Month: May 2021

What are these !!!!

I am sure most of you already know what these are and the problems they cause but I want to educate those that don’t .

This picture of the 8th green shows thousands of grubs called leatherjackets which basically are the grubs that turn into a crane fly( aka Daddy long legs). Their eggs are normally laid in late summer -Autumn and once hatched basically feed off the roots of grass and if not got rid of can cause terrible damage and even total loss of grass cover. They are and are found pretty much everywhere and some years are worse than others depending on many factors. Until 3 years ago we had a pesticide, chlorpyriphos, that we could legally spray and they were totally eradicated . This pesticide is now banned and we have very little single effective treatment to get rid of the darling little things!

This year we are suffering with them on the following areas the 1st,3rd,8th,13th,17th and the putting green, and also the 18th fairway. All we can do is now use a combination of various methods.

SOME PEOPLE THINK THIS IS JUST ABRIDGE THAT GET THEM !! If I was that lucky I would do the Lottery !

Please ,if you are one of those who think it’s just Abridge GC, for your own education of the problem we are facing either right click on this link below or copy and paste it in your web browser to read a very interesting and clear explanation of the problem. We are not making excuses we are telling you the honest truth about an issue ALL Golf Clubs have got!

https://www.lawn-tech.co.uk/blog/pests/leather-jacket-control-in-lawns-new-eu-legislation-bans-pesticides/

The methods we can try legally now and have been the last two years are 4 fold. Accelypryn, this is an emergency licensed pesticide which has some effect but not a total cure. Nematodes, this is a biological way of getting rid of them, they do work but you need very very precise conditions to make them work. Vegetable Oil, this is something being trialled and seems to suffocate the leatherjacket but again you need precise conditions. ‘Sheeting off‘. This is literally covering areas off with large dark plastic sheets overnight, it seems to bring the leatherjackets to the surface. This does bring a lot of them to the surface but not all of them. The issue with this is we have to take the sheeted area out of play from the afternoon until the next morning. We will continue to do this though over the next couple of weeks . Please see the video below.

Leatherjackets being ‘sheeted out’

Sheeting off the 8th green

Sorry the last bit of that video also contained a clip of the damage the heavy rain caused last night! Another nice little issue the dreadful week of weather we are having, but at least we know the drainage is working!

So as you have now hopefully read we do have a problem and as always we are trying , like all other Golf Clubs, to do as much as we legally can do ! Regrettably, a few Golf Courses may still be spraying things they should not be! it should be a level playing field?

I know Lol Green sent a link to a much more in depth explanation . Copy and paste the link below. It’s an hour long presentation but I ask that if you do get time please watch, as this issue is all about education and getting you as Golfers to understand the issue?

https://www.bigga.org.uk/resource/managing-the-leatherjacket-challenge.html

To sum up hopefully in the next week or so we will have thrown every bit of ammunition and the warmer growing conditions arrive we will out compete the leatherjackets and the areas affected by leatherjackets will start to recover. It’s been a terrible spring for grass conditions but it is what it is , we are where we are and we will always be trying our best!

Who would be a Greenkeeper!!

Most of you are very understanding and those that are not so understanding I ask you read and watch the articles i have posted.

Sorry for going on but I have to get this message across !

Bunkers getting topped up next week !

Enjoy you Course , Enjoy your Club …………It’s your’s remember!

Frustrating times, but hopefully higher temperatures are on the way!

This very strange cold, dry weather we have experienced the last month or so continues to test all Greenkeepers and puts us under immense pressure to try and get things ‘ kick started’ We have no magic wands I am afraid to make grass grow in cold dry just above freezing temperatures. This April, as I understand, was one of the coolest and driest April’s on record and Monday’s bank holiday was the coldest ever recorded early May Bank holiday, so please be patient with us we are doing our best and are very ready to start manicuring your Golf Course as soon as we get some proper growth and some decent temperatures. As I write this (Saturday 8th May) the rain has arrives, 17mm in 4 hours to be precise and slightly warmer. Ha ha and as i finish this article off (Monday 10th May) the nightime temperature has been 10 degrees so maybe the start of growing is coming!

Below is an article that appeared in the Telegraph a couple of days ago which I thought you might find interesting. Copy and paste the link on your internet browser.

https://howdidido.blob.core.windows.net/clubsitespublic/file_6d53a04c-f0d0-410a-bfa8-33640d264d67.pdf

I thought I would answer a few more of your questions

Drainage works
Drainage works on 18th fairway
  1. How is the drainage going and why did you stop doing the 10th hole

The drainage is going well despite the issues with the 10th. It’s a lot harder doing the installation with Golfers playing than when we were in Lockdown last year and the Course was shut, but I obviously don’t wish for closures again. 18th’s Mains and primary drainage is all complete and we are well on the way to completing the 16th hole this week . The reason we had to stop doing the 10th was because there was an issue with the irrigation cables not being installed deep enough. Whilst we were trenching we hit cables 5 times so we soon realised there was a problem . Our Irrigation contractors came straight out to see us and have confirmed that they are not happy with the depth of the cables on the 10th. All cables have been repaired and now working. We could carry on and dig around the cables by hand which would take a lot longer and risk further damage, but the contractors wish to come and re-install the cables at a deeper depth later in the year. So we have moved onto the 16th which has been one of the wettest fairways the last few years. To improve the results we have reduced the spacings between each of the primary drain lines. This obviously then takes longer to do but will be worth it. The plan is to carry on this week where we will complete the 16th and go back to holes 7 and 8 and add some more primary drains to these holes. We will then stop for a few months as we really appreciate everyone’s patience during the upheaval of drainage works and want to allow you all to enjoy ALL of your golf course. We aim to start further drainage later in the year and we also have a couple more ditches to get done.

2. When will the Bunkers be topped up with Sand and the ones that we have started filling in be finished?

As soon as we get the drainage out of the way this week , we will start topping up bunkers with new sand. We also will be soiling and either turfing or seeding the Bunkers that are to be filled in. Finally we will re-construct the bunker at the 2nd Green and 4th Fairway bunker.

3. Greens are still bobbly, when will this be sorted?

Once again this is all to do with night time temperatures and lack of growth. As i have already said this has been a stupidly cold dry Spring. Forecast after this weekend is for it to start warming up so fingers crossed. We are and will be doing all that we can to get things moving.

4. There are a lot of soil piles around the edges of the course, will they be tidied up?

We are very aware of this and once the drainage is finished next week we will be reusing a lot of the soil to fill the chosen Bunkers in . We will also be getting the Digger out and shaping the piles around the Golf course.

Well that’s it for this time hope you have all found the info useful. W/c 17th May we will hopefully have the conditions to Verti-cut and topdress greens plus start giving all surfaces a nice feed and manicure.

Enjoy your Course, Enjoy your Club …………..It’s yours remember !

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