12th Green Drainage (LHS) & 13th Path Improvement

Today (Tuesday 18th November) we started work to improve the drainage problem on the LHS of the 12th green.  Surface water and puddling is becoming more evident despite this being a sand based constructed green.

Surface water on left hand side of 12th green.

Excessive surface thatch and shade problems around the green (poor sunlight & air flow) will contribute to the surface water we can see in above photo.

Whilst the thatch and shade problems also need addressing, you will notice from the short video below that much of the water comes from the path near the green and by the 13th tee.  Video footage is a bit shaky but hopefully you get the idea!

Over time, water running from the path has deteriorated the turf near the green.

This area is being dug out and will be re instated as grass by turfing back to the path edge.

 The other work planned for this project includes:-

• Surface channel drains being installed along path edge to divert most of water before reaching the green.
• Astro turf at top of the hill has been lifted and to be replaced with the black rubber mats using path material to fill the holes.
• The various bits of astro turf by the 13th tee are being lifted and the tee bank being graded to allow surface water run off.  The banking will then be re turfed to the path edge.  This will also give better definition and make this area more pleasing to the eye.
• Other surface channel drains and a catchment area will be installed to remove surface water from the 13th tee area.
• Install drainage line on outer edge of 12th green.

Astro turf been rolled up, ready to be taken away.

Hardcore material being removed.

Hardcore not to be wasted and used to do some much needed road repair, just a few yards away!

Drainage being installed using surface catchment channels at points along the path, feeding into main outlet pipe which will discharge into the burn.

 Now for turf preparation and laying by the 12th green.

Preparation prior to turfing with surface drainage installed.

Robin and James laying the turf on 28th November.

Turfing complete, drain channel installed and roped off during turf 'growing in'.

Turf preparation and laying by 13th tee.

Ready for turf!

Turf layed on 28th November.

Now for the path surface finishing.

Compacting plate used.

Rubber mats replaces the astro turf.

Path material evenly raked out.

Most water from surrounding area has been intercepted using drain channels on paths and has worked well following recent rainfall.  

The final phase of the planned work is to improve drainage on the edge of the green.  Below you can see turf being lifted and root zone removed, down to gravel layer.

Turf has been cut and lifted.

Root zone being dug out.

Root zone on top of gravel layer.

                                         

In the above photo of the root zone shows a heavy thatch layer at the top along with an orange colour which has been aneorobic and retaining excess water.  The thatch layer will significantly slow down water infiltration / percolation through the surface and root zone.

We tested the gravel layer and drain - short video clip below illustrates water percolation is good, so not necessary to remove.

A simple test and gives confidence that sub surface drainage works.

Fresh root zone being replaced and consolidated down.

Turf at front edge of green uneven, sometimes causing scalping so lifted
and smoothed out.

All turf re layed on Tuesday 16th December 2014.

TURFING near 6th GREEN

The turf quality left hand side of the 6th green has deterioted which has been highlighted following two dry summers.  Reasons for the turf deteriorating in this area is due to a combination of the following:-

• High levels of concentrated traffic from golf and greenkeeping equipment.
• Lack of water, aeration and nutrient for growth.
• Established trees in surrounding area that takes water away from plant.

Before Turfing.

Before Turfing.

Being only few yards from the green and very much in play, it's essential this was re turfed to improve playability and make more aesthetically pleasing.  A straightforward process of preparing the ground then re laying new turf - a hard wear perennial ryegrass and fescue mix was used.

Monday 20th October, a few days after turfing.

Monday 20th October, a few days after turfing.

October is an ideal time for carrying out this job because there is no additional pressure for watering or the grass drying out like during summer months. Roots are still active and will already be established by next spring.

Tuesday 18th November, about 4 weeks after turf layed.

Turf now strongly rooted and blending in well with surrounding area.

A straight forward job carried out by the greenstaff with little cost and a notable improvement.  The next challenge is to maintain a good grass cover on this area throughout the year.  Plans are in the pipeline to add sprinkler heads to cover this area which would help make more manageable during dry spells.

3rd TEE LEVELLING

Over the years the 3rd tee has lost its surface levels, especially the front tee section with both sides sloping away quite severly.  As a result, tee marker positions was limited and inconsistant golfer stance evident. 

In February, work got underway by lifting the turf and levelling out the surface before new turf being re laid.




Robin cutting the tuf.

Next up was to lift turf and put to the side.  Some turf was re used for the banks and also for 17th medal tee.  Much of the turf broke up, mainly areas down the middle where the divots were!

Once all the turf was lifted, we used a rotovator to loosen top few inches of the rootzone.  This was moved around to level surface by eye and also to re landscape banking at front right side of tee.



Dumpy levels were used to help ensure a level surface and to shed surface water.   This was probably the slowest part of the process but neccessary, Brian & Jimmy taking mesurements.

Surface prepared, now ready for turfing, thankfully!

Turf being laid and blessed with a dry day & sunshine!

Now the turf has been laid on tee surface, just a bit of landscaping to finish of the banking with a more gentle slope to make mowing more manageable.

All turfing complete and already the tee has been cut twice so ahead of schedule to being back in play!

The opportunity was also taken to re align the tee by pointing it more towards the green.  Ideally we would have made the tee larger (wider) and aligned to perfectly facing the green but this would have involved complete re construction.

Being able to have a level teeing stance and maximising the whole teeing area is a massive improvement from before.

COURSE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS - NORTH WOOD

 

During January 2014 the greenstaff started work on the sleeper bridge by 3rd green and improving area to left of 13th green.

SLEEPER BRIDGE

Sleeper bridge at 3rd Green has been lifted and replaced with wider sleepers in order to give better access for greenkeeping machinery and golf buggy use.

REMOVAL OF HOLLY BUSH & LANDSCAPING WORK BY 13th GREEN.



Before - holly bush heavily encroaching around a majestic beech tree. It's was also restricting traffic flow around this area as well as a magnet for golf balls, therefore slowing play.



1st step, remove the holly bush.



Area now opened up & emphasises majestic beech tree.



Surrounding area was a poor surface with excessively sharp contours, therefore difficult to manage.  Material from other nearby jobs was used to re shape the area, making it easier for mowing and allow us to produce a better playing surface. 



Turf laying started.  This turf was being re used from nearby 3rd tee project which prevented from being wasted. 

Now this area has been opened up, it will:-

• Improve golf traffic flow.
• Help speed up play because nobody will be looking for their ball in holly bush.
• Improve the area aesthetically by emphasising the majestic beech tree.
• Make maintenance more manageable and improve playability.