As we approach the shortest day of the year, the work load for the greenstaff certainly doesn't decrease!
People often ask me 'there can't be much to do over the winter months' so hopefully this post along with others over the winter will give you an idea about some of the tasks going on around the course.
Below is brief description and I plan to post more detailed information on certain topics, hopefully this will keep you informed.
COURSE SET UP & REGULAR MAINTENANCE TASKS
- Leaf clearing is regular morning task, with only the Oak trees holding onto the last leaves.
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| Robin blowing leaves from 6th Green |
- We have seen a fairly mild and wet winter so far with mowing windows limited due to recent rainfall levels. Luckily we were able to make use of the rare opportunity to cut the greens, last Thursday.
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James mowing 13th Green last Thursday afternoon.
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- Spiking of greens, tees, approaches and fairways using solid tines started from October onwards. Optimum conditions for this have allowed us to achieve best results. However, the turn in weather means there are still a few fairways to complete which will have to wait until ground conditions allow. Spiking is crucial in relieving soil compaction and helping improve drainage by increase pore space for water percolation. It's a fairly slow process as some fairways take a full day to spike!
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| Brian spiking the 15th fairway - using 19 mm solid tines to depth of 4-5 inches. |
Other regular tasks over the Autumn / Winter months include:
- Bunker raking.
- Managing and monitoring course foot & trolley traffic using black mats, white lines, rope & staking to move away from delicate areas.
- Movement of tee markers.
- Hole changing.
- Greens spraying, using plant protection applications.
Recent poor ground and weather conditions have allowed the team to push on with work involving the least movement of equipment around the course.
WOODLAND MANAGEMENT
There will be information on separate post specifically on this topic explaining current and future work planned. However, below is brief description on work currently in progress around the course.
- Tree plantation by left side of the 3rd hole has been thinned out and trees pruned. The rational is to allow the best trees to flourish, prevent branches from damaging tractor during mowing, reduce chance of losing golf balls as well as speeding up play and generally tidy area up.
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3rd hole before scrub clearance and tree pruning.
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| 3rd hole during scrub clearance and tree pruning. |
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| Now easier to locate ball and still be penalised yet possible to play shot out. |
- Tree removal by 2nd tee / behind 1st green. There were a few conifer trees still need dealt with as a result from storm damage earlier in the year / previous years. We also took opportunity to tidy whole area and make old ladies tee (from years ago) accessible with view to utilise over the winter months. Other trees were also felled behind the 1st green to allow more sun light into the green.
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Conifer tree by ladies tee that blew down back in January - used some branches for tee markers!
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Further trees felled to make route to old ladies tee accessible and to allow more light into the 1st green.
- Scrub clearance around the 11th tee. This work is ahead of plans in the new year to re build and extend this tee. Following the members course survey this tee has been identified as being the least level teeing surface which is being addressed with further improvements.
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| Scrub clear to side and rear of the tee prior to re construction. |
The tee will be levelled, raised slightly, and extended in size with drainage installed to help cope better with all year round play.
- 12th Green Oak tree coppicing. Some over hanging branches pruned along with some basic tree maintenance carried out to maintain this majestic Oak tree.
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| Jimmy showing his tree climbing skills! |
OTHER WORK
- Bunker renovation is underway to re define edges and re shaping alterations to provide an even and consistent base. Drainage with be rectified if necessary.
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| Bunker base has been smoothly and evenly contoured with the edges re defined. Photo taken after heavy rain and drains water quickly. The bunker is also more visible from the tee and now ready for fresh sand. |
- Turfing some poor areas of ground around greens on the 7th, 13th and 16th. Grass type known as RTF was used which is tolerant for heavy wear and drought conditions. Once allowed to fully establish together with good maintenance practice we should continue to manage good grass coverage in these high traffic routes.
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| Banking by 7th green re turfed in October, establishing nicely. |
- Out of bounds on the 18th has been moved back inside the fence and defined using white posts. The aim is to make the out of bounds clearer and visible form the tee.
- Fairway posts are being replaced with black and white ones which are removable. Having all these posts the same colour will look tidier and the ability to remove will reduce labour intensive strimming work. There is a chance 'kids' might steel them, however it's anticipated the posts will not go far if this happens and as we make ourselves they only cost about £10! We will trial and monitor the possibility of them disappearing.
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| Post on 8th fairway - turf still to be added around base. The same to follow on the 4th, 10th, 13th and 14th. |
- New tee markers being made from tree branches. We are aim to have all markers replaced for spring 2016 including some spares!
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| Tee markers made from branches - ready for treating then ends painted relevant colour. |
- 17th Medal tee path. Work just started to widen this section of path to facilitate better (and safer) access for the golf buggies.
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| More room for golf buggies with lack rubber mats to be installed as path surface. |
That covers most work around the course over the past few months. I'm aiming to post shorter reports and monthly news around the course as well as progress on individual projects of topics.
