Water Water everywhere!
Dear all , what grim Weather we have had over the last 6 weeks. After an incredible dry summer we now have had way above average amounts of rain the last 6 weeks . Nature has a wonderful way of correcting itself!
Interesting chart below shows the amount of rain since 3rd October to yesterday 17th November. The total rainfall for the year is presently 447mm and as you can see a third of that has come in the last 6 weeks! Way above the normal average for this period.The other issue it shows is how warm its been causing grass still to keep growing which is balmy for this time of year normally . 21 degrees is potty ! We are cutting as much where possible .
Many of you that have played the last few weeks having reported back how well the drainage is coping, which is great to hear. Drainage will never solve torrential downpours or exceedingly wet winters but it will assist in drying surfaces out quicker and allowing surfaces to be playable .
As I am sure you are all aware the Club is committed to installing approx £20-£25 k more drainage every year into our surfaces so it’s an ongoing process.
The photos below were taken by Jamie , (1st assistant) yesterday morning.
Water coming off holes 4 and 5 draining into the Irrigation Lake
Water draining from 5th,7th,8th into the Irrigation Lake
Water draining into Irrigation Lake from holes 1,2 and 3
So as you can see everything is working and we are doing all that we can, i do fear a wet Winter but not a lot I could do about that!
Greens are holding up really well to the weather and obviously far more play then we were use to pre-covid times. In light of this we are going to bring in a “3 Pin Position” system .
Next week we will cut 3 holes on each green, 2 for general play which will alternate each day , and the other 3rd hole cut will be for frost conditions. It’s important to protect our greens from ‘Winter ware’ as much as possible so by alternating pin positions daily it spreads the footfall traffic giving areas on greens a rest. The normal coloured flag system will be replaced by sets of checkered flags. I hope that all makes sense.
LEAVES ! Leaves are just a pain on the course this time of year! We clear leaves as much as we can each day but i’m sure its a thankless task for a few week. This last week with all the rain we are struggling to get the tractors out for fear of making black marks and ruts everywhere. So please bare with us this weekend as fairways will not have been blown of leaves. Hopefully next week drying conditions will allow us to clear them better. We also will be getting the ‘Trilo’ machine out to suck leaves out of ditches to keep them clear.
Work for the next few weeks apart from clearing leaves will include finishing the path fencing we have installed. We also hope to start some of the Winter tree work.
One of the most important jobs we need to do next week is to spray the Greens with a ‘Leatherjacket’ preventative.
Leatherjackets that can damage Greens and other surfaces root structures
This hopefully protects us from Spring infestations that cause damage to the root systems of our greens . I’m sure you all know we use to be able to spray far stronger chemicals to alleviate this potential problem but these are now banned. The chemical we can now spray under licence along with other cultural practices does have some effect and has worked well the last two years, so long may it continue. The process next week will involve a light Sarrell Roll of the greens , spraying the Chemical and then heavy watering the greens to wash the chemical into the sub surface. We hope to do this Monday morning when its meant to rain to assist with the process ,but ,if you do see the Irrigation working on the greens please understand we have not gone mad its a job that needs to be done!!
Well thats it for now .
Enjoy your Course , Enjoy your Club …………….It’s yours remember !
