Week 17 Update

Well another short week, and some beautiful weather, great for golfing and judging by the number of golfers out this morning (Friday) plenty of people taking full advantage of it.
Well we got a verti-cut in on the greens on Tuesday but i don't like our chances of getting another verti - cut in as the mornings are getting a bit chilly around the 11 to 13 degrees, we will have to see how the greens recover and take it from there.
The garden bed on the 4th has been mulched we will let it settle then start planting it out over the next few weeks.
The dangerous tree on the 12th near the green has been trimmed and some dead trees have also been removed near the 3rd green.
The bunkers on 2nd, 14th and 15th have been topped up with sand and weeds in the faces have been sprayed.
the fairways have been fertilised along with the tees to try to get as much growth before the winter temperatures slow things right down.
well that's about it for this week till next time keep swinging pete

week 16 update

Week 16 update
well a bit of a wet one this morning with 35mm falling yesterday and last night, great for the course as we were just having to gear up the watering to maximum so with this rain we will be able to put the hoses away for a week or 2 which is a huge time saver for us as it ties up 42 man-hours just setting up then moving irrigation for the week, this will free up some time to get into our job list
This week we got a verti-cut in on the greens we haven't been able to do this any sooner as each time we tried we bought up to much sand, we will try to get in as many verti - cuts as possible before the nighttime temperature drops this will smooth out the greens, rip out the older leaf of the turf and thus encourage new leaf which is stronger and more healthy thus getting the golf-ball up on the turf instead of in it ( if we are lucky we may get one or two in)
The garden area on the left side of the 4th has had its topsoil added and we have resprayed the area which because of the rain will have to do again next week, the 4th path has had a topper on it we will let this pack down then do(top with crusher dust) again in a few weeks
Lots of mowing done this week especially the rough which we deliberately left long for the Mcleod cup which seemed to tighten up the course going on the scores of the day.
The walkway between the 2 bunkers on the 8th has been opened up we still have a little bit of work mainly on the edges but for now it will be good to get some weight on the area and see how it goes. well till next week keep swinging pete

week 15 Update

Week 15 Update
Well another busy week, our main focus for this week has been getting everything ready for the McLeod Cup this Saturday, and getting some pace on the greens after last Sundays result where the greens speed got slower, this actually happens a lot as when you cut the turf at a lower height (remember last week we went from 3.75 down to 3.5mm) it will stress out the plant and the golf ball instead of running along the top of the leaf will actually nestle down in the leaf thus creating more friction on the ball thus slowing it down. (you can usually tell when this is happening, buy looking behind the ball on a straight putt, the ball will wobble from side to side instead of running straight a bit like a pinball machine) The topic of greens speed is a huge subject with many factors affecting the end results so over the next few months ill try to explain some of the main considerations we look at regarding greens speed so stay tuned
Back to this week, we changed up our mowing schedule and got in some double cuts, we also made the plant use up some of its nitrogen stores thus helping slow the growth rate and along with the plant getting used to its new cutting height (it usually takes 4 to 6 mows to achieve this properly) thus the ball is now up on the leaf instead of in it, so the overall result is we have quickened the greens up, they are running at 9.2 on the stimpmeter. We have also for this weekend left the rough long this is to tighten up the course proper
We have also had a fair few irrigation breaks, these always seem to happen at the most inconvenient time, the 2 main ones were the top bank on the 4th fairway and the other at the green end of the 9th this one required the replacement of the actual solenoid thus the main pipes had to be dug up and flexed to enable us to fit another in the problem with poly pipe is that everything must be exact as there is no room for error if it goes back and its not spot on it wont hold and you will have to do the whole thing again.(for the record all went well first time)
Unfortunately irrigation leaks are a regular occurrence especially on the old system as the pipes are very old and in some spots are wearing down the wall of the pipe so making it thin and thus easier to blow out, and with the colder weather the brittle pipe is more prone to break
The area on the 4th where the garden- screen is going has been shaped and sprayed, we have let it settle down this week and then will add our topsoil and mulch next week.
The 8th crossing is growing in well we gave it a light top dress in the joins this week and next week will peg any areas that require it we should be on it very soon
well thats about it for this week till next time keep swinging pete

