It's snowing... leaves!

The leaves are coming down thick and fast and leaf clearing has become the major task for the greenstaff just trying to keep the key playing areas clear. 

Looking around the golf course - although we have taken away thousands of leaves - they say a healthy oak tree has 200,000 leaves during the summer. This means 200,000 down per old oak not including all the other species in the autumn. It looks as though most of the trees are still full of leaves, but the upside is the amazing autumn colour they are producing. 

Other works that have been going on when not clearing leaves-

Verti draining of the entire course was completed this week. Doing this helps with drainage, root growth, getting oxygen into the soil structure and help improve nutrient availability (as the oxygen breathes life into the bacteria and fungi in the soil).  This in turn will improve grass coverage. 

We Verti drained between 8-10 inches as the soil was still very dry underneath following the summer but this has allowed the moisture sitting in the surface to go down into the soil profile, drying out the fairways. 

We also sprayed the golf course for worms and leather jackets. These are sprayed with a product which suppresses the casting worms (3 types out of 9 cast) and stops the leatherjackets or crane flies as some say, from eating the roots of the grass plant. Remember we want worm activity in the soil as they do a great job at keeping it healthy but we don't want them on the surface as this effects our sward coverage. 

We try to spray this after aeration because along with the wetting agent this helps the products hit our target areas. 

We have also started hand cutting greens  (see photo top and below). This is very time-consuming but as the growth rates have dropped it is possible and gives a better cut and the machines are much lighter meaning the greens won't get compacted. This in turn helps root development. 

The greens are still looking in good condition at the end of November. 

Trolley lines have been introduced again. We tend not to do this in the summer as the growth rates and dry conditions don't require us to protect the aprons and greens but in the winter we need them in place. 

Please do not cross the trolleys lines with your trolleys. It does make a difference!! 

The forecast for the rest of this month is cold and dry. No snowmageddon like predicted by the press.

Cold, dry in my books is the best winter weather, we can still get golf played, do winter projects and function, it’s far more preferable to the extremely wet end to November we had in 2012 and with this cold snap it should help to bring the leaves down from the trees quicker. I always like to see them down by Christmas!  

That's become a bigger blog than intended, so I will sign off now and blog again soon.

Matt 

Autumnal feeling

You may have noticed the golf course is starting to change and the autumnal feeling has kicked in. 

Low winter sun levels and big shadows are now the look along with the tree leafs changing colour. 

The poplar trees and silver birches are always the first to start dropping there leaves followed by the Oakes and Willow. These normally finish dropping around Christmas (hopefully). 

This year I think the leaf drop has been later than normal due to the mild weather but it has started (see graph below).

We are now clearing greens everyday, blowing all over the course and now we are starting to pick them up with the Trilo. This acts as a big hover and is also great for clearing ditches. 

This week we used the mini digger to clear some of the exits in the ditches but from now on the Trilo will be used. 

We have had over 50 mm of rain on top of Octobers 123mm so far this month. The course is wet in places but the improvement each year on the drainage front is very noticeable but we still have a lot to do and add to get the course were I want it.

 Greens that were further down on our list following the data collection  back in 2008 are now showing the signs that they need to be drained or worked on like the greens that were further up the list like 16, 9, 3, 6 etc.

The 5th green has benefited from the drainage work at the rear left of the  green but the front does still hold water after heavy rain. This will require some drainage work this year but this will only be a short term fix as next year the hole is due new bunkering and shaping. This is part of the five year plan but new drainage will be needed for the entire area as the levels will change (Below is a picture of the green before we remove the water in the mornings following heavy rain).

The 12th green is also one of the wetter greens on the course and will need some drainage work soon. Our moisture readings prove the green is not wetter than any other year but the other greens that have been worked on are getting drier, this is now giving us the impression it's wetter. 

Other works on the course this week have included spraying the tees and greens for worms. (The rest of the course will be done in the coming days). Planting  flowers and heathers around the clubhouse. We finally finished clearing the  cut up trees following the storm, clearing the stump grinding debris. Finishing turfing at the 8th mound area. Clearing leafs as mentioned above, reinstating the bunkers following heavy rain and cutting the golf course (the growth rates are still really high). 

In the coming days we will start to Verti drain fairways. This will help with the recovery from the hot summer. Spraying the course for worms and hopefully if the dry weather comes we can finally laser level these new tees and turf them before the winter kicks in. 

Lastly here's a picture of the clubhouse set up for Presentation day. Well done to all those who won a trophy and received it today. I hope they look great on your mantle piece. 

I m off now to carry on clearing leafs off the course!!! 

