Marielyst Golf Klub: The fescue and bent mix was full, dense and compact (note singular Poa plant seeding).
Skovbo Golf Klub: Leaf spot disease was identified on some of the bent.
Rungsted Golf Klub 18th green. No thatch now and extensive root development. Very uniform profile.
of green and relative pin placements. Of significant interest to the writer was the detail of the management regime - three full time staff for eighteen holes and a cutting regime for greens based on a 6mm bench set… cut three times per week….. four on special occasions!!!! A fertiliser regime based on 40 - 60 KgN/ha/year, and Henrik Christiansen, Head Greenkeeper, confirmed regular top dressings, applying 160 tonnes per annum to the greens alone.
SKOVBO Golfklub was built in 2000 originally with a sand: peat construction profile, but the Head Greenkeeper has recently decided to switch to a pure sand top dressing policy. This was interesting as the other five courses had remained consistent with a sand: peat or sand: compost top dressing mix. With only two rootzone and top dressing suppliers in the country there was no evidence of heavy layering in the green profiles where changes of top dressing suppliers had been tried in the past, which is not uncommon in the UK.
Once again the writer was impressed with the level of fescue retained in the turf. However the bent content had become a little procumbent, which will need to be addressed in the future.
RUNGSTED Golf Klub was built in 1937 by C.A.MacKenzie, brother of the famous Alistair MacKenzie, architect of Augusta National, Alwoodley and even Bingley St Ives in 1927. It was felt that Rungsted best matched the sort of golf course managed in the UK, i.e. old push up greens, which had over the years become colonised with Poa annua. Over the last five years, through an intensive management programme, Ian
has removed in excess of 50mm of thatch from the profile, promoted root development in excess of 150mm and created a much better growing environment for the encouragement of the finer grass species. Ian was very critical of his own course, almost demanding more fescue and pushing hard to achieve this goal. Both Jay and Andy confirmed to Ian that he was achieving his goal of promoting a higher proportion of both bent and fescue in his greens. To a large extent, and where take-all patch disease had removed a proportion of bent, the infill was primarily fescue. Consistency and uniformity is key and the blend of component grass species being developed at Rungsted was worth seeing - though still working towards increasing the proportion of the finer species. The realism of fusarium scarring brings everyone back to earth - still some way to go.
FURESO Golfklub and the enthusiastic Hans Beurling, Head Greenkeeper, was a delight. Nearing retirement, but very sprightly and deep in thought for the task in hand, Hans was in the process of completing the most radical treatment yet, stripping the surface off with a Koro Fieldtopmaker, making good the rootzone and reseeding with a mixture of Avalon (Velvet Bent) and fescue.
FORESO Golfklub was originally built in 1974 as a 27-hole complex, but has recently undergone a re-building programme; the first nine-holes through 1999/2000 and the 2nd nine-holes in 2004.
25mm of organic matter had built up at the turf base on the first nine-holes to
be reconstructed, and superficial fairy ring activity had created a significant dry patch condition on selected greens. Potassium carbonate was being tried as a treatment for the fairy ring condition.
SMORUM Golfklub has been one of the most talked about courses in the press and again you cannot fail to be impressed with the quality of the turf, in terms of fescue, bent and meadowgrass proportions. In addition, Per Herlov Rasmussen, Head Greenkeeper is conducting on-site trials of individual grass species and mixes to determine the best suited to his situation - forward thinking. Impressive, but the course is very
exposed, so good light and air movement across the greens, and built in 1993 with 27 holes, a par three course and six hole pitch and putt, is not your average members club.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
There has been much written about the management and encouragement of fescue turf in Denmark and the writer is full of praise and admiration for what has been achieved. There are, however, a number of fundamental questions which need to be answered if we are to be able to extend this ethos successfully elsewhere. The quality of information is very much in the detail, which in some areas needs to be tightened up.
1. Aims and Objectives
We need to identify not only the primary objectives of encouraging more fescue and, where applicable, bent in the turf, but we also need to get back to thinking
Ian, Antoine (Deputy Course Manager) and Andy Cole.
14
The realism of fusarium scarring brings everyone back to earth - and still some way to go!
New green being top dressed - a regular feature of the maintenance programme.
15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68