News from the fairways of Arcot Hall

Friday 13/5/22

We’re now in full flow with the mowing around the golf course, with the Fairways, surrounds and the parts of semi rough where the fertiliser was applied in march growing particularly hard, creating very good definition between the playing surfaces.  This does mean that the machines are out more often cutting these areas to keep up the surfaces looking good and playing well.  The 3 pictures below show the definition between the playing surfaces, from left to right we have the Fairway, First cut of semi rough and finally the rough, as you can see the ball gradually disappears into the longer grasses meaning it really does pay to hit the fairways at this time of year.

 

A granular fertiliser 8-0-6 ‘N-P-K’ has been applied to the Tee areas helping with the the growth of the grass.  Below are a couple of pictures the first is the product that was applied to the tees and the second is a brief explanation of what the N-P-K numbers on the product mean and how they help the growth of the grass plant.  This product also has added nutrients such as Iron (Fe) and Magnesium (Mg) which help the plant in the green up process to allow the plant to take in more heat from the sun to help yield a more dense sward.

 

Greens

Areation work was carried out at the beginning of April.  The greens were tined with 1/4 inch tines to a depth of 5 inches,  we were able to get this depth as the greens were still relatively soft coming into spring.  The summer liquid feed programme started, this consists of liquid iron, Attain, which is a organic liquid feed and finally Revolution, which is a wetting agent which helps the plant take in water through the root system.  From the next application Primo Max will be added to the mixture which helps to regulate the growth of the grass to allow for a better putting surface between cuts.  This process will be repeated every 4 weeks throughout the summer through to September.  Verti cutting has also been carried out a couple of times to help reduce the levels of organic matter below the grass surface, this will be continued every 10-14 days.

The photo on the left shows the 5th hole, showing the tee area and the positive affects of the fertiliser in the foreground.  The photo on the right shows the 4th green where the drain lines are recovering very well.

Going forward we are looking to continue with the ongoing spraying, verti cutting and aeration programmes on the greens.  The aeration work needs to be carried out around 4-6 weeks through out the summer months to help relieve soil compaction due to more maintenance and play, however the depth of this will reduce to between 2-3 inches due to the greens becoming firmer in the drier months.  Finally we will be looking to apply 1 or 2 light dressings of sand to the greens to help maintain the putting surface.

Friday 25/3/22

In contrast to the last update the weather has been very kind to us over the last 2 weeks.  The work that we weren’t sure of getting finished on the 16th is now almost complete.  The removal of all the trees and shrubs has been done and there is just a few remaining stumps to be ground down before we can get the large cutting deck in to finish off the job.  As you can see from the photos below it has really opened up that side of the hole and we will have a few more yards of semi rough to maintain down that side before too long.

   

On the 15th of march we had the contractors in to spread the fertiliser on the fairways and surrounds, this is something that has been done for the last couple of years and we have seen a marked improvement in these areas in terms of growth a playability.  We also fed the greens with a granular fertiliser designed to promote early growth in the spring and to help green up the surface which in turn allows the grass plant to take in more sunlight during periods of cooler weather.

With the the break in the weather we have been able to get on with work on the greens that would not normally be done at this time of year.  Earlier this week the greens were given a heavy dressing of sand, which was brushed in then later we were able to get the turf iron across them to leave the surface looking very good and from the feedback from the members running very nice.  This has been followed up by a few cuts of the greens, once the morning dew has dried of as not disrupt the playing surface by pulling up the sand that had been spread.  Also this week we have been able to get out with the mowers around the course and cut the tees, aprons/surrounds and the fairways, its fair to say that the golf course is looking in very good condition leading up to the start of the season and the feedback from the members who’ve been put playing has supported this.  Finally tidying up of fallen branches and trees around course has continued and the topping off of the hedge at the first tee has been done.

Monday 7/3/22

The weather hasn’t been the kindest to us over the last couple of weeks with the end of February and the beginning of March being particularly wet, 72mm of rainfall in just over 2 weeks. This however hasn’t stopped the lads getting on with their work on the course.  Clearing of trees and shrubs has continued on the course with work starting on the right hand side of the 16th hole.

