Summer micro tining

As we had a small window of opportunity where there were no visiting parties, few members playing and no competitions, we started to solid tine the greens. We want to keep disruption to a minimum as we have the greens running fast and smooth at the moment so we use 8mm tines with no heave on the machine and aerating to a depth of 100mm.

No heave on the machine ensures the holes are as small as possible and the greens surface is not adversely disrupted. On Friday we solid tined the two putting greens, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17 and 25. Following on behind the vertidrain we groomed the greens, cut and double rolled. Solid tining can be seen as very disruptive by golfers, but this is only the case when using larger tines, needed for decompaction or hollow tines used for soil exchange. Now we have got firm surfaces that can support play in wetter conditions we will use small micro tines like this more often to ensure we get the rootzone aerated to promote better drainage, increased rooting which overall will produce better greens for the members.
Else where we finished repairing the bits of badger damage and water damage on holes 1, 10, 19 and 21 and fertilised the seeded bits. We have also topdressed more drainage work done this winter with straight sand now we are seeing some regrowth of water damaged grass.

Maintenance, the key to success!

We all see the end result but I think that the actual work that the green staff put in behind the scenes is not thought about by the majority. As the work load increases on the course to raise standards the strain and wear on machinery also increases. We are constantly fixing breakdowns and servicing machinery to ensure we stay as efficient as possible. Our machinery fleet are all serviced 'in house' by all the staff which are trained to carry out greasing, basic serving of air filters,, checking and topping up oil levels and carrying out reel to blade contact checks to ensure they are cutting correctly. We carry out pre inspections of all cutting machinery to ensure there are no oil leaks or any thing else that would be detrimental to the operation required. Check service intervals and marked to indicate any other attention or that the next service interval is reached. Depending on the piece of equipment and its use, work on them may be required such as changing of blades. This is needed on the two greens mowers which are used every day through the cutting season, applying sand to the greens also has an affect on the wear of bottom blades.

As the age of equipment increases the likely hood of repair will also increase, this year so far we seen an 25% increase in repair costs over last year.
We are always planning ahead to firstly to ensure budgets are put in place to fund any course or capital expenditure and secondly to ensure we can present the course in the best possible condition with the budgets set. Currently we are looking at 2014 and 2015 in respect to our aeration work and drainage needs, we are trialing renovation on the 19-27 greens in late August and early September this year with the possibility of a renovation week or fortnight at a similar time of year in 2014 for all greens aeration. The reasoning behind this is to ensure good recovery from tining, correct germination from overseeding and a lengthened golfing season on good greens. Our previous work in October has seen slow recovery although has been very beneficial to the long term health and playability of the greens.
Drainage of the course has also been discussed in respect of improving the drain down time and decreasing the potential of course closure, works on the course will continue and we are implementing a mid to long term plan which is yet to be finalised.
Our seasonal maintenance also has to be timed into the day to day running of the club, currently we are spraying selective herbicide across the course, strimming trees, edging bunkers and spraying grass off on paths. Correctly timed the results speak for them selves.

A good kill on pearlwort on the 25th green.

The last few days we have had really good comments and feed back from the visitors playing in reciprocal, charity day and the seniors open. Regular rolling for these competitions saw the greens running at 11' on the stimp this morning. Malton and Norton Golf Club is a course to be proud of.

View down the 6th

Fantastic week at the office!

Its not bad having a golf course as your office when weve had wall to wall sunshine this week and the course is looking the best it has for some time. Even last year with the weather we struggled to really get on top of things to make Malton and Norton Golf club look and play at its best. The green keeping team we have here always work hard to produce the best course we can offer and now we are in to our summer groove the members at Malton should be proud of what we have. To be honest my camera doesn't do the course justice!

The greens are increasing in speed due to regular rolling and the dry weather firming up the surfaces. This morning running at 10'6'' on the stimp meter.
We do still have some poor areas still from the water and badger damage but even those are recovering slowly and are class as GUR

 

The two pictures above are where we had severe badger damage throughout winter, now seeded and just about fully recovered. Below is what it was like after the damage has finally subsided.

Ouch, it still frustrates me to look back at these pictures. Fortunately as a club we have been proactive by applying insecticide to a lot of areas of the course to limit damage in the future.

The hedge that was removed is also recovering well after initial seeding however is still GUR

 

I think its finally here!

