Maintenance week recap

During this very busy spell out on the course I thought I would do a little blog on how maintenance week went for us last week and a little reminder of why we do it! 

Greens

A lot of work was completed on the greens last week with FOUR major works being carried out to each of them plus the top dressing (lots), over seeding and fertilising of the greens. 

We started out with the verti drain. This has a deep aeration action (just like a huge fork in the garden). This is essential to link up the surface to the sub soil. It encourages the roots to go deep, increases oxygen.

Following the verti draining we applied our first topdressing and brushed it down into the verti drain holes. It's important we create drainage channels and try to improve our subsoil. Greens that were built back in the 1900's were designed to hold water as there was no irrigation until the 50's and proper irrigation systems weren't available until the 1970's. Add to this in the past little golf was played in the winter months meaning they could allow them to sit wet in the winter as long as they were okay for the summer.

Golf has changed now and players want to play 365 days a year. Greens like ours built in 1908 will require work to improve them for the winter months and this is something this type of work will improve year on year. 

Next we hollow tined greens to 3 inches. This removed some of the thatch layer in the surface and removed some of the soil. 

Soil exchange is so important especially as we head into the Autumn, it's important for us to increase the air in the soils by replacing compacted soils with new and replacing clays (our original soil type) with sand. 

I know I ve said it before but clay soil is similar to flour in the way it's particles look and act and sand is like a bucket filled with gold balls. You can imagine the air created between the balls compared a bucket full of flour!

Above is a simple visual of why we aerate 

Once hollow cored we then collected the cores from the surface using core harvester (it does exactly what it says). The clear up team also had to hand shovel and blow the surfaces to leave them clean for our next process.

 This time the cores were stock piled for future use as they break down (almost like a compost). We will be able to use these for many things in the future including landscaping projects. 

Then we applied more sand (you will be noticing a pattern here I m sure)

Mean while on the greens were not working on another aeration practice was taking place. The air2g2 was hired in again and used to blast air into the greens under pressure (like mini fracking) to 12 inches below the surface. This helps to link up the surface all the way down to below 12 inches. 

The next stage of the aeration process was a light scarification to -10mm using our own scarifiers. We decided to let the debris fly as there was obviously a lot of top dressing also coming out. Doing this also smooths the surface out quicker and allows us somewhere for the seed and fertiliser to sit once that process is carried out. 

The debris was then blown from the surfaces using back pack blowers. 

We then fertilised with C- Complex, this is an organic fertiliser which allows faster breakdown which results in minimal mower pick up and faster plant availability of nutrients, assuring a rapid response. In addition, the enhanced humic acid content helps to stimulate new root development.

We also over seeded the greens with All Bent grass species (which is more drought resistant and gets less disease) as part of our long term goal to increase our bent content in our greens. The germination will have been improved by the fertiliser as this has high carbon content which provides a food source for soil microbes. 

And then (you guessed it) we applied another top dressing which took us well over our 200 tons for the year mark and brushed all of the fertiliser, seed and sand in. 

The greens were then rolled to smooth them out to finish the week. 

It's worth noting here that all of the above has to be done 19 times over for each green including the putting green. There is so much extra work going into the greens. Over 100 extra man hours were required on top of normal hours and our pro core went through two sets of tines just to complete the greens this course maintenance week. 

Aprons 

The aprons became a challenge for us during this maintenance week. 

The weather was getting hotter by the day and the ground harder. From the start we knew we wouldn't be able to verti drain them as the ground was to dry but we felt we could get a much needed hollow core in. 

The picture below shows how much thatch we have in the top 35mm (looks like weetabix) plus the clay soil below. 

Due to the dry conditions even collecting these areas became harder and a lot of blowing was required. 

This was mostly successful for 15 holes but 3 aprons had finally dried out to much in the heat of the week and on our last day we started to cause to much damage. This was entirely down to the dry conditions so we decided that we will wait to finish the last three holes when the conditions are more in our favour. 

Above damage caused by the hollow corer. This has been repaired and we will now wait for better conditions.

So after a gruelling week in extreme temperatures I felt happy with operations we got done to the greens but a little bit upset we could get the aprons over the line. I have learnt that sometimes a little bit of patience is needed from our side to to achieve our goals and I know once the weather turns we will be able to finish what we had started. 

The team were treated to our summer maintenance BBQ again with Chef Graham Hastie on the BBQ. This is a great way to thank the team for all there hard work and commitment during an extra long week. 

As we finished the BBQ the diggers arrived for the bunker construction project. 

From that point on we knew we would extremely busy for the next two months... 

No rest for the wicked as they say! 

See you out there 

Matt 

Make hay while the sun shines

If you make hay while the sun shines, it means that you take advantage of the chance to do something while conditions are good and in our instance it's the start of our projects. 

Years ago these would have been called 'winter projects' but greenkeepers and golf clubs are learning that carrying out work when the weather is awful and trying to move large amounts of soil and equipment around the course has a detrimental effect with more damage being caused than good. 

