Course News

The following report has been received from Michael Weekes, Group Course Manager.

During the last few months the weather has been exceptionally dry, this has reduced the level of maintenance on the greens and tees. From now until mid October we will be concentrating our efforts in reducing compaction created during the summer also increasing both plant population and root development. This will enable the course to withstand the expected wear during the poor growth period in the winter. Varying the fertiliser type and ingredient, will also have a beneficial effect on growth and root development. All this will enable us to present the greens and tees to a high standard, however too much fertiliser will create a potential disease risk, therefore careful management is required.

We will be using

• Scarifyer - to reduce lateral growth of grasses and open up the surface, introducing air encouraging tillering and fresh growth.
   
• Hollow tineing - cutting through the surface to a depth of 50mm, introducing air and removing old thatch.
   
• Verti-draining - forcing tines into the ground up to 250mm deep and then mechanically moving the tines at that depth, breaking up any pans that may have formed.
   
• Top-dressing - using a mix of sand and soil, filling the holes produced by the hollow tineing and verti-drain, leaving a level surface to putt on.
   
• Over seeding - building up plant population during the autumn flush of growth.
   
• Fertilising - using both liquid and granular feed of differing constituents, offering the grass feed for top growth (minimal) and root development maximum. Too much top growth can and will result in a high risk of disease developing, a high degree of management is required.
   
• Mowing - gradually raising the height of cut as the temperature lowers and slows the growth of grass, this enables the plant to continues photosynthesising as long as possible.
   

We will only carry out this maintenance when conditions are suitable and we will endeavour to present the course to the highest standard without disrupting your enjoyment.

Michael Weekes Group Course Manager 2nd August 2010