Hi All,
Firstly before I start talking about the weather and what
the team have been doing, I would like to welcome Shah Bani-Sadr our new Club
Manager to the Club.
Shah will be a welcomed addition to “Team Stoneham” and we
are very lucky to have such a professional career driven Golf Club
Manager.
Welcome Shah!
Back to what’s been happening since my last blog. February
has been a good month weather wise. I know, I can’t believe I am saying that but
it has allowed the course to dry up and for the team to get on with some works
around the course.
In January we recorded 118mm of rain in a short period
before the frosts kicked in. February so far we have only had 7mm of rain with
a run of 20 dry days from the 27th of January until the 15th of February. In
fact, we are now needing rain to help wash in the sand from Maintenance week
and for the newly laid turfs around the course. The irrigation system will be getting
fired up early this year. Madness how quick things change!
Looking at the forecast, it looks like things might take a
step backwards weather wise.
There has been a Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) which
has taken place over the North Pole, this event can result in a reversal of the
normally westerly flow of the jet stream meaning a more easterly jet stream and
easterly’s normally mean thermals, bobble hats and gloves weather. So don’t put
them away just yet!
Last time this happened in 2018 we went through a very
tough March and April with almost no growth or rainfall registering in the two
months then straight into a dry hot, hot summer.
It’s this kind of data that lead us to take advantage of
the weather window we are having in February and for us to carry out a mini
Maintenance week. Our thought process, was to try and get it done while the
temperatures are up, the growth potential is up and the course is dry enough to
get around to top dress greens.
We know the winter isn’t over, we will get wet periods, we
will get cold periods, beware of the false spring and all that… but to take
advantage of the window when we could. The grass plants are a living organism
and they need air just like us. This doesn’t always follow the golfing calendar
but having options available to the team to take advantage of the weather are
essential.
Why hollow core
greens so early?
Like I’ve said above, taking advantage of the wave of good
weather is essential, normally we roughly get seven waves of growth between
January and May. These can be just a couple of days or up to ten days but these
are considerably lower in a SSW year.
As discussed in a previous blog our OM levels in the top
20mm have gone up slightly and just starting to leave our target area. This
isn’t something to worry about but a little core and scarify in the spring will
pay dividends for the season to help keep us within target. The other advantage
is by going early we will recover earlier than normal meaning we are extending
the playing season.
Aprons and over-seeding
During the maintenance week we took advantage of the
weather and carried another hollow core of the aprons. Our Aprons presentation
has improved dramatically over the last few years with increase grass coverage,
sward density and heights of cut but I’ve always felt the playability isn’t
quite where we want it and this is due to the high thatch content. Working on
our OM levels and sanding will increase year on year as we aim to get closer to
greens characteristics. More data collection will now be done from these areas
to map our progress.
You may have also noticed a lot of over-seeding works on
fairways and tees. A mix of dwarf rye and fescue seed have been used to help
thicken up the grass swards for the season ahead after a tough winter.
Why the Short
game area or Putting green are being closed?
As mentioned in previous blogs, the damaged sustained
during the cold winter months when we have little to no growth can cause real
damage that takes months to repair. This happened to us last year with excess
wear on the putting green and the short game green with the latter taking so
long to repair that moss invasion took hold of the thinning turf.
Following a visit from our Club Agronomist, it was
recommended that during this period of the year we should switch between the Putting
green and Short game Area in an attempt to reduce the wear and stress at this
time leaving one green open, like we have always had in the past.
Once the growth rates and daylight hour’s increase, both
will return to normal daily opening.
It’s worth mentioning other clubs in the areas follow a
similar procedure including temporary greens on the course. Sometimes I get
asked why X, Y and Z are open when sometimes we are closed but these clubs are
playing on temporary greens on fairways with all green facilities closed. We
however have a different policy and try our best to stay on main greens all the
time but protecting the course and our greens is a must.
What have the
team been up too?
The weather has given the team the opportunity to catch up
on various works around the course including gorse and broom removal in an
attempt to help speed up play (not that my ball ever finds in way into any of
those hazards).
