Enville Golf Club
Course Management
April Report
General Conditions
It has been
well recorded that this winter period has been one of the wettest on record and
given this fact it is testament to the work completed on the courses which has
resulted in the courses standing up very well over this period.
The playing
surfaces in the main have remained playable and firm for the majority of the
winter period. A focused aeration programme combined with regular topdressing
has been instrumental drivers behind the performance of the playing surfaces
coupled with other important practices. Creating playing surfaces which can
withstand play for the majority of the year has to be a major target for our
management of both courses, in an era which is presenting us with very
irregular and extreme weather patterns.
AUGUSTA SYNDROME
We as greenkeepers always dreaded the Masters. Not
because we didn`t enjoy watching it as much as the next man, but because we all
felt pressure from our members to produce ideal golfing conditions as soon as
Augusta came on the television – even though (as far as we were all concerned)
it was still the end of winter and nothing was growing. It seems to me though
that over recent times, the threat of “Augusta Syndrome” has become a little
less overbearing than it used to be and I think this may be due to two things.
Firstly, I think we all start our spring preparation
work just a little bit earlier than we used to. I don`t know if this is a
subconscious reaction to Augusta Syndrome on our part, or if we are all bowing
down under the weight of peer pressure because we don`t want our members to see
the greenkeeper down the road getting out of the traps before we do – or maybe
the last few winters haven`t ended quite as badly as we thought they had – but
we seem to be willing to break out the topdressing and knock down the height of
the mowers just a little bit earlier than we used to. Ride-on rollers help too
– if an early season roll or two fits into your program and doesn`t cause any
residual damage, then what is the harm in giving your members a wee treat
around Masters week? We do now roll throughout the winter when conditions
allow.
The second reason I think Augusta Syndrome is not as
much of an issue as it used to be is because our members get bombarded with
golf coverage all year round now. Historically, The Masters was the first
televised event of the year to hit our screens, and it got everybody keen for
the game again. People who had stashed their clubs under the stairs after the
last medal in September rushed to dust them off and get back out there, only to
discover that the greens they had left in prime condition when they gave up for
the winter – instead of pulling on an extra jumper – had deteriorated through
six months of relentless rain and precious little sunlight. It`s changed days
now though – we can now turn on Sky Sports (other sports broadcasters are
available) any Thursday through Sunday and be entertained by our favorite
golfers playing on prime surfaces in exotic locations from Honolulu to Hanoi.
The constant drip-feed is diluted in comparison to the one-off hit we used to
get from being flung straight up Magnolia Drive after half a year of cold
turkey (that`s an addiction reference, not a Christmas one!), and I think it
does get us greenkeepers off the hook a bit. It is still the year`s first
major, and it is still a fantastic spectacle, but it just doesn`t seem like
such a big boot into spring as it used to before we all became utterly spoiled
by the widespread coverage emanating from our 50-inch flat screens.
Greens/Aprons
The greens
have been performing well throughout the winter period, firmness has been
within our required figures and moisture readings have been very good, these
two indicators and there results are especially good given the volume of rain
we have experienced over the winter period. There has been some real positive
comments with regard to the condition of the greens over the past two months,
obviously this is great feedback but with the good performance figures we are
seeing and the positive feedback from golfers there has to be a reason and I
will attempt to explain.
As you are
aware we aim to create good playing conditions for as long as possible
throughout the year. To achieve this we have over the last eight years focused
our attentions to the playability and effectiveness of the root-zone to achieve
our goals. With focused aeration and regular top dressing we have a soil
profile on the majority of greens which effectively move water away from the
surface keeping the greens firm during rainfall. With our aeration programme we
have also reduced our organic matter content to a level which again allows a
correctly struck ball into the greens to pitch roll forward and stop along with
maintaining firm surfaces. Organic matter (thatch) can massively affect the
performance of the playing surface. By completing regular aeration to varying
depths, top dressing regularly, only applying feed which is necessary to achieve
good growing conditions and adopting an austere approach to irrigation
application we have reduced our organic matter on our greens. This in turn now
allows us to be more flexible and less aggressive with our aeration, this year
will be the first year for 10 years that the courses will not be closed for
aeration work in the spring and autumn, we can now complete the required
aeration and over-seeding works with less disturbance to the playing calendar,
I believe this to be a very positive step. In conjunction with all the above
this type of management creates the best environment for the finer grasses to
flourish so with over-seeding to supplement the natural transition we seeing
improved populations of the finer grasses and reducing the percentages of the
less desirable weed species such as annual meadow grass. These finer grasses
will enable us to present more consistent and prolonged conditions and require
less disruptive and expensive maintenance regimes.
