greens newsApologies for the delayed greens news, we have been having computer and internet issues in the greenkeeping cave.

The greens were over-seeded the first week in September using a 13mm pot seeding method. The tine holes did cause some disruption to the putting surface for the first couple of weeks following, but are now starting to roll well again, and after just three weeks are almost back to normal.

As a result we have had an excellent strike with the newly germinated seed and put a huge amount of beneficial grasses back into the sward.

The chemical treatment to remove the coarser grasses went very well, with only a couple of minor areas of the greens needing additional attention.

The 1st and 17th greens continue with their recovery following the vandalism earlier in the year. The 17th is about 95% there and the 1st just slightly behind that. We will continue to overseed the affected areas whilst we still have the temperatures to enable germination.

Large areas of fairways and greens surrounds have also been over-seeded, again with good results.

The new 7th green continues to progress well. We have managed to kill the problem weeds, but in doing so, it has stressed the grass a little and thinned out the sward in areas where there was heavy weed infestation.

We have also started to cut the area which will become the fairway for the new hole. Once we start our winter works schedule we will be constructing the new bunkers for the hole. Slowly it will start to resemble a golf hole. I just hope the old 7th holds out long enough to enable a smooth and seamless transition.

The topping up of sand in the bunkers is now just about complete. The new face angles coupled with the whacker plating and firming up of the base seems to have been well received by the majority of the members. All in all we have placed around 90 tonnes of additional sand into the bunkers this year.

We have seen a huge amount of rain the past few weeks, as a result the greens are very soft and thus why the tapes are back up around the majority of the greens, in an attempt to keep the horses away from them.

What is also now very noticeable, is the sheer amount of unrepaired pitch marks. It’s shocking! Please make every effort to repair yours and at least one other pitch mark and if your playing partners fail to repair theirs, make a point of telling them. Nobody enjoys putting on pitch marked bobbley greens, including the culprits!

A reminder of how to do it properly - DO NOT LIFT THE GRASS!!

Kind Regards
The Greens Staff.