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Last October we started revetting and


repairing the bunkers on the Old Course. We have re-built and


repaired 94 of the 112


the greens. It is more time


consuming but allows us to get the finish that is required. Many of the greens are very undulating and have interesting contours. Additionally, the greenkeepers, whilst they are mowing, can see and feel what sort of


other materials (turf, soil and sand) from any repairs and remedial works. This material is stored, rotated and then screened to produce a viable material for divot repairs and small reconstruction works around all the courses.


Maintenance


All the greens at St Andrews are mowed daily during the playing season and are cut using Toro hand machine motorised mowers for the majority of the time although occasionally we will use Toro ride-on triplexes. That way we are able to get a finer cut and reduce the weight on


condition the greens are in, which is an advantage when determining future working regimes. We try to keep cutting heights consistent on all the courses. We usually maintain the greens no less than 4.75 mm during the summer and mow at between 5-6 mm in the winter. The greens are now well established. We keep them lean and mean, in that we use very little fertiliser and water. Tees and aprons are cut at least three times a week with heights between 8mm and 10mm; fairways are usually cut twice a week with heights from 9mm to 12mm.


Course notes ....


THE NEW COURSE (6604-y


yards, par 71).


Built in 1895, this course was designed by B Hall Blyth. However, it was the head greenkeeper of the day, Tom Morris and his assistant David Honeyman, who completed most of the shaping and modelling of the course that golfers still experience today. In fact, the design was so good that only one significant change, to the 15th hole, has ever been made.


JUBILEE COURSE (6742-y


yard, par 72 ).


This course was built in 1897 and named to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. It began as a 12 hole course and was extended in 1905 to 18. In the mid


1980s, it was redesigned again, by Donald Steel and is today the toughest course at the Links.


EDEN COURSE (6195-y


yard, par 70)


Designed and built by Harry S Colt in 1914, it provides a reasonable test of golf for low, middle and high handicappers, particularly the front nine with its large, undulating and plateau greens.


STRATHTYRUM COURSE (5620-y


yard, par 69)


Opened in 1993 and was the first new 18 hole course at St Andrews for well over 80 years. Designed by Donald Steel, it offers a different challenge having cunningly


The greens on the Old Course are huge, seven of them are double greens with the 5th and 13th green measuring well over 37846 square feet (3515 m2


).


This green is over 90 metres long and 39 metres wide taking two men close to two hours to mow with pedestrian machines. Keeping the lines straight is a skill my staff have learned over the years, not always easy when the sward is so dry and short, the sun is low in the sky and you are leaving no visible shades to follow. The greens are heavily fescue populated and dense with no thatch. The sward comprises around 60% fescue with the remaining 40% made up of browntopbent (15 to 20%), Poa and some rye grasses. The greens are built on natural indigenous sandy soils which have been characterised as fine sand tending to compact down more readily than a medium size sand, which is why we have to aerate more frequently to reduce this compacting effect. We use a wide range of aeration techniques during the year. We carry out an annual programme of vertidraining with 12 mm tines to a depth of 300 mm, we tine with 6 mm tines twice annually down to a depth of 200 mm. We also try to hydroject nine greens every fortnight, as well as using a sarel roller to keep the surfaces open.


Our policies of good aeration, along


For more information on St Andrews Links visit www.standrews.org.uk


placed bunkers and heavily contoured greens.


BALGOVE COURSE (1520-y


yard, par 30)


This nine hole course was again designed by Donald Steel with beginners and children in mind.


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