Greens Blog

4th February 2025

It’s been a mixed bag of weather this winter with a very wet December (161mm) after a dry November (27mm). The course received a welcome 2 week break in January after a good fall of snow and then some freezing temperatures followed. The course is holding up well despite the heavy play and foot traffic and some milder weather recently has allowed us to get on with some jobs.

The 11th Medal tee extension is progressing well and we just have the teeing surface to turf and with a good grow in should be ready for use around May time. This new tee really opens up the dogleg aspect of the hole.

All this sandy material came from the hole we dug on the right hand side of the 3rd fairway. We have turned this into a grassy hollow/bunker and gives this otherwise bland stretch of rough some identity now.

 

JF Job contractors will be continuing the coastal protection works over the next two weeks. The remaining stretch along the 1st hole and the section beyond the 2nd tee up to the gabions will be completed.

Beyond the gabions along the 2nd hole we have transferred some of the chestnut fencing and will be backfilling over time to help build up this stretch.

 

Back on the course we have our early Spring work to complete ahead of the season. Jobs such as seeding greens, sanding and spraying wetting agent to fairways and tees. Painting jobs. Getting the newly revetted bunkers in play for mid March along with the rest trimmed up. (14 done this season) Priming and checking the irrigation system is all set and ready to go.

George Paterson

Head Greenkeeper

5thApril 2024

It’s been a long, wet and cold Winter and Spring has been no better so far. I don’t think I can remember loosing the feeling in my fingers from cold weather at the start of April but so much for global warming!!

Nevertheless our greens team have persevered through some pretty miserable weather these past few months and have to be congratulated on their efforts and dedication. Refreshing of around 20 bunker faces completed, a new bunker on the 8th dogleg, re painting of all the on course furniture, fencing repairs, whin management to name a few.      Photo – new Apprentice Kieran getting in his step count.

  7th greenside bunker

Work on the greens took place in February when we gave them a solid spike followed by a Graden scarify and a heavy top dressing. This was quite aggressive at the time and happily they settled down fairly quickly after a week or two and much improved after another couple of dressings of sand. Growth has been extremely slow this year so far and we have only just lowered the mowers to 4.5mm. Our next target is a star spike and a little refinement with the verti cut units, a liquid spray of seaweed/molasses/humic acid and Nitrogen, some more light sand dressings and a Spring feed towards the end of the month. If we can get a wet day without any wind then our first application of wetting agent will go on.

Onto the fairways which have had a good rest from divots through the winter. Many thanks to the members for putting up with using mats as it certainly helps with recovery for the main playing season. We have been patching the fairways regularly since the mats were lifted and it is good to see that many divots are being replaced by golfers. The downside just now are the birds which are turning over divots in their search for Leatherjacket grubs which are emerging from the soils just now. These little blighters eat away at the grass roots and subsequently stunt growth throughout the season and is something we could do without!  Although the weather has been relatively poor we still have a high footfall over the course all Winter and Spring which creates a lot of compaction. Our new Gxi8 spiker was put to good use in December when we got all the fairways spiked thus helping relieve some of this compaction and also loosen the soils a bit to aid in turf vigor. More sand has also been applied to seven of our weaker fairways and this seems to be working well. Also a pellet fertiliser feed has gone onto 1,2,3,4,7,8,12 and 13th fairways recently to help strengthen up any newly germinating seed that was sewn last Autumn. Again if we can get some calmer winds in amongst this wetter weather then all the fairways will be treated with wetting agent to counteract any drier weather forthcoming.

Coastal erosion. Note. Last Autumns high tidal surge coincided with one of the lowest atmospheric pressure readings since 1916. As you are aware plenty work has gone on at the 1st and 2nd holes over the past few weeks. Rock armour has been placed by GF Job at the 1st and 2nd tees to protect these most important areas. In between a short term fix of sand and Marram which was salvaged or reclaimed from the far end of the course and built up back to the exposed manhole covers  and re gaining the core path once again. Two rows of chestnut fencing has been staked in to help protect this sand material and aid in any Marram regrowth. Subsequently and unfortunately last weeks high tide has taken a fair chunk of the sand away from the beach edge and some of the fencing will have to be moved inwards. . Long term this area can be re charged with sand and backed up with rock armour when enough funds are raised and become available. The core path area is to be soiled and seeded shortly to restore grass onto it and will be roped off meantime.

Looking ahead to the season now upon us it would be nice to get some warmer weather and some more consistent grass growth.

