We have continued with our Winter work,sanding path ends,traffic control and working to clear ditches.The gorse area near  the 6th tee heron has been reduced in height ,this will stimulate new growth and keep it manageable as Gorse is an important plant for wildlife .

                                               last years gorse now regenerating

                                                  this years gorse cut and ready for regrowth

                                                        ditch work near the 6th Hawk

                                                                 6th Hawk

                                                                    3rd  Vixen

We had some road planing left so we were able to extend another path through a wet area on the 1st Hawk ,Sean and Craig seen here adding road planings

During October we sprayed selected areas of our Environmental rough with a product called Rescue which takes out some of the coarser grasses like rye grass.By removing these species we will encourage the finer leaved grasses,this will help in finding and playing your ball  and produce  a higher quality rough with an improved visual appearance.The product is relatively expensive so it will be a case of spraying areas when we are able to through the coming years as well as continuing with our normal environmental rough management.Those areas sprayed can be seen as they have a discoloured appearance now but this will change as we go into the spring.

Rough  9th vixen sprayed with Rescue

Many of you will know my Deputy Sean Eady who has been with me for over six years, both as a work colleague and friend.He will be leaving us at the end of January to become the Head Greenkeeper at Ballards Gore Golf Club.He will be missed but I know that he will take up the challenge there and take Ballads Gore forward.We wish him all the best for 2015. 

2014 has been a challenging year for various reasons but we have come through it and I hope you have enjoyed playing the course and will continue to do so.As we come to the end of 2014 I would like to thank all those who have followed this blog and to wish all our members and visitors a Happy New Year through into 2015.

On behalf of the Greenstaff I would like to thank the Seniors Captain and all the seniors and Ladies for the invitation to play in Your Christmas Turkey Trot on Wednesday 10th December .It was a bright and breezy day and good fun,with the course playing well after all the recent rain,followed by a Christmas dinner.Sean and I won a couple of  prizes in the raffle and Craig had one par on his card so we went home happy.

The wet weather through October and November restricted the type of work we would normally be carrying out through this period.Our attention therefore turned to other tasks around the course.Ditch work was carried out on the 4th heron removing overhanging branches,bramble  and debris,allowing easier access and ball retrieval.

                                                          blocked by bramble

                                                                      cleared

View from 3rd Hawk along cleared ditch

The prolonged wet spell meant many bunkers required to be pumped out so that limited raking could be achieved 

 The use of pumps through the winter period in wet and muddy areas has a detrimental effect on parts which require periodically to be replaced

As the ground conditions becomes to soft for our machinery  we have to revert to trusted old fashion methods to get the job done  this is especially the case on the Driving Range.Here many hands when available can make light work in hand- collecting the balls.

Craig  emptying his ball collector

We have removed the bramble around the Pond on the 4th vixen to tidy this area which is in view from the entrance road on the course

                                                                              before

after

Our very recent work has been the extension of two paths,the 6th tee path heron and the 3rd tee path on the Hawk,these will direct golf traffic away from the front of the tees and wet areas.The ground conditions were to wet for us to use our tractor and trailer to remove the spoil so this will be removed once the ground conditions allow us to use our machinery.As we are able we will fill in the worst of the potholes allowing better access around the course and enabling golfers to keep there trolleys on the paths.

Below a selection of photos of the work

                                                        edging out the marked path

                                                                       digging it out

                                  adding and raking out the road planings(rainbow for extra effect)

using wacker plate

Hopefully improving areas like this

Its that time of year when we have to start controlling golf traffic around the course especially around the concentrated wear areas . To help protect these areas we dress with sharp sand to help firm the surfaces. It is a great help if golfers would keep there golf carts and when in use buggies on the paths around greens and tees as this prevents marking up the grass  into wet muddy areas. We are aiming to keep the course clean and mud free through the winter months so that by March-April time we can set up and be ready for maintaining and preparing  the course from a better position.

                                      These trolley lines wouldn't be there if the path was used

 As the weather allows we have continued with our aeration program  by solid tining the greens and slit tining fairways

We have cut down the hedge height on the 3rd Hawk as it was unmanageable  but as it is Hawthorn and Blackthorn it will grow back  and its now at a height that we can manage

As we are now into the autumn months our management of the fine turf areas is to prepare the surfaces to with stand the winter months when growth eventually slows down, and recovery from any damage either from disease or golf traffic is slow
The fairways were sprayed with soluble fertiliser, the tees had a slow release granular fertilise applied, and the green also had a granular feed. The  fertilisers used are low in nitrogen as lush growth is not required this time of year, but the potash and phosphates will in courage root development and harden up the plants .

Our Aeration programme continues with the greens and teetops being solid tined as well as slit tined

                                            Geoff Turner slit tining the 8th green Hawk

October is an ideal time to plant bulbs for the spring and this year we have added to those already planted previously with 1500 daffodil bulbs,500 crocus and 100 alliums planted around the clubhouse area.

