This week has seen us continue with our surface preparations particularly the putting surfaces to improve the quality and performance of the surface. At the start of the week we applied in the region of 26 tones of top dressing to all greens on both courses as seen in the picture below.

We are planning another dressing next week of a similar amount, this type of little and often dressing helps to even out the surfaces by filling in any discrepancies in the surface but also helps to firm up surfaces also. Our annual target is to apply between 150 - 200 tones per courses. Following dressing we always integrate the dressing into the sward by brushing and star tining which also helps to push the dressing into the soil profile, the picture below shows this process.

We have started to see more even growth around the course this week so mowing and surface preparations such as grooming and brushing will increase. Height of cut for the greens is 4mm, collars and aprons is 10mm and fairways 14mm.

This week has also seen us apply fertiliser to all tees which is an organic based product, hand mowing is still been applied to all tees giving a great finish and appearance.

 Alistair Beggs our agronomist from the STRI conducted his first visit of the year on Thursday and his report will be available in the clubhouse as soon as it is completed. I have included a report below from Alistair which was written a year or so ago in response to extreme cutting heights adopted at some clubs. it is still very relevant today and makes for some very interesting reading.

The Lowest of The Low

By A J Beggs BSc Hons

The constant demand for ever-faster surfaces (and in my experience some of this is coming from greenkeepers and not just golfers) is doing this industry nothing but harm. The most recent advice I read in some journals and magazines is to cut at 2mm on a regular basis and give the members what they want.  What rubbish!  There are no prizes for cutting your greens at a height so absurdly low that nothing other than weeds will grow.  This is not sustainable, it is not sensible nor is it necessary, irrespective of the soils, the grasses, or the environment you have.  It is a researched fact that mowing low reduces the capacity of the plant to photosynthesise.  Once this basic metabolic activity is compromised so is the general health of the plant and weakness and decline is inevitable thereafter.  The decline may take longer on some greens than others but the result will be an agronomic and playing disaster – the last thing any club needs in the present climate!

Effective course management is all about finding a balance between the requirements of the golfer and the requirements of the plant.  T’was ever thus.  However while the requirements of the plant have largely stayed the same over recent times, the requirements and expectations of the golfer have changed immeasurably.  There is an insatiable hunger for speed at all costs fuelled by television and tournament golf.  Unfortunately the plant we rely on is not designed to be pummelled and thrashed by man and machine on a week-by-week basis and unsurprisingly it needs a break from time to time.

As golfers we like nothing more than playing on firm well paced putting surfaces where the ball rolls true.  I maintain that these characteristics can be achieved without recourse to absurd mowing heights.  The best greens in this country comprise native browntop bent and fescue grasses with annual meadow grass mown at around 4mm (for routine play) and perhaps a little lower for special events. With occasional rolling and verticutting in the correct circumstances alongside regular top dressing these greens provide good natural pace without needing to be mown any more tightly. 

Perhaps rather than being prescriptive about heights of cut we should focus more on the performance of our greens.  This means measuring the quality and speed of roll so that these key elements deliver for the golfer.  At the same time we should be measuring the health of the component plants in order to achieve a performance balance between the surface and the plant system.  It’s not about height of cut it is about performance.

So let us refrain from talking specifics particularly when it comes to height of cut.  The adoption of the 2mm recommendation across the country would ruin many of our courses and create an abundance of drought and disease prone turf.  It would do very little for the finer grasses we work so hard to encourage and would promote annual meadow grass, which as a ruderal species would thrive in a highly pressurised environment. Top players are becoming increasingly vocal about the failings of annual meadow grass under tournament conditions around the world.  In the UK with its wet maritime climate, the water retentive thatch it produces along with its incessant seeding are real problems when it comes to producing smooth and firm surfaces throughout the day. It would do nothing but harm to golf course budgets at a time when clubs have to be careful and ever mindful of costs and in some cases it would lead to already well-paced surfaces becoming unplayable.  Finally in a climate where there is a desire to make golfers play more quickly to shorten the time it takes to play a round of golf, it would be the death nail for pace of play.  Most golfers simply cannot cope very well with stimpmeter speeds in excess of 9ft so giving them 10 or 11ft would make an already slow game even slower.

Sadly I have seen with my own eyes, and too many times over the last twenty years, the results of prolonged low mowing in this country.  It does nothing for the plant, the golfer or the reputation of the clubs who practice it.  Resist it at all costs and instead focus on a holistic and sustainable programme of work, which will deliver good performance for the player, for the plant and for the pocket.

Weather conditions have improved somewhat with relatively warm and sunny days giving us real sense of spring. the only down side has been the cold nights giving us frosts to contend with and no precipitation restricting the amount of growth and recovery. That said it is great to get the sun on your back and start to get into course set up mode. The new 11th on Lodge will be in play for the coming weekend and the Lodge Team have been doing some final prep work for the opening.

As i have mentioned earlier the course set up in terms of mowing rotas is beginning to get going and we are completing new mowing routines along with new areas of collars and aprons, below is a picture of morning course set up on the 1st Highgate with the greens, collars and aprons being cut.

The greens are currently being cut at 4.5mm predominately with pedestrian mowers as shown in the picture below. These are preferred rather than sit on mowers as they give us a better finish and lightly roll at the same time, the presentation is far greater and at this time of year when we are getting differential growth due to the cool soil temperatures, we feel these mowers are able to cut the more procumbent growth more efficiently.

This week we have applied our spring summer fertiliser an organic based product at a rate of 18gms/m2. this will help to slowly encourage growth and even out the surfaces. it is a very difficult time of year for us as the finer grasses are growing quite well but the poorer annual meadow grass is really struggling so greens were there are higher proportions of the annual meadow grass we see very mixed growth and bumpier surfaces, conversely were we have a high proportion of the finer bents and fescues the surfaces are fine. hopefully over the coming days we will see the surfaces even out more. We are completing hand watering and some automated irrigation to offset the lack of moisture.

We have also been working hard on weaker areas around collars and aprons and some tees, here we have solid tined using 15mm tines, overseeded and then top dressed using a 50/50 mix, this is 50% sand and 50% soil. this mix helps to retain moisture and give the seed a good start.

During the middle week we also saw Adrian Mortram our irrigation specialist come in for the day to start collecting data to plan precisely all our sprinkler heads and tees and greens so this can be put onto a 2d plan and used for future planning and management. We will have precise measurements for areas of tees, greens and fairways along with precise details of our irrigation system.