Back on the Greens

As I write this next chapter of the blog I'm  pleasently pleased to hopefully see a frost forming outside, I'll explain more shortly, and the fact we have been able to get 4 of the greens we drained back in play today.
The greens drainage project was completed in 15 working days with the greenstaff putting in over 930 man hours, a highly commendable effort.
Since we finished the drainage works on the greens four weeks have passed, four weeks of seasonally unwarm & wet weather that have been perfect for the greens recovery but have also been a perfect breeding ground for fungal turf disease & and meant we've had to try & catch up on the course presentation while trying to prepare the course for the onslaught of Winter. The initial period of recovery was to let the greens rest after all the work that had gone on. Then came a micro management program of liquid feeding, cutting & rolling.
The greens were handcut & rolled to help the drain lines settle in, some localised lifting will be required and works will need to be carried out in terms of topdressing & hollow coring but the greens have settled down really well. One of the most challenging aspects of the recovery was to provide an environment we're the grass plant was able to produce root's that would allow the turf to knit together & begin to take in nutrients. This was achieved by carefully managing the height of cut, when was constructive to roll and a balanced nutrient program.
We were also helped by mother nature. So thank you mother nature.
Once the final turfs were layed on the 18th green we could turn our attention to maintaining & presenting the golf  course. The warm weather that was proving so beneficial to the recovery of the drained greens meant other areas of the  course
still required cutting several times a week. And there was the small matter of the annual autumn leaf fall event that proves ever challenging. But the greenstaff have taken all this in their stride, and hopefully not too many balls were lost..!!!!
As I mentioned earlier hopefully the first signs of frost this winter will single a slow down  in growth so we can concentrate our efforts on  tidying up the  course and beginning our winter maintenance programmes.
I'd like to thank the membership for their understanding whilst we carried out the drainage works. The benefits will be there with drier putting surfaces that will enable us to produce better, more consistent surfaces throughout the year.
And as you may have noticed, all the recent rain has provided a good early test to see how the greens perform with the drainage installed, and the good news is all the outlets were flowing with water taken from the greens.
Enjoy your golf & good luck to the incoming captain's of Muswell Hill Golf Club.