Greens Notice: May, 2019
Tining of Greens
You may be surprised to see that several greens have been tined recently. This is due to the fusarium damage that we experienced over the winter period. In these circumstances, tining provides the easiest and best way for the grass to recover since grass seed takes better in the tines rather the just scattering over the greens. Top dressing and verticut will be undertaken on any remaining greens, the objective here is to sow better seed for better grasses.
Work on the 2nd Hole
The unusual dry spell that we’ve experienced in recent weeks has generally stopped grass all over the course from growing, including where there are some bare patches. Hopefully, over the coming period, we might have a downpour or two to get growing conditions back to normal for this time of year.
Sprinkler system
People will have noticed that the greens and tee boxes have been somewhat dryer than normal. This is due to an electrical issue that is still being worked on by an outside contractor and which has prevented the use of sprinklers. A range of problems have been identified, including the need to replace a number of decoders and further investigation is being undertaken. The necessary remedial work is not cheap….it has cost us £2,000 to date and more expenditure will be required.
Phil and the greens team have had to hand water vulnerable green and tee areas which is time consuming.
General Work
The car park area has been tidied up with the hedge cut back, rubbish removed and pathways pressure jetted. The SALTBURN GOLF CLUB stone frontage has had a makeover.
Bunkers have been prepared for the season start but further bunker programme work is still on hold due to course improvement budget restrictions.
For the general information of playing members, the grass cutting lengths are presently as follows:
Fairways 14mm
Semi-rough 25mm
Rough 50mm
Greens 4mm
The intention will be to cut greens to 3mm when normal growth returns but in present conditions,
even at 4mm, they are very quick!
New Fairway Mower
The new fairway mower has made a massive difference to the course cutting programme. It provides an excellent, aesthetically pleasing (striped) finish which can be seen when driving alongside the course on Hob Hill. This will look even better when we have growth conditions back to normal.
Fusarium
Fusarium is caused mainly by cold damp weather, especially on dewy winter mornings. Phil and the greens team will try to remove any surface moisture by ‘swishing’ early on cold mornings going forward. Fungicide will continue to be used to try and eliminate the problem, but the new synthetic types are much less effective than the older types. Phil is still looking for a fungicide solution which is suitable for our soil conditions.