George Paterson

Head Greenkeeper

 

 

 

20th October 2023

Autumn has arrived early this year with plenty of strong winds and rainfall along with cooler temperatures than in recent years. Rainfall figures from July to September were 66mm, 86mm and 82mm and reading 94mm so far for October. So plenty natural H2O which has helped restore some much needed moisture to the soils after the early summer dry weather. The course has greened up and grass cutting for the latter part of this summer was much more regular than since 2018 onwards. Our roughs again have not been cut mid summer which is good and helps maintain character and challenge.

During the summer we sand top dressed our weaker fairways which helps dilute fibre and in turn promote better soil characteristics for fine grass to tiller into. Some more selective sanding will go on.

Recently we have again had the use of Castlestuarts’ seeding machine and drilled in seed to fairways 1,2,3,4,7,8 and 12 along with a few tee walk-offs. We have used a seed mix containing 20% Hard Fescue and 20% Sheeps Fescue along with other more common Fescues. The ‘Hard’ and ‘Sheeps’ component in the mix are cultivars that are better suited to droughty conditions which seem to cope well and survive even in very warm weather. We were a couple of weeks later in getting the machine this year although ground conditions were much better for getting the seed in the ground.

Our teeing grounds have also been scarified and seeded mid September and along with an Autumn feed are looking pretty healthy at the minute.

Work to the greens has included a nail tining down to 4” with our new Gxi8 spiker during mid September and recently a close 19mm shallow cone tine with a blend of fine Fescues broadcast into the holes. This was followed by hand dressing with Kings dune sand and then all brushed into the holes creating the perfect environment for the Fescues to germinate. Moisture and some mildish weather over the next month would help. This short term disruption is essential in the on going promotion of increasing the percentages of finer grasses in our greens. This week we’ve applied an Autumn feed to the greens with a 4.3.4 analysis with added Calcium and magnesium. This is geared to providing some nutrient to the new seedlings and also help keep turf vigor and any moss at bay. Next up we will be deep slitting and then verti-draining with 1/2″ tines to loosen up the soils and help drainage and root growth.

Moving into the winter months it is intended to verti-drain and slit tine the fairways and also spray with a Calcium/magnesium nitrate/iron mix to give them a little perk up and help deter moss.

We have also highlighted a couple of possible bunker additions at the 2nd and 8th holes. These are marked out in there locations with blue pegs in the ground. The reasoning for an additional bunker on the right of the 2nd is to frame the drive better since the whins were taken away a few years back. It would be roughly 25 yards short of the present bunker making it 245 yards from the Black tee and 220 yards from the White. The dogleg 8th hole has become obsolete for the longer hitters and is only 215 yards to carry from the White tee. The longer hitters are even carrying it from the Black tee! It is proposed to add another bunker a further 25 odd yards just past the corner of the dogleg on the left which would make it 240 and 265 from White and Black tees. The present large first bunker could be turned into a less penal grass bunker as it is mainly the shorter hitters that end up in here.

Our winter programme will again consist of repairing broken down bunker faces in which we hope to do around a dozen. Our long roughs will be cut and collected shortly. Selective whin trimming during poorer weather with also another couple of sections taken out along the 1st bank.

An additional water tank is to be installed close by our present tank to facilitate future water requirements should we decide to add irrigation pop ups into seven of our fairways.

Some recent roping off of high wear areas is essential in spreading the golfing traffic and help these bits recover for next season.

Enjoy your winter golf!

George Paterson

Head Greenkeeper

 

22nd March 2023

 

We’ve had a mixed winter with periods of snow, frost and a few milder days thrown in. It was good to see some snow as it gave the course a little rest during these periods. March has been very cold which will give a slow start to the season unfortunately. We’ve had very little growth so far and not much weather to work with.

Rainfall last year amounted to 510mm which is relatively dry compared to the previous couple of years. We undertook some pot seeding work on the greens which although was a little late the weather played ball and we achieved a good seed strike. A mix of fine Barenbrug Fescue seed was used in a longer term approach to increasing the percentages of finer grasses that will withstand drought, increase ball roll, fewer chemical inputs, less aggressively managed, less seed heads etc. Many benefits to be had if the greens are given the chance for these grasses to colonize and survive.

We also invested a £3000 in seeding the 8 worst affected fairways last September. Castlestuart Links kindly lent us their disc seeding machine and although conditions were not perfect as the ground was pretty hard at the time a reasonable seed strike was achieved.  We have recently sprayed all the fairways with a wetting agent and iron spray during a lovely wet day. This will help retain soil moisture and the iron will help deter moss. A follow up spray in a few weeks with more wetting agent and some slow release Nitrogen will be given which will help the younger grasses survive into the season.

