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!

Path complete

We have completed joining the path from the 3rd tee to the 4th tee on the Hawk course which will give us better access to that area of the course without having to travel on the grass marking up the turf during wet periods

 Some of the staff including David our F&B Manager, Ross,Matt and myself attended a first aid course to comply with Health and Safety 

Ross giving CPR to Annie who is in a bad  way no artifial resus dummy's were harmed in this incident 

Accidents do happen but Matt makes a fine sling on Ross all's well that ends wel

We have been out with our mowers to try and give the course some definition by cutting tees ,aprons and fairways but some areas were still soft and marked up

By the 8th tee Heron we have installed some of our AstroTurf over a muddy walk area

Windy dry weather is what is required to dry the course but more rain is forecast

 

New Path

The ground conditions still remain wet and soft preventing us from mowing and giving the course a much needed cut but in the mean time other essential work continues.

The new path from the 7th Heron tee has been extend further and now meets right upto the green,

 

 

and we have begun to further extend the path from the 3rd tee Hawk with the intention to eventually join it to the path going upto the green.

 

 

                        It's out with the old 

 

          And in with the new black golf carts

2016

Welcome to another year at South Essex, for the green keeping team its continuing as before with our winter work programmes although the winter has been very difficult . The wet mild conditions were not conducive to producing clean cut playing areas and we wait for a dry window of opportunity so that we can mow and redefine the course.

 

We have been busy cutting up and using the Asto turf we got free to lay  on the bridges around the course.This fits in with our risk assessments and will help reduce the slip risk in these areas

Ditch work clearance continues as this is very important to remove excess water off the course

We have over the years planted gorse as its a good plant for pollinating insects but it can become very tall  and start to break up and produce less flower so to keep it in a young vigorous stage we cut it back in height.This will re invigorate the plant and produce new young shoots and bushy plants with more flower.This can be seen on the gorse area by the 6th tee Heron.Two areas towards the 6th green Heron have been cut as well as at the 8th Heron. It is not all cut down at once but in rotation  this will protect the wildlife habitat.

Nick And I recently attended The BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition where we attend workshops,seminars and the trade show to further our experience in managing our golf course as well as networking with colleagues and trade officials.

Nick was also on the John Deere stand to promote the Bigga team attending the John Deere TPC tournament in America In May this year

                           Nick is on the left      

                             

Morning sunrise Thursday January 21st

The continued mild wet weather has made decision making  very difficult as the grass continues to grow but ground conditions are very soft .Our aim is to keep the course clean and tidy through the winter months but the need to mow on soft ground will cause damage and be dangerous for the operators. So we have to be protective and only use the small windows of opportunity that we get to carry out mowing. Greens have been hand mowed, and Tees ,Aprons and Fairways are cut when we can do so with minimal damage and marking up.Other  areas are not being mowed as the machinery is too heavy on the soft ground.

                                                               Buggy marking  up  ground
The Traffic control around the course is to help protect the course and keep it clean and tidy through the winter. If Golfers keep there trolleys on the paths around the greens and tees it will go a long way to helping in this respect.

Nick Roberts my Deputy has been successful in his interview to attend the TPC John Deere Golf Tournament in America 2016.He will join a British contingent to work there for a week in preparing the course.

Now after a long wait we have been able to get new tracks for our mini digger and this has been busy out on the course. We have extended some of the path areas identified last year as being very wet, these being the 3rd  green,5th tee and green,7th tee and 9th Tee Heron.

 

 

Path area marked out

Area dug out

Add road planings

Wacker plate in

Finished path

 

We have dug out a new ditch across the 7th heron in a particularly wet area after locating a drainage pipe to take away the run off.

       
                                                             located drainage pipe

 

dig out new ditch

ditch and new path completed 7th Heron

 

Another new ditch has been put in on the 4th Hawk on the right as this is a very wet fairway

 

 

Work has taken place on a number of bunkers to clean out the contaminated sand over the drainage and then flush out the pipes before adding new clean shingle, sand will be added at a later date.

Bunkers worked on include 2nd green ,3rd fairway7th fairway,8th green Heron 1st fairway Vixen

                                                              Geoff locating bunker drainage

 

New shingle added in bunker

 

The bridge near the 9th green Vixen has been repaired after careless damage by person(s) unknown

 

 

 

One morning it was a pretty picture view across the reservoir