GM

The Greens Committee wishes to update and inform members on greens maintenance works as many have raised questions in recent weeks regarding the condition of the greens and why certain works are being carried out.
The following is a breif summary of our routine maintenance works:

Changing of Holes:

During the summer new holes are cut THREE times per week on Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturdays.

MOWING OF GREENS:

Our greens are mainly of Annual Meadow Grass and cutting height in summer is 3 mm. Daily cutting takes place during the summer usually early in the morning so as not to interfere with play – this however can mean that by late afternoon, on days of optimum growth, the greens can be slower than desirable. A new Greens mower has been ordered and should be in use by the end of June and this will further improve the quality of the greens. It has not been the practice to use a turf iron on our greens but it is proposed to trial one of the machines in the coming weeks which we believe may improve the roll and speed of the greens.

TOPDRESSING:

topdressing increases the smoothness, trueness and speed of greens. Major topdressing with sand is carried out when greens are Hollow cored (also refered to as pole forking) in Spring and Autumn. In addition to this major topdressing the greens are topdressed every 14 to 21 days from April to October with a lighter volume of sand (this work being done in conjunction with aeration.

AERATION:

The main aeration works are the hollwo coring in Spring and Autumn when cores are removed and sand brushed into the cores. In addition we are aerating the greens every 21 days from March to October with our new Aeration Machine and this is followed by a light topdressing of sand.

SPRAYING OF GREENS:

Greens are sprayed for FOUR main reasons:

1. To Apply liquid feeds to boost the growth.
2. To control disease by spraying fungicide.
3. To Control Seedhead production.
4. or to apply a wetting agent so that our irrigation is more effective

A non-toxic dye is used so that staff can ensure the accurate coverage and members need have no concern regarding any safety issue. Due to the unusual growth conditions in late spring of this year, control of seedheads was inadequate and gave rise to justifiable compliants from members.

FEEDING OF GREENS

Greens are fed on average FOUR times per annum with either granular or liquid fertiliser from March to Late September.

Many members have raised questions in recent weeks about “Why are we sanding the greens at this time of year”, “Why are We pole forking now” and “What are spraying for”.
It is hoped that this information update will help to clarify the need for many works needed to deliver good quality greens.

G. Barry
Course Convenor
June 2013

SPRAYING OF GREENS: