Greens Update - Oct 2025
As we reach the end of October the weather has certainly turned for the worse. Although it is still relatively warm, the rainfall has been constant over the last two months it seems. In September we had 171mm (6.7 inches) over 18 days, whilst in October we have had 102mm (4 inches) over 16 days of the month. 80mm of that 102mm has fallen on 11 of the last 12 days.
This has made the course a lot softer than it was, and a bit of a struggle to carry out all the tasks we want to carry out. Despite it now going cooler, the grass, especially in the outfield areas continues to grow, but this week we haven’t really been able to cut all the course due to certain areas being too soft. Also, with the leaves now starting to really come down, we haven’t been able to blow many areas, with fear of making too much of a mess, or getting stuck. As soon as areas are fit enough, these areas will be tidied and cut to present the course better. The hand mowers have been sharpened and have been used for the first time this morning, and they will be regularly used over the winter period to keep the greens and tees as neat as possible.
The knock-on effect of having lots of tree litter around the course is that the robots can’t cut the areas very clearly. We have taken this opportunity to give them a bit of maintenance so that when we do clear the areas, they will be back out. One or two areas are becoming a little too soft for them, however we will just tweak their routes for the winter period.
You may have noticed a few holes appeared in and around the putting green. It has been clear for some time that the putting green has been becoming wetter with all the recent rainfall noted above. It is not a full USGA spec green like all the others, however back in 2017 some drains were added by the greenstaff, with an outfall drain which runs down the left-hand side of the first hole.
We found a couple of old photographs in the office which shows the drainage just after it had been put in and the turf returned on top. We have been looking for the outlet drain, and we have successfully located it. The task now is to add new drainage to the green in two specific areas, where the majority of the water gathers after significant rainfall. Having found the end of the drainage line, nearest the starter hut, we will also install a drain rodding point, so that we can come back to it in the future and regularly rod the outlet. It was totally clean when we rodded it to start with.
This week we have also topped up some of the newer bunkers on the course, so that they are perfectly playable for the winter period. Plans are already underway to start very soon on this year’s part of the overall bunker renovation plan, which has already been discussed on the blog. Greenside bunkers at 8,9&18 are to be renovated, with liner installed, fresh turf and bunker sand added too. The bunkers have already been white lined which is a guide to the staff as to where to cut the turf from. This also gives us a chance to replace some very worn or poor areas of turf in the surrounding areas at the same time.
Planning work has also taken place ahead of the tees renovation works to the 12th and 18th tees, again already discussed. Work next week will begin on the 18th tee, with turf removal in the areas to begin with, followed by the irrigation pipeline being extended around to the left of the tees, so that we can have a better coverage. The left slope will have its foliage removed too in preparation for a new wildflower seed bed to be prepared in time for spring. The 12th white and red tee will also be widened, raised and have both drainage and more irrigation added to it, to provide more teeing ground for the future.
So there is lots to do on the course over the next two months, especially in the areas mentioned, we just need the weather to help us along the way!