Our winter work has mostly consisted of re vetting bunkers of which 12 were completed this year. New sand has been added to them all and will be a little soft until they have bedded in. We also did some re modelling work to the left hand side of the 8th green where the whin line has been taken back several metres and some mounding put in. This area will remain GUR for another 2/3 weeks as the area under the sheet has been seeded and although germinating we have had no warmth recently. Some fairway whin edge lines have been trimmed back and the left approach at the 13th taken down to waist level as it will offer better view of road users whilst playing the 13th. These will grow back in a year or two.

We also dug out the last group of whins on the left of the 4th fairway which gathered a lot of golf balls. We have created another sandscrape which will again catch the stray shot and make for a tricky recovery, meanwhile speeding up play.

 

Some recent work included replacing the clubhouse borders that were old and shabby looking. The soil was dug out and re filled with dune sand and then replaced with Marram grass plants. The finished look looks much more inviting along with the recent up grade of the outside seating area front of clubhouse.

 

 

 

 

 

Looking forward we are in the process of getting a test borehole drilled to replace the need for mains water for the water system. This will be carried out in the whins next to our water tank in November later this year. We have had a geological survey done and it is estimated that drilling will find water around 55m depth into bedrock below. Drilling will only confirm this and quantities of water to be confirmed but hopefully in the region of 7m3 per hour. Savings from using mains water would eventually pay for the borehole in around 4 years. Further ahead if the borehole is successful then potentially some fairway irrigation could be added to the system, initially to 7 fairways. This would be used sparingly in times of drought and would help greatly in divot recovery on our most highly used fairways. (1 to 4, 7,12 and 13)

Enjoy your golf this season

George Paterson – Head Greenkeeper

 

 

1st August 2022

The weather has picked up recently and feels more like summertime after a pretty miserable May and June. T-shirt weather for a change! Rainfall for May and June was 60mm and 11mm respectively and June especially seemed to be windy most of the time. The dry weather has continued through July with just 36mm and this fell mostly over 2 days at the start and end of the month.

The greens have suffered as a consequence over the past month with dry patch disorder affecting several of the more exposed greens. The blotched areas have  become hydrophobic and are not accepting water which exacerbates the problem of achieving uniformity on the surfaces. We have been watering at nights as per usual (1500m3 used this year to date) and also hand watering with wetting pellets to the worst  greens in an effort to re wet these bits. We also gave all the greens a close pencil tine down to 5″ to help enable any water to penetrate more evenly. We have more wetting agent to go on at the next opportunity  which will hopefully bring back a full recovery. My thoughts are that the Meadow grass (Poa) component in the sward doesn’t like the dry weather and will always be susceptible in weather extremes and when the greens are pushed for speed. The fertility in the greens is also low and particularly the sandier greens which suggests that a light organic feed is imminent and would benefit things overall for the rest of the playing season. We are currently cutting at 3.7mm which is low enough for our site and greens make up but ultimately, if players want faster greens then the greens swards will require more Fescue grasses.

The fairways although pretty parched have stood up reasonably well. We have not cut them in the past three weeks as there has been so little growth although they will be cut this week. Regular and weekly divot filling is keeping them tidy but not a lot of germination taking place mainly due to dry weather. Leatherjacket damage is still evident and is an on going concern and they just love aeration holes to make things worse! Weeds have been spot treated again this year.

We are looking into various options to strengthen up the weaker fairways in general. Over seeding machines that will drill better seed in that will withstand drought better. Possibly adding sprinklers to these fairways that when we need them in dry weather and in times of over seeding they can be used sparingly. We are currently awaiting a geological survey which will help us decide if we can get a borehole drilled for our own water supply. Other measures are improving fertility, more aeration, top dressing and wetting agents which means much more spending than currently done.

   Our roughs have pretty much looked after themselves this summer with no summer cut required as they have thinned out with the dry weather. Plenty of colour in them with with dandelions and wild flowers here and there. A cut and collect will be done end of season.

 

Our tees are also holding up pretty well and getting a watering 3 to 4 nights a week in dry spells. They were given their second feed today of a slow release 16.2.10 which has been successfully used in the past. This will keep them healthy and help repair divot damage for the rest of the playing season.

In general the course is standing up well and providing a good links test which most seem to be enjoying. The course has been extremely busy with lots of visitors and members playing and it is a credit to our small dedicated greenstaff crew that it is kept so tidy.