Our current
height of cut is 5mm and this will be reduced over the coming weeks once we see
some consistent growth and a thickening up of the sward. We are mowing 2-3
times per week and rolling twice. Again, the intensity of mowing will increase
once we see sufficient growth. Collars and Aprons are currently cut at 10mm.
This week
(beginning Monday 4th April) we have applied our second Lawn sand to
the greens at 20gms/m², this slowly feeds the turf but does not encourage too
much top growth it also works very well at low soil temperatures which can
often occur during this time of year. We have also continued with our spring
aeration in the form of 10mm solid tines, this coupled with a light topdressing
and a roll reinstate the surfaces back to normal with very little disruption to
play. The topdressing at this time of year helps to level the surfaces out with
the added bonus of improving the root-zone over the longer period. The monthly
solid tinning will continue but as we come into the main playing season we move
to an 8mm tine.
Over the
coming weeks the aim will be to top-dress all aprons, we try and manage the
aprons as closely to the prescription for the greens so creating surfaces which
encourage the running game and varied approach shots into greens.
Tees
All tees with
the exception of the newly re-turfed tees are being cut with pedestrian mowers
at 10mm twice per week. The tees have had two applications of lawn sand which
has helped to aid recovery from the
winter period; top dressing has also been applied to level surfaces and improve
the root-zone.
The intention
is to continue with pedestrian mower for as long as possible but once sustained
growth has been achieved we will revert back to ride –on mowers to same time.
The newly
re-turfed tees will be brought back into play once the turf has established. It
is felt that the 11th Highgate white will be back into play very
soon but the 3rd lodge tee will be longer as we have only just
completed the turfing. For qualifying competitions on the Lodge we will
position a mat on the new tee so a measured course can be played. I am hoping
we can commence playing form the turf for competitions by the begging of June.
The marker stones have also been replaced on the new 3rd tee.
Fairways.
Fairways are
currently being cut once per week at 15mm. all fairways have been lighly
scarified to remove any debris build up in the surface of the turf. We have started
to repair divots in heavily trafficked areas and will complete a full divot
over the coming month.
We have
achieved our goal of two verti drain (deep solid tine 1”x12”) passes over the
winter period on all fairways, this over the years has been a real help in
providing fairways dominated with the finer grasses and also being able to
withstand very dry periods given the improve root structure.
3rd Lodge – Improvements to
the surround.
We are hoping
to get the bunkers filled up with sand shortly and if the turf surrounding the
bunkers has established a root system then we will be in a position to open
them up. We have a great deal of work to get the surrounding turf to a required
standard but we will be topdressing and gently feeding the new turf to achieve
the standard expected.
The ruts left
from the dumper will be repaired over the coming weeks and the path in front of
the tee reinstated.
Environmental Management
The annual
heather cutting and harvesting of seed was completed back at the start of the
winter and we have harvested a considerable amount of seed. This seed will be
used on our turf stripped areas to augment the existing seed bank.
The tree
felling work completed on behalf of the power suppliers has left some areas
around the front nine of Highgate a little exposed from the adjacent road. In
my view it gives us a great opportunity to establish our boundary hedges as we
now have a more open environment in which a newly planted hedge will establish
in. It is my intention to get quotes on planting a new hedge in areas where the
existing hedge is non-existent, this will then in the future mature into a new
barrier and screen which will have much more longevity and not be treated in
the same way as the trees underneath the power cables.
The stump
grinder has been book for the week commencing 11th April to tidy up
any stumps which have been identified to be a safety concern in the rough
areas.
Further information.
Gordon Irvine
will be visiting the Club on 25th and 26th April 2016, if
you have any questions or information you would like clarification on please
email me with them or come and meet up with Gordon during his visit.
Jonathan
Wood
Courses
Manager
07977448149
