Friday 24 February 2023

Every winter has its spring

 


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.





 Bunker renovations have taken place on 4th, 6th, 12th and 13th. This involved taking away the old revetted edge, digging the bunker back to the original shelf and rebuilding the revet turf, soiling behind and turfing. Giving the bunkers a fresh newly built look. The team have done a great job on these!




 

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.



 The never ending leaf clearance…




 

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.


Heather plugged into 11th carry 

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



Mark Blake, Levi Pethick and myself attended BTME, the greenkeepers conference at Harrogate. 
The four days provided over 6000 hours of education and a trade show the latest industry ideas. The seminars and conferences we attended were fantastic and there was a real buzz about the place. We came back to the team very inspired for the year ahead with lots of new ideas and up to date with the latest industry goings-on. Our CPD points have also been given a top up.


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 

 




 

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