George Paterson

Head Greenkeeper

Oct 11th

As we come close to the end of the playing season the course is gradually greening up again after the dry summer. 71mm of rain in September and 20mm so far this month has helped restore moisture levels in the top few inches. The water system was used more this year with around 1860m3 used on the greens,approaches and tees. The temperatures are still above average recently which is keeping some growth going with only one cut of the greens missed last week.

Greens

We are still cutting at summer height of 3.7mm with much less grass coming off at present. The last PGR (plant growth regulator) has worked a treat for our busy end to the season.

Our planned mini coring, scarifying and top dressing is taking place next Mon 18th – Wed 20th Oct. This is required to keep thatch levels at a minimum and in turn bolster new root growth, strengthen the grass plant and ultimately keep the greens reasonably firm. Last autumn we didn’t put on an autumn feed and with that the reduced fertility gave moss an opportunity to creep in. Therefore we have a symbio 5.2.10 + 1.3Mg to go on after the coring and this will help with recovery and keep the turf stronger through the winter months. We will also look to deep slit and verti-drain the greens at some point in November and apply a penetrant-wetter to keep the rootzone as dry as possible through the wetter months.

Fairways

Worst drought and Leatherjacket damaged fairways at 3,4 and 12 have been cored and drag matted to return a little humus back into the turf. I don’t think I have ever seen so many Daddy Long Legs on the go this autumn which again is a bad sign for the course in general heading into next year. The aeration holes will help moisture penetrate into all the little dry areas. These fairways have now been dimple seeded with a four way mix of Chewings, Slender, Strong and Hard Fescue. Fingers crossed we keep getting some showery weather and decent temperatures to see some re establishment. We are currently giving these fairways another sand dress which will help cover any seed lying on the top surface.

Hopefully we will get the fairways deep slit a couple of times this winter and do some much needed verti-drain work. An iron spray will also go on in the next few weeks to knock back any mossy areas.

It really would help if more members could be encouraged to use their portable fairway mats this winter which would also help our semi-roughs from getting destroyed. You get a great lie every time!!

Recent work

Early Sept we’ve been coring approaches and added grass seed and sand to the weaker ones. The winter greens have also been cored, double verti-cut, seeded and sanded as some areas of fairway that we normally place our winter greens on are worse for ware after the dry summer. The new winter tee at the 4th has at last been seeded a few weeks ago and has germinated very well. We just need to keep cutting it every week and get it to thicken up before it is open for winter use.  Some walkways have been cored and seeded and some dimple seeded and will require roping off shortly to help let them recover.

Winter work

All remaining long roughs to be cut and collected.

We will have our normal 10 or so bunkers to re-vet.

More bush removal up the left of the 4th hole and sand scrape areas created here and in front of the tee itself.

Removal of last years cut stumps on 13th ridge.

Removal of a couple of sections of whins along 1st bank.

Aeration work.

1st tee path.

George Paterson

 

 

 

8th July 2021

Firstly glad to see that our wild flower display at the back of the 1st tee has matured nicely. This area was a bit of a mess last year after the porto cabins left after the building project. Shingly material was dispersed throughout and any weeds treated thereafter. A 1kg mix of 25 different species containing 40% Annuals, 5% Biennials and 55% Perennials was then sewn out over a sand layer in October last year and then rolled in. It looks like mainly Wild Poppys have come up but other plants such as Yarrow, Columbine, Borage, Harebell, Cornflower, Vipers Bugloss, Wild Candytuft and Forget-me Knot are included so there should be a show of colours to keep the bees happy for a while yet. (Euroflor Britannica mix)

The course. As with many golf courses the weather plays a big part in how the course looks and plays. This spring and early summer has been quite difficult for us in that April was one of the coldest and driest months on record followed by a cold and wet May. June has given us some warmer temperatures, very dry and with persistent Northerly winds. This has dried up the course dramatically and has looking very linksy for the past month now. The greens have been a little slower to fill out this year as a result but are running truer and quicker now since the spring feed has tailed off and seeding has abated. Verti-cutting to refine and sand dressings to improve levels and firm up have each been carried out four times each this season so far. Height of cut is at 3.9mm just now and will be lowered a little more in the lead up to the Black Isle Open and beyond. The greens were becoming a little hydrophobic at times with the wind and sun as we were delayed in getting our third wetting agent application on. This was sprayed on on Monday this week taking advantage of some overdue showery weather. With the recent dry weather cutting has eased off a bit on the fairways and are only being cut as necessary to avoid any unnecessary additional stress. We have been relentlessly patching and tidying the fairways each week this year with the high level of play and birds turning over divots in search of Leatherjackets. Warne, our new summer labourer has helped greatly along with our staff in keeping the place neat and tidy. We intend not to broadcast spray the fairways for weeds again this year and just to spot treat with the knapsack over the next few weeks. Mainly isolated plantains to deal with here and there. The greens surrounds were blanket sprayed back in early June treating mainly plantains, daisies and bits of clover.

