The Course is now progressing nicely with many areas starting to return to a more acceptable playability, the tees are now in full use with The Whites going out for the first Medal on the 26th
The greens recieved a fairly heavy application of 3.0.3 +4fe last week hence the discolouration
this is to waken them up a bit and help control the moss
with regular sorrel rolling weekly and the occasional trim
the rest of the course is recieving weekly trims and definition is starting to improve
March 2022
I can only apologise for the lack of updates and will endeavour to keep this area of information much more fluid this season!
The course has had another battering throughout this winter with a very wet December, moving into a dry January, awful February and things can only improve into March (fingers crossed)
Despite the weather and limited resources we have cracked on with various tasks including aeration, fencing, clearance, tree maintenance etc etc
All the fairways have been verti drained to a depth of 10" with a small amount of heave in the autumn and hoping to get some done again before April
As you've probably seen we've had a certain amount of damage following on from storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin, with a number of prominant branches and a few trees coming down, alongside damage to the greens sheds roof
The greens are slowly coming to life after a dormant winter, and will soon recieve treatments for moss and a little pick me up to kick start the early spring season
Catch up soon. RW
Styles
Format
May 6th 2021
Well......
It's been a slow start to season with air and ground temps barely reaching positives!
I think it’s been a record breaking April certainly more frosty starts than I can recall (2 days without frosts through April!)
No rain until beginning of May but still cold and sleety showers abound.
The greens have ticked along but are suffering with cold and easterly wind and no moisture, the irrigation system is stretched beyond its capabilities and unfortunately is showing its frailties on too many greens too often, in the near future we are going to have to invest rather heavily in irrigation one way or another.
The greens have already had a good top dressing (sand) of around 30 tons in April, with a further 30 tons being applied over the next couple of days following overseeding with a mix of brown top and creeping bent seed, sorrel rolling, tining and an application of Symbio Thatcheater
The rest of the course is improving albeit slowly.
Various breakdowns and repairs on machinery have often hampered productivity, but where possible are causing minimal disruption
The fountain on the 18th is being repaired (hopefully!!)
Thanks to our resident graffiti artist Gill, for keeping the G.U.R markings clear and obvious
Thanks for all the support and genuine encouragement from the vast majority of members.
April 2nd 2021
First and foremost welcome back one and all, it's really nice to see members old and new back on the fairways, and almost all with a smile.
The course has overwintered well, and is slowly springing into life.
There are still a few poor/weak areas and still plenty to do.
Frequency and heights of cut are being continuously adjusted and tweaked .
Greens are in reasonable condition with verti cutting, overseeding, top dressing, etc planned in coming weeks (when temperatures rise and stay more consistent!)
Similar for the tees.
Not much else to say, but all of the staff have enjoyed catching up with members.
Cheers
Rich
March 26th 2021
Spring is springing, Almost all of the mowing is now up to full season frequency A few areas are still too wet to get on but everywhere is taking shape nicely. This week sees the beginning of the course being set up for play - still a way to go but certainly getting there. There have been applications of seaweed, fulvic, a tickle of nitrogen, bio tabs and other amendments on the greens to push them into the spring. Frequency of cut is increasing and heights being tweaked for next weeks restart. There has been an extension to the practice ground and a slight tweak to the hazard and out of bounds on 17/18th Everything is moving in the right direction Looking forward to catching up with members new and old.
March 13th 2021
Course and Driving Range Coming Along Well
Over the last couple of weeks or so we’ve managed to start raising the frequency of mowing of all the main areas of play. Fairways are coming along nicely with a few tweaks of edges and shaping up well. Tees are in similar condition once again with edges being pushed out and adjusted as mowing frequency increases.
Greens are recovering well from the winter with most if not all scarring filling in and with desirable grasses colonising well.
The fertiliser programme has now started and subsequently will be in full swing this month with fortnightly applications of seaweeds, wetting agents, fertilisers, trace elements, biological amendments etc. etc.
I am hoping to get another aeration-tining over the greens and an overseed before the 29th March.
Drainage work has been ongoing, with a huge amount of effort and work on the 10th. There is new drainage and some landscaping (not quite finished yet!) so it will be treated as G.U.R initially.
The range continues to see improvements and a heavy workload with a large amount of tree removal, stump removal, clearing and excavating of holes in readiness for the ground spikes. Ground spikes have now been erected, levelled and concreted in.
Actual fence/net posts are now up in readiness for the restraining wire and actual net to be completed over the next week or so (At present are awaiting delivery of the net.)
New mats for the range have arrived and will certainly add value to the facility.
The course is starting to spring to life, with the snowdrops starting to wilt, daffodils erupting, trees budding and grass creeping up behind us. Birds are all pairing up and are our constant companions.
All in all myself and the team have been working non stop and have been extremely productive, but equally looking forward to seeing the end results.
See you all soon.
February 26th 2021
New Driving Range Facilites
The course continues to be prepared and maintained alongside great progress with the installation of the new driving range facilities.
The recent dry sunny weather has been a bonus.
The new driving range facilities are progressing well. Water and electricity supplies have been installed. The driving range has been deep cleaned and the Range Servant is now in situ. Additional drainage and soakaway for the ball washer has been cut out and the ball container has been fitted out.
Next week the last of the trees will be felled and stumps cleared and post holes will be dug ready for the fencing posts and netting to be installed at the far end of the range.
January 26th 2021
Lockdown continues..........
Fairly thick covering of snow hiding the saturated ground beneath.
Maintenance and repairs well in hand on machinery, in preparation for re opening some time in spring.
The wildlife seems to enjoy the snowy conditions with many tracks and signs of animal activity
Snow drops showing through,
Prior to the snow I managed to verti drain the greens with 12mm x 305mm tines with a small amount of heave to increase the aeration impact
a
Almost all of the fairways also got verti drained prior to the bad weather with 25mm x 305mm tines again with a fair amount of heave
