Sunday 21 December 2014

2014 Winter review!

cannot believe 2014 has ended, what a year it's been. From the wet start to the year to a normal summer with great weather. We experienced hosting some great golf events, we witnessed some fantastic team performances and individual winners both on and off the course.


I am sat here writing this blog the winter solstice has been and gone. This being the darkest day of the year can only mean one thing... From this day on the daylight will increase and soon (not just yet but soon) the summer will reamerge from its hiding place and we will be playing in t shirts and hitting the ball 350 yards!! 

I thought this would be a god time to review what's been happening this winter out on the golf course. I am sorry we didn't get time for my Greens Forum. This was delayed due to our new daughter arriving in the family and it was decided to hold it in March 2015. 
However I did leave information up on the greens board about the works going on if anyone wanted to read about it.

Winter Projects 

New bunkering 5th hole 

In line with our course development plan the bunkers at the 5th and a mound placed to the right of the hole have been completed. This was our last hole of our immediate works required to improve health and safety not only for our golfer but our neighbours. 

The entire area was stripped and the old two bunkers removed. 

Then the new bunkers were shaped and drainage added. A new ditch was cut into the trees on the right of the hole to provide an outlet. 


Once the drainage works were complete, type 1 was added to the base. We use this to give a firm base for the bunker blinder. This allows the water to move through the blinder and into the drainage with contamination from the clay soils. 


Next the bunker blinder was added. The base is made from rubber grumb (imagine the play park bases). This is applied using a double action mixer and glue, it's then shaped with a trowel just like how plasterers would. 


The revetted turf is then applied and the top soil which was stripped at the start and mounded up is redistributed out evenly. At this point we need to add some extra top soil to help the shaping process. 


Once the topsoil was in place. The area was turfed. At this point I got asked a lot of questions on why we strip such big areas. 
This is to allow the area around the bunker to be shaped. It shapes away unwanted water from the bunker but allows the bunker to gather golf balls from shots that are to close to
the bunker ( said in an evil villain voice from James Bond). 

Here is how they looked once turfed. 

 Once the turf had rooted we started to edge and flymo the bunkers. 
The first few loads of sand have since been added but work has halted due to the wet conditions. There is no point in damaging the surrounding areas, especially after the amount of work that went into shaping them until the area is dry enough for the extra sand to be added. Once it's dry enough these bunkers will open asap. 

I must say the architect and the shaper have done a great job. The mound to the right of the hole, really shapes the shot and adding a new bunker back left and moving first the bunker further right have transformed the hole. 

Pathways 

Thanks to 125  (fund raising project for the 125 anniversary) we have been carrying out work to some of our pathways. The pathways are essential for a site situated on clay like us to improve the golfers experience in the winter months. The down side is the amount of work these require due to washout from heavy rain and the look they have when this happens. We are looking at different options at the moment as to how we improve these. 

This year we are re-edging some of the existing pathways and will adding subtle 'sleeping policemen' style humps in them to shed the water off to the side to those pathways with that constantly wash away. 

This should stop the water building up volume  and carrying the path material away. We had looked into draining across the pathways but after speaking to other golf clubs and getting there feedback on how they need to be constantly dugout we decided to try the above option first. 

Work has been carried out on 2nd, 5th, 6th and 7th. 

The pathways start by being dugout to about 10 inches below the ground level. Stakes are then added to the sides for the boards to be added onto. 

Below the experts (Danny and Terry) were called into make sure the levels were correct as they put the boarding in. 


They even lent us a hand to start getting the type 1 in place before the rain came!! 


Above is the new pathway from the 6th green to the 7th tee. 

An extension  was added on the end of the 7th pathway and the low point was lifted up to stop this holding water in the winter months.
This required us to move over 60 tonnes of material to shape the banks to hold the pathway in place. 

The banks were then turfed. 
The end of the pathway will have extensive drainage added to it once the course drys out enough for the trencher to work. Once this is complete we will have a nice try walk from the 6th green, 7th tee to the the 7th fairway. 

