Course Management
Course Manager’s report for November 2012
Greens, Collars and Aprons
Greens are currently being cut at 5.5mm three times per week with pedestrian mowers. We are also aiming to roll the greens once per week to maintain good surface conditions. This rolling also helps to smooth out the surfaces after aeration work which is completed every two weeks at this time of year to improve surface drainage and air flow into the soil profile. However, caution has to be taken when deciding when to roll because rolling when surfaces are too wet could result in compaction in the surface.
During the week in which we slit greens, collars and aprons, we also complete slitting of all tees.
We have completed our monthly application of seaweed and chelated iron to greens, collars and aprons, to help keep the plant healthy; this will also help to harden the turf against fungal disease out-breaks during the winter period.
During the latter part of the month we will be verti draining the new greens on both courses as part of a more intensive aeration programme planned for these greens. This will help improve the soil structure and drainage capabilities.
Over the last month we have raised and leveled sprinklers around greens which have over time sunken to below the required height, reducing the effectiveness of the sprinklers when used.
On the 5th and 6th of November we completed deep drilling to a depth of 2m on the 9th and 10th greens on Lodge. The company who completed this work specialises in this kind of drainage work and we managed to put in the region of 90 holes in each green through the troublesome areas of the greens. The holes were filled with 20mm drainage gravel to 18inches from the surface then a membrane was put in to work as a blinding layer and then the remainder was filled with sand used in our top dressing mix. The initial signs are good so we are expecting good results in these areas.
Fairways
All fairways on both courses have now been verti drained once with 18mm tines to a depth of between 350mm and 400mm. The aim is to complete a second pass of all fairways during February/March. We have also completed three with the fairway slitter on 1-9 fairways on the Highgate course and on fairways 1-3, 13-18 on the Lodge course.
Surrounds to greens have been aerated with 15mm solid tines to a depth of 110mm.
Major Renovation Projects
3rd Tee Highgate
We have already transported-in some 490 tonnes of soil to enable the height of the tee to be increased, giving improved views of the hole from the tee. It is hoped we will be able to bring enough soil in, to bring the new levels up to the height of the winter tee.
We are aiming to complete this project during the early part of December
5th Highgate Green Surround
We are aiming to commence work on this project the week commencing the 26th November.
9th Lodge Fairway
All of the excavation and shaping to the fairway area has been completed and we have this week (commencing 19th November) started to turf the fairway area with the turf that was taken up from the original fairway. The mounding around the fairway will be shaped and made ready for turf/seed after we have advanced the turfing of the fairway.
Bunkers
We have completed a large amount of bunker edge renovation with heather turf being used to help create the natural look and to connect the bunkers to the wider heather rough areas. We have also replaced areas of rank grass from around bunker edges with fescue turf to give a more open and natural look.
Environment Management
November is the month when we complete our annual heather cutting and seed harvesting. To date we have been able to harvest a substantial amount of brashings and seed, but we have been restricted to the amount we have been able to cut due to the wet weather we have been experiencing. The aim is to complete the cutting and harvesting before the middle of December. The heathland areas are broken down into compartments and cutting on a two year rotation we also leave specified areas for a longer period to create different age ranges of heather, giving a broad spectrum of habitat.
The heather seed we harvest will be used to create new heather areas but we also donate seed to other golf courses, Natural England and other heathland sites for the development of heathland in general.
The new areas that we are creating by turf stripping are doing really well, with some of the areas lifted a year ago already showing good signs of germination. This is especially good to the right hand side of the 2nd on the Lodge Course.
Jonathan Wood
Course Manager
Enville Golf Club
07977448149
