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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Micro hollow tining is planned for around mid February. Fairways and greens surrounds have also been slit with some fairways receiving a sanding also. In November we sprayed Iron to all areas apart from the longer roughs in our combat against moss and this will be done again in the spring along with some Ammonia (Nitrogen) and wetting agent.
Up turned turf is used in the bases to both provide a firm base and also to keep stones from coming through. These will be topped up with sand around early March and brought into play for the first competitions. Proposal – The twin bunkers on the 15th fairway have been earmarked for a redesign into one large bunker. Back in the early 90s this was to be the case but while digging out the bunker we came across the irrigation pipe and had to split the bunker into two. The new irrigation line now runs past the right hand side of the bunkers therefore allowing these bunkers to be improved and made into something more aesthetically pleasing.
The large obtrusive section of gorse has been removed to open up the fairway view from the tee. The natural sand base has been exposed to create an in play sand scrape and this will both help speed up play and allow you to see where your ball goes.
The tees have also been verti-drained and next to do will be the approaches.
Both greenside bunkers at the 7th have been newly revetted and the front greenside at the 11th is underway. We have highlighted around 9 greenside bunkers to do this year and will be GUR until around mid March.