Other pathway work has included digging out the edges of existing pathways so we can add a board to the edges. 
On the 5th we added drainage to the pathway edge as this is a particularly wet area. We are hoping this will stop some of the water encroaching across the pathway. The path will now be topped up with type 1 and shaped as explained above. Then the red pave topping will added to finish. 


The pathway extension on the 2nd was added late to our plans. Mainly as the area next up the ladies tee was getting worn out due to the wet conditions. This has now been completed. We hope this will now allow the area around the tee to improve. 



You may have also noticed we have added honey cone matting to the ends of pathways and bridges. This is an on going process but has helped to keep damage to a minimum. The great thing about this product is it allows the grass to grow through in the summer but be a hard wearing base in the winter. 

Drainage 

Drainage has to be one of the most important course improvements we need to be implementing. This has always been hard due to costs but the purchase of the trencher machine and converyer system for our top dresser has made this task more achievable. All the drainage works we have carried out in the past age been funded through the levy money or from our top dressing budget. Meaning reducing dressings to achieve this. 
However this year the board and greens Commitee worked hard to raise the funds to allow us to have a drainage budget within our yearly maintenance budget. This over time will see a so significant improvement to the course. 

This year we planned to hit the areas causing us the most issues in the previous years. The 4th carry from tee to fairway, the bottom of the 11th, areas in the 7th fairway. 
We also planned to add a ditch to the right of the 9th fairway in the woods.
This will catch a lot of the water that flows from the 4th hole down towards the 9th. The scrub was cleared a head of the digger and this was completed in December. The next stage will be digging out all the old existing drains in the woods to link up with this new ditch. Don't worry, this ditch isn't in play unless you hit it 60 yards off line (I can do that)! 


In November the 4th carry was drained. We put in place a herringbone drainage system with 5 m laterals. 


We added a gravel base with 60mm pipe on top and covered this with 50mm of 3-6mm stone. 


Once the pipe was covered with the gravel the rest of the trench was topped up with straight sand. We used this because it's in the rough. It's a cheaper product as retaining moisture in the summer months isn't as critical as the likes of the aprons. 


The difference the drainage has made to this area is huge already. We will be adding a secondary drainage using a gravel bander in the coming months. This will improve it even more. 

The remaining areas in our plan will be done this year. We were beaten by the weather at the end 2014 as it's now to wet to trench. I think ideally all our drainage work should be carried out in August/ September. That way damage to the course when hauling heavy loads will be a minimum and we will get the full benefit that winter. 

Other areas of drainage have included the simple tasks of digging out the bull rushes from some of the ditches, leaving some as so not to totally destroy as these are great for ecology but enough to improve the flow rates in the ditch.


And hand digging drainage from off the green through the apron and joining it into the pipe work laid previously. 



Above is a photo of the back of the 9th green. This little task has made a difference so we will look to carry out more from now on. 

I think this is enough information for one blog. It's taking forever to save as the file is getting to big!! I will add another with the rest of our winter project works and other jobs that have been getting done over the last few weeks. 

Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and new year! 

Matt 

Wednesday 24 September 2014

The Toro Student Greenkeeper of the year!!


For those of you who didn't yet know I felt this blog was essential to write. 



We as a club have had many successes over the years both on and off the course. I believe staff development is something we wanted to address when I first joined the club and one that has been fully supported by Adrian, the Greens Commitee and Board. 
We wanted to be known as a Greenkeeping training club. One which develops its staff to the highest level. This in turn will attract greenkeepers in the future who want to develop and ones who are passionate about their careers. 
The staff we have in our greenshed are every bit that. There have been awards, personal achievements, specialist training in certain areas not only to develop them but to add value to the club budgets. I am very proud of the team we have and this year that pride went to a whole new level. 

