Playing the growth and task game!

Firstly I would like to apologise for the delay of my updates. We have been extremely busy out on the golf course and the time has just flown by! 

What a month this has been. It feels like we have been playing a game of cut (because of the growth) and then trying to get a task done (see below), growth, task, growth, task. I think it's to much to put into one blog so I will try and spread it out. 

Growth rates 

The growth rates at the start of the year were very high and have helped with the over seeding and divotting around the course. The strike rate (how much seed came through) was very impressive indeed and allowed to start presenting the course a lot earlier compared to last year. (Below you can see the light green seed coming through a divot).

One thing I have been looking into this year is GDD (growth degree days) and during the summer months growth potential. Both of these systems use maximum and minimum daily tempratures, minus a base number (which is the default temprature the plant starts to grow) to give you a number.  These numbers are used to help guide our fertiliser, growth regulator and applications of chemicals to plant by predicting low growth or high growth flushes. 

This year greenkeepers from across europe sent their figures in to a company for the data to be analysed between January and April. 

So I sent our figures in and got an almost instant e mail back asking if I was in Spain (ha ha) and the scientist was so interested in our figures that he was going to look into it further. Why? Because we had the highest growth rates in the UK and most of Europe. 

This is the GDD graph sent out. If you see we are down as North London. We had 383 GDD compared this to the highest in other parts and it's a big difference. The closest amount of growth to us was in Frankfurt,Germany! 

So why is this? (Below is from Mark Hunt Technical Director of Headland) which may help to explain it simpler!  

So that's why we are top of the pops as they say. Ok, now your thinking what does this have to do with the golf course... 

Well, there's two ways of looking at this! High growth rates mean more cutting than other clubs at the start of the year meaning our projects need to be done earlier because we have less time available at the start of the season to complete. This is something I have always said but it's been proven that we need to plan to finish things earlier in the year so when the growth comes we are ready. 

The upside to the growth being high, is the greens become smoother quicker than other parts of the country, the course can repair from the winter months and presents better at the start of the year.  Meaning we come out of winter quicker...surely that's got to be good for our golf swings:-) 

That's enough on GDD and growth rates. 

What else has been going on-

Divotting 

We held another divot day on the bank holiday Monday with 10 holes being divoted again by the member in 45 mins followed by some golf in the junior find raiser. The remain holes were divoted on the Wednesday evening by the Roll up and the greenstaff the following morning. I would like to thank all those involved again. 

All hands on deck to make up the 225 buckets again. 

Woodland management  

The greenstaff have been busy lifting trees around the course. This not only improves the view, allows us to get machinery in under to cut these areas, improves air flow but it also speeds up play as the golfers can see there ball easier. 

The oak at the bottom of 7th lifted

The willows around the course were given there haircut also! 

The hedges around the course given there first cut of the year. Many other areas were trimmed back or tidied up. With walkways, bridges and encroachment on tees all being addressed.

We also finished off the last of our shredding of the piles from the winter woodland work. These were left in areas around the course due to course being to wet in the winter months to get the chipper out to them. 

After. 

Pathways 

The pathways around the course were edged. This is very, very time consuming for the staff. 

The low points on pathways were then topped up with type 1

Then topped up with red pave 

And then wacker plated in to try and keep in place. With over 106 man hours just used on the worst pathways this is one of our most laborious tasks on the golf course but they look great when they are done.... Until this 20mm of rain in a couple of hours and they wash away! 

 

I must admit this is frustrating but we will not be beaten so we start again :-)

Thankfully most of the paths have stayed in place but we are looking at designs and other alternatives to improve these areas around the course. This will make a huge difference in the long term. 

Bunkers 

The bunkers were given another top up. Bunkers with enough sand were given a renovation with the sand moved to the correct levels across the bottoms. This is always on going process as the rain or irrigation can move the sand following a shower. 

Our daily repairs to the bunker faces has also been a challenge over the last couple of months. We know who's playing these games with us, as he likes to watch us repair it :-)

The ditches 

The ditches around the course have had there first major cut back of the year. These play an important roll with in the course strategy and the drainage of the site.

Once the strimming was complete broken or faded hazard posts were replaced.

We then clearly marked hazards, GUR and boundarys. 

Irrigation

Irrigation repairs have also been carried out. The picture above is of the new valve assembly to the right of the 3rd. This has been a troublesome box over the years so it was decided to replace it all once and for all rather than just to keep repairing it. 

Some of the sprinklers arcs (the areas covered by the irrigation system) were also re-adjusted ready for the dry spell ahead. 

