The highs and lows since lock down...

 Hi All, 

An interesting year so far for us all. The year had already started off tough, even before Coronavirus hit these shores. Firstly the wettest winter on record (again) followed by a cold spring which is never great. Then the lock down and staff on furlough and limited works being allowed. Then May hit with the highest amounts of sunshine ever (which was great for golf coming back). The course had to be treated differently, as a business we had to protect our cash as no one was clear of the income we would get. If you just looked at these key facts, it could paint a very negative picture. However, there have been some amazing highlights too. 

During lock down getting the four greens drained and two heavy aerations done was great for us and looking back something we probably needed to do anyway due to the wet winter. Seeing the return of the members was another highlight. Smiling faces as we all took a step back to normality and realised how lucky we are to be able to enjoy the club and not be only allowed out for one daily exercise. 

The return of the Pro shop and Club house was another welcome lift back to the new normal. Golf competitions came back, with ball lifters in place (not perfect but allows competitive golf). We've enjoyed having the Club Championships, Board Comps and knock out matches. A chance to see our friends, play golf in the open air and have a sneaky drink on the patio afterwards. 

The short game area opened and we got chance to see how the future will look. It's hard to believe this has been built in almost the same spot. The feedback has been great and the area will be keep improving with age. 

Andy Sullivan with the winning putt in the playoff with Richard Bland  

I really enjoyed hosting the Clutch Tour. Seeing Ryder cup players and European Tour players up close and how they played the course was fantastic and those that volunteered on the day would have some great stories from it.

Clutch Tour 14th hole

It was nice for us to host a golf event and by this I mean, just a golf event. No lorries or diggers we are now so close to being back to just golf with no disturbance! It was great to see bunker raking teams with the groups and caddies on the course. Lets not forget Stoneham was the original host of the Dunlop Masters (which changed its named to the British Masters some years later). This club deserves some golf events. Its beautiful, rolling, challenging and fun (sometimes). It oozes history but now with modern bunker placements and soon a new driving range and short game area. Stoneham is special!

Unfortunately at the end of May beginning of June we had a Anthracnose disease outbreak on some of the greens. You may have noticed some thinning areas especially on four or five greens. 

Anthracnose is the second most common turf disease in the UK. It's a summer disease and mainly attacks the Poa grass species. This disease used to be called "Poa die back disease" and some people would encourage it to allow more bent grasses to come into golf greens. This can be very damaging as chemical control is limited and the factors that create the right environment for the disease are everything we are trying to do to produce good golf greens. E.G reduced fertiliser inputs so the geens don't slow down, trying to produce longer playing seasons, increased stress from keeping greens drier, this disease also becomes more active in high temperatures and we haven't been short of them lately. 

Any Course Manager will tell you that getting a disease outbreak on the greens is like having a child ill at home. The worry and sleepless nights thinking about them. This is something that's going to get harder and harder as the chemical withdrawals take place and have already taken place across the industry. 

We knew we would have to nurse this along through the season and we did but I felt things were not improving the way I wanted so I called the clubs Agronomist in to have a look as soon as he was allowed to return to visits.

Philip Armitage carryout test on the greens 

I spoke to Philip Armitage our agronomist about our issues this year including the Anthracnose disease outbreak, the fact that when applying products the colour in the plant was not holding for long and the recovery being slower. We carried out our yearly soil tests. These came back with results we had not expected.  The compaction in the green is high, even with the two maintenance windows (2 x 12mm tines and topdressings) in lock down. We have since aerated twice with 8mm tines and sarrel roll (small surface vent with small tines).

Our moisture readings were good, speed good, Smoothness good, firmness was fair but the soil hardness data was not good at all and this is the issue. 

 The Agronomist looked at me and said " Have you had a lot of golf?"  Simply yes was the answer and something I went back to check. Since we came out of lock down and went back to fourballs we had been averaging 8,000 rounds a month. This has meant that the compaction levels in the soil had gone too hard and it effectively squeezed out the air. If 8,000 people walked over my lawn at home every month I would see some damage then if we add the high temperatures of 35+ things would not be pretty. 

The answer following the visit was " I strongly recommend that the Club organises a renovation period as soon as possible to help alleviate the stress on the greens". Then lots of over seeding to fill the scars following the disease. 

I am not looking at this negatively either. Mother nature will throw us challenges, I think we've all experienced this especially this year. For me it's about how fix the issues in the short and medium term and how we learn from this to guide our long term. 

Hollow Coring greens to aid recovery and reduce compaction

In the short term we went about over-seeding the scars from the disease the same way we did in 2015 when we last had it. The agronomist strongly advised us to hollow core the greens to increase the air within the soil and to give them a organic base feed too. Looking at the calendar with Richard we had to move fast and completed the coring last Wednesday. The only thing against us that day was the 36 degree heat and the team having to clear the cores by hand. The team done amazing and got all the greens completed by 2.30pm. That was a tough, tough day but we all knew it had to be done. This will help not only the short term but medium term too. It is important to get the greens healthy before winter as this is when we move from warm season diseases to the cool season diseases. We will continue to micro tine greens when we can and add a little dressing when we find a window in the golfing calendar. Over seeding will continue and the establishment of more Bent grass in the greens will reduce the risk of the disease moving forward. As I sit here now in the office writing this, the sun is out after a heavy rain day yesterday. The seed on the greens is just starting to pop and fertilisers have kicked in (meaning slower greens for a few days...Sorry) but we are in good place. The disease will take time to heel and we have done everything we can and it will heal, we just need to be patient and allow nature to do her thing.  

Black spined acervuli (spores) from Anthracnose Foliar blight

What have we learnt? We have learnt a lot through this process and it's something we need to do as our industry is changing. Has the effect of lock down allowed the soils to decompact to much for this to go completely the other way? Should be be applying more N and K in spring, even when the plant isn't showing signs it needs it? These questions will take time to find out but one thing is for certain, if we have high volumes of golf we can't get away with no aeration. This can be done with little disruption to the members and something we all need to bare in mind. There is no life without air or water!

Thats enough from me this blog, I have so much still to talk about but will save these for other blogs. The road to recovery on all surfaces starts now. Let's get ready for Autumn. 

"The two most powerful Warriors are patience and time"

See you soon 

Matt