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Summary of the season
This year got off to a terrible start, with the tragic death of a work colleague and good friend, Dave Johnson. The whole club was shocked with the news. I was amazed by everyone’s kindness and generosity in the collections and golf day. Special thanks to John and Hazel, our captains, for organising these events.
A warm spring meant early growth and the hollow coring that took place
throughout the winter, soon recovered. We were soon cutting the greens
daily and lowering the height of cut to 4mm. A mini heat wave gave us
the opportunity to mow and define the fairways, semi, and rough. Having
had nearly 3 weeks of glorious warm weather all the winter wet areas
dried up. Just when it looked liked we would have to turn the sprinklers
on and start watering, we had a week of lovely drizzly rain. The fairways
and approaches that were drying out quickly picked up and warm days
and nights meant the grass was growing around the clock. The course
looked great- the greens had improved from last year and the purchasing
of some green rollers improved speed and trueness. Another week of warm
sunny weather was perfect and the course looked a picture.
Then it started to rain.....rain.....rain and for just about 2 months
it seemed to do nothing else. The only part of the course that enjoyed
the rain was the sand greens. I forget how many times the water was
pumped out of the bunkers and the sand pushed back up the faces. It’s
a credit to my hard working staff that the course remained open when
others were closed. Throughout the period of wet weather we only had
to cancel one competition. (Mixed open).
Finally the rain stopped and the weather returned to normal for the
time of year (not over warm, cloudy and no sunshine). We soon got on
top of the mowing and the drier conditions made grass cutting a lot
less messy. At last it gave us the opportunity to reseal the pond on
the 12th, something we had been planning for almost a year but ground
conditions were always against us. Ian Redfern, our mechanic and construction
specialist, redesigned the dam, waterfall and water feature. We will
be dedicating the water feature to the memory of our good friend Dave
Johnson. Summer has now turned to autumn. We have already had a number
of frosts and the days are getting shorter as the nights draw in.
We have had our best year yet but the time has now come for us to start
some maintenance on the greens. For the next 4 months, when conditions
allow, the greens will be hollow cored, or verti drained. After hollow
coring the holes will be left open to encourage root growth and help
with the break down of the thatch, as well as improve surface drainage.
Verti draining is deep aeration, going down 12 inches. This will help
relieve compaction that has built up over the year, encouraging deeper
root growth and quick water penetration through the root zone.
Please remember that now the winter is upon us you can do a lot to preserve
the course. When we start to use mats, please use them! Use them on
the tees, especially on the par 3 when taking a divot is the norm. If
you’re chipping around the green and there’s no danger of
taking a divot you don’t have to use the mat. If we all adhere
to this we can play longer on the tees and recovery of the course in
the spring will be quicker. Pitch marks: why do 1 when you can do 3
or 4. It is now the time for the electric trolley brigade to start using
the paths, giving the greens a wide berth. The last thing we now want
is muddy paths being created eg. Shortest route from green to tee.
Again this year we will aim to play on the greens throughout the winter,
the last 3 years have been ok.... however if the weather conditions
bring severe and prolonged frost it may be wise to come off the greens.
If, after a period of cold weather the greens are showing signs of wear
and deterioration it would be foolish not to come off them.
Buggies ............ throughout the winter when the course is very wet
or frosty it is necessary to ban the use of buggies. The reasons are
obvious - to prevent accidents and damage to the course. Frosty mornings
will mean the buggies will be banned but as soon as the frost has thawed
they can be used again.
We had a successful season last year and how we come through the winter
will determine how quickly the course and greens reach the condition
of last year.
Course alterations and winter
maintenance.
A lot of you are aware that we are in the process of buying a small
piece of land behind the 5th tee which will allow us to extend the tee
back 30 to 40 yards. We already own the fields behind the 9th and will
soon start to lengthen the tee by a similar amount as well as landscaping
the field and reshaping the bank of the pond so we can mow out the field
to the same height as the green surrounds. This should improve the drive
entrance and the appearance from the road.
We have hired the tree spade again and moved some trees onto the hill
side of the first and cut down the thick rough. This should help speed
up play as finding balls should be a lot easier. Over a 100 more sapling
trees will be planted around the course which over the coming years
will grow helping to define the fairways.
This winter a lot of the trees need the sucker and lower branches removing
to help encourage more top growth and make mowing easier. The willows
along the brook on 13 need a lot of work to prevent them splitting and
falling down like the one on 4.
Some more paths will be boarded to make a cleaner edge, as well as existing
ones maintained.
All machinery is serviced in house. This includes engine services and
the regrinding of cylinders and bottom blades.
There is a busy winter program as always. Some of the construction may
be completed before spring- a lot depends on ground conditions.
Russell
Allen
Head Greenkeeper
