Greens Chairman July Report

Course update

15th July 2019

The weather has been kind to golf courses this year and many courses around the County are as good as they have been for years. Thanks to Dip, Sean, Jack, Ryan and Wayne our course still retains a place right up near the top of the tree. They appreciate all of the positive comments about the course from visitors but especially so from the members. The member’sopinions are the acid test. When the members say the course is good the Greens Team know they are getting it right. The course is set up as well as it can be to challenge without being overly difficult. The heights of the cutters are as follows; greens 3.5mm, fairway 19mm, semi rough 31mm and rough 69mm. They will remain at those heights as a standard from now onwards. The shape of the holes is clear and definition is about right.

Our greens have always have been good and a real strength of the course for many years. This year the Greens Team have got them even better and we have had excellent greens for most of the season so far. They further improved for the weekend of the Pro Am and I asked Wayne why we couldn’t have that level of smoothness all year. The reason for the improvement was due to the club borrowing a new greens mower for a few days leading up to and including the Pro Am weekend. The greens mower we purchased off John Deere a few years ago does not cut as cleanly and smoothly as the Toro one borrowed for the week. The club have had a number of technical experts look at our mower over the last couple of years and several parts have been changed. There is nothing much wrong with the machine as you can see from our usual standard of cut however it is looking like a new machine next year will help further improve the surfaces.    

We have been dreaming of good greens all year but I had a dream about the sandman coming the other night. Turns out it’s true. Monday 5th August is the start of the essential maintenance needed to improve the structure of the greens. The Summer maintenance is never popular but it is 4 to 5 years since the greens were given a thorough treatment for the thatch. The spongy surfaces were evident a few weeks ago after the heavy rain and the treatment will be exactly the same as that done on the 13th green at the end of March.  There will be 24 tonne of kiln dried sand going into the greens on the 5thAugust. There will be some disruption to play on the course. Please be patient and remember the Greens Team will be working an extremely long shift that day. The recovery should be quick in the Summer and it is anticipated that the greens will be even better than they are now within 3 weeks of the treatment. There are some links below to explain what will happen.

             

13th Green immediately after treatment in March

https://www.golfshake.com/improve/view/11283/What_is_thatch.html

https://www.specialistmachinery.co.uk/gkb-sandfiller/

The planters and baskets around the club are still being maintained beautifully by Sandra, Andrea and Peter. Thanks once again for their hard work. First impressions do count and the surrounds of the clubhouse look great. Thanks to the sisters who repaired the drainage channels surrounding the car park. It is great to have volunteers who are willing to do their bit to make the club a better place for us all.  

If you would like to bring anything up about the course please get in touch with one of the following people;

Wayne Ingledew (Head GreenKeeper)

John Ellison (Greens Chairman)

Dave Bryson (Captain)

Ian Baxter

Dave Pringle

Christine Bell

John Walvin

Enjoy your golf.