April was a dry month with little rainfall, we had more rain over the May bank holiday weekend than we did for the entire month of April!
Grass growth is still slow in picking up but hopefully its not far away.
Kerry has finished all winter servicing and all 1st choice mowers are now being used. I have a good relationship with the Course Manager at Royal Porthcawl and he is allowing us to use their grinders to sharpen the cutting units on our mowers.
When Kerry services our fleet of machinery they are all jet washed and any rust treated. This saves the club a colossal amount of money, where other golf clubs machines are looking tired and performing poorly after 5 years, ours are still going strong after 10. Obviously keeping a mower for this period of time puts strain on the engine but with regular servicing we keep them functional way past their intended lifespan.
The machine above is our deep rough mower and was purchased in May 2005, so is 10 years old. It has 2200 hours on the clock, that equated into mile's is 200000!!
I think its a credit to Kerry and my team that the clubs investments are so well cared for. You may think its an obvious thing to do but I've been to golf clubs worldwide where this isn't the case.
You can also see from in the back ground of the picture a spare tyre rack, the biggest thing about breakdowns is minimising the down time of the machine. In the last few years I have been trying to gain an inventory of stock on the shelf so Kerry is able to repair machines in the shortest amount of time. There's a saying that's stuck with me in greenkeeping that is "if its not moving its not earning"
The herbicide applied to the heather regeneration areas has taken well, this will kill off the grass around the heather allowing it to flourish.
Weather recordings
Rainfall-16mm
Average low-6.75(c)
Average high-15.63(c)
NEATH GOLF CLUB
MONTHLY GOLF COURSE REPORT
APRIL 2014
GREENS
- Growth still remains very sporadic
with no real positive or consistent growth which is proving difficult to
produce a true surface.
- Historically the poa seed
heads are flourishing at this time of year but because of the poor
temperatures they are yet to get going. Unfortunately I predict they will
come right on the bell, but with the intensive over seeding programme and
maintenance practices in last two years the percentage of poa is being reduced.
- With the recent wet
weather I expect some disease activity, I will be keeping a close eye on
the indicator greens but as they are healthy I’m confident if an outbreak occurs
we can let it go without the need of a fungicide application
- I will be introducing the
PGR on the 8th May to help in keeping the seed heads tighter to
the surface
- Another 13 ton of dressing
was applied on the 13th taking the yearly amount to 50 ton, the
target remains at 130 ton.
- Fortnightly applications has
now started and the greens are responding very well to this.
- Irrigation was required in
the recent dry spell, this was kept to a minimum so not to reduce soil
temperatures further.
- All greens hand weeded
PLAN OF ACTION
- Fortnightly
spoon feed with wetting agent(introduce PGR)
- Verti
cut -1mm
- Micro
tine
- light
top dressing
- Hand
weed
- Hole
change twice a week
TEES
- Tees are in good shape and
recovered very quickly after the dry spell
- 15th back tee
is improving and I’m confident full coverage will be achieved in the next
few weeks.
- All have been sprayed
with-Porthcawl, premium N and Ferrosol with an herbicide to combat weed invasion.
- All tee surrounds and
signs have been weeded.
PLAN OF ACTION
- Fill
divots weekly
- Introduce
PGR when growth dictates
- Verti
cut
- Brush
- Spray
total herbicide to blue slate.
APRONS
- All have been sprayed
with-Porthcawl, premium N and Ferrosol with an herbicide to combat weed invasion.
- Reshaping has taken place
around some bunkers to reduce fly mowing and create more run off areas into
bunkers
PLAN
OF ACTION
- Introduce
PGR when growth dictates
- Verti
cut
- Brush
FAIRWAYS
- All have been sprayed with-Porthcawl, premium N and Ferrosol with an herbicide to combat weed invasion.
- Leatherjacket activity was noted on the 7th, 12th and 13. The stress on the turf was easy to mistake for drought stress but crows pecking was a clear indication that the pests were present, an inspection of the sward confirmed this and an application of Chlorpyrifos has been applied.
PLAN
OF ACTION
- Introduce
PGR when growth dictates
- Brush
before mowing when required
BUNKERS
- All
bunker surrounds have been sprayed with Porthcawl, Ferrosol, herbicide and
a PGR. It is hoped that by spraying the PGR mowing will be reduced freeing
up valuable labour
- The 12th
fairway bunker has been taken out of play until a complete rebuild can
take place.
PLAN
OF ACTION
- Rake
often as possible
- Keep
an even distribution of sand
- Stone
pick weekly
ROUGH AND OUT OF PLAY AREAS
- Definition is good between
the roughs
- 1st cut on the 18th has been extended on the left by the Richards old teaching area to speed up play. This is a notorious spot for losing balls and can be quite dangerous as the area is blind off the 18th tee
- 1st cut sprayed with-Porthcawl, premium N and Ferrosol with an herbicide to combat weed invasion.
- The
herbicide on the heather regeneration areas has taken well and the grass
is dying back, all areas will be sprayed again when weather conditions are
suitable to stem the regrowth of trees and gorse.
- All ditches and tree bases will be sprayed with a total herbicide to kill off grass. This will speed up rough mowing and define ditches.
- Practice bunker tidied with fresh sand
FAQs - Spraying Terminology
PGR
PGR's or Plant Growth Regulators are used on many turf areas of the golf course. The primary reason for using PGR's is to regulate the vertical growth of the turf. Besides the benefits of having the turf grow slower the PGR's allow the turf grow more horizontally with increased rhizome's and stolons creating a more dense playing surface on greens. Some of the other benefits of applying PGR's;
- A more vigorous turf plant
- Suppresses undesirable grasses so a more desirable grass has a competitive edge
-Turf recovers from stress more quickly
- Reduced seed head production of Poa annua
- Reduced labour costs because of less mowing
- Faster and smoother greens
- Reduced usage of water and fertilizer
- Tighter and denser greens
FUNCICIDE
A chemical applied to turf to control disease
HERBICIDE
A chemical applied to turf to control weeds
INSECTICIDE
A chemical applied to turf to control pests i.e. worms/leatherjackets etc.
PORTHCAWL
A formulation of organic liquid, iron and seaweed
FARMSEA 10
A formulation of organic liquid and seaweed
FERROSOL
Liquid iron
PREMIUM N
Nitrogen
Just a quick reminder of golf etiquette, please repair pitchmarks and replace divots also use the divot boards and boxes provided.
Bunkers are not being raked, if you go in a bunker leave it as you would expect to find it.
My team and I would like to thank members for their continued support and positive comments.
Happy golfing
Mark Tucker
Head Greenkeeper
No comments:
Post a Comment