Course Update

Following a long, hot, and very dry Summer, I had been hoping for some warm, wet weather this Autumn to help much of the course recover. Unfortunately the weather gods haven’t played ball and so we’re still irrigating every evening and hand watering greens during the day. It would have been nice to be able to turf some of the more damaged dry patches (in particular the south facing bunkers) but at the moment it is still too dry to knit in, and so we will wait until November.

At the moment, I’m really pleased with the greens. They’re firm and running well, however the 1st, 9th & 17th are just holding on to a bit too much moisture. We will be top-dressing through October, so these greens will get a double pass to help them firm up. Over the next 2 weeks we will be giving all greens a pelleted fertiliser just to ensure the grass gets a final boost before the cold weather comes. Please take care once you see this in action.

At the start of October, we attempted to hollow-tine the fairways to help break the crust from the summer, but the burnt areas were having none of it and kept breaking up. In reaction we have started to slit the fairways to help get water through. It will take 3 or 4 passes on each fairway and some wetting agent to make them soft enough for the tining to have the proper effect. Our plan is to have all the fairways, semi-rough and tees hollow-tined before Christmas which should mean the tine holes will stay open until new growth in Spring next year. This will allow the frost down the holes and help to break the soil up.

Final repairs from the summer will include a compost mix being divoted on the aprons and semi-rough surrounds. This will hold some moisture and help to germinate some seed.

Finally, I would like to try a different approach to the use of our divot bags. Starting on the 1st, please always take a bag with you with the intention of filling in your divots for the 1st hole only. There will be a barrel behind the 1st green for you to put your empty bag in. After 2 days on the 1st, we will move the bag stand to the 2nd tee, and put the barrel behind the 2nd green, and so on and so forth with the ambition of getting around the whole course over the next couple of months. When you see the divot bag stand out on the course over the coming weeks please ensure to take a bag with you for that hole and repair divots as you see fit. This will really help us and make a huge difference to the quality of your golf course.

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