Kevin O'Neill our deputy, (someone who has played a major role in the above) was firstly awarded a scholarship towards his training, then completed his college course in record time and to such a high quality that the college lecturer Andy Wight told me he "had never seen work so good" (I would also like to add that work on the notes on the college website are already from our very own Lee Brady). 
Kev was then nominated by the college for the Regional Finals. This award is one of the highest you can achieve in Greenkeeping as a student, if not the highest. Former winners have included Murray Long at Sunningdale and Euan Grant from Turnberry. Kev being nominated meant he was already the best out of the 150 students at Oaklands!

The regional interviews took place in Hemel Hempstead. This was an interview based round. Kev was nervous but enjoyed this and a week later received the letter saying he won and was in the National Final. A first in Muswell Hills history. 

The National finial comprised of six greenkeepers from all over the United Kingdom Including guys from Purdis Heath and St Andrews to name a few. They spent two days at BIGGA (greenkeepers HQ), they had open discussions on Greenkeeping 'hot' topics and then a interview with a PowerPoint presentation ( kev gave a practice run to our staff before leaving and I must say it was superb). This was followed by an essay. There was some socialising in the evenings to help lighten the mood and the winner was announced on the Tuesday evening.

The winner is normally announced around 5pm ish. I found myself staring at my phone for what felt like hours waiting for Kev to let me know his fate!! 




Then a text came through saying "And the winner is ....me!"

HE WON!!!!!!!! Legend!! 

Pictures started to appear on social media within minutes and then he called for a quick chat. He was very humble but he deserved this for such a long time and I m so happy for him.  



Kev will head to America next year for a six-week study course at the University of Massachusetts and will also visit the Golf Industry Show in San Antonio all courtesy of Toro. He will also get the chance to explore Toro’s Californian base. This year's final had a celebratory air as a special event was held to mark 25 years of the competition.

That day I received over 100 e mails plus texts and tweets with a lot more since to congratulate kev from greenkeepers all over the country, just showing how big this award is! 

Following the final the finalists, judges and BIGGA Commitee went out for a celebratory meal but for 'our Kev' it all seemed to catch up on him :-)



Kev will leave us for the states in January and return back in March. This may leave us short staffed but it's a once in a lifetime achievement and we support him all the way (we could be under snow at that point, let's hope not). He will return with new ideas and I am looking forward to hearing these and seeing how we can implement some. 

In the coming months many magazines will do articles. I will place these in the clubhouse. 

Below is the link to the press realase :-

 http://www.bigga.org.uk/about-us/news/kevin-oneillhe-year-2014/00595.html

To finish I would just like to say, congratulations Kev, enjoy it and I told you... Class is permanent! 

Matt 






Thursday 28 August 2014

Willow damaged during storm


Update

One of our Willow trees on the 8th has been removed for safety reasons. 




On Monday the 18th August we had a thunder storm resulting with damage being caused to the Willow to the left of the 8th. It was thought that a large limb had come down due to the high winds. On closer inspection the tree had been hit by lightning as there was a cork screw shape crack through the entire main trunk. We asked Chris Hill from Woodland Trees (certified Arbor.A) to inspect the tree. Chris reported that he felt the tree was unsafe as it was top heavy and wouldn't survive high winds. The greens Commitee made the decision to remove it safely before it fell. The tree was due to be removed as part of the five year plan but it has been carried out earlier in the schedule than first thought due to Mother Nature. The tree has now been removed and the area will be repaired. 

 










Saturday 23 August 2014

Course Maintenance - The necessary evil

Course maintenance weeks are not the most appreciated weeks in the golfing calendar but without this work the decline in the green surfaces would be noticeable. This week we just completed our works and I just thought I would blog a quick update. For the greenstaff it’s been a busy week. They worked late to get the major works completed by Wednesday on the greens to help aid recovery but it has been worth it and the weather was kind(ish).


