Friday, 17 November 2023

Treading water!

 



Hi All,



 

What a couple of weeks this has been! The recent weather has presented an unprecedented challenge. The deluge of rain over the past couple of months has left the course battling a relentless assault of water.

With a staggering 297mm of rain in just 36 days, including 32 days of rain, meaning no drying time and it now only taking a couple of millimetres to push the water table up and over the top making the course unplayable. The club faces one of the wettest periods on record, not the start to the winter any of us wanted but I must thank you all for your patience and understanding during this period as the team have been working to combat this but sometimes we just can’t beat Mother Nature.




 

Storms

That’s already three storms with two very high winded (Ciaran at night and Babet slowly moving over) and one that came through very quickly (Debi).

The sad news on the horizon is that Decembers have always been a month when the course doesn’t actually get any drier. The last five years have shown the ET rate for these months doesn’t get above 20mm lost and rainfall in all those years including after last year’s big freeze are dramatically higher than 20mm. Shorter days and less light are to blame.

Interestingly the data is showing us that Decembers are getting consistently warmer with 1990’s having only three days a month above 10 degrees, the 2000’s 6 days above 10 degrees and now the 2020’s are averaging 19 days above ten degrees. So the odds of the white Christmas are getting lower year on year (watch now I’ve said that it will happen).

Anyway back to the course, this new weather is having an effect on the course and the industry. With warmer, wet days comes disease pressure and the team need to be doing lots of work to reduce this pressure, especially with the withdrawal of some of the chemistries. We are also seeing bigger rainfall figures and rainfall rates (the speed that rain falls from the sky and hits the ground) we collect that data too.

 





The Greens

The greens have taken the rainfall extremely well to date considering the difference from just three years ago. Nearly 300mm of rain would have seen these being unplayable for days after the high levels of rain but the investment made in the rope and pipe drainage has meant in just a few dry hours the greens are becoming playable and even cut-able (I think I’ve made that word up) after eight hours of dry conditions.

The greens are also being treated with a bio stimulant blend of liquid oxygen and with penetrant wetting agent technology. This treatment not only oxygenates the greens but also facilitates the movement of water through the profile along with the team running the Air2g2 machine which blow compressed air into the soil profile to break up the compaction in the soil to aid the water movement to the drain within the green and also gives the soils some much needed air when its being pushing out of it with the relentless rainfall.  

 

Verti draining fairways 


Safety and damage

The team have implemented different strategies to aid the turf and to help maintain the course through these periods.

You will hopefully have noticed we have placed black mats in areas. These mats act as shields, safeguarding the turf from the players, reducing the chances of slipping and preventing potential damage.



You will have also noticed we have been leaving drainage repairs open (bottom of 3rd and 15th for example), allowing for continuous inspections. There is a long-term plan in place to install new drain lines into these areas, using the open areas as inspection chambers. This can only be done when the area around the opening has dried out enough for us to get machinery into it, as we look to improve our water management for the future.

We have also started to verti drain the surfaces to move water off the surface, aid drainage and allow air to the roots of the fairways in attempt to make these areas more playable too.

 

 

To ensure the safety of golfers and further protect the course the team increased the roped-off areas around the course. This placement not only prevents potential accidents but also reduces damage caused by continued foot traffic during these challenging weather conditions.



 

I’ve been asked why are team still out on machines but with the level of leaves falling and for us to be able to present the course and just do the basics to keep it open we do need machinery, however this is always the last resort and if we can walk around doing tasks we will. When machinery is out most of this is kept to the greenkeeping track around the course and not following the same walkways that golfers take. Greenkeeping machinery around the tracks isn’t the same as 140 golfer walking the same pinch points over and over again, day after day and we stay away from the play areas as best we can.



 

We have also placed out the winter mats on all the Par’3 and some of the tees that are struggling in the dark wet environments 4th, 5th and 17th.

The winter rules state- “Where present tee mats comprise the teeing area, when starting a hole from a tee mat the player must stand and play a ball from the mat. Penalty breach for the local rule: Match play- loss of hole, Stroke play -two strokes”   

 

We have left the white tee markers out like we have done for the last few years as we try to make it to December. This is mainly due to ‘Yellow’ teeing areas being so small that they cannot cope with the level of play in the winter months, so by spreading the wear around now until December means these are likely to be in a fit state when we get into the depths of winter but it also gives the white tees the opportunity to recover for the new season ahead. Just make sure you check what tees the competitions are being played from before you go out!   

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Rainfall Records:

The statistics speak volumes about the severity of this year's rainfall. October saw 169mm of rain, followed by another 128mm in November up until the 14th. Year-to-date, Stoneham Golf Club has endured a staggering 970mm of rainfall, significantly surpassing the previous year's 846mm. What's alarming is the consistent rise in the yearly average, now standing at 889mm, showcasing a clear trend of increasing precipitation over the years with the data prior to 2017 averaging at 709mm.

 

I hope this blog has given you an insight to what’s been going on around the course to try and get us through this current wave of weather. We have so much work we would like to get done but for now our attention is on getting the course open, battling leaves and re building the bunkers daily after another deluge. It just feels like we are treading water…literally!

 

See you soon

 

Matt

 



 

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