Bunker work has been ongoing
The stunning par 3 17th with its double green
the company’s green credentials.
A good stock of spares are held
The club have also put in a tarmac service road that winds its way around the course, providing an essential transport system for both the golfers and staff. The course meanders through particularly hilly terrain, with a number of elevated tees and steep drops to greens - the double green par 3 17th being particularly stunning. Walks between greens and tees are, in some instances, both steep and lengthy, and only the fittest walk the course. Paul has built, in the past, a
The Manor House team (l-r): Paul Bishop, Head Greenkeeper; Gian Povey, Deputy Head Greenkeeper; Greenkeepers Sebastian Cavilla, Mark Venner, Steve Mclaren, John Murzyn; Patrick Kelly (Gardener); Tony Simmonds, Greenkeeper; Chris Cowley (Gardener); Steve Pickthall, Mechanic/Greenkeeper and Head Mechanic, Charlie Gaisford
large reservoir lake, giving him over 10,000,000 cubic metres capacity for his irrigation system, although he stresses that he uses the irrigation sparingly to encourage the finer grasses. The course has a full Toro Trident watering system for greens, tees and fairways. The pump set was upgraded by Irrigation specialists, Topturf Irrigation, several years ago. There are also a number of other small ponds, including the twin waterfall on the spectacular 18th, plus the River Bybrook running through parts of the course. The underlying soils are quite shallow and stony, thereby making the course very free draining, so some areas of the course are prone to drying out during dry periods. However, this soil type does provide the ideal conditions for many wildflower species, so managing these areas requires not inconsiderable skill and knowledge. Part of this is a cut and collect regime to encourage flowering. The greens are USGA that have matured over time in terms of quality and performance. Paul has reduced nitrogen inputs dramatically. Where once it
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was over 250kg, it is now less than 100kg. The aim is to encourage finer grasses and not feed the Poa grass species.
In addition to reducing
nitrogen inputs, Paul is currently implementing a Symbio feeding programme on all the greens, using a combination of humic acids and seaweed to aid the establishment of finer grasses. Paul has also begun a programme of oversowing the greens three times a year with a Johnsons All Bent seed mixture at 2-4gm per square metre.
Aeration and topdressing
are key activities, with over 200 tonnes of sand being incorporated into the greens during the season on a ‘little but often’ regime. Aeration is undertaken using a wide selection of solid and hollow tines - hollow tined three times a year, vertidrained twice a year and micro tined on a monthly basis, with regular slitting during the autumn/winter. Feeding regimes are
tailored around the swards needs at various times of the year, using a programme of liquids and granular fertiliser products, along with some organics and amino/humic acids.
The greens are cut daily using John Deere Triple mowers set at 3.5-4mm in the summer, and hand cut to 5mm in the winter, using John Deere 220s, to reduce machinery footprint and general wear and tear. The club also use
Greensward rollers, rolling a couple of times a week. Approaches and collars are
kept at 10mm, tees and the croquet lawns are mown at 10mm in the summer and 12mm in the winter, with fairways at 15mm and 17mm respectively. Semi rough is kept at 30mm and rough at 50mm
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