Firstly, on behalf of the greens committee and greenstaff may we wish you all a happy new year and hope you had an enjoyable festive break and looking forward to a prosperous 2014.
Winter Project Update
13th tee renovation
Work on the tee began back in November primarily to re-level and maximise teeing area due to years of subsidence and also with the demand for golf on the increase we now need to look at increasing the overall teeing area especially to the par 3's. All the existing turf has now been laid and is showing slight rooting due to mild temperature. Additional new turf will be purchased shortly this is due to the increased size of the tee. I have scheduled this for the begining of February weather permitting anticipating the new turf will have rooted well enough to begin competition play in April, however if this is not the case then the laddies and gents tee markers will remain on the temporary tees until the turf has sufficiently rooted.
Wind Blown/Storm Damaged Trees
In light of the recent storms, we suffered minimal wind blown damage compared with similar courses in the area however, the trees that suffered were of particular mature and large in size with extremely large root plates being exposed, this is extremely dangerous to remove to a lesser trained person. Areas that suffered the most were to the l/h/s of the 16th/17th gents tee. Approximately 10 large pine trees had fallen mainly on top of each other making it extremely difficult to remove therefore i contacted a local tree contractor who over the Christmas period and with the assistance of our greenstaff removed the damaged trees. Our greenstaff have also managed to cut up and remove all the additional wind blown trees that have fallen internally as well on the perimeter boundary of the course approximately 14 in total and thankfully none had fallen externally on to the main road.
18th Gents/Ladies Path
Due to health and safety reasons it has been necessary to take action to improve the surface of these paths. AstroTurf on the gents path has new deteriorated badly causing it to become extremely slippery especially when wet and frosty conditions. As a short term solution rubber matting has been installed directly on to the AstroTurf. This has improved the safety aspect although holding on to the metal hand rail is also advised especially when descending with a motorised trolley, again this is merely a short term solution until a more long term surface is found. I contacted a specialised contractor to install a rubber granulated material to approximately 50mm deep to the ladies 18th path, if this is successful we aim to install this product to the 18th gents path at a later date. I will continue to monitor the effectiveness of this product and update you on its progress. You can gain further information on this product by visiting www.theblinder.com (blinder bunker liner and blinder eco path)
follow the link - black EPDM granulated rubber material.
Before After
16th Path
Renovation work is well under way to this path, this is being carried out by our own staff as part of our winter programme. Renovation of this path's surface, ball washer and seating area including the timber bench will continue over the next few weeks and i expect this to be completed by the end of February.
1st Tee Flag Pole
Another casualty from the recent storms was our club flag pole located at the rear of the 1st gents tee. I have contacted a few companies recently and have received further information and quotations on purchasing a new one. I will submit this information to our committee for further consideration and hopefully we will have one installed before the beginning of the competition season.
Course Flags
To protect the condition of our 125 year anniversary club logo flags of which were donated by the past captain society last year, i have removed them and replaced them with our spare older club flags for the use over the winter period. As we approach the start of our winter season I will reinstate the anniversary flags, hopefully they can withstand another season until they require replacing.
Renovation to Main Tee Areas
As you may have seen recently various main tees have been hollowcored and cleared but not top dressed. Normally top dressing would immediately follow hollowcoring but due to the fact they are not in play throughout the winter period I've decided to leave the holes open, this will remove surface moisture quicker and also allow air to circulate throughout the root zone. This will keep them dryer and healthier throughout the winter months. If weather permits top dressing will begin approximately in the beginning of March prior to the golf season commencing.
Bunker Renovation
As part of our winter programme we(greenstaff) will begin the renovation to various priority bunkers throughout the golf course i.e, 5th middle, 11th(all), 13th r/h/s, 16th, these bunkers will require full reconstruction i.e, removal of the existing turf and sand, construct new grass face and edging, install new turf and sand to the correct depth. On the completion of these bunkers we will also assess the rest of the bunkers this course concentrating mainly on the depth of the sand in the appropriate areas. This will continue throughout the forth coming months until all the bunkers are of a consistent playability.
18th Drainage R/H/S 150 yrds
Over the past few years we have noticed surface water lying here for longer periods than usual. Recently we have began investigating, upgrading existing and installing new drainage to improve this area. on investigation we have identified(as with similar poorly drainage areas) a high percentage of thatch within the turf.
This will naturally reduce peculation rates therefore causing flooding to this area. On completion of this area we will also install additional drainage to the exit of the new 18th ladies path of which is also requiring some attention.
Greens Information
We regularly monitor the temperatures of the greens using a digital thermometer so that we can use this information to compare temperatures from previous seasons, also it is extremely useful information when deciding upon applying liquid or granular fertilisers therefore we minimise the risk of wasting valuable labour and expensive products.
Greens Soil Temperatures
21.11.13 07.01.14
Greens Temps Greens Temps
1 0.9°C 7 4.6°C
2 0.5°C 8 4.5°C
3 0.1°C 9 4.3°C
5 0.6°C 10 3.9°C
15 0.8°C 11 4.3°C
16 0.7°C 12 4.5°C
18 0.5°C 13 4.1°C
PG 0.1°C 17 4.3°C
As you can see its unusually mild for January and may it continue.
Thank you for your attention
Douglas