Our tees are looking reasonable although a little stressed and hard recently. They have been getting a little irrigation to keep some growth going and today were given a slow release granular feed of  ProloNg 16.2.10 which has worked well in the past. They also have been weed treated  and received a wetting agent application this week to help maintain moisture levels in dry weather.

Other little jobs we have been doing are treating the bunker tops and bits of aprons with a graminicide to clean out little Rye and Yorkshire Fog clumps.

So we have it pretty linksy early on this summer but could do with a few days of decent rain to re hydrate our soils and perk the grass up a bit. The tall roughs are maturing and playing tricky should you go into it and normally we would cut and collect an intermediate rough shortly which we intend to do.

Enjoy your golf!

George Paterson

Head Greenkeeper

 

 

 

March 19th

That’s us back onto the summer course with preferred lies on the fairways back in operation. Thank you to the members who have used their mats throughout the winter months which has helped reduce the level of damage to the semi roughs. The level of play the course has received this winter has been quite exceptional apart from the week of rest in early February from the snow fall and it was great to see all the kids out enjoying some sledging at the 17th.

Minus temperatures since the start of January up until Mid February and this combined with staff furloughs meant some of our bunker repair work didn’t get completed. The ones we have revetted are back in play now. We have cut some more whin bushes down at the 13th and taken them away at the right of the 18th green which has been seeded this week. GUR for a while here.

Work on the greens has seen an application of Iron and magnesium followed by a double verti-cut to remove some moss which is quite prevalent this year. An initial sanding and pencil tine to 6″ deep was done early March and another sand dressing and a spring fertiliser will go on next week. Just for comparison we have only cut the greens four times this year with very little grass coming off  compared to five times last January alone. We are still cutting at 5.5mm and this will come down slowly as sand is incorporated and any holes and imperfections fill in.

The summer tees have been scarified to 1″ deep and heavily sanded which is aimed at reducing some of the softer growth, invigorating some new growth and firming the surfaces up. An Iron and Ammonia spray has gone on last week and a granular feed and wetting agent is planned next.

Our fairways have also been sprayed with Iron and Ammonia to deter the moss and stimulate a little spring growth and boost colour. We have sanded the approaches and  green surrounds to aid a little recovery from footfall. I would like to do most of the fairways but cost is a limiting factor with a 20 tonne load of sand costing £600!  Leatherjackets are going to be a big concern this year not just from birds overturning divots but the effect the grubs have on the grass plants root system. A nibbled and shortened root will die much quicker under stress from heat or dry weather and last years Autumn plague on the fairways is a very bad sign. We have a wetting agent ready to go on when the next spell of soft weather comes along. This will help water be drawn through the turf and bind onto soil particles which in turn enables the soil to re hydrate during times of rainfall.

  The range got its first cut this week and is looking great. The downside is that it took almost 2 hours to rake up all the divots and collect golf balls before it could get cut. This is time we can ill afford with a small team of four greenstaff. It would help us greatly if the mats provided could be used or if hitting from the grass then a couple of minutes spent replacing your divots after would be greatly appreciated. Can I remind also that no iron play from behind the main mat and please do not leave divots sprayed over any of the small greens on the range. Thank you.

Our long roughs have been cut and collected last week and this helps reduce the nutrient going back into the soil which favours ranker grass such as Yorkshire Fog and Rye grass. We annually spray with a herbicide now which will selectively treat these courser grasses with a view to encouraging the finer Bents and Fescues. When the  longer roughs mature into full seed it is such a lovely sight (and hazard!) although could we ask any buggy users to draw up alongside and walk into the rough to find their ball.

With the season about to stutter to a start and having no bunker rakes out yet it would be nice for everyone who goes into a bunker to smooth the sand over with the sole of your shoe. Remembering a lift and place within 6″ is still in place until rakes are returned for use.

Volunteer work – if any of our members who have some spare time would like to give the course a hand it would be greatly appreciated. We have a list of jobs from divot collecting and filling, litter picking and various painting jobs. Contact myself or Mike for info. Following on from last years successful members divotting evenings we would like to do this again and dates will follow. Thank you to all who give up their time.

George Paterson – Head Greenkeeper

07808 202050 or (sheds) 01381 622323