Meet the greenkeeping team at South Essex

 

 

from the left Sam Cooke,Sean Eady (Deputy)Craig Raymond,Terry Sapsford,Luke Herron and myself Peter Dawson.
The summer months can prove a little difficult as we take our summer holidays,so we are usually one staff member down at this time.At the moment we have another shortage as Terry tales time off with his wife to celebrate the birth of there first child a daughter.
The recent rain has helped green the course up again especially the tees,so we have applied a little feed and weed and growth regulator to them.

Ragwort seen below is found on the course and although poisonous to horses and cattles (not many of them on the course thankfully) it is home to the cinnaber moth caterpillars which love to eat it ,they store the poisons from the plant  in there bodies which then makes them un-palatable to birds .The moth is totally different to the caterpillars see photo below

cinnabar caterpillars

cinnabar moth

 I took this photo on the course of a common carder bumble bee ,so far I have seen 5 species of bee on the course

 We were able to receive a free load of bark,and Luke is spreading it out  on the bed by the 9th green vixen

The recent thunderstorms early on Tuesday morning flooded the carpark for a brief period,but quickly drained  and replenished our irrigation pond behind the clubhouse after concentrated use through the very hot period when we were watering the greens.

 

The heavy rainfall of 23mm in just a few hours highlighted a problem on the 9th green vixen.Here the water was reluctant to flow away quickly when near the gully pot at the front of the green.Investigation found the old solid pipe blocked and broken .This was dug out and removed and a a 80mm drainage pipe was installed with clean shingle.this will move water from the front of the green away to the pond on the right of the green

During these periods of hot weather we rely on our irrigation system for automatic as well as manual water of the greens,but failures do occur which must be quickly repaired if possible, decoder and wiring breakages are a common repair in the irrigation boxes situated near greens.

decoder testing

On the greens we control any weed invasion by removing them, when seen by the staff ,by hand.This saves on money by not blanket spraying the greens with chemical and is more environmently friendly.Moss problems on the greens have to be sprayed as often cultural controls are not always effective.This is done by using either a hand held applicator or knapsack and only targeting the moss rather than spraying the entire green

 

 

 

New to South Essex was Football Golf played recently on the Vixen on a Sunday Afternoon ,no clubs required only the ability to kick a larger ball into a larger hole  on an 18 hole specially laid out course.

Sean digging out one of the holes with a Pick Axe (not our usual hole changing equipment )

 

We have had to have a contractor in to remove over hanging branches from some of the dead trees on the 3rd, and 9th holes Vixen and 9th hole Heron.Althought all dead trees are a valuable habitat and food sourse for many animals and  plants, Health and Safety considerations to golfers and staff meant we had to act as there was a risk from dead branches suddenly breaking off,we have kept the main trunks  were possible to contine as wildlife habitats.

 

 

 

3rd vixen

 

One pleasing aspect not seen by the golfer but essential to the playing quality of the green is root growth and better still deep root growth,the picture below was taken this month on the first green of the Hawk

 

Finally a couple of pictures of wildlife on the course,a Common orchid and red tailed bumble bee with a friend

 

 

 

 

July

The long rough around some of our fairway bunkers has been cut down to help speed up play although it removes the definition and shaping that the longer grass gives to these areas.



9th hawk before

9th hawk after

We have been hand spiking the dry areas on the greens before hand watering with a wetting agent pellet to help the grass recover from the hydrophobic soil

 

 

All the greens were sarel rolled in 2 directions to open up the surface before we sprayed them with a Dawson's special cocktail mix of soluble fertilisers,seaweed products,growth inhibitors and wetting agents.These products improve the grass growth and root development

 

 

One of the unseen maintenance tasks that we have to carry out is regular servicing of our machinery,to keep them in worrking order.The greens units have been taken to Stapleford Abbotts Golf Club to use there Grinding equipment to sharpen the cylinders and give a clean cut.One of the benefits of being part of a group organisation is to be able to share selected equipment as well as information and ideas.Paul Selbie Course Manager at Stapleford and I regularly meet to talk shop on golf course matters

 

 

The wildflower and clubhouse beds areas are looking good and the bees are taking advantage of there rich nectar source
 

 

 

We have recently had volunteers working near the course for Essex County Council on public footpath maintenance.Volunteers are essential in so many clubs and organisations,doing a great job often with out much praise or thanks for what they do.