Matt 

Storm week

Just thought I would share some of the images and talk about the clean up operation that has been going on out on the golf course this week. 

Arriving at the club on Monday morning knowing the weather forecast was predicting a storm, I knew we would be in for a rough day following the heavy over night rain (25mm). The winds at 6am were strong but not exceptional then between 6.30- 9 am the wind speed really picked up with gusts over 80mph. 

This caused a lot of damage to the trees. The main reason being the trees were still full of leaf and the ground conditions very wet following over 100mm of rain this month. 

On our first inspection the damage seemed to be just a couple of small limbs but as the day went on we found more and more damaged trees some had come down and others with dangerous hanging branches. 

Below are some of the photos

Split oak tree behind the 5th green

Poplar trees down (left of the 6th). Another one had to be felled as it was cracked all the way up (see picture below, rear tree).

Silver birches also suffered

And more oak damage

Once the storm had past the clean up operation started. Firstly we assessed the damage to the trees. 

We then prioritised the trees that needed to be made safe and down to ground level.

Followed by trees that needed climbing to cut the canopy's to make them safe.

 Then followed the large debris that needed chainsawing to be moved

 lastly the debris. 

We had help with the climbing and the more technical fells from the clubs trees surgeons 'Woodland Tree Surgery ltd'. I would like to thank them for there speedy response to help us get the course open. The rest of the chainsaw work and clearing was carried out in house. The greenstaff have worked tirelessly to get the course open and tidied up. I would like to thank them also. 

Below is a map of the course. The red areas mark where we lost trees and the yellow marks areas of bad debris.

Hopefully the weather will improve now, this will allow us to get back out cutting the course and we can get back to completing the construction work on the 3rd,4th and 5th tees.  

 

Bunkers

I m sorry it's been a while but things have  been very busy out on the course lately and I also held back from blogging as I had the greens forum in September and I wanted something to say and for the members to turn up :-) 

I wanted to talk about some of the challenges faced in the last year or even couple of months at the forum but will talk about them through our blog over the coming days. We will talk about what we are doing or have done to over come these and move on. 

The bunkers 

These are always a talking point at every club and we have a few issues to deal with ours. Some of the issues are down to the old style design, some Mother Nature and some animal with the odd golfer adding there bit now and then. The bunkers are the second highest maintenance drain on the greenstaffs man hours only behind the greens by a fraction.

This year we have re designed and modernised six new bunkers. I ve spoken about these before but when you compare how they have performed compared to the old ones, you can see why we need to move forward.

The bunkers this year have been receiving constant attention (like every year). 

Firstly we re shaped some if the bases, giving them a smooth finish so the ball would run back to the middle rather than sitting on old ledges. 

Next we topped up the sand levels in all the bunkers (see picture below). Did you know that the average bunker loses a ton of sand a year through play, wind blow, animal damage and in our case the clay soil cracking when dry allowing the sand to filter through like a sand timer! 

The bunkers were then given a good edge using edging irons. This is very time consuming but gives a fantastic finish. 

During the playing season the bunkers are edged with strimmers.

This is then spread evenly around the bunkers, keeping consistent levels.

Then just when we think the bunkers are looking ok this normally happens. Heavy rain which washes the sands off the banks. This also exposes the stones that maybe along the edges (this does not happen on the new bunkers as the revetted face doesn't allow this to happen).

Following heavy rain, we renovate the sand up and move it again back onto the faces and other low areas.

Now a quick look at the everyday set up of the bunkers - stones and weeds are removed as the bunkers get raked.

The sand depths are also checked.

Fox damage is repaired when required

The sand levels are again checked normally moving from the backs if the bunkers as golfers tend to only pull the rake. This causes more sand to build up along the back edge (this happens at every golf club in the world :-) 

We also repair foot prints from golfers who show no respect to other golfers.

So I ve given you a quick guide to the everyday work that goes into the bunkers. 

So what else are we doing with them? 

For example on the new bunkers we are trailing flat raking the edges. This leaves them smooth around the edge meaning the ball should run back into the middle and firming up the edges at the same time. We have also noted that doing this we have had less wash out following heavy rain. 

  So why does there seem to be less sand in the bunkers in the summer?

Particularly this summer as the sands dry out the texture of the sand gets very flat but following rain the sand levels rise. 

This is caused by the moisture mixing with the different particles that make up the sand ( if you imagine flour v flour and water). The picture below shows the same amounts of sand on paper. The levels are different but the only ingredient is water. Some of the big clubs are now adding missters to there bunkers to add water every night to improve consistency. 

