A truly horrible week weather wise, but despite this, we've managed to complete a few outstanding tasks.

The track down to the 15th is now clear and the toilet truck made it there & back safely. There is still some work to do on the surface of the track, but this will be carried out when some suitable material is available.

We had to rest the Air2G2 this week as the ground conditions were either frozen or saturated. But we did manage to start deep timing the greens on Wednesday using 350mm x 12mm tines. We have kept the spacings close together to give an even lift to the surfaces. This will be followed by a hand cut & iron tomorrow (Friday).

I also applied a liquid micro nutrient spray prior to the tining. This also included some Roca-stem which we use to maintain firm surfaces.

The winter greens have received a cut and light top-dressing. They are starting to show some worm activity, so we will apply some iron and suppressant next week.

We have carried on with leaf collection, but are hoping that we are coming to the end of this laborious task following the sharp frosts.

The area between the 6th green and 7th tee has seen a manhole installed. This area has heavy soil and the drains work well, but puddles are still slow to disappear. The manhole should speed things up.

Next week, we hope to carry out some drainage work around the 5th green. The L/H side bunker has had washing issues for a number of years and it is hoped to intercept this ground water. 

Robert Laycock has been back to assess the species population of the greens. The feeling is that the finer grasses are increasing, but his report will hopefully confirm this.

Fingers crossed for settled weather for the weekend.

Mark & the Greens team.

Weekend update

Well where do I start?
The Autumn/Winter has really kicked in.  14 consecutive days rain is really starting to takes its toll on the course. Moving around is becoming an issue and we are now walking hand mowers round the course to get access to the greens. The greens triple, despite having 3 wheel drive is unable to move around the course safely.

Despite the conditions, we managed to get the greens micro-tined on Monday & Tuesday, followed by a cut. The Air2G2 was again out at the start of the week, completing 7 greens.
The greens really are looking good, with little sign of any disease. The preventative measures we have used this Autumn have worked well.
One thing that is evident on the greens are the large amount of unrepaired pitchmarks. At this time of year when the surfaces soften it is even more important to make sure you fix any mark made on the green. Recovery from these marks is slow at this time of year.
Robert Laycock (the clubs agronomist), visited on Monday as was very pleased with the surfaces and grass cover. He did suggest some adjustments to our aeration programme, which he will detail in his report.

We have continued to clear the track down to the 15th tee's. This has turned into a major task, but at least it keeps us busy during the difficult weather conditions.

Next week, we hope to carry out more aeration throughout the course. There is still some drainage work outstanding and some exploratory work around the 5th green. As usual, all these tasks are weather dependant.

Fingers crossed for a change in the weather.

Mark & the Greens team.

Weekend update.

Another busy week which was punctuated by quite a bit of rain.

We applied some granular fertiliser to the greens on Monday which should be the last major nutrient this year. We used an organic based low Nitrogen product with Calcium which is designed to help the break-up of thatch.

On Tuesday the greens were sprayed with trace elements inc a Copper solution. This will help hold back any outbreak of Fusarium. It has been a difficult Autumn for turf managers in this respect. The mild weather has encouraged many outbreaks and some clubs have suffered dramatic turf loss.

On Tuesday we also started installing additional pipe drainage on the 9th green. Around 60 metres of 80mm perforated pipe was placed in 225mm wide trenches. The work was completed on Thursday. The green will probably be out of play for a few weeks. The 12th green (which was drained in October) is now back in play.

An ongoing job for the last 2 weeks has been to widen access to the waterworks & 15th tee. This involves removing overhanging trees and scrub and tidying the verge. This work will continue over the coming weeks.

Leaf blowing and collection is now in full swing and will continue until the last of them have fallen.

Tasks planned for next week include micro-tining the greens,  installation of a new Tee mat on the 6th hole and some more minor drainage work near the 6th green.

Have a good weekend.

Mark & the Greens team.

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.