Writing this next blog post it occurs to me that every post so far seems to have started with a thread about the weather. Being something of a traditionalist at heart I'll continue in the same vein. So as the frosts have finally arrived & a cold snap seems to take hold its a time for the grass plants around the golf course to have something of a well earned rest. When soil & air temperatures drop below optimium growing point's, 7 degrees for air & 10 degrees for soil, the grass plant will conserve it's nutrient stock pile and won't put any other energies into leaf or root growth. This has positives that we don't need to cut as much, causing stress to the grass plants but no growth means no recovery on areas that have suffered through the winter. The recent weather patterns suggest that these cold spells in February & early March are now becoming a permanent fixture on the 'season fixture list'. So what does this mean for the golf course? In terms of managing the playing surfaces, we are still trying to protect the playing surfaces so that when the weather improves the playing surfaces will be in better shape for the forthcoming season. We've managed to continue with some aeration work across all the surfaces, it's important this time of year to try & stimulate the soil's as this improves the plant's ability to take up nutrients present in the soil.
The recent spell of poor weather has also led to the implementation of a trolley ban. Now this is something I did as a last resort but a combination of the saturated playing surfaces & the damaged caused by trolleys being used led to the implementation of the ban. One thing I'm very conscious of as Course Manager is giving us the best possible playing surfaces around the golf course once spring arrives and limiting the wear & tear, especially around green surrounds, meant limiting the use of trolleys and the damage they cause. The decision was taken to implement a total ban as the conditions dictated even restricted use would have caused considerable damage. I appreciate for some people this meant no golf could be played, and I thank you for your understanding, and to others who have dug out there pencil bags and started carrying a thank you also. As I stated when the ban was implemented I reviewed the situation daily and reversed the decision as soon as ground conditions allowed. Hopefully the trolley ban won't be needed again this season but that will be dictated by ground conditions.
The Woodland Management work has continued throughout the golf course with thinning the out of copses been the main recent focus. This will allow for better tree specimens to thrive and help is achieve continous tree coverage with different aged strands allowed to grow & develop. Work has also been carried out reducing the height of the the tree line behind the 2nd green to allow more light onto the playing surface.
Keep a look out for the next post, here's to some dryer golf.
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