So for this blog I m going to give a little update in the drainage works carried out to the 17th and 15th fairways. 

This project was the start of a very busy few months for the Greenkeeping team and the club as a whole. It's probably the busiest period for many years with regards to works on the course. 

Last winter I got to see for the first time how the winter effected the course and some of the issues we had (having only played here in the summer months in my younger days). It was interesting to see the challenges we face and work out our strategy to reduce or remove these challenges.

One of the things I noticed was simply how wet certain areas get. The 17th and 15th lower end were almost impossible to pass at certain times. Especially during one of the wettest winters on record. 

A decision was made to add primary drainage. 

Last year the new ditch at the 17th was built and this has given us an outlet to add the drainage into (as spoke about in my previous blog). The Management Committee felt it was important and financially backed the plan. Note: we will be adding drainage to other areas as an on going project.

Once the plan was in place and we knew we would need some help from contractors as we do not have this type of specialist machinery. 

We got quotes and appointed two machine operators with specialist machinery and set our start date. 

We felt it was better to start early, before the bunker construction as this would require labour itself and trying to avoid course maintenance week as this is hugely busy for us as a team. We also knew that it needed to be dry and the quietest period on the course following all the major competitions. 

This left us FOUR days following the Stoneham Trophy and Junior Open. The four days before maintenance week!

The Project

Firstly we trenched out the main drains. These were 120mm wide with 100mm perforated pipe in the bottom. This is a big pipe so needed to be fitted by hand behind the trencher. The depth was 450mm average. 

This is then followed by the drainage hopper which basically drives over the top with a funnel into the trenched line and the gravel is then put in place. This stabilises the pipe work in the bottom of the trench, which reduces the chance of the trench collapsing before it's repaired. 

After this the laterals were then fitted. These trenched were smaller with a 60mm pipe in the bottom. Years ago the pipe work was laid as big as possible but now after lots of testing they believe that the smaller pipe which can take a full load when wet (60mm pipe) is self flushing as the entire is full during the wet are will run, causing it to flush through any debris. 

Obviously the main drains which most of the laterals will be attached to needs to big enough to cope with the water from all the pipe work coming in. 

The laterals were joined to the main drain using Y joints. The laterals were 400mm deep and at 5 metre spacings. 

Note: all spoil was taken to the rear of the 14th. Why? To use in out new Heather mound (to help deflect the water) during the bunker project.

One of our main issues when fitting the drainage was the irrigation system. 

The pipe work was mapped out prior to the work starting but the depths of installation vary across the site (note we also do not have any isolation points in the course meaning if we hit the system we lose a lot of water and would be unable to irrigate until a repair is made  (this is why have to leave certain leaks during hot spells as it requires the system to be completely shut down and drained and the worry it might not prime back up).

For the trenching it meant we had to dig down at certain points to find depths and then adjust the drainage so it wouldn't hit it. 

Another issue we was some of the ground conditions. The weather during the project was perfect if I m honest, the soils came out dry and went into the trailer well (if not a little dusty). The clay soils have a lot of stone in them and these would fly out meaning a lot of man hours clearing up was required after to remove stones that may have flown 20 odd yards! 

Interesting to me was the top right of the 17th (almost where we walk up to the 18th tee). The material coming out with the trencher was brick dust which made going through areas impossible.

I was then informed that brick ovens were found on the course when the land became a golf course. Charlie can remember taking some down around the course during his time and the belief was the old not wanted bricks and dust was originally dumped in the area to the right of the 17th (in the woodland between 17th and 15th). 

Once all the pipe work and gravel were fitted the lines were tipped up with sand. These were then healed in and topped up again and again and driven in. 

These will be left to settle and then topped up again before we seed and esablish grass. The sand was topped up using two methods. Our top dresser and conveyer system and again the big hopper we hired in but with a different funnel. 

We completed the bulk of the work in four very long days. This meant we had laid over 2000 metres of pipe, 110 tons of 4-10mm stone and 35 tons of sand to top up. 2 bags of grass seed and 5 bags of fertiliser. We hope the recovery will be within 8 weeks depending on weather. 

We also took advantage of the hole being out of play and Graham (from Trants with his 7 ton digger) came in and gave the ditch at 17th a clear out along with Charlie. This can now have a base fitted in the coming weeks. 

Next we will look to hollow core the fairway as we want to reduce the thatch build up so the water can get through to the pipe work. 

The contractors and the greenstaff worked very hard on this project and we are sure this will make a difference to the hole in the winter months. 

I hope this has given you a little insight to what we done and how we will be moving forward with it. 

Thank you all for your patience during the works!

