Greens Blog

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

7th July 2020

That’s us back into our first week of competitions and typically the weather has turned a bit sour of late, as it usually does after an early summer. Rainfall recorded in may was 21mm followed by 102mm in June, which was very welcome for the course in general after the very dry and warm April.

The greens are coming on now and seem to be performing better after all the heavy rain. We also top dressed on six occasions through early spring/summer in order to help fill in the Leatherjacket damage and are pretty much hole free at the minute. The Meadow grass seed heads are abating and our cutting height has remained a little higher at 4mm which in turn reduces any unnecessary stress.   

Our cutting units are razor sharp after a re grind recently and this improves ball roll through the grass leaf not getting torn when cut. Also a clean cut is healthier for the grass as less infection and disease take hold.

Fairy rings

Some fairy ring activity (basidiomycetes fungi) has flared up on certain greens particularly the 4th and 7th for some reason. I can’t explain why some greens get this and not others as all the greens are treated in the same way. Historically I remember treating rings on the 7th green back in the early 90s’ as it was the worst green back then too! There used to be a chemical, long withdrawn  (oxycarboxin) and like everything else that was effective they took it away?? but this got rid of them pretty quickly. These rings always look worse when the turf is lean because there is no colour to disguise them but they are superficial and don’t really hinder the ball roll. We have one more Revolution wetting agent to go on shortly which will help condition the soil and I may have to fire up the old compost tea maker soon to add some beneficial microbes and fight the fairy ring fungi.

Roughs 

During lockdown we were a little limited in how much rough we could cut and concentrated on keeping the semis in check. We managed to get an intermediate cut done and have kept on top of this recently. The tall natural roughs are quite long and got no early golfer trampling with the closure and are certainly a challenge now if you go in them. We’ll need some dry weather again to cut and collect a bit more of the tall roughs here and there.

George Paterson

 

4th May 2020

That’s us into our 6th week of lockdown and typically the weather has been fantastic for golf! We have been quite lucky to carry on with our work on the course with 2 to 3 staff  working individually, keeping on top of essential maintenance and so far we will be ready when golf resumes. Jobs are being completed quicker with no golfers about and many hours saved on not having to collect range balls, rake bunkers and change holes etc.

So what have we being doing?

This spring has brought many sunny and dry days with very little rain which in turn has kept growth to a minimum. Therefore we’ve been cutting greens 2 to 3 times per week and a little higher than normal, tees and aprons once per week and the fairways, range and semi roughs on a fortnightly cycle. We’ve also kept on top of banks cutting otherwise things would have got out of hand. Early into the lockdown we sprayed the fairways with wetting agent, ammonia and iron to give them a wee perk up. With the course being quiet we’ve also managed to treat the weeds on the fairways and range and got our usual wetting agents on greens and tees.

One problem that is causing concern is aeration holes not filling in due to Leatherjackets feeding on the grass roots over winter. The insecticide for treating these grubs was withdrawn from our use 3 years ago now and is becoming a problem for many courses now. I’ve been using the water system to the greens on a fairly regular basis throughout April as the rainfall was so low (8mm) in an attempt to top up the deficit on an average April month. The greens can dry out here very quickly in the spring and with grub activity can go backwards quite quickly. Subsequently we have taken the chance to seed and spike 10 of the worst hit greens and top dressed over a couple of times. With the grubs popping out of the turf now hopefully most of the damage has been done and once growth starts to pick up then the greens will establish full cover. 

We’re all looking forward to getting back onto the course and I expect it won’t be too long now and I see no reason why not. Ireland have set a date of May 18th. It looks like there will be measures in place similar to lockdown and that will include social distancing, no touching flag pins etc. The so called experts will no doubt keep us well informed!

George Paterson

Head Greenkeeper

 

The autumn seemed to pass very quickly with October noticeably colder than recent years. We have had some frosty spells and also a fair bit of rain to contend with but the beauty of greenkeeping is there is always something to do.

New Proshop/office

The greenstaff have been busy with the putting green and 1st tee alterations  and there is more to do with sleeper edging and path work once the new building progresses.