Gardens

Since Dukey the clubs gardener retired last year, it's been a bit of mix of members and staff to try keep control of the gardens.

This year, the greenstaff, Ollie (from the pro shop) and Barbara Jackson (past chairwoman) have been involved in improving the feel around the clubhouse. I would like to thank Barbara (who is a keen gardener and who opens her garden for charity every year) for all of her time and expertise. 

The detail stuff 

Some of the yardage stones were moved to their correct positions. The difference now is that yardage stones are placed using GPS. In the past the stones were set out using a wheel and tape. The trouble with that, is the wheel and tape have to go across the ups and downs of the course so you don't get a true reading. 

New towels were placed out on all the ball washers. 

Robin Toovey, our mechanic/greenkeeper also gave the machines a sharpen up on the grinders. This improves the plants health as it creates a clean cut on the plant rather than a ripping effect which can cause diseases to get into the plant. The main thing from a players perspective is the greens increase in speed without lowering the height of cut. 

(Below is a unit being sharpened along the cylinder). 

I think that's enough for now. I will blog again soon and talk about the South England County week plus lots more. As you can see it's been very busy but also rewarding getting all these tasks done along with getting the daily cutting and play set ups completed with the golf course growing like crazy. 

I hope your all enjoying the sunshine and playing as much as you can. 

Matt 

 

The season has started :-)

You may have noticed out on the golf course there is a hive of activity from the greenkeepers at the moment. This is because it's that time of year when we are trying to finish all those winter jobs off our snag list, we are setting up for the season ahead and the golf course is starting to grow like crazy. 

Now don't get me wrong we are busy all year round but this is a transition phase and all transition phases make it feels like we have millions of jobs being done all over the place. 

It's been great seeing the golf course come back to life and to see the work carried out through the winter taking shape. 

Greens 

The greens are performing fantastically well considering the winter. Our latest visit from course agronomist went well with a Phillip Armitage testing the greens for agronomic and playability performance. We still have work to do to increase infiltration and percolation rates on one or two of the greens but the OM levels are down to a good level. Firmness was good, speeds over 10ft were just where we want them at this time of year. Moisture levels were pretty consistent over the majority of the greens with one two localised areas need some work. 

Phillip was very happy with the greens performance and we will carry on with our micro managing of individual greens with regard to their make up to give us a consistent performance across all 20 greens. 

We looked at the 12th green which doesn't perform as we want it to during very wet periods. If you look at the two soil samples below one from the front of the green and one from the back. 

You will see a distinct clay layer (the old green make up) at two different spots one at 120mm the other 180mm. 

The rest of the profile is made up of top dressing and rootzones added to the greens over the years (the top four inches work well on both), but the difference between the two causes the green at the back (shallower rootzone) to get wet quicker. This is caused by the clay soil profile slowing down the water going through the profile and it's nearer the top compared to the front. This is when we get that line of two half's through the green. This will be addressed as we look to even up the flow of water through the green. This us just one example of the things we look at on our way round during a visit. We like to share ideas on how to correct any issues. 

Back to the daily greens work. Cutting, brushing and rolling have increased with the warmer weather.  

Light top dressing have been the order of the month plus alot over seeding of small areas ( pitch mark damage etc) see photo above of light dressing and bent seed (looks white). 

We have now applied over 67 tonnes to the greens already this year. 

When over seeding we spike/slit the area (see below) as the seed must have soil contact and be set a certain depths. This is why we use a rootzone in a divot mix rather that just adding seed. We could just add seed but would have to open the surface up first with little holes or slits. These jobs are done by hand and are very time consuming. 

Also weekly venting or aeration of the surface have been carried out, along with a light Verti cut to help smooth the surfaces. 

We are now liquid / folliar feeding as this helps us keep growth rates at a manageable level. 

Bunkers

Topping up the old fashioned way! 

Firming in before raking

Topping of bunkers has been carried out. Extra sand has been added to those that need it, to bring them in line with the others. We used over 40 tonnes of sand. We will be giving a final top up in the coming weeks. 

The new tees 

The new tees opened for the captains qualifier with additional works being carried around the tees. This included lifting of trees now that they have come out in leaf. Doing these final touches allows us to take out only the essential limbs of trees effecting ball flights or sun light. 

The tees all got another top dressing to help smooth them out and help break down organic matter. 

Other works included changing rotten sleeper steps and then astro turfing. Replacing the yardage stones and adding our new course furniture to the tees. 

Bits and pieces 

The course has been sprayed with a selective weed killer. 

Disc seeding has been carried out to areas of rough and all the tees. The grass species used varied from area but mostly dwarf rye, fescue and bent mixes. 

