Hi All,
I wanted to take a quick recap of recent developments out
on the course, the changing weather patterns and an update on the reservoir
project.
As we all know the rain has been relentless and I can’t
remember a wetter period in my career but there are signs things could change
for the better soon as the high pressure pushes up from the south bringing
warmer afternoons and hopefully less rain. It might even feel like spring has
arrived… for now!
It’s worth noting that with all of the modelling, things
can change very quickly but this is the forecast right now and it’s the one we
need, so I am sticking with it :-)
So far in 2024 we have gone from brisk winds to heavy
downpours, the climate has tested the resilience of the course and really
highlighted where we can make improvements.
It’s vital we have time this summer to make those
improvements while the ground conditions are dry enough to withstand the heavy
machinery.
The weather data for this winter looks like this.
As discussed before, you can see we finished up in 2023 at
1115mm of rain out wettest recorded yet but you can see the issue we have had
when laid out against the averages.
2024 hasn’t eased up with 85mm of rain in January and 145mm
in February and 49mm already recorded in March giving us a grand total of 277mm
YTD.
Coming off such a wet end to 2023 and then an awful start
to 2024 has meant we have seen an increase in course closures caused by the
weather. This is something we never want to do but with the water table being
so high and the soils are at field capacity, meaning there is simply no room in
the ground, causing any rainfall to just flood the course.
As we dry out going into spring the soils will dry down at
a fairly quick rate as they can only ever hold the same amount of water, it’s just
overflowing now but we will get a dry period of at least two weeks at some point!
A talking industry
As a greenkeeping industry we are all very open and very
friendly, we spend our evenings still talking turf and other challenges with
each other.
I am very lucky that I can be speaking to up to 500+ golf
clubs through various group chats each day. These range from as far north
at Royal Dornoch to the South Coast in Devon, across to the Kent coast and
everything in between. I also speak to Course Managers across Europe, Canada,
the US, Asia and Australia regularly too.
I also speak with most of local clubs at least weekly and
have access to many of their weather stations. This allows us to compare
closures, discuss and talk about the weather. If the rain is coming in from the
west I would normally get a message from Parkstone to say they are getting it
and it’s on its way to us. Same from the east with Hayling etc. These
conversations help us plan when we can spray or fertilise. We all do the
same for each other as we know how expensive applications to our turfs can be
but it also allows us to compare course closures and trolley bans plus other things, so we
know tend to know what is going on in most clubs.
One thing I can tell you from all of the conversations from
the clubs in the U.K is, we have all found this a tough, tough winter. Even the
courses on sand/chalk and not just the courses on clay like us.
The loss of golf is having a huge impact on many clubs not
only the revenue streams, competition diaries, and construction/project works along
with staff recruitment. The industry is really struggling to find good
greenkeepers, especially ones that want to work in the dark all winter and
never ending rain and this winter has been a really tough one.
The
good news is we are coming out the other side of this storm and we may have
some waves of wet and cold but on a whole the weather should keep improving
from now on.
Maintenance
week
As mentioned in the last blog we have moved the maintenance
week in a hope to actually make an impact and to allow us a chance to get some
much needed topdressing into the soil profile and to help dilute the thatch in
the top 20mm. Getting
machinery around the course has been nearly impossible this winter, let alone
tons of sand being driven around.
It would be easy to say let’s not do any aeration after the
winter we have just had with the amount of days lost on the course but we need
to aerate now more than ever. If you were held underwater and with little no
air you might struggle… the grass plant is the same. It needs air to keep
healthy and to establish roots. Roots that will feed the plant throughout the
season ahead.
Roots are our insurance policy in a water-deficient period.
They enable the grass plant to survive periods of drought more efficiently and
with less stress. Less plant stress = less risk of plant diseases. Aeration isn't just about the present, it is
about heading off potential issues in the future. Issues that could impact the
playing surface.
 |
| Bunkers being renovated |
Bunkers
One of the highlights out of the recent weather has been
the completed renovation of sixteen bunkers by the skilled hands of the team.
These bunkers are all part of a rolling continuous
improvement plan to help protect the members investment and to stand as a
testament to the club's dedication to quality. The newly renovated bunkers
are marked as GUR around the revetted edge and newly turfed areas. Please do not
play from these until the GUR is removed.
 |
| Bunkers edged with irons for a clean fresh look |
Most of the remaining bunkers that haven’t been renovated
have now been freshly edged by the team with only a few remaining and these
should be finished this week. Getting these areas of detail done while the
weather in against us feels like a win and will improve us for the season ahead.
During the last days of January in the last dry period, we
took the opportunity to start to top the bunkers with sand. Once the ground
conditions improve the rest will be done as soon as the course is dry enough
for us to be running sand about.