Greens

Following the scarify in late September the greens were then deep slit after the season finish. A preventative fungicide was applied and also an Autumn feed of TX10 (5.2.8) to keep the grass plant as healthy as possible leading into the colder months. Recently we have verti-drained with larger 3/4″ tines down to 11″ deep and this will benefit the greens longer term by helping drainage and promoting new and longer root growth for healthier turf. A micro-core and seaweed meal dressing is planned next weather permitting. This is to help alleviate some troublesome Anthracnose disease (yellowing of the plant) and also Superficial Fairy ring.The tees have also been verti-drained and next to do will be the approaches.

Fairways

All the fairways have been sprayed with Iron and also slit tined to relieve a little compaction, aid water movement and promote healthier turf. The majority of fairways have recovered well after the drought last year and will continue to improve with some more selective sanding, wetting agent and soluble fertilizer sprays.

Bunker repairs

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.

Whin management

To date we have topped the whins along the roadsides at the 10th and 15th holes for safety reasons. We plan to do the rest of the roadside holes when any frosty weather returns. The whin stand at the back of the 3rd green has also been topped to allow a better view up the right hand side of the fairway. Our big project early next year is to cut down the whins on the right side of 13th fairway allowing for a much less intimidating drive for the shorter hitters.

George Paterson

Head Greenkeeper

Course report  Sept 23^rd 2019 

It’s been a difficult summer greenkeeping wise due to the high level of growth on all areas of the course and practice area. Routinely we cut things such as tee and bunker banks, semi-roughs, range etc on a fortnightly cycle but this year has seen us struggle to keep up on these jobs as everything is needing done more often and more grass equals more time to do each job. The range has been particularly difficult to keep on top of (with a weekly cut) resulting in a lot of smaller jobs just not getting done.

Rainfall in August measured 106mm and that is approx. 3 x more than a normal summer month. Nonetheless the greens have performed very well and the fairways continue to improve with the wet weather.

Greens

Little work on the greens this summer apart from cutting and occasional rolling. Two wetter/seaweed/potassium carbonate sprays with a little Nitrogen have gone on June and July just to tick things along. A verti-cut last week and another seaweed/calcium/iron spray to try and dry up a little Fusarium marking here and there. The top putting green was hollow tined and Graden scarified (Mon 16^th Sept) with some bent grass seed introduced. Recovery has been pretty quick due to the weather of late. This week we will be solid spiking and following up with the scarifier/seed (bent seed at 5g/m2) and top dressing. A wet start today slowed things down but 12 greens spiked and 5 greens scarified/seeded. Rolling to re-enstate surfaces and keeping an eye on moisture levels for recovery and enhancing seed germination.

Going into the autumn I would like to carry out some slitting then late autumn (late Nov) the greens will need another hollow tine with 6mm tines and also a deep verti-drain with larger 3/4” tines during December. All this work will enhance drainage and surface firmness, promote deeper root growth and help combat fairy ring. In turn they will become more resilient for next year.

Roughs

Majority of tall roughs cut and collected and will be sprayed with Laser to reduce course grasses within. 

Semis

All semi roughs were sprayed with herbicide to treat Plantains and clover

Tees

Some tees have been spiked/sanded and seeded

Pro shop/office work – site prep work (Oct 14th)

1. The area of the yellow/red tee where the putting green is to be extended needs stripping back first + RHS of this tee. (Approx 6-7m)
2. Re locate RHS tee sprinkler.
3. Strip turf in front of Medal tee approx 6-8m and lay aside.
4. PG extension area then needs to be excavated and contoured to desired putting green level with sand amended through the soil. De stone. (require mini digger)
5. Stock pile soil front medal tee.
6. Lift turf from car park end of putting green and re lay onto new extension. Lay apron turf as required and excess turf below 1^st hole whin carry.
7. Enlarge and raise medal tee and re turf

Removal of the dust path to the left of the yellow tee at 6^th and some of the turf lifted from the putting green side could be used here.