HEAD GREENKEEPER’S NEWSLETTER

JULY 2008

Course Summary

Over the last month we have had mixed weather conditions which have highlighted some of the good and bad points of the course. The dry sunny weather allowed us to produce firm fast greens which were well received by members and visitors. The wet weather during the week of the Captain's Competition emphasised the problem areas on the greens, namely the high thatch content leading to poor drainage.

Improving the greens

We topdressed the greens in the week between the Captain's 1st and 2nd rounds and the 1st and 2nd greens were also hollow cored to remove an amount of thatch. Unfortunately the bad weather during the 2nd half of this week prevented the Greens Staff from completing the fine tuning work on the greens to put them back into top condition. The bad weather also prevented any greens cutting taking place on the Captains 2nd round day itself.

Although this work was only partially successful, myself and the Greens Committee feel that the work is essential to ensure in the long term that drainage on the greens improves and we will continue with the programme we have planned.

The next round of work on the greens starts on 4th August for one day.

 Other news

 Albino Mole

 On a recent visit by "Malc the Mole", the clubs Mole catcher, one of his traps produced a rather rare Albino mole (see picture below). In all the years in this job, this was the first white mole he had caught and the first seen on the course.

STRI visit

 As I mentioned in the June newsletter, the annual visit from the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) took place earlier this month. As part of their visit soil samples were taken from several greens to their laboratories at Bingley. These samples were measured for evidence of organic matter which we believe contributes to the problem of poor drainage.

The results have shown that the amount of organic matter is too high and the STRI recommendation is to increase hollow tining as part of our maintenance programme. Samples will be taken again next year to allow us to measure the affects of our programme.

A copy of the STRI report is attached to July's greens report which is now on the greens notice board.

Environmental News

Don't forget to let me know of any species of bird or mammal that you have seen on the course for the wildlife register.

The different species seen on the course so far include:

Improving drainage on greens fact sheet

I have produced a fact sheet on this subject which is available on the website and can also be seen on the Greens notice board and the notice board in the starters hut.

Tree surgeon on 1st

A large beech tree at the back of the 1st green was cut back recently to help improve reception to the new telephone masts. This work was done by contractors on behalf of O2 and was not work planned or carried out by the greens staff.

Improving Drainage on the Greens

As most members are probably aware, a major problem with the condition of the course is the drainage of greens particularly during the winter. When the weather is on our side, we can achieve very good greens but they can deteriorate quickly if the weather turns wet and we have to move on to our temporary greens.

Many years ago there was often very little play in the winter which put less pressure on the drainage of the greens. Now with the milder winters and more interest in all year round golf, the greens, which have little or no pipe drainage, have started to suffer.

The work that was historically carried out on the greens in Spring and Autumn has proved to be ineffective against the build-up of thatch. The work in Spring was often hampered by the weather conditions and the work in Autumn often coincided with the greens being at their best therefore reducing the playing quality at the wrong time.

What are we trying to achieve?

Our aim is to improve the drainage on the greens by removing significant amounts of thatch whilst minimising impact on members play. Throughout the season we will be increasing the work we carry out on the greens, during periods of good weather when we can obtain the best results.

How do we achieve this?

 The club has invested in a range of machinery to speed up the removal of thatch through hollow tining and application of sandy topdressing to replace the thatch in the soil profile on the greens. A reduction in thatch should allow water to drain more quickly from the green ’ s surface.

 
Applying top dressing after hollow tining

We also have a machine which provides us with the capability to improve deeper drainage by injecting air into the lower soil profiles. The holes created will be backfilled with a free draining material.

What will you see?

Our plan is to topdress the greens fortnightly throughout the growing season. This will be incorporated with selected greens being hollow tined, vertidrained or solid tined. This work will be carried out as early as possible at the start of each week allowing good recovery for the weekends.

Because of the regular frequency of the work the application of topdressing will not need to be heavy and should quickly be incorporated into the grass surface.

The new machinery allows us to create more but smaller holes which will be less noticeable and affect the quality of play for a shorter period.

The 16th green had been vertidrained and topdressed
the previous day yet the quality was still high

JUNE 2008

Welcome to my 1st Newsletter. My aim in creating this is to share as much information as possible with members on the work we are doing on the course, as well as anything unusual that we see on the course that members might find interesting.