Greens

The work on the greens got completed the 20 mm tine(250mm depth) is the biggest tine we have used on the green to date. See picture below:


Aeration is so important for many reasons most I have mentioned previous blogs.

These will include decompaction, improved drainage, improved root development all leading the better putting surfaces. I know most people will say, they don't understand why we do it when the greens have been good... The only way they are good is because we carry the work out at the correct time. 




This is mainly to allow us to get more dressing in, which in turn will see the surfaces infiltration improve during the winter months and help dilute the thatch layer. We ended up putting 45- 50 tonnes of sand dressing down so far and will need to apply a couple more in the coming weeks to fill any holes and improve the levels. This was followed by dragging matting the sand in to the holes.



We then followed the verti drain with the Pro core with a 12mm tine going in over 100mm deep.

We then applied more sand to fill all holes up applyinganother application of sand at 20 tonnes.

 

 

This was then followed by a deep scarification and then cleared. The greens were then over seeded with bent grass species and fertiliser 4.3.4

 

We then gave the greens a light top dressing a brush and roll to help smooth them out.

 

The benefits

Above you can see how the sand has gone down the profile and the top view. Doing this yearly will and is having a great effect in the winter months.


This picture was taken (22/08/14). The greens will take around 10 days to recover (if we get the right temperatures) but the benefits out way the pain.  



Tees and Aprons

The tees and aprons have been solid tined with a pro core and the verti drain at 3 and 5 inches. They are very dry underneath so this will help to get water into the profile. The aprons were fertilised last week.

In the coming weeks:

Next week we will top dress, over seeded and fertilise the teesand aprons.

Surrounds – Solid tine to 4 inches and then scarify. After we will over seed any wear areas with rye grass and fertilise if required.

Fairways – It is intended to scarify fairways in September and clear them after due to the dry conditions.

Other news

On Monday we had to suspend play and work due to thunder and lightning. We then carried on finishing the front greens (9, 1, and 3). On Tuesday morning we found a large limb had broken off the willow left of the 8th. I asked Chris Hill the tree surgeon come and take a look at the tree. He informed me the tree must have been hit by lightning or the storm as it was broken in cork screw fashion from the top down. This was one of the trees we had discussed to be removed as part of the design plans but I think mother nature may have beaten us to it!



I hope this update helps you understand what's been going on this last week. 


Thursday 21 August 2014

The traditional british summer...almost

Firstly I would like to apologise for lack of blog updates lately. The summer has been a very busy period for all of us at the club. I will endeavour to be back to my blogging self from now on. 



In this blog I will just give an overview of what's been happening lately out on the golf course. 

This summer we have seen an almost normal (if that still exists) summer. This has been a mix of lots of sunny days with high tempratures and high periods of rain. 
Interestingly we have had more thunderstorms this year than I can remember and with the thunder comes higher levels of nitrogen in the rain. Normally rain brings 0.25kg of Nitrogen per hectare per inch of rain but when it thunders this figure goes up to 1.25kg N per ha, per inch. This is a huge increase and what we see out on the golf course is new life, new growth! 

Below shows our growth rates so far this year. You will see how high it's been since June with the mix in the weather but we also started off out of the blocks.

This has meant a lot of cutting and applications of growth regulator to help keep the course in good condition. 


What still amazes me about London clay (our soil type) is just how quickly it dries out. We can go from this :


To having to do this within a few days


And we have even needed to get out early to try and keep some areas (the ones we can reach) alive with H2O. See below. 


From extreme heat to thundery showers has meant a lot of our time has either been spent adding water or repairing rain damage. 







The story of our summer is nearly over. I can't believe finals day is this weekend. It's been one of many highs and great things achieved. The South England ladies county, county matches, winning club teams, successful tournaments, swing for sammy making over £100,000! increased membership, staff success and improved playing surfaces. I can't wait for the next summer to come as we have alot of work planned in between. This work will build on this year and raise the bar again.  

I will be blogging some more to catch up over the coming days.

Matt