2015 proved to be another wet year following an actual summer and late spring. We had 978mmin total with 552mm of rain falling from August to December. That's averaging over 100mm a month, which is way above the norm and with only17 dry days from October to January (meaning the soil profile just doesn't get chance to dry out) and now January hitting 60mm so far in 6 days, it's easy to see why the course has got a little bit damp.
Unfortunately due to this abnormal amount of rain we have taken the unusual step to introduce an Trolley ban.
I must add It always remains the intention of the Club not to have a trolley ban except as a very last resort.
Above is picture of a trial carried out by the EGU looking at impact of trolleys, carrying and Buggies. This photo shows that carrying reduces the wear the most.
We all know that trolleys cause damage mostly because users tend to follow the same routes from tees and around greens while bag carriers are able to spread out and roam freely all over the course which spreads the wear.
The trolley routes have become worn (see above) from the constant traffic - thus the use of more widespread traffic control measures have been introduced to try and to divert them away from sensitive or crucial parts of each hole using white line or ropes.
Please follow the traffic control measures. Short cuts being taken normally result with areas getting very muddy, wet and slippery for the season ahead.
The main reason is that our soil does not drain so readily being clay, often leaving it very wet and easily damaged. The grass cover begins to thin as ground temperatures fall and growth comes to a virtual standstill for several months during which it is easily damaged and slow to recover.
TROLLEY DAMAGE THOUGHTS
Do electric trolleys cause more damage?
Yes is the answer... Some careless use of electric trolleys causes additional unnecessary damage due to spinning wheels, particularly when starting on a slope and the greater impact on the ground due to their weight.
Golfers with medical certificates could also do there bit to help- It is hoped they will use the lighter weight pull trolleys to help preserve the course or once the ban is lifted we will be encouraging everyone to do this until the course is fit for Electric trolleys (obviously our aim is to be back to normal ASAP)
It is generally hoped that everybody who is physicallyable to carry will do so, and encourage their regular playing partners likewise this is when we ask 'Please make every effort to carry your bag'.
(If you have a medical certificate you may use trolley once you have permission from the Office or Pro shop).
For those of you who need to use a trolley please could you follow a few handy hints to protect the golf course.
Our intention, as always is that members can enjoy their golf!
Matt
Still loving the blog Matt....got another question for you.
ReplyDeleteWith all the work that was done last year to clear all the scrub and reveal/repair/create the little drainage ditches, I had sort of expected to see those channels turning into little streams at times such as now when we've had the amount of rain we have since November.
That doesn't always seem to be the case though as the channels often don't seem to have any water flowing along them (I haven't been up for the last couple of weeks so maybe they have recently?).
I'm wondering how exactly does a drainage ditch help? Is it solely there to catch surface run off and direct it to where you want it to go? Or does a ditch somehow help to pull moisture from the surrounding area, so if you put in a grid of ditches you should in theory be able to prevent water just remaining in one place and saturating the soil?
Also, related to this, given that the bank to the right of the 17th green/fairway is higher than the stream on the left of the fairway, and the works last year have cleared out a lot of the the drainage channels, why do we seem to have a problem with that area holding water? It seems strange that the water doesn't just follow the natural contours and end up down in the streams.
Cheers!