I will be publishing this newsletter monthly but if there is any important news to pass on, I will produce extra newsletters. If you have any feedback on the content of the newsletters please reply via the Questions for the Greenkeeper link on the Saddleworth Golf Club website.

This month we have been concentrating our efforts on the following:

We have reduced the height of cut to 3mm and are carrying out fortnightly top dressings. With the new machinery that the club has purchased, we can complete this task in 4 hours whereas in the past it would have taken 2 days, which means fewer disturbances for members.

The course appearance has had a bit of a makeover with the creation of areas of seed head rough on many holes. This is to help separate each hole and to give each hole more character. A separate information sheet has been produced and is available on this site and can also be seen on the Green’s Notice Board.

Other news

The club has entered an environmental competition run by BIGGA with a 1st prize of £2000. All clubs who reach the final are given free advice on future environmental activities. We are enthusiastic about the work we do to encourage wildlife and protect the ecology on the course and I would encourage members to let me know of any species of bird or mammal that they have seen as we are trying to create a wildlife register.

We are currently trying to establish whether there are any snakes on the course. We have been told that the environment is ideal but I have no knowledge of any sightings during the 20 years I have worked at Saddleworth. We have placed corrugated sheets around the course which should attract snakes in the morning sun as they hide under the sheets to warm up. We are checking for snakes on a regular basis but over the last 12 months we have had no sightings. The fact that we are mainly surrounded by farm fields may mean that we are too isolated for snakes to take advantage of our ideal environment.

If any member has seen or knows of any sighting please let me know.

The clubs annual visit from the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) is taking place during the 1st week of July. The STRI provides the Club with guidance and advice on course maintenance, construction and development.

During the visit we will be concentrating on improving drainage of the greens and gaining information towards improving playability during summer and winter.

A copy of this month’s Greens Report will be posted on the Green’s Notice board near the ladies locker room.

Rough Grass Management

The overall appearance and playability of the course is always high on our agenda. Over the last few years, great improvements have been made in shaping individual holes to offer a better visual impression and to influence the way each hole is played.

The creation of seed head rough in selected areas alongside fairways is a progressive move forward, enhancing the quality of individual hole play.

Saddleworth Golf Club is fortunate to have natural grasses present which allow a seed head rough appearance to be achieved.

What are we trying to achieve?

With the improvements made to the fairways and the golf ball holding on the fairways more often, the time is right to reduce the area of mown grass alongside each fairway and allow some of this previously mown area to grow to a natural height. This will help to frame each hole presenting a more interesting appearance as well as a more challenging layout for the golfer. Our aim is to create a seed head rough, which may appear dense but is actually fine in texture and therefore the balls are easier to find and reasonable to play.

Although appearing to be dense from a distance creating a good

frame to the hole, the texture of the grass is fairly open

How do we achieve this?

 Taking advice from the STRI on their annual visit, the grass was cut and collected in Spring and then raked through. Any areas that start to re-grow to an overly dense state will be re-cut, collected and raked as an ongoing programme of work. This will encourage the finer grasses to takeover and produce the quality of finish that we are trying to achieve.

The final result will not be achieved overnight and this work will be ongoing throughout the next few seasons, but we are pleased with the initial results and ask the members to show patience as we progress with this programme.

It should be noted that rough in itself is unpredictable in the quality of lie and absolute consistency cannot be guaranteed on any course.

This machine allows for the collection and removal of all grass

cuttings which will help promote a thinner grass sward

 What will you see?

The mowing pattern has now changed to give a fairway cut, a band of semi-rough and where appropriate, a border of seed head rough.

On fairways that have a pronounced slope, the band of semi rough will be increased in width to help slow a good shot onto the fairway from running into the seed head rough.

For the next few seasons, areas of established seed head rough may be occasionally cut short to help eradicate denser grasses and thus encourage the finer grasses to create the final finish. Additionally, in Spring when fairway growth is poor and it is more difficult to hold a ball on the fairway, the majority of the seed head rough will be cut short as part of its annual maintenance.  

This photo shows clear definition between the fairway

cut, the semi-rough cut and the new seed head rough