Wednesday 19th February 2014.

With greens renovation now complete I thought I would take the opportunity to show the reason why we core and topdress greens.

Coring is important to reduce the degree of thatch that we have in the greens as a product of growth. This organic layer holds up water infiltration, reduces the amount of oxygen available for the root system and can cause an increase in the risk of disease pathogens affecting the turf.

By coring and topdressing we allow for good water movement, encourage roots to go deeper in search of water and increase levels of oxygen in the subsoil to help develop a strong root system. A strong root system leads to a strong turf surface.

We undertake these practices at both Spring and late Summer/early Autumn to encourage root growth before periods of stress. The Spring renovation encourages strong growth and the Autumn renovation helps to allow good drainage before the wet period.

This renovation is particularly important for are older greens some of which are approaching 30 years of age. The reason we are still able to play on these greens is because we have had a stringent regime of renovation for the duration of the life.

Below are photographs of one of our oldest greens. You will notice a very dark brown organic layer about 100mm deep, just below the turf level of thatch/mat. This is the layer we attempt to remove and replace with free-draining sand.

Down through this layer you will see a vertical channel filled with yellow sand from our Spring renovation and some strong roots that have developed down this channel since this time.

Recovery of these greens should be relatively quick and be in sound health for the winter months.

Layer of thatch / mat with last Springs core hole filled with topdressing sand.

Notice core hole from last Spring renovation with strong root growth developed over the past 4 months.

Tuesday 18th February 2014.

All greens have been cored and topdressed over the past couple of days in what has proven to be a relatively smooth exercise.

With good weather forecast for the next few days recovery should be quick. A follow-up light topdressing may be required next week once irrigation and brushing has been conducted over the coming days.

Greens will be fertilised later in the week once this brushing has been completed.

Members are reminded that a 'Preferred Lie' within 6 inches (150mm) may be taken on cored greens and collars until further notice. Please monitor the Local Rule Board to find out when this local rule ceases to apply.

Friday 24th January 2014.

We have been busy this week working on the verti-cutting of our green surrounds.

We have been lent a demo verti-mower unit to trial and have taken the opportunity to verti-cut our surrounds to remove excessive grass density and thatch. This was not a planned exercise but when the opportunity arose it was too good to pass.

The verti-mower heads retro-fit onto our fairway mower and as they are narrower than other verti-cutting heads they work well on undulating ground as we have on green surrounds. The total width of the unit is approx 3 metres, so large areas can be renovated very quickly.

Once verti-cut, the surround is broomed to remove grass clippings, mown and finally blown down to disperse finer grass material.

Removal of the excess grass and thatch will firm up surround and reduce the occurrence of mower ridging that can be seen from time to time on the sloped sections of the surrounds.

Recovery from this practice will be very quick.

Fairway mower with the fitted verti-cutting heads.

Verti-cutting removing excess grass and thatch.

Surround before clipping removal.

Clippings are removed by power broom.

The cleaned up surround is then mown.

Excess clippings are blown off with power blower after mowing.

The finished result is a firmer, smoother surface for play. 

 

Friday 18th January 2014.

Members will be pleased to know that a problem experienced with our #2 bore pump late last week was remedied on Monday of this week.

The failure of this bore pump last week mean't that we had access to a reduced quantity of water and this had to be rationed over the course for the four nights so that we could recharge our dams for the following night. Unfortunately the timing was poor with the hottest weekend we had for a while with temperatures in the low to mid 40's for both days.

Most of areas that suffered from this rationing were carry zones and semi-rough areas with some middle sections of fairway also being affected. Watering of tees, greens and green surrounds was not compromised.

Though signs are still evident with drying of these areas, we have been in normal programming since Monday night and we will see a dramatic improvement over the coming week.

Staff have also been busy this week with the removal of the fairway bunker on the right-hand side of the 12th hole.

This bunker had become a unnecessary maintenance item with leaf litter continually impacting on the ability for staff to present the bunker as best we can. The area surrounding the bunker was also invaded by tree roots and this was restricting grass growth.

We have now rotary hoed the site, ground away tree surface roots and shaped the area to include some mounding and followed with the turfing of the site.

We feel this will better suit the location and present the area in better condition for play.

Thursday 9th January 2014.

ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS !!

We have experienced some problems with our #2 groundwater bore this week.

It became apparent that this bore that was constructed in 2009 was not producing the amount of water it should and therefore our recharge rate had dropped off significantly.

This bore column and pump has been removed by Bore expert and club member Matt Ferguson for further assessment.

Unfortunately because of this we will have to modify our irrigation programmes to accommodate the reduced recharge rate and this may mean we will experience drying of some sections of the course.

Our putting surfaces will not be allowed to suffer with this rescheduling.

All things going to plan, we should return to normal scheduling early next week.

Monday 6th January 2014.

Groundstaff will be working on the removal of invading couchgrass into our putting surfaces over the coming weeks.

This will be a slow process with care needed to remove all couch and make sure that replacement turf from our bentgrass nursery is properly installed to give it the best chance of survival.

The couchgrass can sometimes be imported into the green site at time of construction or has been known to send runners from the surrounds areas several metres away to get to the putting surface site.

Putting surface with couch invasion occurring in the foreground.

Care is taken in removing the invaded area and to also remove stolons from below the turf surface.

Once the contaminated turf is removed a clean bentgrass plug from the nursery is its replacement.

We have also been working on the improvement of our teeing areas in the past few weeks. This has involved the leveling of the tee tops with a rotary deck mower. This removes all the unevenness and firms up the tees. Though some areas become scalped in this process, they regrow quickly and help to maintain a flat firm teeing area. This practice will continue over the next few weeks.

Rotary deck mowing unit in use.

Thursday 2nd January 2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL !!

Today we took the opportunity to give our putting surfaces a heavy grooming.

This practice thins out the density of the turf surface, removing some unwanted dead plant material and some of the course leaf growth that occurs from time to time.

The result should be smoother and more consistent putting green performance and has the other benefits of encouraging new shoots and aerating the crown area of the plant somewhat.

Some visible side affects will occur for a few days but these will disappear quickly.

Mower with grooming heads attached completing grooming.

Groomed grass is picked up in catchers but excess grass must be removed with blower unit.

After grooming and the surface has been blown down, the green is cut and ready for play.