Tree stumps have been dug out and soil and seeded in the roughs. 

Clearing the piles of wood shreddings from the winter has also been done. These were moved into woodland areas and used as a mulch.

Our old course furniture has been replaced with new flags, pins and markers. We might even see the odd marker post for fairway lines added in the coming weeks !!!! 

Worn areas around the golf course have been rotavated, soil and seed added. These were then pressed down to dim the grounds up. 

Within days some of the seed has started to come through (let's hope the weather is kind and it continues). 

The mound to the left of the 18th has never quite sat right since we built it during the chipping green construction. The plan was the bank would protect golfers on the chipping area. David Wilton our pro found it hard to see people on the chipping area but found the mound didn't protect as planned. It was decided to reduce the height and shape with a more natural shape. This improved the line of sight for the pro, he can now see and shout should he need to during a lesson! 

This area was stone buried and over seeded with fescue. 

Once the grass sward come up this will be cut when required bit should make a huge difference to presentation of the hole. 

We also had a visit from a Health and safety consultant. He looked at various areas including the nets. All of which he was very happy with. 

We only 18mm of rain in April (so much for April showers) but on the 1st May we had 18mm overnight! That's the british weather for you :-) 

I hope this explains just some of the jobs that have been getting done lately during what seems to have been an endless four day week period (which I don't like) but the greenstaff have been putting extra hours to help get the work complete. I would like to thank them for their efforts. 

 

The golf season is underway, I hope you enjoy it !

Matt 

A Royal appointment and Royal members!

Reading this title you might be starting to imagine the the name 'Royal Muswell Hill Golf Club' or thinking I might run into William and Kate playing the back nine one evening! 

Unfortunately this is not the case but we have had a visit from one of the Royal household staff. One of the horticulturists from Buckingham Palace came down to the club to to spend the day with us and see some of the data collection and theories behind modern greenkeeping practices after reading about the club in some of the turf magazines. 

Above is a picture of Joe testing the greens with a soil compaction metre and the infiltration metre. 

After the first contact (which at first I thought was a friend joking around with me) was made we arranged for Joe Vardy one of their horticulturists to visit for the day to exchange ideas from our industry to what they do in Buckingham Palace with regard to soil conductivity, tests on alpine plants or fertiliser suspension tests. Joe came with an immense knowledge of plants and their back rounds. He had previous experience working at RHS Wisley.

Joe showing us how to use a soil conductivity metre. 

I really enjoyed sharing ideas with Joe on compaction tests, green speed, smoothness, infiltration rates, heights of cut, prism gages, moisture tests, E.T rates (evaporation), soil analysis and soil cores. All of these could be transferred over to lawn maintenance practices at Buckingham Palace and would give them the same guidance it gives us. These process help us shape playability, irrigation rates, fertiliser applications, turf smoothness and density. 

I am very much hoping to do an away leg and visit Buckingham Palace ;-) 

The second part of this blog is dedicated to our members. Some of the ladies section (and Men's) volunteered to help with the long task of getting some of the debris off the course following the high winds and wet winter we experienced. This was a great help and allowed them to see the size of the task we had in those first few weeks as the spring came in. I would like to thank them for there help. 

Next up was the Divot trophy, this was held on Good Friday. The turnout of the membership to play in this year on year has been fantastic. Again a full field of players went out and divoted (added seed and soil) to the divots on the fairways. We placed over 225 buckets along the middle of the holes with each team of four, divotting their fairway for 45 mins before playing a Texas scramble (including all the greenkeepers). A great day was had by all with a lovely meal in the clubhouse and a Jazz band playing after. 

So, we might not have official royalty at the club but these members who give up their time to help the club and be involved are Royal members and I would like to say thank you all for your help from the club.

Matt 

Aeration & Course maintenance week

Another successful course maintenance week has been carried out this spring with all the greenstaff working incredibly hard to get it done as quick as possible to allow the greens to recover quicker. 

The soil analysis 

Following our resent soil analysis it became apparent the wet winter had taken its toll on the greens (like most golf courses in the UK). Now above ground they looked good for the time of year and the weather but the soil analysis showed us that they were in desperate need of air as the high levels of rain and high water table had squeezed out the air from with in the soil particles. 

(To imagine this think of a bucket of golf balls, this represents the soil particles and then fill the bucket to the top with water, it doesn't leave you with much air. I then imagine how long would you survive with your head in that bucket! Ok it's not that drastic but you can see what I mean,I hope). Also in turn the OM levels or thatch levels had increased due to wet conditions making it hard to break down (more on that later). Some other observations were noted and the fertiliser and aeration plans were drawn up for the coming year. 

