Greens Report
Greens Report October 2020
Over the past few months we have seen the course in excellent condition and it is fair to say that the texture of the greens has never been better. We are now up to full staffing, which augers well for future course work and once the winter programme has been finalised I will update you on it.
There has been attack on some of the greens due to a fungal disease known as Take-all Patch. This has been particularly bad on the 6th green but can be seen on many of the others. Although this looks similar to fusarium it is characterised by a bare patch with some growth in the centre rather like a doughnut. It particularly attacks bent grasses and can be controlled by the application of Manganese , Potassium and Iron salts. It thrives in alkaline conditions and the soluble iron is used to lower the pH as well as giving other benefits. The greens have all been treated and along with the application of a fungicide the disease has been brought under control and we are now seeing the benefit of this work.
We are now into Autumn and the work on the course is moving away from frequent cutting into other areas. The greens have been fertilised and are now being tined about every 3 weeks with 8mm solid tines to a depth of 3-4 inches which will help to reinforce the treatment that was done in August. The bunkers are now being maintained but clearly this is difficult with the present situation not allowing members to rake them and has also not been helped by the recent wet weather. It is noticeable that the bunkers that were restructured last year stand up well to the conditions and clearly the continuation of that work will be an essential part of the winter programme. The heavy rough is now being systematically cut down to 5 inches so this should improve our ability to find errant golf balls.
The drain outlets are being cleared so that the drainage system will be more effective. We are also grateful for the help of Brad Eardley who has been working alongside our staff in clearing many of our ditches. The ditches on the 13th, 14th and 15th are being dug out and it is hoped that the work will continue into other areas as conditions allow. With all the ditch work that has been done it is now easier to control the level of the ponds, particularly on the 14th and 17th, which should allow the areas around those holes to become less waterlogged during the winter. It is also planned to tackle the ditch across the 7th so that the water flow can become less restricted but there will still be a level of water in that ditch as it takes the water from the pond on the 17th.
Now that we are experiencing wet conditions the damage being done by divots is very noticeable. We are planning to introduce divot bags so that members can fill in divots with a seed mixture and we see this as an important move to further improve our fairways, which have already seen the benefit of the seeding work that was done last year. It is hoped with the help of the members to have this in place over the next few months and I am confident that with your cooperation we can have some real effect.
There has been attack on some of the greens due to a fungal disease known as Take-all Patch. This has been particularly bad on the 6th green but can be seen on many of the others. Although this looks similar to fusarium it is characterised by a bare patch with some growth in the centre rather like a doughnut. It particularly attacks bent grasses and can be controlled by the application of Manganese , Potassium and Iron salts. It thrives in alkaline conditions and the soluble iron is used to lower the pH as well as giving other benefits. The greens have all been treated and along with the application of a fungicide the disease has been brought under control and we are now seeing the benefit of this work.
We are now into Autumn and the work on the course is moving away from frequent cutting into other areas. The greens have been fertilised and are now being tined about every 3 weeks with 8mm solid tines to a depth of 3-4 inches which will help to reinforce the treatment that was done in August. The bunkers are now being maintained but clearly this is difficult with the present situation not allowing members to rake them and has also not been helped by the recent wet weather. It is noticeable that the bunkers that were restructured last year stand up well to the conditions and clearly the continuation of that work will be an essential part of the winter programme. The heavy rough is now being systematically cut down to 5 inches so this should improve our ability to find errant golf balls.
The drain outlets are being cleared so that the drainage system will be more effective. We are also grateful for the help of Brad Eardley who has been working alongside our staff in clearing many of our ditches. The ditches on the 13th, 14th and 15th are being dug out and it is hoped that the work will continue into other areas as conditions allow. With all the ditch work that has been done it is now easier to control the level of the ponds, particularly on the 14th and 17th, which should allow the areas around those holes to become less waterlogged during the winter. It is also planned to tackle the ditch across the 7th so that the water flow can become less restricted but there will still be a level of water in that ditch as it takes the water from the pond on the 17th.
Now that we are experiencing wet conditions the damage being done by divots is very noticeable. We are planning to introduce divot bags so that members can fill in divots with a seed mixture and we see this as an important move to further improve our fairways, which have already seen the benefit of the seeding work that was done last year. It is hoped with the help of the members to have this in place over the next few months and I am confident that with your cooperation we can have some real effect.