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 4^th 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 11^th Highgate white will be back into play very soon but the 3^rd 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 3^rd 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.

3^rd 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 11^th 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 25^th and 26^th 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

jw@j-wood.co.uk