Nearly Christmas.......

Not looking forward to cutting greens next week if this rain carries on... Haha

MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Greenkeeping team!!

Bird damage

Along with the challenging mild conditions this winter which has kept us cutting more than we ever have done, we're also spending lots of time fixing bird damage!!!!

8th-9th of December - Micro Tining

This week we have micro-tined the main 18 greens at 4 inches deep followed by cutting and rolling them. The turf iron we use to roll the greens after is fantastic and smoothes out the putting surface that much you can hardly tell they've been areated.

Dec 2015

As the mild winter continues, so does the disease activity on and around the greens.

Fusarium which is fungal seems to be causing the biggest problem currently and has been treated with a systemic and contact chemical which stops spore germination and prevents the spread. 

When active these patches become a red tinted colour around the outside and if not treated straight away with the correct cultural and chemical practise, could lead to the grass putting surface being effected.

Head Greenkeeper's report Nov 2015

HEAD GREENKEEPERS REPORT – ANNUAL

GENERAL MEETING 2015

The spring of 2015 was particularly cold and this created problems in getting the course up to the desired condition early. Although the greens were performing well it was late May before I was completely satisfied with the greens surfaces. It was a problem experienced by most golf clubs across the country and in fact we seemed to create better surfaces earlier than most. Once temperatures improved we quickly got up and running and remaining weather patterns for the year have been quite conducive to creating good playing surfaces. Only for a short period in July did the course become a little too dry and bouncy.

Greens Management

I have been happy most of the year with the way the greens have performed. Once again we have met our targets for speed, trueness, smoothness and uniformity.

The fairy rings again provided our biggest challenge but I feel we are managing these better year on year and are minimising the impact of these (which are mostly aesthetic) well.

The 1st green remodelling has worked well and water no longer puddles in the middle of the green after heavy rainfall. There has been a tiny amount of sinkage to the left hand side which may require reworking but it is only a minor problem and will not result in any disruption to play.

As I sit here writing this in early November it is currently 17 degrees outside and whilst good for golfing it is providing its own challenges on the golf course. Disease levels are high and are requiring more chemical control than in previous years to maintain the smoothness of the surfaces. We are also currently mowing greens three times per week, when once would normally suffice.

Green Surrounds

We are still working hard to improve the immediate area around each green. In September these areas were hollow cored, overseeded and heavily dressed with sand. Improvement has been huge, with a much better sward of finer grasses colonising. Further work in the future will result in the surfaces I desire.

Long Rough Management

The cut and collect machine was used this year to give an extra 5 metres of cut rough around most holes and proved to be a great benefit to playability. Sheep, currently numbering 38, are continuing to graze the heavy rough areas and appear to be having the desired effect. The areas are slowly becoming less dense and the coarser grasses are refining.

Gorse

Around 200 plants have recently been transplanted between holes 1 and 2, 8 and 9, and the 9th on the Blenheim course. A further plantation will be planted on the 13th to deter players from playing across the corner. Stakes and guards are continually being removed as the larger plants mature so please ensure you are entitled to relief before doing so. 200 more plants are being grown on for planting in autumn 2016.

For further information on golf course maintenance please view our blog, compiled by Deputy Head Greenkeeper Steve Hirons at www.kirtlingtongreenkeepers.blogspot.co.uk

15-11-15 latest news on the course!!

A very busy few weeks on the course with the grass still growing and the usual autumn work being carried out.
All bunkers on the main 18 have been strimmed, weeded and edged while plans have been put in place to re-shape and tidy up the bunkers on the Blenheim course and also a couple on the main 18.
Blenheim greens have been micro tined this week along with the usual weekly slitting of all 27 greens.
Tees are still getting cut twice a week while the greens are three times weekly at the height of 5mm.
Greens have been sprayed with micro nutrients,  root enhancers and also a turf hardener.

Nov 15

Darker dewy mornings are now here, so lots of brushing and slitting of greens present along with lots of solid tining of tees and wet areas!
This time of the year with the current weather is perfect for disease so we are keeping a very close eye on the greens each morning. A contact and systemic Fungicide will be sprayed as soon as disease appears.
We are currently also spraying for worms as casting is getting a bit messy in certain areas.

Oct 2015

Congratulations to Pam and her family along with all the staff here at the Golf Club, September see us celebrate 20 years since the club formed with a party and golf comps which see lots of past members come back to play.
We managed to get a small fountain in the 7th lake in time for this.
Since then we've carried on with lots of odd jobs and spiked more of the wet areas on the greens, followed by seed and sand filling in the holes.

21st Sept 15

Last week see us spike, overseed and top dress the Blenheim nine hole course tees. A dwarf Rye blend was used along with straight sand over the top followed by solid tine holes punching the sand in to the profile.
The aprons were also spiked and then fertiliser was applied over the top.
On the main course, general maintenance has carried on keeping the greens in good shape for the latest big comps and roll ups.
September has seen quite a bit of rainfall leading to flush growth in some areas giving us lots of cutting on the mowers.

Sept 2015

Apologies for the delay, I've been away on honeymoon :)

I had to come back to help rescue Brett and the boys with the greens maintenance haha...

All greens and surrounds have now been verti cut, scarified, over seeded, top dressed, fertilised, cut, rolled and watered..

Blenheim 9 hole course due to start this Tuesday.

July 2015

A busy month has seen all hands to the deck with lots of work going on all over the course... All bunkers strimmed and tidied, the greens taken down to 4mm and were stimping at around 9.8 - 10 for Club Championships, bits of the 5" rough was cut back and dry patches on the greens were hand watered..
Congratulations to Paul Slade who won this year's big comp!!
Other bits and bobs - Brett and Steve went on a day course which was based on soil science which was very interesting..

The day we nearly lost our Clivos.....

After been given the job of rubbing down the willow trees on the left hand side of the 3rd in the very very heavy rough we thought we had lost our Clive :)

June 2015

New tee markers hand made from oak wood are in the process of being painted and drying ready to be put on the course, each marker on the right hand side will have a cut out slot for your broken tees.
Thank you to Mark Brown for hand crafting these markers for us!

1st bunker on the Blenheim 9 hole course re-shaped

Due to water sitting in this bunker for most of the winter we decided to re-shape it and also clean out the existing pipes and replace them with new ones and new gravel.

Wentworth Gc

After being selected to be part of the Greenkeeping support team for the European Tour event at Wentworth, Brett and Steve spent 4 days working along the Wentworth staff in raking bunkers for selected matches and helped with any extra jobs needed to set up the course ready for this event.
It was a fantastic experience and was great to see the set up of a major comp.

End of April

Full throttle ahead at the minute, cutting like mad and odd jobs are never ending.. Still just about had time for some of the Chief's special cakes... :)

Also - Congratulations to Tomo who won the masters last Sunday!!

England's youngest Greenkeeper surely?....