Summer could be here, sunshine, warmth, growth and the course looking great. For the coming days it looks like the good weather is here to stay, for a bit. Now we have strong growth we scarified the greens with our thatch away units set at 2mm below flush, this is to remove any organic matter that can form at the surface from dead grass material and to lift and remove lateral growth which can be a problem with bent grasses.

Following a pass with the thatch away units we then cut and groomed the greens with the groomers set at flush at the John Deere greens mower. Finishing with a clean up cut with the other John Deere greens mower. Following this procedure the greens certainly look smooth and given a week of dry weather the surfaces should increase in speed. Later this week I will test them with the stimp meter once more.

Other jobs today were to cut fairways, strim trees, test the irrigation leak fixed at 17th and continue with edging the bunkers.

 

Adam, Rich and Scott hard at it today !

Irrigation burst

We have been having problems with an irrigation leak in the 17th irrigation box for a number of weeks. Every time the irrigation is running and the system is under pressure the area around the 17th box becomes saturated and the valves submerged in water. In the last few weeks we have been using the irrigation most days to water new turf and seed so we couldn't work on the leak. Now we have a period of wet weather we finally have a chance to inspect the valves and associated pipe work. The box and a isolating valve close to it was dug out to see where the water is coming from.

Else where on the course we cut bunker faces, cut bits with the stiga, divoted tees, cut tees, greens, fairways, semi, teesides and spread some more merit turf insecticide on areas around the course.

Scenes of March..........at the end of May

Yesterday we felt we had jumped back a couple of months, the wind was blowing, bitterly cold temperatures and heavy showers made it feel more like March than nearly June. England is certainly not the place to be for guaranteed sunshine and a normal summer. It seems like any predictable weather pattern is something we can only dream of, we can get any weather any time of the year, making greenkeeping very difficult for all types of golf course across the country.
The potential of grass growth at this time of year is below average (around 50% of what we would expect at this time of year). The growth potential is when the grass is actively growing, when soil temperatures rise above 6 degrees on a particular day.
The graph above shows hours of growth potential each day over the last 50 days, it shows why the grasses in the greens are growing at different rates due to the cool temperatures and general lack of growth. If we add the fact we are a tree lined course, causing shade and reducing temperatures further it can take another 25% of growth potential in specific areas of the course.
We have been battling through the horrendous conditions to produce a golf course we can all be proud of. The team were out cutting semi, fairways, surrounds strimming bits, cutting copses, tees and grooming and cutting greens. The course looking good for what looks like a bank holiday weekend of SUNSHINE.

Topdressing

Yesterday we topdressed the greens again with a straight sand topdress to help smooth the surface and to dilute any thatch accumulations. The greens are topdressed on a little and often basis, however it is noticeable now that we are starting to see a build up of sand in the upper surface of the turf profile. This is a positive step forward, providing firmer greens that can take more wear throughout the year. Given some drier weather they also run consistently faster.

We applied around 12 tonnes to 20 greens, as the greens are cut fairly low we dont need to apply too much sand to ensure we get it in to the sward. Today we cut and rolled the greens, the sand that was applied caused some issues collecting on rollers and tyres on the mowers, however after a little rain and growth the sand will settle down.

Now the trees are in leaf and the blossom is out on the cherry trees it feels like summer is finally here, I think the course always looks its best when there is real definition and we can present the course to the best standards we can. Now we have good growth we have applied a selective herbicide to the semi rough areas to control various weeds, we will also treat selected ares of fairways, all the tees and some of the range area in the coming days when conditions allow.

The selective weedkiller were using combines two active ingredients with different modes of action.

Fluroxypyr is an auxinic herbicide that enters plants via the leaves and disrupts normal growth functions. Florasulam however, can enter via the roots as well as the foliage, helping to ensure complete distribution throughout the plant.Fluroxypyr and florasulam move through the plant in both the xylem and phloem vessels. This provides effective distribution and accumulation at the growing points in both shoots and roots. Last year we used a similar product on the fairways with very good effect.
After the greens were treated with the feed and wetter they are looking better and are seeding less, growth will be monitored to ensure they remain healthy. Alistair and myself both passed excavator assessment this morning.
Other tasks have been to continue with cutting roughs, cutting copses, finishing tees and cutting around sprinkler heads.