We have continued with our routine maintenance programme by solid tining all the greens with a close pattern to a depth of 50mm.This was then followed a week later by applying a wetting agent which helps rain and irrigation water to move through the soil profile to where its most needed at the roots. A cocktail of products was applied to provided a balance of nutrients to the turf.
Although temperatures have not been excessively high the dry weather along with breeze conditions has meant we have been using the irrigation system both manually and automatically to provide the right moisture levels to keep the sward alive.We have to keep a check on the popups and irrigation boxes to maintain them in good working order.

Nick Roberts Deputy Course Manager has recently passed his PA2 spraying training so he can now use our mounted sprayer to apply chemical products to the course.

Nick installing a new Irrigation Box 1st Hawk Green

We are now in the process of Spraying the fairways and cut rough areas to control weeds especially white clover and yellow suckling clover.This operation can take quite a while to complete depending on having the right weather conditions.

Marker foam on the 1st fairway Vixen

We have invested in new tee markers which are made from recycled plastic and give an improved look to the tee course furniture.

To maintain sight of play from the 9th medal tee Heron, Geoff and Nick had to remove the top growth which was impeding the view.

Geoff is really quick with his work

and we have worked him really hard,so hard in fact that he looks a skeleton figure now!

And yes the long awaited carpet for the clubhouse has been installed

A lovely flower show around the clubhouse and Golf carts waiting ,ready for you to use, enjoy your golf through the summer

 We still have a position for an Assistant green keeper if interested please contact 

southessex-greens@crown-golf.co.uk

The course has now moved into its early summer  appearance as the trees burst into leaf,the environmental rough  starts to give definition to the holes and the mowers are out consistently shaping the course.

The greens have been lowered to a 4mm height  of cut and are regularly brushed and sarel rolled.Regular applications of nutrients and bio-stimulants are given to maintain the plant health.
The bunkers have been trimmed and edged up and we have completed adding new sand after cleaning out the drainage on the 6th fairway bunker on the Heron course.

A start has been made  to filling in the worst of the pot holes along the drive way
.
Changes have been made to the layout of the Football Golf,closing the 5 holes on the first 3 holes of the Vixen, and making the starting hole by the Driving Range with barked seating area  and adding the other holes between 4 and 9 of the Vixen to complete the 18 holes.New Football golf Tee signs  have been installed on each hole.

The garden areas are beginning to show colour providing interest when entering and leaving  the clubhouse

The warm spring days and cold nights are still restricting growth, so sward density  is variable across the playing areas.This has allowed us to focus on other tasks as the mowing requirements are less intensive.
We have completed the spraying of all the fairway areas with a cocktail of ingredients  to improve the fertility and give colour.

spraying the 5th Vixen, 

note the bout marker foam, this allows the Operator - Nick to show where he has sprayed and reduce overlapping .The foam does not remain long on the turf and does no harm to the grass.

We have applied another application of topdressing to the greens as we work to to improve the smoothness of the surface

On the bunkers we have been out strimming the edges to keep them tidy and defined

Our assistant greenkeeper Craig Raymond has decide to follow Sean to Ballards Gore Golf Club.He has been at South Essex for over 3 years and I wish him well  as he seeks to improve himself in his Green keeping career. We are looking to recruit a replacement as soon as possible.

Its that time of year I look forward to when the Bluebells come into flower  in our woods, its a short flowering period so make the most of this fantastic sight.

April has seen us nearly completing our renovation programme on the greens,with mini solid tining in a very close pattern and this was followed by sand topdressing as we worked to restore the surface smoothness.The temperatures are now rising so this will increase growth  especially as we have applied a soluble feed with a cocktail of products to help to restore the surfaces.We hope to apply another lighter topdressing in a couple of weeks before we lower the height of cut.

Spinner dresser in action.

As golf carts are now out on the course it would be greatly appreciated if the drivers  of them could show more  consideration  as to where they take them especially when the ground conditions in selected areas are still not completely firm and dry to prevent marking up the course.

right side of the 5th green Heron

 Cowslips  alongside the 7th ditch Vixen

Our spring renovation has continued and moved from the Greens and Tees to the Fairways.We have used one of our implements called a Quadraplay which has 4 attached tools.The scarifer was set to run into the sward of the fairway to open up the surface and scratch out the thatch and fibre that accumulates  there,this helps to improve the sward density and a more upright growth habit.In April we hope to apply a soluble feed to stimulate growth.Some of the fairways have had a large ingress of moss growing from the wet winter so we have sprayed a heavy application of soluble iron to the worst affected ones,you will notice this by the very dark appearance.

As the course starts to recover from the wear and tear of the winter  and signs of spring show themselves  we are upgrading some of the course furniture,new flags are now on the green flag pins,broken bins replaced with new ones.new bunker rakes replacing broken ones and we have installed new pins and flags on the chipping greens.

An area behind the clubhouse has been developed mainly for those playing football golf so they have direct access into the proshop rather than through the clubhouse.Geoff and Craig worked well together to put this in place.

Two new flowerbed areas are in the process of being constructed in the clubhouse garden area which we hope to plant up through the year,(we would be happy to receive donations of plants or cuttings to help us in this project)

Many have commented on how quickly the course dries out especially if its windy, unfortunately we think it has too, so we sent out our machinery to start mowing the course, only to find out that not all of the course had dried out

The tractor came to pull out the mower but got stuck as well,fortunately  we got both out with another tractor with no damage to either machine, only damaged turf which was then repaired.

Spring has now arrived at South Essex so its time to get the clubs out and come and enjoy the scenery and golf

March has seen us carrying out renovation work to alleviate the wear and tear on the turf through the winter months.This year spring growth is later than 2014 delaying recovery.There is a formula used to calculate this, known as Growth Degree Days (GDD).By using a base line of 6C (temperature) at which grass begins to grow and then taking the maximum from the minimum day temperature this gives a number for growth.This year has had a very low GDD compared to last year which is estimated to put us 4 weeks behind in growth and hence slower recovery.The work has consisted of using our heavy deep tiner fitted with 10mm solid tines to a depth of175mm on the greens in a close pattern to reduce compaction and open up the soil profile.

This was later followed by scarifying the greens in 2 directions to remove surface fibre and thatch to a depth of 10mm and blowing off the debris.A granular feed was applied to the greens at 40grams per metre,using an Organic fertiliser based on cow manure mixed with seaweed and humic acid.

We will be carrying out further work when the greens have recovered from this work and top dressed to smooth the surfaces.We have also recently had soil samples taken for analysis from 6 greens which are done on an annual bases and we are awaiting the results.

We then turned our attention to the tees,these were  first solid tines,and the main wear areas seeded and dressed before applying a granular slow release fertiliser which will give a regular feed over a 2-3 month period depending on temperature.

The winter control measures of rope and post have been brought in as well as the winter mats,and with greens tees,aprons and fairways cut the course is slowing coming out of winter mode.

To the right of the 1st fairway on the Heron we have add wood chip around the tree area.

 On the 6th Heron we have completed the drainage work on the greenside bunker and topped it up with new sand.The one on the fairway is awaiting sand to finish it.

I would like to introduce our new Assistant greenkeeper to our team Ross Sullivan who has had some experience working a few years ago at Risebridge G. C. We now have a complement of 4 full-time greenkeepers as well as our casual Geoff Turner.

Our spring bulbs are now showing off and providing that spring colour around the clubhouse.