  

I hope this helps to explain some of the challenges that we face daily with our bunkers. If you wish to ask me any questions please feel free to ask me when you see me around the course.

Many thanks 

Matt

New signs

As part our continuing course improvement plans we have now started to add some great course furniture. This new equipment will help to improve the look, speed of play, lower maintenance  and make it more enjoyable to play the course!

Over the last couple of years we  have replaced the bins, added clocks around the course, scoops to get the balls out of the ditches, new divot boxes, new 1st tee sign and finger post, new 150 posts ,

new logo flags, new rakes and NOW to help visitors and guests find there way around the golf course, we have NEW SIGNS!!!

These new signs look great.

The first few signs are out on the course now and the rest will be done over the coming couple of weeks. 

Just a quick update on our new signs!

Thanks

Matt 

Bat Survey

The subject of bats may give you shivers but they are an essential part of the wildlife not only on the course but for London. Over the last couple of weeks there have been bat boxes in some of the trees around the course ( see above). These are not bat boxes as we would know them. They are not areas for the bats to nest or are boxes full of feeding bats. These boxes hide a much more technical way of tracking bats in the wild. 

Inside each of the boxes spread around the course was a instrument to find out how many bats we have? and what different species we have? This bat survey or nocturnal survey was carried out by the London ecology team as they try to build a picture of bat life across London. 

This works by recording frequency at certain times of night and again at dawn. Different bat species all talk to each other at different frequency's and the machine can record all of them. Then after a few days they take away the machine and plug it into the computer and it will tell them how many bats were talking at each frequency. From this they can determine the numbers. 

I can tell you that there are 18 different bat species in the U.K. With six types being reported. They are :-

•Common pipistrelle

• Soprano pipistrelle

• Nathusius pipistrelle (rare)

• Daubenton's

• Natterer's 

• Noctule

And lastly, did you ever wonder why you see bats around your gardens during the summer evenings, while your sat outside with a cold drink? The answer is bats eat Moths & Moths are attracted to the lights in the houses. They are just popping round for dinner...

Just a quick blog about bats. 

Thanks 

Matt 

Thundery end to July!

Another very busy period on the golf course. The high temperatures and low rainfall has been met with thunder storms and down pours. The much needed rain has helped the areas without irrigation to recover well. 

Interestingly the rain that fell during the thunder storms contained about 0.6kg of Nitrogen per hectare ( this is normal with thunder), with the rain falling at a pH of between 6.3 and 6.5, this then created a slight growth flush. It some ways this was welcome as it helped areas to recover but some of you would have noticed as the growth on greens from morning to evening was noticeable. We then re-applied our growth regulators to greens, tees, aprons and surrounds. This should help us maintain better growth rates over the coming weeks.

The greenstaff have worked tirelessly over the last month with over 60 hours of extra work each being carried out in July. 

I have so much to talk about this blog but I will try to keep it brief :-)

Some of you may have noticed the odd looking shoots of grass in certain areas of the course. This is the Perennial Ryegrass or Lolium Perenne as its also known. This grass species has spikelets (see photo above) from May to November that can grow between 4-40 cm. Each spikelet can produce upto 14 seeds. This is a short lived problem, we have spent many hours cutting these with strimmers to heights that we can then mow. (These tend to be hard to mow especially with cylinder mowers as the rollers on the front of the units make the shoots lay down so they are not cut and then the rear roller moves off the shoot and it springs back up again!)

Other works have included- flailing down the long roughs or brambles in amongst the trees to help the players find there ball. We thank Oliver's for our demo machine.

Clearing these areas also allows us to re claim some of the land the woodlands have/are slowy taking by encroaching year after year.

The new bins have been concreted out on the golf course. These will hopefully keep the course a bit tidier during high winds as these don't have have holes in the bottom:-) 

The new academy markers were painted and put out the course. The academy tees have now been fertilised but our hands are in the luck of the gods regarding water as these are not fitted with irrigation yet. We will be working on these over the winter to raise the standards for next year.

We have also been busy cutting up broken branches and lifting the tree canopy's. Some of you may have noticed that some of the limbs have got lower under the weight of the leafs this year.

We have spent time lifting the branches away from the pathways to keep them clear for golfers.

All these jobs plus our normal daily cutting, machinery set ups and those dreaded bunkers, have kept us busy over the last few weeks. 

I will blog again soon as there is to much to put into one blog. I will spend a bit of time talking about the bunkers in the next blog. 

I ve been told the weather will be good again so 'enjoy your golf' in the next round of sunshine :-)

Matt