in the above image, the current look of the bunkers is rather uninspiring. The bunkering around this green should have a far greater visual impact so to achieve this we will remove material from the back of the bunkers and reshape the faces. We will use a revetted style of bunker face in keeping with the style on other areas of the course.

The image below shows extensive soil erosion at the point of exit from the bunker. This is caused by the steep slope which leads to people slipping and skidding as they try to get out of the bunker. Access to the bunkers will be greatly improved by the reshaping of the land at the point of exit from each of the bunkers.

Work is scheduled to start here on the 1st of November. To enable the work to proceed in a safe and timely manner it will be necessary to use a temporary green on non-competition days during the project.

Maintenance Week Update

Greens are recovering well from the work carried out during the maintenance week. Following a period of inclement weather we have managed to apply the final 20 tonnes of top dressing material to the putting surfaces. In all a total of 50 tonnes was applied in the ten days following the hollow core operation and the material has been worked into the sward nicely.

Germination of the new grass following the seeding operation is now clearly evident. Rows of new bent grass where the seed drill has passed over can be seen in the image below taken of recently of the 12th green.

More Marram Planting

Following on from the work carried out last year, we have planted more Marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) on the left side of the 11th hole. Since the Holm oak (Quercus ilex) trees have been removed from the dunes in this area we have identified the need to stabilise the shifting sands. There can be no doubt that Marram is perfect plant for this purpose. Recent heavy rain has provided ideal soil conditions so hopefully most of the plugs will establish successfully.

We carry out most of this work by hand. We carefully select the best plants then we tease them out of the ground and collect together in large tubs ready for replanting. Through trial and error we have found that the plants that survive the process best are those which have the most fresh looking small white roots. The large rhizome that extends deep from each plant does not help a transplanted specimen to survive. We would consider the plants shown in the image below to be ideal for transplanting as they have a good number of fresh looking root hairs.

  

Tiny root "hairs" clearly visible

We aim to complete as much of this type of work as possible over the next few weeks as this is felt to be the best time of year to ensure success. Areas on the left side of the 13th hole will be planted out next.

All planted areas have been white lined and fenced off. No play is allowed from within the lined areas and players are requested to take care not to trample the plants when retrieving their ball.

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.

Chemical Control Of Ryegrass in Greens Pt 2

 The Treated Collar On Hole 14

Following our initial application to the 4th and 6th greens last year, we have sprayed Pinoxadin on greens and collars on holes 1, 12, 14-18 and the putting green to control Ryegrass and Yorkshire Fog. We also re-treated the 4th and 6th to control the small amounts of Ryegrass re-growth that was evident. We expect to see significant die back of the target grasses in around the third week of September. Soon we will overseed the treated areas with bent grasses so hopefully the new grass will fill in the gaps left by the dying ryegrass. Top-dressing will take place to ensure surface smoothness is maintained but some brown patches will be evident for some time to come. This work has been timed to avoid major competitions but still get the benefit of the warm temperatures.

Golf Course Ecology Visit

We were recently visited by Bob Taylor, Head of Ecology and Environment at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) to advise us on our on-going management of the out of play areas of the golf course. Bob is the official environmental consultant to The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and is responsible for managing ecological and environmental sensitivities on all of the of the Open Championship golf courses. He is recognised as one of the most experienced consultants dealing with all aspects of ecological and environmental management on golf courses.

 Bob Taylor & Andrew discuss bracken management

During the visit discussions took place regarding the management of the rough grasslands, fixed dune grasslands, gorse, various tree species and bracken. Most of the work discussed will be carried out in the winter months. Specific details will be published in the coming weeks.

Filling The Gaps With The Vredo

The recent wetter weather has provided us with ideal soil conditions for introducing grass seed into some of the thin turf around the course. Areas around the edges of some of the fairways and on walkways have lost some grass cover over the dry summer months so we have used the Vredo disc seeder to get seed into the soil to hasten recovery going into the winter months. Continued showery weather is required to allow germination as these areas are not covered by any of the 900 plus sprinkler heads. With favourable conditions the seed should be visible in less than 2 weeks. A light feed will then take place to strengthen the new grasses as much as possible before the soil cools in the autumn and grass growth slows. Any bare areas that remain will likely see moss invade. It will the then be next spring before we can improve the situation further.