Maintaining the right levels of thatch or Organic Matter as it's also called, can be a challenge for all greenkeepers. The amount of thatch and the speed it breaks down are all weather dependant. 

If it's warm and wet the grass plant is growing more which increases the debris which in turn becomes OM. If it's to wet the OM levels increase as it's to wet for the fungi and bacteria to break it down and if it's hot and dry the plant doesn't produce the amount of growth meaning not as much of an increase but outfield areas with no moisture may stop breaking down as the fungi and bacteria need some moisture to survive. Ok I hope that makes sense! 

The greens renovation works 

Not only do we look at the soil analysis we also take readings from the greens to find out how we should aerate. We use a compaction meter to find the layers below the greens that maybe causing a lock up for the roots. These were recorded at two different depths and we set our aeration machines at the depths to break these pans. 

The first picture on this blog shows the Verti drain which used 1/2 inch tines and was set at 9 inches deep. This was the first aeration on the greens we carried out that week. 

This was followed by the pro core machine fitted with micro hollow tines.  Below is a picture of the hollow tining being carried out on the greens. This process is only 60mm deep and removes only the OM in the surfaces. 

Hollow tining reduces the OM levels while increasing o2, H2O and allows for root development.

Hopefully you can see why we carry out certain operations to reduce this ( different actions include the use of the hollow tine, solid tine and scarifying), all of these help keep an optimum level for sports turf performance 

Don't get me wrong, Soil Organic Matter performs many beneficial functions in soil,so striking the right balance is hard. The benefits include: 

– It provides nutrients  

– holds and exchanges nutrients 

– holds and releases water 

– improves soil porosity by preventing clay particles from sticking to 

each other  

 

• However high levels of soil Organic Matter may be detrimental as this can cause:

– Moisture retentive 

– Poor rooting 

– Soft/hard surfaces 

– Increased disease activity

Anyway back to the work on the greens- following the hollow tine the greens were then blown off and cleared away. 

Next we top dressed (using sand), this was then brushed in to the holes filling them up. This helps with drainage and infiltration rates and also dilutes the OM levels. (It takes an awful lot of brushing with the standard brushes to get the sand down).

Once they started to look like greens, we ran the pro core over them again! but this time with 12mm tines set at 6 inches deep. This was the second layer we found from our tests. The reason we try to carry out more than one aeration at a time is simply the ball roll performance is not made worse from the following operations. Meaning the greens are bobbly whether you do 1,2,3 operations. So we might as well get more done in one hit rather than several hits. 

The greens were then top dressed again 

(In total 50 tons of sand was put into the greens in three days, our goal for the year is 130). Not bad going when you think of it like that! 

Next we used a sweep and fill brush that we demoed from Oliver's. What a great piece of kit for getting the sand into the greens with ease. This brush has two direction brush going the opposite ways and with one or two passes it fills the holes up. 

After one brush! (Below)

Next we wanted to make sure the OM levels that were getting a touch high (but not out of the comfort zone) were hit again. We double scarified some of the greens with high OM and single passed the greens that were reasonably good. We set the vertical blade on the scarifiers to -10mm. 

We managed to remove a trailer load each day (Mon and Tue) of thatch along with some of the excess sand. This material was to good to throw away and will be used in other areas for renovation. 

Next some of the thin areas were then overseeded by hand ( doing this increases the rate of application). 

The greens were then fertilised using a 4.3.4 fertiliser to aid recovery and to get the grass coverage up for the season ahead. The only down side to this is the growth rate that comes when the GDD (growth degree days) increases. This is why I only put a granular fertiliser on at the start of the year. The rest of the year we apply weekly folliar feeds. Doing that enables us to dictate the growth rates to when we want them. I ll blog about that in the future.  

Other areas

Other areas of the course also received renovations during this spring time. These included scarifying fairways and blowing clear. 

This is very labour-intensive and takes just under a week to complete. This helps reduce the thatch in the fairways, it stands up the lateral growth giving a tighter closer cut fairway. Lastly following our iron and fertiliser applications this process has allowed us to rip out some of the moss which had died following the iron treatment to allow new growth to fill these areas. 

Tees and aprons were also Verti drained and certain tees received extra work. The surrounds were tined to 4 inches. 

Carrying out all of the above works may be a pain sometimes in the short term (while the works are being carried out) but in the long term and for the season a head it will pay dividends! 

I hope this has given you another brief look at what we ve been doing with regard to aeration and renovations. I ll blog again soon. I ve got a lot to catch up on. 

Matt