Course Management
Course Manager’s report for January 2014
Annual weather report
Firstly, a belated Happy New Year to you all as we tentatively take a soggy step into 2014!
Before I go onto my report I thought we could have a quick look back at 2013.
Before I go onto my report I thought we could have a quick look back at 2013.
The GDD data for 2013 picks out the growth conditions perfectly with a flat start to the year, in essence the grass plant grew better in January than it did in February or March. The winter was long and hard, but in reality it didn’t start until mid-January (be warned).
It wasn’t until mid-April that the weather changed for the better, curiously enough in exactly the same week it changed for the worse in 2012! By July we were flying and enjoyed a heady 3 weeks of hot, dry weather, with Ireland
We had rain in August, kept the good temperature and rolled on into September still tickling along nicely. October was exceptionally mild, with nearly the same growth conditions as September, but with a lot more rain at the end of the month. (Although the rainfall figures for Enville represent one of the driest records for 2013). The temperatures dropped off a cliff in early November as we went into a sustained period of dry, cold conditions. This finished in early December as we picked up milder, westerly winds, but unfortunately these whistled over some intensely deep lows, so the year finished off very windy and very wet.
What an interesting year, but mercifully a better one for most of us after the hard start, though I know a lot of courses were closed over Christmas (and remain so).
So it’s best foot forward into the new year and let’s see what it has in store for the rest of January, however that said we have already experienced over 50mm rain to date in January (2 inches)!
Course restrictions over the last month have been minimal given the volume of rain we have experienced. The Course has been closed on two occasions and temporary greens being used intermittently on specific holes due to either the surround to the green has been waterlogged or the green itself has become too soft for play to commence.
Fine Turf Management
During this stage of the winter it is very much a case of making sure the fine turf surfaces are in as good health as is to be expected at this time of year. If the greens are healthy coming out of the winter, then they will respond well during the spring period.
Management practices employed to create a healthy sward will include timely aeration in terms of slitting, then once we are through January, we use solid pencil tines which are less disruptive to the surface. Regular applications of chelated iron and seaweed help to keep the grass plant healthy and ready for the spring feeding to begin.
We are currently cutting the greens on average once per week at 5.5mm which helps to smooth the surfaces as we are not removing large amounts of grass, however, since December 20th 2013 we have been able to get onto the greens with pedestrian mowers on two occasions and slit aeration in this period has been completed twice also. Rolling will be deployed, when possible given underlying ground conditions, this will help maintain surface levels. During February and if conditions allow, we will give the greens a light top dressing which will signal the start of our spring programme. This early dressing also helps to fill in any scarring caused by disease or pitch marks, and we expect to apply in the region of six tones of material per course with this application.
Renovation and Improvement Projects
Work has progressed well on both courses over the last month with all the planned renovation and improvement projects.
15th Lodge Green Surround and bunkering – All new bunkers are now constructed along with contouring. The turfing will be completed over the coming weeks. We are really pleased with the finished work as it has changed a reasonably bland hole into an interesting and more appealing golf hole.
6th tee Lodge – The constructed of a new tee which was planned for last year will commence during the coming weeks.
13th tee improvements (Highgate) – The new sleeper edge has been installed and the teeing area which was renovated is now ready for turf, which we hope to complete during the week commencing 20th January.
General turf replacement/repairs – We have completed a large amount of repair work around all playing surfaces and this will continue through the majority of February.
The removal of rank grass from around bunkers banks and contouring has also progressed well and this again will continue into next month.
Environmental Management
During periods of weather which restricts the general construction/renovation work, we are able to keep on top of our Stewardship Scheme through Natural England with some important thinning work undertaken as necessary to also sustain good growing conditions for our fine turf surfaces.
The main focus of our thinning work over the coming years will be centered around holes 4-12 on the Lodge course where the long-term aim is to reduce the amount of pine trees and increase the number of indigenous broadleaved trees and to also promote the generation of more heathland within this area.
As you may well be aware, the 4-12 area on Lodge was once a heathland with the heathland being used to plant these pine trees as part of the war effort. This was the case for many heathland areas throughout the country, especially in counties such as Dorset where there were massive areas of heathland demolished with this type of planting. However, that said with heathland being top of the Biodiversity Action Plan and acknowledged as a very valuable resource in terms of wildlife and environment, there are many areas of the country including Enville and Staffordshire, which are actively trying to restore areas of heathland with government funded financial help.
General
We continue to repair lots of pitch marks on the greens on a daily basis, I am aware that the greens have been a little softer than expected due to the persistent rain recently but it remains a problem amongst golfers not repairing pitch marks. In general as I reported at the last meeting general etiquette in terms of repairing pitch marks, adhering to traffic routing and taking an interest in protecting our courses seems to be declining. I will be implementing the protection of fairway areas again this year starting at the beginning of February on selected areas and will also make traffic routing and the protection of areas a priority over the coming months.
Jonathan Wood
Course Manager
Enville Golf Club
07977448149
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