Contaminated bunkers

Weather permitting we are going to be tacking the bunkers that have quite a bit of stone through the sand.  The 2 fairway bunkers on the 2nd are quite bad for stone.  We took out the old sand, reshaped the base and lined with turf.  This will now get sprayed with total weed killer and we will leave for a period of time then we will fill with new sand.

Slitting fairways

With the continuous wet weather we have been having, the course is needing to get opened up and get some air in and get some moisture moving down through the soil.  We have started slitting the fairways this hopefully help them to dry out faster and generally help with turf health.

2nd green

We have reoccurring flooding at the front left of the 2nd green.  This generally sits wet and takes longest to drain away.  The turf can become quite weak and thin in this area due to the wet conditions.  We lifted the turf with a turf cutter.  Then put in a drainage ditch, piped, positioned a gully pot in the lowest area, gravelled up and back filled with rootzone we ran it off into the rough to a large sump.

Wear areas and traffic management

It has come to the time of year we need to start protecting areas of high wear and re route traffic.  Ropes and stakes have been put out in several areas, please do not go over and instead go around.  I have highlighted a few areas on walk off areas that are in a poor state with a combination of foot traffic and wet conditions.  These areas are being lifted and new turf is being laid.  These areas will be closed off all winter, please use the alternative routes provided.

10th medal tee

As some may be aware this tee had a slope on it that tended to push golfers shots into the trees on the right hand side.  When we used the laser level we found this to be around a 10 inch fall from side to side.  We stripped the turf back and levelled off accordingly.  We rotivated in 3 tonnes of sand.  Raised the tee surface and shaped the surrounds to stop a majority of the water shedding onto the tee.  We have finished turfing the tee top there is just a bit of final shaping in the surrounds and we hope to get this tied up by the weekend.

Winter work

This week we have looked to make a start on our winter work, amongst other jobs we are going to be levelling off a few off the most undulating tees.  We started on the 4th medal tee.  The turf was lifted, the surface was then rotivated and we added a few loads of sand to lighten up the rootzone mix.  We then levelled the tee off, put the wacker plate across, gave the tee a final level off and finally the turf was then relaid.  Please stay off this tee as it needs time to bed in.

New drop zone

The new drop zone at the first is now in play.  This will speed up play and hopefully most should make it over from there!!!  We still have a little tidying up to do but we were keen to keen to get it in play!! As you can ser from the photo below it was a bit of a challenge to strim the reeds in front of it!

Wet weather

With the continuous wet weather we have been having we have been needing to open up the greens to let them breath.  This is a fairly non disturbing process as it is a small tine 9mm going down 3 inches.  This will help the greens drain faster and improve plant health.  We have rolled behind and after rolling the surface is playing fine once again.

Irrigation

We have had a break down with irrigation pump but I'm pleased to say this has now been fixed.  Particular attention has been focused on the the two new green 14 & 17 and the wee greens as they are sand based and are more prone too drying out.  We have also irrigated the other greens on the big course but have had to focus primarily on the sand based greens as they are at most risk of serious damage from drying out.

Bunkers

We are currently in the process of tidying up the bunkers.  This has involved putting a fresh edging, stone picking, shaping and adding sand as required.

Before

After

Top dressing (Delayed post from last tues)

26th may 2015

With the recent dry weather it has been a great opportunity to top dress the greens again.  The big greens got a light dressing and the sand has been worked in using the tru turf roller and the vibrating brushes.  The rain towards the end off the week will also help to work the top dressing in.

Continued maintenance

We are still waiting on summer!!  

Fortunately we are not chasing growth and are quite relaxed about the lack of serious growth.  The green are full of grass and ticking away fine, they have just had there routine of feed, iron and primo, 10 days ago they had seaweed and wetting agent.  There is a little poa seed head starting to come through, this is very common for us at this time of year and shouldn't have much impact to the playability of the greens.  Our sarel rolling programme has also continued this keeps the surface open and can counter any light compaction caused by rolling.

Update

We are continuing to cut and present the golf course.  We are getting some more steady growth now, this is starting to give better definition with our cut patterns.  The greens are ticking along quite well just now, they have had a couple of light liquid applications that have had a mix and match off feed, primo, seaweed, wetting agent, iron and potassium silicate.  The greens have also been double verti cut.  We have some odd patches of winter scarring, this isn't haven't any effect on the roll of the ball and this should pull together in the next week or so as temperatures continue to rise.

The seeded area on the surrounds of the 6th fairway is starting to thicken up.  We have given this another granular feed to push it on.  We have also fed all tees, approaches and high wear areas on both courses.  

The white medal tee on 10 has taken a hammering over the last month, we have given it a heavy overseed and topdress.

We have pinpointed some landing areas on fairways that are more heavily divoted and have sand & seed

 patched them.  We have patched 2, 7, 13 & 14.  As time allows we will try and get around a few more. 

6th fairway

We have put a granular fertiliser on the new 6th fairway it's surrounds and the catch basin on the left hand side of the 5th green.   This fertiliser is quite potent and should really push on the new areas that where constructed last year.   We are due dome rain over the weekend and this should start to break it down and get it working.

We have carried on working in the top dressing with the aid of the vibrating brushes and the tru turf roller.   The rain should hopefully also help to work it into the profile of the greens.

Top dressing

We took advantage of the dry weather spell and top dressed the greens again.  We have put down approximately 40 tonne so far this season.   This will help to dilute the thatch levels, help take any imperfections out and firm up the surfaces.

Seasonal greenkeeper

Seasonal Greenkeeper. 

I'm looking for an individual to come and join my greenkeeping team for the forthcoming season.  The job will involve general greenkeeping duties and will involve working in a weekend rota.  Any interested candidates please either private mail, email greenkeepers@piperdam.com or phone 07803036831.

New season

The new season beckons with opening game this Sunday the 5th of April.  It would be great to see old and new members coming together to get the new season underway!

We have been getting the course ready for play for the season ahead.  New flags, pins & cups have been put out for the season.  The course has also been cut fully except the longer rough as this hasn't really started growing yet.  Please treat the 5th, 6th & 16th as lift and place there are still a couple of rough areas from the construction work last season, we just need a little growth to strength these areas.

Top dressing

The weather held for us today and we managed to get the big greens top dressed.   We brushed the sand in and we will continue to work the sand into the core holes during the week.

The fairways and tees have also been cut this had tidied them up.

Finished coring

We finished coring the big course greens today.  The disruption to the golfer will be minimal as the hole size is small.   Weather dependant we will hopefully top dress tomorrow (Wednesday).

We also starting cutting the tees and fairways.  The tee markers have also been finished in preparation for the opening game.

Coring

We starting coring the big greens today with a 3/8" side ejector tine.  As you will see from the photos the impact is minimal.   We have just got greens 11 to 18 to finish tomorrow and weather permitting we will top dress on Wednesday.