Greenkeepers Report September 2019

Greenkeepers Report September 2019

Hi All,

Its been a busy few weeks and I have lots planned for the coming months, to prepare the course for winter.

We have pencil tined (5mm solid tines to a depth of 4”) the greens last week, as we do every month and sprayed a wetting agent and biostimulant. The wetting agent helps draw water evenly through the profile of the greens and then ‘hold’ the moisture within the root zone area. This will help prevent the greens from drying out too much, especially as we have had little rain. The biostimulant helps increase the microbiology within the root zone and helps create healthier soil for the grass to grow.

We have also put a 3-month slow-release fertiliser on the tees and the approaches have also had an application of iron and feed, this will see me through to Christmas.

I have put our monthly feed on the greens today, the reason we put a monthly feed on the greens and a 3-month feed on the tee and approaches is because the greens are sand based and the feed leaches through the sand rather than the tees and approaches that are more soil/clay-based, these are able to hold onto nutrients for much longer. Also, on greens I aim for consistent growth, this creates consistent greens. If I put a 3-month feed on them, you would see a spurt of growth, slowing the greens down, then as the feed gradually leaches away the greens would speed up. Applying a monthly ‘spoon feed’ makes sure the greens are growing at a consistent rate and we don’t have peaks and troughs of growth.

I am looking to overseed and topdress the greens, possibly next week. The application of seed for the greens costs over £1000 so I need to make sure I do everything to ensure it germinates. I need to raise the height to at least 5mm, as anything below this will cause the new seedling to die. I shall overseed soon, then raise the height from 3.5mm to 4mm at the start of October. The seed will germinate between 7 and 10 days so I have a bit of time before it grows to 4mm. I would hope to be cutting at 5mm by November and by this time the new seed would be at this height. All of this is weather dependant and if I get a flush of growth from the new seed I may have to raise the height earlier.

I will also scarify the approaches and tees again this year as I did last year. I am expecting some areas to be damaged like they were last year, however its should be less each year as we remove all of the older grass and apply new. All of these areas will be overseeded and topdressed and will soon recover. I don’t wish to damage the approaches but it only the weaker areas that get damaged, the stronger better areas will be fine, so, in the long run, its best to remove the weaker areas and incorporate new grasses to improve the course.

All of the above works will be completed by the end of October, we will then be busy leaf collecting, preparing for winter projects and making plans for 2020!!!!

 

Paul Hathaway

Head Greenkeeper