Hi All,
Well, that’s another month passed and it’s great to finally see the sunshine and temperatures from mid- May, hopefully the recent weather is giving us a glimpse of the rest of the summer.
Looking back- April came with actual “April showers” in the form of heavy downpours following a wet March which made the winter feel a particularly long one. In fact one of the longest winters I can remember!
Lets have a quick look at how this is impacting us now…
March ended with 129mm of rain with 22 days of rain in a row and April bringing another 90mm of rain in total. I looked up the data for the winter months (October to April) in 2022-2023 and we recorded 764mm in comparison last winter (21-22) we had 392mm with our average being 573mm over the last ten years. Hence why it felt like a long one. It’s been a wet winter for sure and we experienced a lot more issues with ice and frosts. Those frozen greens and balls bouncing high in the air when hitting into them or the sheet ice on pathways seem a long time ago in this current weather.
Growth wise we were running 10 days behind last year looking at the GDD modelling, only to have this rocket in the last two weeks in May.
For years the cold springs have been a real issue for recovery from the winter play and this year all our modelling showed it looked the same. We took the opportunity to apply fertilisers to the weak areas of the course, areas of rough or walkways that we wouldn’t normally feed but we needed these areas to heal.
Then, the warmth hit at the same time as the moisture was still in the soil profile and the growth rates really kicked off. FINALLY A PROPER SPRING!
So what has this meant for us and this spring?
Following the wet winter and then sudden rise in soil temperatures this meant we experienced a flush of growth in all areas.
Greens
I’ve spoken a lot about the different grass species we have on the greens. We are a Poa and Bent mix. Here is a blog just on this from May 2016 which I wrote about greens:-
Over the last few year’s we have really upped our over seeding of Bent grass species into the greens, this is dovetailing to all the drainage works carried out the greens. This is now speeding up the recovery time following heavy rainfall on greens and lowering the moisture levels faster. This in turn means the Bent grass species has more of a chance of surviving and the soil life improves, again aiding resistance to diseases and lending itself to the Bent species.
Why is this important? With the reduction of chemicals (we have now lost another Fungicide in the last month, this means from 30+ ten years ago we now have 3) we need to look at species that require less water, less fertiliser, less disease outbreaks. For the golfer, Bent surfaces can be considered the best and in the UK when we talk about Queenwood, Wentworth or The Grove, they are pure Creeping Bent greens.
Due to our soil profile being clay, we will never be Poa free or should want to be, but we will go through a tough period each year between April and May when at first the Bent starts to grow as this grows at a lower soil temperature than Poa so we get a bobbly effect on the surface and then we get our annual seedhead flush on the Poa grass species. This naturally slows the ball down and green speeds decline until we can do a few things to help this as we have done in the last six weeks.- Lower the heights of cut once the greens are firm enough to reduce the bobble
- Increase in cutting. This is the period we move into daily cutting of the greens, sometimes twice a day
- Groomer/brush the greens to get an even cut of the grass species, almost how a hair dresser brings the hair through the comb and cuts it even (well that’s what they did when I had hair…)
- Topdress (I know this is controversial) but topdressing actually smooth’s the surfaces and aids drainage and OM control. We need to apply 150 tonnes per year to maintain the greens where they are, performance wise.
- Over seed with Bent grass species, the more we add the more blends the surfaces and a truer, consistent ball roll comes from this.
- PGR – Plant growth regulators
applied throughout this period to aid seed head suppression and keep the two different
grasses at similar heights after we have cut them
The greens have improved a lot over the last month and moisture levels have declined, in turn firming up the greens.
The Moisture levels are now being maintained due to the warm temps in a safe zone. We cannot risk going to dry at this point as daily ET is around 4mm per day. We need enough moisture in the soil that by the end of the day its hitting the target numbers to survive. Surfactant wetting agents to hold the moisture evenly in the soils are being applied to not just the greens but all playing surfaces, helping us reduce the amount water required through irrigation.
The grooming, rolling and mowing have increased plus the use of regulators have meant we are now getting the data we would expect from summer greens and once the seedhead flush subsides as we go into June the pace of the greens will increase naturally. We don’t want to be forcing this as it can have a knock on effect later in the year disease wise. I am currently happy with where the greens are going into the summer now.
Tees
The fertiliser program and daily divotting
from the team plus the important use of winter mats during the ‘no growth’
months has meant the tees, even though by modern course standards are too small
to cope with the amount of play we receive are recovering well. Even the likes
of the 4th and 5th, 9th tees have recovered better than
we first thought.
Aprons, run offs, fairways and surrounds-
These have all improved with the weather and the work the team have put into them. The amount of divots that have recovered and are now growing following the divot trophy is quite remarkable. Lots of work has gone into these areas as we try to keep improving them including scarifying, fertilising and aeration works plus additional divotting or soil repairs to bare areas from the team. We are not perfect yet but it is something we can keep working on and will continue with.
