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Greens News
August
2006
Scottish Golf Environment Group Visit
On the 27th of July we had a visit from the S.G.E.G. to discuss our progress towards a “Committed to Green” award. Elspeth Coutts was very impressed by our course and the flora and fauna contained within it. She identified a large number of plant species and insect living in and around the pond and in the corridors of rough around the course.
We apparently have at least 5 of the 10 species of Firefly that are found in the U.K. on our pond. We also have Red Squirrels and a large number of wild flowers that were of interest to the Group.
Ewan Macintosh has agreed to come on board and help us with the wildlife study part of the award. His help is very much appreciated. However we would still like a member with an interest in the environmental side of the Golf Course to join us. We will be setting up a sub committee to help us collate the necessary information to include in our plan.
A phase 1&2 Habitat study is being carried out at the end of the month and this will give us information on the Flora and Fauna out on the course and some recommendations as to our future actions for the short medium and long term priorities. 50% of the cost of this will be met by the S.G.E.G.
The Pond in full bloom.
Additional Pond at the Railway
An engineer from S.G.E.G. is coming on the 31st of August to look at the alternatives for the pond sight at the end of the Railway. I know many of you would like to see this area as a pond rather than a soak away so we are looking into all possibilities.
Hollowcoring - 4th September
This very important annual task will begin the week beginning 4th September, weather permitting. We aim to complete this work in 5 days. We also intend using the Graden machine on 6 greens similar to the work we carried out on the 10th Green earlier in the season. This is the best time to carry out this work and will lead to two weeks of disruption to the greens. However with the works beginning at the 12th in early October and the County meeting at the end of September we have a very small window to work in.
Our apologies in advance for any inconvenience caused.
An example of the intended work
Fairways Burning
It is many years since we last saw the fairways looking so brown in the summer months. Contrary to popular belief this isn’t entirely due to the new drainage. Most of the grass that is turning brown is Annual Meadow Grass which is very shallow rooted and thrives on our normally wet surfaces. This type of grass isn’t desirable on the course as it is susceptible to disease and needs more inputs to maintain it.
The grass that is remaining green are Bents and Fescue grasses that are very desirable on a Golf Course due to there deep rooting and resistance to disease. They thrive on poorer soils with less need for fertiliser and chemicals and are much easier to manage.
Let’s hope we can encourage these grasses to fill in the brown patches over the coming years.
These are the first steps towards having a sustainable Golf Course.
Course Maintenance - Summer 2006
At last we have had some heat and rain together to get the grass growing. We have had a struggle to get a decent surface on the greens, due to the cold dry winds of the spring. We have top dressed and verti cut the greens along with some liquid fertiliser. It was also necessary to pencil tine the greens in May to clear up some dry patch. Now the sun has come we should be able to sustain the surfaces throughout the main part of the season.
Greens
Prior to the Club Championship we were able to borrow a Vibrating Roller to speed up the Greens, this process allowed us to add 18 inches of roll to all the Greens, while maintaining cut height. I would be interested in your feed back, as it is something we are considering for our Greens Mower.
Drainage
We were able to bring forward the replacement of the pipe from the ditch at the 10th to the gully at the 6th. It became obvious that the drains were working so well on the top half that we simply had to remove the bottle neck that was flooding the 9th and 13th green and making the 10th tee unstable. Apart from a couple of small non urgent areas we have now completed the Drainage program.
Environmental Project
Archie attended a Scottish Golf Environment Conference this week (June 29th) and it would appear that we are fulfilling all the requirements to receive an award. However we must put all our efforts down on a document to show the committee. I can do this BUT! I need someone with an interest in and knowledge of wildlife, to carryout a study of the wildlife on the course. Is there a member out there that would assist with this? It maybe worth a free lunch if we are successful.
Course Policy Document
We have recently been busy compiling a Course Policy Document. This outlines the Management of the course from cut heights on greens and tees, to health and safety guidelines. The document will be available in the Clubhouse for all to read. If you have a query regarding the course this will be your first point of reference.
Winter Works
At the last committee meeting our new 5 year plan was discussed and the plan for 2006/7 was approved.
We will be re-working the 12th hole. What does that mean? We will be taking the 12th hole out of play from early October and building a new green and two new tees to serve the 12th and 13th. I would hope by the end of July to have a drawing or model of the proposed new green to show you all so we can discuss. If we get on as well as at the 16th tee the 12th should be in play by the end of April. Weather dependant. We will split the 15th into 2 holes or use the new practice green at the end of the Practice area.
Practice Green
The mound of soil at the end of the practice area has been sculpted into a green with some bunkers around it. We hope to sow the grass seed this month. We hope this will become a great facility for the members and give Gavin some more scope for teaching.
