COURSE NEWS 9th MARCH
Spring Treatment to the Greens
Thanks to the dry week - mostly - Gavin has been able to carry out an early Spring treatment to the greens. That meant hollow tining (to 63 mm), verticutting (a mere 2 mm deep, but it removes significant quantities of dead organic matter), and finally spreading 40 tonnes of dressing. It goes on in 2 applications - if it’s spread too heavily it can’t be worked into the tine holes. 40 tonnes of dressing is around 2 tonnes per green, and was approximately balanced by the removal of a similar amount of cores - a full trailer-load from each green. The core collector that was hired transformed the job - previously it needed the full team to brush and shovel the cores up manually, so we ‘saved’ (for other jobs!) 4 man days.
The tees were also verticut. There is always a fair amount of spillage from this. To remove it Gavin experimented with the new blower on the Ventrac: it worked a treat, blasting all the rubbish off the tees very effectively. (Apparently the wind speed at the blower nozzle is 175 mph, so stand well back). It is equally effective at dispersing mole hills.
An extra drain has had to be installed in the new chipping green bunker, which was developing a wet spot at one end. The bunker is now ready to be lined with special turf (to prevent sand washing down into the drain and blocking it); sand will soon be added. We are hopeful the bunker and chipping area will be brought into use at the end of the month. Next week the team will tackle the course bunkers - edging, sorting out a couple of choked drains and topping up with fresh sand. We first have to skim off a layer of heavily contaminated material caused by worm casts being washed in during heavy rains - it seals the surface and facilitates compaction.
We’ve taken delivery of a new trailer recently - it’s mainly to transport an electric hand mower but has many other uses. A replacement mower is due any time. Gavin has been able to buy a second hand version, fortunately: brand new models can cost £18,000 - for a lawnmower!
Although it’s not been a great winter, and Gavin had 2 major projects (the chipping green and the tees resurfacing) to add to his normal winter load, it’s good to report that we are nearing the end of winter more or less on track with his overall plan, and are (almost) ready for Spring!
Course Committee
The tees were also verticut. There is always a fair amount of spillage from this. To remove it Gavin experimented with the new blower on the Ventrac: it worked a treat, blasting all the rubbish off the tees very effectively. (Apparently the wind speed at the blower nozzle is 175 mph, so stand well back). It is equally effective at dispersing mole hills.
An extra drain has had to be installed in the new chipping green bunker, which was developing a wet spot at one end. The bunker is now ready to be lined with special turf (to prevent sand washing down into the drain and blocking it); sand will soon be added. We are hopeful the bunker and chipping area will be brought into use at the end of the month. Next week the team will tackle the course bunkers - edging, sorting out a couple of choked drains and topping up with fresh sand. We first have to skim off a layer of heavily contaminated material caused by worm casts being washed in during heavy rains - it seals the surface and facilitates compaction.
We’ve taken delivery of a new trailer recently - it’s mainly to transport an electric hand mower but has many other uses. A replacement mower is due any time. Gavin has been able to buy a second hand version, fortunately: brand new models can cost £18,000 - for a lawnmower!
Although it’s not been a great winter, and Gavin had 2 major projects (the chipping green and the tees resurfacing) to add to his normal winter load, it’s good to report that we are nearing the end of winter more or less on track with his overall plan, and are (almost) ready for Spring!
Course Committee