                                        Sam Cooke planting Daffodils near the Putting green

 

We have been receiving free wood chip from a local arborist which has been used around the flower beds near the clubhouse, This acts as a weed suppressant ,soil improver and aids moisture  retention

 

October has proved to be a wet month especially the week 6th to 18th when we had 100mm of rain but the course is holding up well apart from some bunkers which are slow to drain.

 

There are those who are unaware that golf buggies should not be driven into bunkers

 

  This time of year autumn mists can often  change the views across the course

 

As the autumn months approach  we have now started to increase our aeration programme ,with 2 passes of slit tining and a single pass of solid tining  on the greens completed so far and a  pass on the fairways completed . This will continue as long as the weather conditions are favourable. It is hoped to solid tine the tees and aprons as well.

An end of season spray on the roughs using up our last supply of selective weed control will help to keep these areas cleaner when we reach spring.

The greens have been sprayed with a fungicide due to an out break of fusarium disease and with an application of soluble feed the scaring has grown out.

There was some damage to certain greens with a hydraulic oil leak from the greens mower  but the steady growth from the feed has allowed this to quickly grow out .

The fairways have all been sprayed with a combination of soluble fertilisers to encourage recovery of the turf going into the winter months.

I can now add to my CV  course presentation  of the Ryder cup achieved at very short notice when we hosted the Football Golf Ryder Cup shown on Sky TV.With Brad Freidal representing America and Jimmy Bullard representing England. America the winning team.

Brad Freidal and Jimmy Bullard

 

Sky Tv filming at South Essex on the Vixen

 

The weather this week has been dry with chill mornings and sunny spells during the day and it has provided good conditions for us to cut and collect the environmental rough.We have very wide fairways and cut rough, to accommodate the standard of golfer playing a pay and play golf course.
The environmental rough though out of direct line of play except for the very wayward golf shot provides good definition  to the holes as well as providing a very valuable habitat for small mammals,insects and birds.Its in this rough you are likely to see the pheasants,hares and  other small animals.
It is important that this management programme is carried out annually,by cutting and collecting we are removing nutrients held in the grass leaves,and this will help reduce the vigour of the plant.
By annually cutting these areas we prevent the natural ingress of coarse weeds and scrub which would quickly colonise in these areas and reduce the grass land.This natural process can be seen in different areas around the course where we have allowed the natural change of grass to scrub land, and this will further progess in time from scrubland to woodland.An example can be seen between the 5th and 6th holes of the Hawk course which was at one time all grassland but this is now changing as we allow scrub to develop and seperated the view between the 2 holes .
As part of our management programme we use selective herbicides on those areas were course weeds start to dominant especially creeping thistle and bristle ox tongue to keep the enviro rough clean and  aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
We will be using a product in certain areas called Rescue which helps to control and remove certain coarse species of grass and this will help us to produce a finer grass sward.which will be less vigorous in growth and easier to find balls in. This is an on going year by year programme which is now showing signs of improvement in the environmental rough .

                                                    6th heron before cutting and collecting

                                                  6th heron after cutting and collecting

                                                      cut and collecting in front of the 5th tee

This week we have hollow cored all the greens with mini tines in a close pattern to remove thatch from the soil profile.This will aid water and nutrient intake, improve root growth, relieve compaction and stimulate the soil micro organisms.The conditions to undertake this work were ideal,with the soil moist  but the surface dry  allowing good core removal,with little turf disturbance and a dry surface making core collection easier.The operation took four staff,one driving the tractor and aercore machine,three core collecting into gators and then mowing the green  twice to put the green back into play

                                           All finished and greens in play after nearly 2 days

The greens were recently solid tined  and then we sprayed them with a wetting agent to aid water penetration into the root zone and seaweed  was added to aid root growth. This was followed by a good drop  of rain to wash it all in to the soil profile.A few days later we applied a growth control  mixed with some fertiliser to keep  the growth  even.The tees have also been sprayed with a similar cocktail of products.Weed control has been mainly carried out with our knapsack sprayer to spot treat isolated weed areas around the surrounds of greens and tees as well as fairways and roughs.
The sprayer is an essential part of our equipment  in managing the turf areas with a variety of products all year round.

                                                    solid tining the 8th green Hawk

We have been registered with Operation Pollinator since late 2012.After the first full growing season of 2013 very little was seen in the way of wildflowers in the sown area between the 5th and 6th of the Heron and I was disappointed with the results.I put this down to the cold winter of 2012 and the wet 2013.However 2014 has proved me wrong  with a much improved showing especially the wild carrot,red clover and vetch.These are native perennials which are all good for pollinating insects.
   

                                            wild carrot with the 6th tee heron in background

The wildflower areas with there annual mix of species continue to provide a talking point in the carpark and the same mix was used near the 9th green Heron

                                                                wildflowers 9th Heron
Recently Sean my Deputy was very concerned about the health of the fish in the pond by the clubhouse (as this is very much his passion and hobby) so with his contacts specialist anglers came to remove some of them to another lake.

Fishing the Pond