Weekend update

Despite a wet Wednesday, its been another good week. The course stood up really well to over 10mm of rain. 

Lots of small but time consuming tasks completed this week.

The range tee is now closed and received a good cut and heavy divot to aid recovery thru the winter. Brian has bought some new mats, so play can continue.

The greens were micro-tined on Monday, the 1st time since early September. This was followed with a cut and iron to restore the surfaces. The Air2G2 was again in use as well to breath life into the greens, The drainage work on the 12th was treated to a top-dressing. The turf is already rooting, so the green will be rested this weekend to help the roots establish.

It was a busy week golf wise, which meant continued set up work to fit in as well.

We have a side-arm flail tractor on hire as well this week. United Utilities are paying for it, so we are tidying the verges and routes thru to the waterworks. This will also involve some treework next week on the track to the 15th tee.

The seed on the 8th tee has germinated well and was top-dressed with sand.

We also placed some stone on the newly formed winter tee on the 6th hole. This was compacted and levelled. more work will be carried out next week.

Fingers crossed for the weekend weather.

Mark & the Greens team.

The good weather continues and with it the list of completed jobs.

We started using the auger on Monday on the 7th green to aid surface water removal. Over 2 days we managed to bore over 70 holes, each one 4ft deep. The subsoil was very hard due to the dry conditions, which slowed down the process. Each hole was filled with washed 6mm grit and topped off with sand. Following a cut & iron the green was back in play. We also repeated the operation on the front of the 14th green.

Tuesday saw us starting the drainage work on the 12th green. This is a project that has been waiting to be completed for 2 years. Good weather and ground conditions are vital to avoid making a real mess during the digging out process. A total of 80 metres of 80mm perforated drainage pipes was installed in 225 x 800 mm trenches. These trenches were filled with the washed grit and topped off with a sand/soil mix and re-turfed. The turf was then sprayed with an iron/fungicide mix and top-dressed. All the work was completed on Friday morning. The turf will need a few days to settle, so a winter green will be in use into next week.

We have also formed a base for a new winter tee on the 6th hole. This should be ready for play in the next few weeks.

The course was set up for the weekend on friday, but there are signs that things are starting to slow down on the growth front.

Have a great weekend.

Mark & the Greens team.

Friday update

Well the Autumn arrived on Tuesday/Wednesday with over an inch of rain falling in a 24 hour period. Certainly tested the drainage. The greens stood up to it very well with only a couple of puddles on the greens. The Air2G2 really is making a difference.   The mild conditions also led to a small but persistent outbreak of Fusarium patch disease. So I applied a systemic fungicide 1st thing on Thursday morning. The chemical will remain active for 4-5 weeks, so fingers crossed it will see us past the disease pressure period.   Its been a case of tidying areas throughout the course for the remainder of the week. The fairways and tees have also received a full divot. As in previous week, we have completed a full cut ready for the weekend.   We plan to start some deep auger work and drainage work on selected greens next week, but this will be weather dependant. It is a process which has produced good results in previous years.   Fingers crossed for a good weekend.   Mark & the Greens team.

Friday Update.

Well what a fantastic week, weather and work wise.

If only July & August had been this good.

We started some drainage work across the 5th fairway on Monday which was left over from last years winter work programme. Its a diagonal drain which runs from the end of the buggy path to the large hollow on the R/H side of the fairway. It should dry out an area thats sits wet following heavy rain. We have also dug out an area of old path which is no longer used. The drain is finished and marked GUR, but the work on the path will need more work and some turf.

The spoil from the drainage work was moved to the front of the 8th tee to create a base for a winter turf tee. This tee has been finished as well and seeded. Please avoid walking on this area until the seed germinates.

The seed was given to the club to trial by DLF (a seed house). It is a coated seed which should speed up germination and growing in.

We have managed to thin out more areas of rough (R/H 1st, between 6th & 7th, R/H 11th). If the dry weather continues we will carry on with some other areas.

We are still completing a full cut during the week to maintain conditions for as long as possible. 

There have been signs of disease on the greens, but on Tuesday I sprayed a nutrient cocktail to harden the turf against any outbreaks. If this does not work, I'll have to apply a fungicide.

Have a great weekend.

Mark & the Greens team.