march renovation

This month we have stared our renovation work on both the Tees and Greens.As most of the tees are in play over the winter they suffer  from wear and damage in the wet and colder weather.To aid recovery we have carried out aeration work in the form of solid tining,followed by scarifying and brushing,fertilising with a slow release product then over seeding and dressing.

The greens were likewise worked on with our main emphasis  on removing thatch by scarifing and blowing off the debris,mowing to clean the surface before topdressing with sand and brushing that in.A liquid feed of soluble fertiliser was applied along with other beneficial products to aid recovery,Although the temperatures both day and night are low which slows down grass growth and therefore slows down the recovery period.

This photo shows the green 8days after the work was completed

We will over seed the greens before apply another dressing of sand to firm the surface and restore levels .

Bunkers have been treated with a total weed control to keep them clean,but one of the main issues we have with bunkers is that they are generally at the bottom of slopes so that rain water runs into them from the surrounding land contaminating the sand with silt and clay deposits.This gets mixed in to the bunker sand and forms a mixture like cement which greatly hinders drainage.We have been working on a few of the worst ons to try and improve the drainage in the short term.

Near the driving range we have installed a new drainage pipe to remove water from the down pipe and ball wash area.Upon investigation we found that a gully pot had been installed for the down pipe but no drainage pipe had been installed to take the water away.

When the drier window of opportunity appears we have taken advantage of it to give those areas of the course that we can mow a cut, mainly the greens, tees ,fairways and aprons. There were still some areas which were soft and we did have to pull out various machines that got stuck. But on the whole the course does have some definition.

 

We have spent some time removing the bulrushes from the pond on the 6th Heron which was becoming over run and covering over the pond surface. We first lowered the water level to make it easier to wade through then the reeds were hand pulled and stacked on the bankside to be disposed of after any water fauna has returned back into the pond.

 

 

 

We have continued to use the astro turf on various areas of the course especially in high wear areas, these should help prevent walk off areas from damage. These will be seen on the 8th vixen green and 8th hawk green walk off areas. On the foot golf tee areas astro turf has been placed down for all the 18 tee areas on the Vixen.

 

 Drainage work on the bunker and path has been undertaken on the 8th Heron and we have been out sanding the walk off areas.

 

 

Spring is showing its self now with the spring bulbs in flower providing some colour around the clubhouse and we have had a few frosts recently to add to the scenery on the course.

 

This South Essex Green Keeping Team which has only been together less than a year is to lose one of its members as Ross Sullivan will be leaving to join the new Course being built at Rainham known as Ingrebourne Links. We wish him well in his new venture. The team enjoyed a get together for breakfast in the woods

                                                     Ross tucks into his burger with gusto!