Greens Report
Greens Report October 2023
After a Summer where we have seen high quality greens and the course in fine condition we are now in the lead up to our Winter season. The Autumn treatment has been successfully completed and the climatic conditions should allow the greens to recover quickly. The treatment has been hollow tining followed by the application of 70 tonnes of top dressing and an over seeding with bent grasses. There has also been an application of Winter feed which will help with the recovery. Although bent grass seed is very expensive the seed size is very small so the application rate is small compared with other species. A typical bent grass has 10,000 seeds per gram compared to 1,000 for a typical fescue. Although temperatures of 10 degrees or above and a period of 2 weeks are desirable for the germination this has been shortened to a week due to the higher temperatures we are currently experiencing. The aim is still to have predominantly bent greens as this will provide the most consistent and disease resistant greens and the gradual replacement of Poa Annua should minimise the effect of flowering in the early season.
We have recently seen an attack of the fungal disease Anthracnose on our greens. Anthracnose occurs when the greens are under stress and normally during the late summer months when the temperatures are still high. It attacks Poa Annua grasses and while this leads to bare patches on the greens it does give us the opportunity to promote the spread of bent grasses. The outbreaks have been treated but the effectiveness of synthetic fungicides has been short lived, often as low as 2 weeks. As this is an expensive treatment and several applications are necessary it may not be the most cost effective treatment. As we move into the Winter period we will also be faced with the potential for attack from fusarium, which thrives under cooler damp conditions. The inclusion in maintenance programmes of cultural practices such as lightweight rolling, top dressing and mowing practices which incorporate optimum heights of cut will lessen disease pressure. However these alone will not remove the potential for attack and other treatments will be necessary. Many courses have turned to the use of organic fungicides to prevent and control disease and they have had good success with the treatments. Organic fungicides have the advantage of being environmentally friendly and perhaps more importantly they are cheaper and longer lasting. We have started treatment with organic fungicides so we will be able to judge their effectiveness over the coming months. Potentially this will start to give us benefit in the tricky start to the season next year.
As soon as the mild growing conditions have subsided the Winter programme will be underway and most of the work will be concentrating on trees. The area between the 4th and the 5th, which has already had many trees removed, will continue with the removal of the trees on the left of the 5th fairway. The aim is not only to improve the appearance but also to re establish the drainage that has become ineffective. It is clear that the work done last Winter has improved the course drainage not only in this area but also in many other areas of the course. The area to the right of the 10th fairway is also to be cleared. Trees will be removed and the growth to the right of the fairway approaching the green will be cleared to will clarify the hazard area which is at present obscured. The wetland area will also be cleared as it is not beneficial to have tree growth there. The fairways are again being verti drained on the 4th and 5th of December which will also help the drainage as well as improving the texture of the fairways. Work will start next week on clearing drain outlets to ensure good water flow and we will also be clearing ditches when the weather allows the use of heavy equipment.
The Winter season will inevitably see wet fairways and consequently deep divots and it is even more important during this period that we repair our divots using the divot mixtures. We are seeing a large number of unrepaired pitch marks on the greens so please repair not only yours but also others that you find. Posts and ropes are now in place to direct traffic so please observe these to protect the course.
We have recently seen an attack of the fungal disease Anthracnose on our greens. Anthracnose occurs when the greens are under stress and normally during the late summer months when the temperatures are still high. It attacks Poa Annua grasses and while this leads to bare patches on the greens it does give us the opportunity to promote the spread of bent grasses. The outbreaks have been treated but the effectiveness of synthetic fungicides has been short lived, often as low as 2 weeks. As this is an expensive treatment and several applications are necessary it may not be the most cost effective treatment. As we move into the Winter period we will also be faced with the potential for attack from fusarium, which thrives under cooler damp conditions. The inclusion in maintenance programmes of cultural practices such as lightweight rolling, top dressing and mowing practices which incorporate optimum heights of cut will lessen disease pressure. However these alone will not remove the potential for attack and other treatments will be necessary. Many courses have turned to the use of organic fungicides to prevent and control disease and they have had good success with the treatments. Organic fungicides have the advantage of being environmentally friendly and perhaps more importantly they are cheaper and longer lasting. We have started treatment with organic fungicides so we will be able to judge their effectiveness over the coming months. Potentially this will start to give us benefit in the tricky start to the season next year.
As soon as the mild growing conditions have subsided the Winter programme will be underway and most of the work will be concentrating on trees. The area between the 4th and the 5th, which has already had many trees removed, will continue with the removal of the trees on the left of the 5th fairway. The aim is not only to improve the appearance but also to re establish the drainage that has become ineffective. It is clear that the work done last Winter has improved the course drainage not only in this area but also in many other areas of the course. The area to the right of the 10th fairway is also to be cleared. Trees will be removed and the growth to the right of the fairway approaching the green will be cleared to will clarify the hazard area which is at present obscured. The wetland area will also be cleared as it is not beneficial to have tree growth there. The fairways are again being verti drained on the 4th and 5th of December which will also help the drainage as well as improving the texture of the fairways. Work will start next week on clearing drain outlets to ensure good water flow and we will also be clearing ditches when the weather allows the use of heavy equipment.
The Winter season will inevitably see wet fairways and consequently deep divots and it is even more important during this period that we repair our divots using the divot mixtures. We are seeing a large number of unrepaired pitch marks on the greens so please repair not only yours but also others that you find. Posts and ropes are now in place to direct traffic so please observe these to protect the course.