Tee Scarification

This week we are using the tractor mounted scarifier to remove thatch from tee surfaces. This job ideally requires dry weather so the vast amount of organic matter that we remove can be picked up from the tee surface easily. Two men are required to scrape the material up and then load onto trailers. The material is then added to the compost heap. The remaining material is then blown off the surface before finally the tee is cut to finsh the job off. We will top dress the tees with sand which will be worked into the grooves. This will help dilute the remaining thatch and will also level the playing surface. This process will be repeated on the 2nd and 4th fairways in the coming months to help improve firmness in these rather soft areas.

Winter Work On The Courses

"You'll not be as busy on the course now the season has finished"


Course staff here this comment from well intentioned players regularly but in fact nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, we are even busier in the winter than we are in the summer. As a young apprentice greenkeeper I recall my boss telling me "when the grass stops growing the real work can start" This seemed a strange comment to make, after all ,what could there be to do on a golf course in the winter? I was soon to learn that there are a number of vital tasks carried out every winter that go unnoticed by most people but are crucial for the long term health of the golf course.

Sub-Surface Aeration

This winter we will use a range of equipment designed to aerate the soil to varying depths. A slit tining machine will be used on greens, surrounds and approaches to make knife like cuts in the turf to a depth of around six inches. This task will be carried out around three times each month with the primary aim being to allow air and water penetrate into the soil profile helping keep the surface as dry as possible.


A slit tine machine


A verti-drain machine will be used on greens, tees, fairways and approaches. This machine punches holes in the turf to a depth of up to twelve inches. The main aim with this machine is 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.



The Verti-drain machine in action

Maintenance Week 2008

Our summer maintenance week commenced on the 26th August. The work undertaken this year has been mainly focused on the greens with hollow coring, top-dressing and overseeding being carried out. I will endeavour to explain why these processes take place and what benefits we hope hope to achieve;

Hollow coring has been carried for two main reasons -
1) To remove thatch from the greens, which in turn helps water and air move more freely into and through the soil. This helps keep the surface of the greens dry and promotes general turf health and vigour.
2) To provide an effective seedbed. The holes made on the green are ideal for sowing seed into and provide the perfect haven for new young grass plants to grow.

Hollow coring on the putting green

Overseeding is carried out 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. You may have noticed the yellow patches on some of the greens recently, this is a turf disease called anthracnose and certain grass species are particularly susceptible to attack from it. It can kill the affected area if left unchecked and at the very least it will cause an uneven putting surface. The fine fescue grasses we are using this week are not susceptible to this disease, so the more of this grass species we can encourage the healthier our greens will be.

Top-dressing helps smooth the surface following the core aeration work. The sand/soil mix was applied very lightly to the surface of the green on two occasions this week. One application was made before the seed was sown and one after. Hopefully, down each tine hole we have a few fescue seeds sandwiched between two layers of top dressing. All we now need is the constant presence of a little moisture and some heat and we will have success. Top dressing has a number of other benefits to the turf on which I may make a separate posting later on.

Top-dressing putting green

I hope golf has not been too disrupted while this work has been taking place but I'm sure everyone would agree that the potential benefits make the temporary inconvenience worthwhile.

For All Players Who Appreciate Smooth Greens

This season, in an attempt to highlight the problem of unrepaired pitchmarks, the course staff placed a golf ball on every unrepaired or badly repaired pitchmark on the 7th green. We arrived with 200 balls and had run out before we got half way up the green.

200 pitchmarks on the 7th green

As you can see from the photo above, achieving true putting surfaces with so many indentations in the green is an almost impossible task. The course staff respectfully request that all members endeavour to -

• Spend the time waiting for a playing partner to line up and
  putt, looking for any pitch marks around where you stand,
  then at an appropriate moment repair as many as is possible
  without holding play up.
  
• Actively point out a pitch mark left by a fellow player, so
  he/she has the opportunity to repair it. (Their ball may well not
  have finished on the green, but did pitch on it)


• Repair it yourself if they are not prepared to repair it.


• Remember that when repairing a pitch mark, you should ease
  the surrounding ground back into the hole with a fork, moving
  around the hole, not just from one side. Do not dig up the hole
  with your fork and then pat it down, this will tear the grass
  roots for some time, leaving a dead patch.


• It is a proven fact that a pitch mark repaired within 10 minutes
  of being made will recover almost immediately, where as one
  that is left for a few hours will take 3 weeks.

How to repair a pitch mark on a green

Correct Method
1. Discard the loose piece of turf taken out by the ball
2. Insert the pitch mark repairer tool just outside of the back of the pitch mark
3. Lever the turf towards the centre of the pitch mark
4. Repeat this motion from all sides of the pitch mark
5. Gently tap the repaired area with your putter. This action stretches undamaged
turf over the pitch mark, providing instant recovery

Incorrect Method
1. DO NOT replace the loose piece of turf taken out by the ball. It will die and delay
the healing process.
2. DO NOT pry up the centre of the depression with the pitch mark repairer as it
exposes the soil and will delay the healing process
3. DO NOT insert the pitch mark repairer and twist it. This only breaks more turf
loose

Ecological Management Plan

Rare wild Orchids in rough on hole 10

The Management Committee have engaged the Sports Turf Research Institute’s Ecology and Environment Unit to compile a Management Plan to ensure appropriate ecological management is undertaken to protect, enhance and preserve the various habitats that form the golf course and surrounding headland.


The purpose of the plan is to document the current and future requirements of the grasslands, gorse, trees and associated habitats on the golf course. We have over 400 species of flora and fauna on the course, many unique to their environment, all of which play a significant part in defining the experience at La Moye


Summary of management objectives –


· To enhance and maintain the prestigious nature of this links style course and to retain its reputation as a top class golfing venue.
· To recognise and conserve the landforms and associated habitats that play a fundamental part of the nature and quality of the golf course.
· Maintain the character of the golf course and the balance with the surrounding landscape.
· To display to members, visitors and local residents the wildlife value of the site and its importance to the local conservation framework.
· Promote and conserve the links landscape, which is underpinned by fixed dune grasslands, gorse and heather with occasional groups of native trees.
· Address the problem of continually establishing holm oak trees across the site.

Holm Oak Invasion Behind 12th Green

· Retain the size, health and connectivity of the different habitat types.
· Reinstate and conserve the botanical/ecological interest and diversity of the coastal fixed dune and species rich grasslands through appropriate management including ongoing tree/scrub removal.
· Recognise and ensure environmental sustainability through best practice by understanding and embracing new and developing environmental practices.


The rationale behind all suggested operations within the Management Plan is to ensure that we enhance the already superb golfing experience that La Moye has to offer. This pertains to both the strategic aspects of the course, ensuring the golfer has a challenging but fair round, and also to the aesthetic and nature conservation value of the site, which undoubtedly plays a significant part in the golfing experience, we all enjoy here at La Moye. We shall continue to consult with both the STRI and local experts in relation to the plan and proposed work which will include :-


· Coppicing, removing, planting and monitoring of gorse. To ensure plants remain healthy and are growing in the correct places.
· Removal of the invasive holm oak tree species, particularly on holes 10-14 where important fixed dune grasslands are being lost to this aggressively spreading tree species
· Timely cutting and scarifying of roughs to ensure stands remain generally open in nature and do not become too thick
· Management of bracken
· Arboreal work to retain the health of those trees we wish to retain


This is a very positive step in protecting the unique environment in which we play our golf and preserves the very distinct heritage, wildlife and character that defines La Moye.