The gorse works are done on a three year cycle with one area being removed, the second area the new growth from the previous year’s removal and the third stage being the higher growth that is now to legging and will be removed the following year as we start the process again. As much as we all hate playing out of gorse or looking for balls in them, they do serve a very useful purpose of adding a screen, fantastic colour but more importantly they are great for invertebrates and an important nectar source in early spring and early winter when there isn’t a lot else in flower. It’s also an important part of the heathland habitat so total removal isn’t an option.
Various weak areas around the course have been turfed.
These have included pathway ends and the mounding on the 14th behind
the green. The 14th has been changed to a fescue turf in attempt to
have this a finer grass bank which is easier to find your ball in and less
invasive on the heather.
Grubs
One of the concerns we had during the turfing works, was
the level of Chafer grubs underneath these turfed areas. This is particularly
concerning because the damage sustained by these can huge. Not only do these
young grubs eat the roots of the grass plants but the damage caused by birds
feeding on them is even worse and something we saw signs of last year.
I am expecting to see signs of damage in the next couple of
months, these will be repaired as much as possible but please be patient.
Let’s remember there are no miracle cures as discussed in
previous blogs. Our chemistry against these has dramatically been reduced to
one product, which is not fully efficient and requires us to decide which one
of the two major grubs (leather jackets and Chafer Grubs) causing issues to
sports turfs we deal with.
A new era of stewardship forms, dates given when we can
apply the product, empty hazard waste collection after and a whole new world of
application to only Tees, Greens and 10% of the fairways can be done, meaning
90% can’t be protected and even those areas s[prayed efficiency is around 70%.
It’s a huge issue for the industry and we are not alone. Repairing
the damage and moving forward after the hatch is one of the only things we can
do.
One of the issues of the late fall of leaves this winter
and the added pressure of the wet period, has been the feeling that we are
constantly clearing leaves.
We started this back in October with things ramping up
until after Christmas but actually getting around the course was limited and
the team trying to work off of pathways and blowing leaves to these areas in
attempt to collect them up in areas with minimal impact, which in the
conditions was hard, add into this the high winds of late and the leaves
blowing back out of the woodlands or storage areas, this has made this a
constant battle. The team have been going around the course blowing leaves out
of heather, long roughs and trying to find pockets of areas we were unable to
reach until now for clearance. It’s a tough day with 25kg blower on your back
blowing 237mph. It’s even tougher from October until February.
Heather plugging
Lots of heather plugging has taken place around the course including on areas we have been struggling to maintain grass on slopes like the 4th left hand greenside bunker. We done this on the 1st a few years ago and it meant we weren’t left with bare areas on bunkers and adds a more natural look to the bunker. Luckily, in all the years I’ve been here I haven’t seen anyone play a shot from that area, behind the bunker yes, in the bunker yes but never from to rear bank so hopefully this won’t affect too many and only be an improvement visually.
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| Heather plugged into 11th carry |
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| 11th 1980's |
The
other main area we have been working on is the 11th carry. The 11th
carry in the past was always a heather carry but this was lost over time and we
are trying to bring highlights of this back to the course. We have left a
bigger walkway than it was previously, which also doubles up as a landing area
for those not feeling confident of the carry.
The Range
This
week you may have noticed the range has been closed for two days. This has
allowed works on the synthetic greens to take place. The removal of moss and
grass ingress from the surfaces is a must and keeps them performing great. This
is something that will need to be done yearly as we try to extend the life of
the surfaces.
BTME – The Greenkeepers Conference
This year we have welcomed Freddy Banks and
Matthew Strutt-Donnelly into the team and both have settled in to the team
fantastically.
Matthew has joined us a casual until the end of September. Matthew comes from greenkeeping royalty with his father Lee being the only Master greenkeeper in three different countries in the world and Lee’s wife Sami, is the Chief Operating Officer for BIGGA and in charge of all greenkeeper training in the UK including being the director of BTME.
Freddy is a junior member of the club who will be working weekends and some holidays to help the team as he’s looking at a career in greenkeeping. Freddy has been working with the team during maintenance week and playing off 3 handicap, will help us in many areas, especially with the Staff v Members match!
That’s enough from me, time to make sure I
have enough kindling for this next round of frosts. Don’t forget the hat and
gloves in the coming weeks, as they say “every winter has its spring” and it
won’t be long until we are enjoying that now.
See you out there!
Matt
