Blue skies contrasts nicely with the green hues of the golf course,and if warm as well not only will it give density to the sward but encourage golfers to come and play and enjoy the surroundings .

6th Vixen

Warmer temperatures increase the grass growth which has to be maintained,team work is essential to achieve this,and many hands make like work especially when using strimmers which can be a back straining task when used to cut ditches.This is to allow golfers and mower operators to see the ditch edge,without totally destroying the natural flora and fauna which will use the areas as vital wildlife corridors.



strimming ditch 9th hawk

We are trialing a product called Rescue on selected areas .This product removes certain grass species from the sward  like rye grass and yorkshire fog,leaving behind the finer grass species like fescue and bents.The idea is to create a finer sward in the roughs,so ball finding and playing will be easier and the visual appearence improved,early days as yet to make judgement

9th Hawk
This is the first year that we have made up our own hanging baskets for outsde the clubhouse as its a lot cheaper and more satisfying  to do,we have also been growing our own plants for the clubhouse beds either from seed,cuttings or bought plant plugs.

Below Sam Cooke is potting up lavendar cuttings taken from our plants outside the clubhouse last autumn,this will be planted out in our beds when they are bigger plants.

We have completed the weed and feed spraying on the fairways and the clover is now starting to die off to give a cleaner sward, the feed will encourage the grass to fill as the clover dies off.we will continue to weed spray into the cut rough when we have the right spraying window to do so,very often there is to much breeze to allow spraying to take place.Below clover on the 5th hawk dying out.

Golf and the Environment are intrinsically linked and South Essex is dedicated to providing an ecological rich,healthy and stunning golf landscape;maximising the unique natural and cultural assets of the site,and minimizing resources consumption to ensure a net - positive environmental impact.
South Essex Golf Centre is extremely proud to have earned the status of GEO Certified.This prestigious international award signfies that we have met comprehensive and advanced sustainability requirements and are committed to continually improving our environmental performance across the areas of landscape&ecosystems;water;energy and resources;products and supply chains;environmental quality and people & communities.
GEO Certified follows holistic approach and its independently verifed every three years and its transparency makes it the most credible international environmental certification in golf today
Details of our GEO Certified report can be viewed at .
http://golfenvironment.org/oncourse/directory

Only 9 other golf clubs in the United kingdom are certified with the GEO though there are others in Europe and Australia

See South Essex Golf Centre profile and read the Verifers report

 

The Golf Environment Oraganisation is the only international non profit exclusively dedicated to helping golf' embrace sustainability......driving the Green in golf.

GEO serves the golf industry by administering golf's international ecolabel,GEO Certified and providing simple,practical guidance and tools to help clubs and developments achieve the distinction.

GEO Certified is endorsed by a growing number of golf,goverment and environmental bodies worldwide

The green keeping day now starts early so we often see the dawn,this enables us to get ahead of the first golfers with the days main tasks.

9th green vixen

The greens have been brushed to remove any debris and lift up the sward to get an even cut, the cutting height has been lowered to 4.5mm which will give a faster ball roll and we have also sarel rolled the greens this helps to vent the surface area and allow water to move through  the profile without any disturbance to the putting surface

Craig Raymond Brushing the putting green

The bunkers have been strimmed and we still have some sand left to topup selected bunkers once we have fitted a new throttle cable on to the tractor.
 



Luke Herron *th Hawk

After some issues on the irrigation system over the may bank holiday which left the greens drier than we would have liked we have now rectified the issues and tested the greens ready for the next period of dry weather
 

We have been adding plants to the flower beds around the car park to give visual interest and provide nectar and pollen for bees and insects,these will soon start to provide colour to the area. Over the autumn we took seeds and cuttings to increase our stock and its cheaper as well, Sam Cooke has been potting on our Lavender cuttings

 

The last few days have bathed the course in much needed sunshine which is good for the grass.this will boost the photosynthesis process  within the plant giving it the energy to convert the starch to sugars which is the food the plant requires to develop.A healthy plant will provide a stronger plant that will enabling it to stand up to the wear and tear that we place on it with our work  and your play.

We have sprayed the greens with a cocktail of ingredients to help the plant and improve the soil this included seaweed,potassium,calcium,and phospites.This is applied at regular intervals through the season

 











As part of Crown Golf's organisation we are regularly monitored and assessed to ensure that we are maintaining the correct standards and carrying out the proper agronomic practices to provide the best playing conditions for our customers.Our Regional Course Manager Paul Copsey regularly visits the site to carry out audits  and marks each area taking into account the recent weather conditions,staff levels and budget constraints at the time.

Paul Copsey checking the greens

 Now is a great time to view the Bluebells in the wood,there looking great......