Matt 

Maintenance Week information

22nd August 2016 – 26th August 2016 

Below is the information on works to be carried out during course maintenance 

week 

Greens and Aprons 

Monday: Verti drain (deep tine) to 10 inches, Hollow core 3 inches and clear, Scarify, Top dress, 

and brush, Air2G2 (compressed air) (Front 9 Closed) 

Tuesday: Verti drain (deep tine) to 10 inches, Hollow core 3 inches and clear, Scarify, Top dress 

and brush,Air2g2 (compressed air) (Back 9 Closed) 

Wednesday: Fertilise Greens and Aprons, Over seed, Top dress and Brush, Hollow core 

surrounds and clear 

Thursday: Top dress greens if required, Surround work to continue, Option to hollow core 17th

Fairway if weather suitable 

Friday: Cut and Roll greens, Surrounds work to continue 

Please give way to operators at all times 

Following the works the greens will be sandy and a little bumpy for a couple of weeks. 

We apologise for an inconvenience. 

Please remember these works are essential for our greens to continue to improve! 

Tees – Verti drain, Hollow tine to remove thatch and for soil exchange, top dressed,

over seeded with rye, bent and fescue mix and fertilised 

 Surrounds – Solid tine and then scarify. After we will over seed any wear areas with rye 

grass and fertilise 

 Fairways – It is intended to scarify fairways and clear them once the wetter weather 

arrives 

• All greens and Aprons works will be carried out in maintenance week 

Some works on tees, surrounds and fairways will take longer to carry out and will go into other 

periods 

All works are subject to weather conditions 

Matt Plested 

Course Manager 

August 2016 

Greens Presentation August 2106

Link for the entire PowerPoint below- 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOOWSnHjT04&feature=youtu.be

Just thought I would upload a copy of our greens presentation evening PowerPoint in video form. This will allow those who were unable to attend to view the presentation quickly and get a little understanding of some of the achievements and challenges we have faced in the last year and a little bit about the future projects.

The presentation starts with our vision and what our aims have and will be.

Then there is a quick comparison between picture I took from when I 

arrived until now. 

We also have some soil analysis results which show all our aeration works are improving the greens not only on the surface but its helping to reduce the thatch layer.

Next we look at the solid investments by the Management Committee which have included new Machinery to improve presentation and efficiency, New welfare facilities for the staff (more on this to come in blog), New irrigation pumps and pump house, slowly improving the pathways (which are still high on our list). New material storage bays in the overflow car park for our normal maintenance (note during major projects more area maybe required but will be cleaned after). We have been using fallen Oak from the course to make sleepers for use on the flower bed (thanks to John). Other investments have been in the staff training and health and safety. The greenstaff have a achieved a great deal in the last year not just on the course but within there training and development. 


We then looked at the challenges with the weather, the wettest winter on record and the fact that the course was previously closed for over 40 days with similar rain and this year we lost 4 days! the woodland management project has helped a lot to improve airflow and to dry the course out ('You do not hang your washing in a wardrobe as its to dark and no air but you hang it on a washing line'!) That's why its essential to manage the woodland but some holes require more and had to be closed during the winter.
We as club do not want this to happen so essential drainage works will need to be added.

This year we will concentrate on the 13th green as our moisture readings were around 57% in the winter, this is 27% higher than we want. In comparison the worst I had seen before was 44% anywhere. Over 50% the grass starts to die as there is a lack of oxygen so drainage works will be essential to keep the green healthy and in play.

We will also be draining the 17th and bottom of the 15th holes. 

These will be at 5 m spacing's and added to new ditch. 

The new ditch worked well last year helping to dry the other holes up hill (6,12 etc) but its only an outlet and we then need to add primary drainage (pipe and stone) and we will look to see if a secondary drainage gravel or sand banding) will be required. Just to note when we closed the 17th last winter its moisture reading was 85%!! The works will be carried out in the summer as the course is to wet to drive on in the winter without causing extreme damage. This plus the higher temperatures will mean a quicker recovery.
Its all about getting the timing right for the course.

Growth was another issue, December and January were better than March and April (which is madness). This meant recovery form the winter was slow and then when May arrived the growth flush after all the rain and cold was huge causing other issues for example the roughs getting really thick. We explained our plan and the fact that we don not own a long rough mower (yet) and what we have been doing including borrowing mowers, spraying off the thicker grasses from within the heather (you will see a picture of grasses dying).

Our irrigation system is also causing us issues as we look to upgrade the system to cope with modern requirements and to be more water effiecent. The slides show how we spend as much time watering the bunkers, paths and trees as we do greens. This is mains water and we need to be more responsible for it. 

Next up we show all the work with the heather and the planting of the new stuff, which has taken unbelievably well (a thanks to the rain). Graham who presented this bit also showed how the heather is coming back in other areas (look for the picture on the 11th). Graham also highlighted the machinery being used and how we want to keep this in a juvenile state.

Lastly you will see the bunker projects slides that have been up in the clubhouse for months and some time lines of works for both the bunkers and our winter schedule as a team. Murray Long our Course consultant presented this with me and spoke about his previous experience at Sunningdale (taking the courses up the world rankings), Ferndown and Coombe Hill (where he won the Course renovation of the year). The aim is start out on the course and work in so if the weather turns the damage across the course will be kept to a minimum. The slides show the steps we will go through during the construction.   

I hope this helps and is something you will be interested in and for those of you who didn't attend you didn't have to listen to me for 45 mins :-)

Thanks 

Matt