week 14 update

Well another short week and lots of fog about this morning as i write this. The greens this week have had a lot of work done on them we have sprayed the weeds, treated the dry-patch, lowered the height and pumped some water into them with pennants and the McLeod cup and plate next weekend we want to get the greens a bit quicker for these events, so our mowing schedule will change to give us more pace and we have lowered the height of the cut from 3.75mm to 3.5mm
the big problem around this time of year is that the turf is in a transition period, as the night temps get cooler and less daylight for the plant to photosynthesize so the turf is trying to adjust to these new conditions thus it is easy to put the plant under stress which is a real problem.
turf is a funny creature a lot of what we do now only shows up several months later,for example at this time of year we must increase our potassium levels in the plant and also get as much root growth as possible to ensure that coming out of winter we don't get spring dead spot. a lot of people often wonder, why don't they(ground staff) just do this or just do that and get a bit upset when we don't go along with some suggestions, the fact is that without seeing the big picture and looking long term down the track, the actions we take now which possibly could be a quick fix to a minor problem at the present moment could actually lead to a major problem down the track so for this time of year our priority is keeping the turf healthy and as stress free as possible in to the winter proper as we don't want problems with the turf during winter or even worse coming out of winter in the spring transition stage.
well to all the pennant players good luck and to everyone else keep swinging pete

18th fairway

Just a quick note to let you know that the couch seed is starting to germinate in the patches on the 18th fairway, if you look closely you will see many little plants at the 4 leaf stage, we will feed this with starter fertilizer in the next few weeks to encourage it to grow, the 4th and 7th are about 2 weeks behind the 18th as this is the first one we seeded. i just hope the cold weather stays away for a while as the couch doesn't particularly like mornings below 8 degrees (a bit like me really).
You will also have noticed that soil has been placed down on the 4th fairway where the old social tee was, this is to make a tree bed to plant out with dense trees to make a barrier to stop balls going into the houses along the left hand side of the 4th.
we are using the same procedure used to make the garden behind the 16th green, and as you can see from that garden bed the plants love it and are growing well.
speaking of gardens a big thanks to all those involved with weeding the mounds , spraying weeds, and helping us out over the course, it is a massive job and we don't have enough man-hours available to do everything each week, so to get some help is great as it takes a job off the list thus enabling us to tackle another problem area, so again a big thanks too all.
till tomorrow keep swinging pete

8th crossing trial

For a while the crossing between the bunkers on the 8th has been a major problem
It is a high traffic area that funnels the traffic through a narrow pathway consequently any work done would soon be pounded into the ground.
We have had the idea of widening the crossing for a while but still believed that a track would be created as everyone tends to walk on the same line.
Just recently, Geofabrics have made a new product called Grassprotecta. It is a grass protection mesh that is heavy duty and UV stabilized, the idea is that it is laid on top of the turf surface thus allowing the turf to grow up through the mat creating a very strong stable surface. The mesh is designed so you can play a golf shot off it, and it will distribute the wear of the high amounts of foot traffic over the whole of the grid, sounds good, so we thought it worth a try in this area.
The original path was dug away with all turf and topsoil removed, we shaped the sub soil surface to distribute any water into both bunkers to use that as drainage
We then bought in sand to widen and lift the crossing, this was put down in layers and packed tight then another layer put on and packed and so on to the right height and width was achieved.
We then repacked the bunker faces and topped with bunker sand and packed this as well thus helping support the actual crossing, this was also done in layers. the area was watered and turf laid over the crossing then the grassprotecta laid out and cut to shape then pegged down that is where we are at now.
we will leave the area to settle down and let the turf take root and grow through the grid, we ask that the crossing not be used to the edges stabilize thanks pete

Week 13 Update

well a short week this week, that means we have to keep moving to get all the weeks general golfcourse maintenance jobs done and then try to fit in the special projects (13th fairway turfing patches and 8th bunkers walkway) as well as some tree planting to boot, this means that we all get in and attack the projects as a group thus allowing us to do it quickly and properly and get back to our regular maintenance jobs as soon as possible, its a shame that we cop some criticism on the Tuesday when we were all getting in and fixing the pathway on the 8th, that some recon that we had too many staff there helping.
to that i say that it was a very labor intensive job, all work had to be done by hand and we are using new materials and different methods(see next blog) than have been used in the past, thus it was a good opportunity to show all the staff how i want this type of project done in the future, so my main message is that unless you know all the facts don't criticize on what you know nothing about.
The weeds in the greens have been spot sprayed, and will be followed up over the next few weeks as the chemical we use is slow acting thus giving the couch time to fill in underneath the weed and not leave a hole in the turf
The mole cricket have had a second dose of bait thus most of these are gone and we have also sprayed the greens with Neem oil thus making the area unattractive to these pests.
we attempted to verti-cut the greens on Monday (back of 1st green 4 runs of mower) but we were still bringing up to much sand so we till try again next week, as i would like to get 2 verti-cuts in before winter this will smooth the roll of the ball and give us a little more pace on the greens.
You'll notice a few new palms on the 2nd hole i plan to make this a feature of the 2nd so if you have any palms in pots that you would like to donate they would be most appreciated thanks and until next time keep swinging pete