Turfing
You also may have noticed the team have been turfing many
of the weak areas around the course. These are GUR, please don’t play from any
of these areas, they will be reinstated into play once they have rooted.
Reservoir
Project
With the completion of the site clearing, the Heartwoods
team attention turned to the extraction operations. It is hoped this will be
completed this week and the repairs to the top car park can be started.
The site operations have been slowed by the recent weather
but the impact of all the extraction has left some areas within the site area
up to 4ft deep in un- walkable mud. Lots of work to establish firm roadways
will be started in April while additional works with the second stage clearance
works (tree stumps) starting in May. Our Ecologists will continue until July
working on various wildlife mitigations. It is worth noting that although a
great number of trees have been removed from site, these all had low ecological
value and will be replaced as part of the planting scheme with much better
species composition, we will also see some of these works on the course too.
I would like to thank the Heartwood team for their
professionalism and dedication. We had a lot of ecological restraints, reduced
timescales because of bird nesting season (with 56 days of work needed in 29
days) and high rainfall and they still managed to deliver what was required to
allow us to continue this project.
I would also like to say ‘thank you’ to the Ecologists. We
had seven different Ecologists involved over the last month all working with a
Senior Ecologist, this included five Ecologists for Dormouse and two climber
Ecologists for bats, all of them making sure we were doing everything set out
by Natural England and lastly a ‘thank you’ for the greenstaff who have had to
be adaptable and work within the site with a forestry team and being always
guided by Ecologists, which is not their normal job but it meant we kept the
project to the timescales with them being so flexible.
We will keep you updated on the next phase of the Reservoir
Project in the coming weeks and I will be doing site walks when dry enough to
show you the members the project. Please do not try to enter the site at any
point as this is a “live” site.
Car Park Changes
In response to the evolving needs of the Reservoir project, we
have implemented a new layout in both car parks.
The overflow car park has seen bays marked in it to
maximise the space. The greenstaff installed a new fence along the bottom to
try and hide our material bays but leaving enough room for our sand deliveries.
The roadway widths in between the newly marked bays have
been measured correctly to allow cars to be able to leave each space. PLEASE DO
NOT PARK IN ANY OF THESE AREAS as you will block someone in and maybe asked to
leave the course to move the car (which has happened a few times already).
The main car park has seen a new layout which was approved by the planners during our planning application with the council and the clubs safety consultant. In the last two weeks the curb stones were taken away, it was then lowered and tarmacked to give us the second lane.
You will have noticed all the markings have been done apart from the top car park which will need to be added too once Heartwood leave site.
The new two-way road layout through the middle of the car
park has been implemented to allow two way access for you the members and for
the delivery Lorries for the day to day business of the club.
The member car park will have the right of way over the Lorries and has been marked accordingly but please make sure the Lorries next to you on exit and entrance have stopped and seen you. Please use this two way road through the middle of the car park as the roadway will be out of action soon. We are looking at implementing a secure crash barrier type fencing between the member car parking spots and the road the Lorries will be using.
Yet again we will keep
updated with developments on this and will let you know when we can open the
top car park again.
BTME 2024 and
Education
As part of our ongoing commitment to professional development, some of the team recently attended the BTME 2024 conference in Harrogate in January. The team attended courses on irrigation systems, plant soil microbe interactions, biodiversity, bio controls, the R&A vision of sustainable golf, the young
greenkeepers conference and many more.
I was lucky
enough to present a workshop and receive my 4th Milestone
Certificate for CPD.
Levi Pethick successfully completed the FTMI Class of 2023,
further enriching his skills in the management side of the industry. This
initiative is one of the most recognised in the industry with winners in the
class attending weekly webinars, visits to Ipswich for training along with
three intensive days at BTME followed by there graduation. A massive
congratulations to Levi on completing FTMI.
We also have others in the team undertaking qualifications,
Freddy Banks and Matthew Strutt Donnelly have started their Diploma in
Greenkeeping Level 2 at Windsor College and Harry Horn going straight back
after achieving his “Distinction” in all his Level 2 exams to complete his
Level 3 in Sports Turf Management. This participation in further training and
education underscores the club's dedication to staying at the forefront of
excellence in golf course management.
Conclusion
Please
do follow the new layouts in the car park, I understand that parking could
become harder on busy days but this short-term pain will be worth it in the
long run. Please think about car sharing if possible or feel free to come up on
the bike if you are close enough and have a locker. Anything would be
appreciated and would make a difference. We are only a few parking spaces down
with the new layout as long as everyone parks within the bays.
Despite the weather the team have been extremely busy with a lot being achieved in what will be our wettest period on record. I am proud with how the team have handled this winter and I appreciate the patience and understanding from the membership. I think we are all ready for the sunshine again and to get this season underway.
If
only we already had the Reservoir built, it would have been filled by now.
Until the drier weather comes we are all literally in the same boat!