Weekend Update

A busy week on the course with real grass growth throughout the course.
It's been our week of bunker & banking maintenance, which as you can imagine is a time consuming job. The rough has received a full cut with a few new areas being included to speed up play. The greens received an application of wetting agent during the rain on Monday, which was ideal for washing it into the profile.
All the work we have carried out on the greens is now starting to kick in, with a real growth spurt and seed germinating in all areas. The problem with these flushes of growth is slower putting speeds and also the Poa Annua taking on a brownish tinge due to fungal infection. It is not Fusarium Patch disease as we experienced in November, but a naturally occurring discoloration of the leaf and would quickly grow out. But following the impact of the attack last Autumn, I applied a systemic fungicide to prevent further discolouration.
To speed up the surfaces, we have reduced the height of cut and started using the brush on the greens mower. Reducing the height of cut has to be balanced against the needs of the new seedlings.
Matt Shimwell (the new Course Manager) has been working with us for 2 days this week, getting re-acquainted with our practices. This way, the hand over should be seamless.
Have a great weekend.

Mark & the Greens team.