 
As you can see from the images above a fair amount of work has been carried out already, however with the poor ground conditions due to the rainfall the lads have had to leave this area for now and work on other projects, work will continue once access is better.  This work will run all the way up the side of the hole so may run into the winter next year.

All of the bunkers around the course have had the edges trimmed around using the new trimming attachment for the pole saw.  This new piece of equipment has help to speed up this process somewhat, previously it could take up to two weeks using an edging iron and clippers however now the work can be carried out easily within a week.  In addition to this bunker work there have been some steps inserted into the green side bunkers on the right of the 6th hole.  These have been put in to make it easier for golfers to enter and exit the bunkers at these points.

Friday 18/02/22

Unfortunately due to the bad weather overnight with 8mm of rain falling,  the course has had to remain closed for the day.  The total rain fall for the last four days has been 20mm meaning that the ground has become saturated.  Here is a few photos from around the course to show this.

 

Thursday 17/02/22

Unfortunately (although some members may be happy!) due to storm damage we have had to take one of the large trees down from the left of the first fairway

Here is the tree surgeon taking it down

Video courtesy of Mick Hall

Monday 14th February 2022

It’s been a very busy winter on the golf course for the greens staff who have benefitted from some pretty good weather, although there have been a couple of storms which cause considerable damage to trees around the course to add to the workload.  The lads have been able to get through a large amount of work on the course and are continuing to work through the winter work programme ready for the start of the new season.  For those members that have not been able to get out on the course here is a summery of the work already carried out.

      

The work on the greens was completed by the end of November and the drain lines have had plenty of time to settle.  All of the drain lines on both greens have been rolled 4 times over the months of January and February and have also been cut twice at the height of 8mm. As you can see from the pictures above the drain lines are settling quite nicely and should be in a good condition come the start of the playing season.

     

The medal area of the 10 tee was noticeably uneven, particularly towards the left hand side, so the old turf was cut and lifted.  We were able to utilise some of the old turf on some worn areas around bunkers on the course.  Once the turf was removed the area was turned over using a rotavator and levelled off using a mix of the old materials and some new rootzone.  We purchased some new turf to finish the job off.

     

Before                                                 After

Work on this area started last winter, however due to the wet ground conditions in this area we had to stop the work then and complete the work this winter.  As you can see from the pictures above there has been a considerable amount of work done and we now have a wide open area and good line in towards the fairway.

   

Unfortunately we don’t have a before and after for this area, however we have cleared Gause bush and small trees from both sides of the hole, from just past the ladies tee on the left and all the way back to the mens tee on the right hand side.  The work on the left has taken the trees and bush back to the original tree line of the silver birch trees.

  

 

As you can see from the pictures there has been a lot of work done in this area, down the left hand side the original tree line has been restored and the removal of gause bush will enable us to get into the area with the cutting deck and allow us to maintain the area easily.  The right hand side has also had a lot of work done removed a number of dead trees between the 5th fairway and the 8th tee box, this will allow for better airflow to the tee box, and of course golfers should be able to find there golf ball easier from any wayward shot.  With the purchase of a large rough cutting deck, a wood chipper and stump grinder we have been able to get through this work a lot quicker than in previous winters.

As usual over the winter months work on the greens such as Verti-draining and spiking of the greens has been carried out to maintain good airflow in to the rootzone area.  The greens have been fed with a granular iron fertiliser to help keep the putting surface healthy and strong throughout the winter months.  With the winter being relatively mild the greens have had steady growth over the winter so have needed to be cut regularly over this period, we have even been able to get the turf iron over them this week.  Those that have been out playing since the turn of the year will have noticed just how good the ground conditions have been, this allowing the greens staff to cut all surfaces around the course in the month of January which I can’t recall happening too many times in this the last 20 years or so.  The golf club hired in contractors to come in and Verti-drain the fairways, two machines came in a managed to get the work complete within two days, with all fairways and approaches to the greens being done.

Attached is an interesting arcticle from February’s Greenkeeping publication explaining the key factors affecting green speeds