Greens Update - July 26

It has been really hot and dry over the past month or so without much moisture falling and so the course has started to burn up on all areas without added irrigation. We have had only 7 rain events over the last 35 days (totalling 23mm) It is clear to see on certain areas of the greens and especially on the tees, where the irrigation is working well, and where it is not. I have counted no fewer than 16 tee sprinklers in need of replacement, and many of the greens sprinklers may need new pilot valves fitted in the future. This kind of summer period is where we really find out how well the system works.

Figure 1: Hand watering with a hose and gun containing a seaweed-based tablet to aid recovery. Wetting agents have also been used to help retain moisture in the top of the greens profile.

There are certain greens where sprinklers do not perform as they should, but the system is very old and regular repairs to it are necessary. We take regular readings of the moisture with the POGO moisture meter and supplement the system with some hand watering from a hose, which contains a wetting agent tablet in it for further assistance.

This week we found a major leak on the system, down by the bridge on the 16th. It has since been repaired, but we did not have water for around 24 hours, which has set us back ever so slightly. Having been watering heavily from the previous weekend, there was plenty of moisture in the greens, apart form the hotspots, and so we did not suffer too much.

Figure 2: Leak spilling out into the ditch, off the path on the right of 16th.

The leaky pipe was dug out and repaired, with a new valve box to go over the top of it. The job to reinstall the path around the valve will be completed early next week, with soil added to the edge of the path, and new path material added to top up what is already there.

Figure 3: Repair done, new box to be fitted, and path reinstated early next week.

The greens have just had another liquid feed to keep them going during this stressful period for them, and as soon as we see any sign of rain, more work can be done on them to improve smoothness and trueness. We are really pleased with the root system which is growing all the time. The deeper the roots can go, the healthier the grass plant will be.

Figure 4: Some good root structure building, even in the hot summer period.

So, the moisture management has taken up a lot of resources over the last couple of weeks especially, and therefore some other jobs may have been dropped down the priority list a little bit as a result. Tee banks, the bramble area in front of the ladies tee on the 6th, and the remaining bunkers to be weeded, unfortunately took a back seat while we focussed saving the turf as much as possible. These areas will be addressed next week.

One aspect of such heat at the minute is that growth around the course has slowed somewhat, and we took advantage of that by turning attention to divotting the fairways. All the fairways were done by the greenstaff, whenever there was a break from the watering.

There are a few areas around the course that have grown up more than we would like, e.g. the rough in front of the ladies tee on the 13th, and the rough near the 13th hill. These will be attended to as soon as possible. The Grillo was out of action for a while due to a hydraulic leak on a pipe, however that is now fixed and back in action.