Drainage issues-
You will have noticed some really wet areas around the course. Areas like the bottom of the 3rd, the bottom of the 4th, by the bell on the 4th, the 6th and 12th in the valley in front of both greens, the 15th in the low are by the 16th tee, the 18th in front of the ladies and off the range.
These areas being so wet are a mixture of issues, some of it will be water moving due to the irrigation system being moled in and hitting old drains that we never knew existed (there are no maps or survey maps of all the old drainage on the course).
Some will be drains that have failed as they only have a limited life before tree roots or silts block them or simply need work to fix. The club have purchased a trencher
for us to be able to start draining these areas and this is something we have ear marked for the summer. You know what they say “ Do your irrigation works in winter and drainage works in summer” and this is the plan for us. These wet areas provide us with the opportunity to fix them and for another challenge for us as we look to keep improving the course.
6th and 12th
When I first started at Stoneham I was told we had a full drainage system with culverts running from the new (2015) ditch on the 17th all across the 15th- the 14th- the 12th – the 6th to the ditch on the right of the 6th in the valley. We certainly have inspection pits in areas but on a closer look we have realised the culvert doesn’t actually make it passed the 14th. The pipe work between the 6th and 12th is a mix of old clay pipes and old white perforated plastic 60mm pipe. This is not good enough and is something we need to look at to improve this area. We need these areas acting as main drainage for us to take secondary drainage from. The plan is to address this later this summer when a break in the golfing calendar will give us the time to do this quite a big piece of work.
The cause off all the problems 6th
What’s been done so far…
We have already repaired a break on the pipe on the right of the 12th fairway in April. With the use of cameras up the drainage pipe we found the area to the right of the 12th and backing up into the 6th fairway. A broken small land pipe was repaired and the area rodded to increase flow. Then the left handside of the 12th and 6th became even wetter. Puzzling us all. During the England Golf week as the course dried out we noticed this wasn’t improving even though the rainfall had reduced.
Last week Jack and Levi started looking for the issue now dry enough to trace the issue back and after a day’s digging a small leak on the irrigation system on a faulty joint was found on the left of the 6thfairway, enough to fill a bath fairly quickly and over time to saturate an area. This has now been repaired and we should see an improvement to those holes.
Roughs
We know the roughs have gone mad and the growth in these areas are making it challenging to find balls and has impacted on the speed of play. In 2016 we went through the same period but now we have done a lot of work over the years thinning these roughs out and increasing our heathland areas.
I can only apologise for this. We have over the years purchased two different types of rough mower. One standard rotary batwing mower and one cutting and collecting for the eco roughs around the course.
Both mowers have had wheel issue this last two weeks. The Toro was broken down on the back of the 1st green due to a hub issue and the Grillo which cuts and collects our eco roughs needed a new tyre and bearings the higher height of cut kit. Sounds like simple fixes, which they are but waiting for parts from the states and Italy respectfully has its issues and our lack of storage space means holding loads of spares for all the mowers we have is not possible yet. We carry the basics but sometimes you just cant beat these things. Both mowers are now back fully functioning (the Grillo last Friday evening) and will be out to take the heat out of the roughs but Mother Nature will also do her thing in the coming days as they dry out and we will be left with these golden long roughs and purple heather soon.
Regarding our normal roughs, this year we have reduced the height from 89mm to 75mm in an attempt to make the roughs more uniform, what we hadn’t bargained for was the growth we got and them to thicken up the way they have following the rain and feeds. This isn’t quite US open style but not far off. Over the coming weeks these will burn off like every year and the fertiliser will reduce and we will be left with a fairer hazard (remember that’s what it is). Our aim was always to get grass coverage and a more uniform rough, nothing else. I know I am not talking to many of you as some never miss the fairway but for those of you like me, I promise these areas will improve in the coming days/ weeks.
England Golf week
I would like to finish off by saying a huge well done to all those involved in the England Golf week. The course really came to life that week and the team worked tirelessly going into and during the event.
To all the clubhouse team and office team who managed the day to day stuff brilliantly and to all those that Volunteered, thank you.
During our appraisal process this year, all the team were asked about, what inspired them to be part of the greenkeeping team at Stoneham? Many clubs are really struggling and there is an industry issue with the lack of greenkeepers coming into the business. Finding good quality staff is almost impossible but we have a fantastic qualified team. All of them said along with other things but all of them said “being part of a team that holds Championship tournaments”.
These England golf events mean we maintain a championship title, and we host Championship tournaments and we are Championship club.
The benefits to the membership are more than this, we attract good greenkeepers who want to be part of it and want to improve your club and to produce a club you are proud of. Next years event is one of the biggest competitions in Europe and will bring some of the best players we are likely to see at Stoneham. I for one cannot wait to host them because this is a club we should all be proud to be part of!
Enjoy the sunshine.
See you soon
Matt
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