March Greens Report
Greens Report
Greens Report March/April
Over the past few weeks we have experienced an extended stretch of dry weather with above average temperatures for this time of year. As a result course conditions have become very firm on most playing areas. Our irrigation system has suffered three major bursts so far which have been repaired, the system also has an electrical problem which is still yet to be resolved, however we are hoping to have this issue repaired in the next week or so. The issues with the irrigation has not only meant we have struggled to get the required amounts of water onto greens and tees, we are also restricted to manually turning on the irrigation on each green and tee individually through the day, whereas we are usually able to set the system to operate automatically during the night. However there is rain forecast in the next few days which will reduce the amount of irrigation required for the time being. As we head through spring and the growing season begins to pick up, we have started gradually reducing heights of cut on all main playing areas. Lowering the height of cut gradually, helps to minimize stress on the turf. In the next few weeks greens height of cut will be down to our regular summer cutting height. We continually monitor the height of cut on the greens. If conditions for example turned very hot and dry, we would raise the height of cut to prevent stressing the plant. As you will now be aware the restrictions have been lifted on the use of mats on fairways, so please remember to replace divots. All summer tees are back in play, however white tees will remain restricted for competition use only until the start of May.
Last week saw us complete our greens maintenance week. Our maintenance week allows us to carry out some intensive work on the greens which will improve the long term health of the surfaces as we move into summer. All greens were scarified to a depth of 12mm by a contactor we regularly use during maintenance weeks, his tractor mounted scarifier is able to work to deeper depths more comfortably than what our scarifiying units would. Scarification aids the removal of thatch and organic matter build up below the surface. Removing as much of this material as we can improves air and water infiltration, and improves root development, therefore creating a healthier plant which will also reduce the chances of disease. All greens were scarified in one day. After scarifiying, the greens were then cleared of any material which was left on the green using our brush units on our triple mower, then blown with a back pack blower. When the greens were cleared, we followed up with the verticutting units to a depth of 3mm. This process refines the surface, and removes any lateral growth. All greens were then seeded with fescue seed using our dyna seeder units. Once seeding was completed we topdressed greens with around 10 tons of sand. The topdressing aids in smoothing the surface, dilutes organic matter, improves firmness and drainage and covers the seed. The topdressing was then brushed into the surface. An application of 9-1-10 granular fertilizer and calcium/magnesium was applied to help aid the recovery of the greens. While the greens may take a short while to fully recover from these procedures, this type of maintenance is crucial for the long term health of the greens. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
A couple of weeks before our maintenance week we scarified all Tees and approaches. We then topdressed these area and brushed the sand into the surface. A slow release granular fertilizer was then applied to aid in recovery and strengthen them up for the start of the summer. The week before maintenance week, we sprayed out a fungicide on all main greens and practice greens. This helps to protect the greens of any disease during and after the stress put on the turf during maintenance week. Greens on the 9 hole course received an application of lawnsand which helps to kill any moss, we will lightly scarify these greens to remove the dead moss. A wetting agent was also applied to all main greens and 9 hole greens earlier in the month. We use wetting agents throughout the summer to help prevent greens drying out to quickly, the wetting agent helps to keep the moisture in the profile uniform and they also improve the effectiveness of the water we apply through the irrigation. We continue to monitor soil conditions throughout the summer and adjust our wetting agent program as needed to suit weather and turf conditions. The 10th green has now had the back section gravel banded across the existing drain runs, we hope this will help improve the drainage in this area as this has been a problem area for some time. We will also concentrate on micro coring, scarifiying, verticutting and topdressing the back of the green regularly throughout the summer to try and improve the soil structure, which will hopefully allow a more free draining area and improve turf quality.
If you have any question about the work being done please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you for your continued support.
Greens
Over the past few weeks we have experienced an extended stretch of dry weather with above average temperatures for this time of year. As a result course conditions have become very firm on most playing areas. Our irrigation system has suffered three major bursts so far which have been repaired, the system also has an electrical problem which is still yet to be resolved, however we are hoping to have this issue repaired in the next week or so. The issues with the irrigation has not only meant we have struggled to get the required amounts of water onto greens and tees, we are also restricted to manually turning on the irrigation on each green and tee individually through the day, whereas we are usually able to set the system to operate automatically during the night. However there is rain forecast in the next few days which will reduce the amount of irrigation required for the time being. As we head through spring and the growing season begins to pick up, we have started gradually reducing heights of cut on all main playing areas. Lowering the height of cut gradually, helps to minimize stress on the turf. In the next few weeks greens height of cut will be down to our regular summer cutting height. We continually monitor the height of cut on the greens. If conditions for example turned very hot and dry, we would raise the height of cut to prevent stressing the plant. As you will now be aware the restrictions have been lifted on the use of mats on fairways, so please remember to replace divots. All summer tees are back in play, however white tees will remain restricted for competition use only until the start of May.
Last week saw us complete our greens maintenance week. Our maintenance week allows us to carry out some intensive work on the greens which will improve the long term health of the surfaces as we move into summer. All greens were scarified to a depth of 12mm by a contactor we regularly use during maintenance weeks, his tractor mounted scarifier is able to work to deeper depths more comfortably than what our scarifiying units would. Scarification aids the removal of thatch and organic matter build up below the surface. Removing as much of this material as we can improves air and water infiltration, and improves root development, therefore creating a healthier plant which will also reduce the chances of disease. All greens were scarified in one day. After scarifiying, the greens were then cleared of any material which was left on the green using our brush units on our triple mower, then blown with a back pack blower. When the greens were cleared, we followed up with the verticutting units to a depth of 3mm. This process refines the surface, and removes any lateral growth. All greens were then seeded with fescue seed using our dyna seeder units. Once seeding was completed we topdressed greens with around 10 tons of sand. The topdressing aids in smoothing the surface, dilutes organic matter, improves firmness and drainage and covers the seed. The topdressing was then brushed into the surface. An application of 9-1-10 granular fertilizer and calcium/magnesium was applied to help aid the recovery of the greens. While the greens may take a short while to fully recover from these procedures, this type of maintenance is crucial for the long term health of the greens. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
A couple of weeks before our maintenance week we scarified all Tees and approaches. We then topdressed these area and brushed the sand into the surface. A slow release granular fertilizer was then applied to aid in recovery and strengthen them up for the start of the summer. The week before maintenance week, we sprayed out a fungicide on all main greens and practice greens. This helps to protect the greens of any disease during and after the stress put on the turf during maintenance week. Greens on the 9 hole course received an application of lawnsand which helps to kill any moss, we will lightly scarify these greens to remove the dead moss. A wetting agent was also applied to all main greens and 9 hole greens earlier in the month. We use wetting agents throughout the summer to help prevent greens drying out to quickly, the wetting agent helps to keep the moisture in the profile uniform and they also improve the effectiveness of the water we apply through the irrigation. We continue to monitor soil conditions throughout the summer and adjust our wetting agent program as needed to suit weather and turf conditions. The 10th green has now had the back section gravel banded across the existing drain runs, we hope this will help improve the drainage in this area as this has been a problem area for some time. We will also concentrate on micro coring, scarifiying, verticutting and topdressing the back of the green regularly throughout the summer to try and improve the soil structure, which will hopefully allow a more free draining area and improve turf quality.
If you have any question about the work being done please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you for your continued support.
Greens