irrigation technicians. The club also has a full time gardener who looks after the courtyard and keeps the area around the clubhouse looking fantastic all year round.


The greens at St Nom consist of a


mixture of original soil based constructions, modified soil constructions and, more recently, USGA constructions. The predominant grass species on the greens at the club are Creeping Bent (Agrostis stlonifera) and Annual Meadow grass (Poa annua). These are maintained at a height of between 3mm-5mm throughout the year. Topdressing is applied on a monthly basis amounting to 150 tonnes per year, per course, and regular solid tine and hydroject aeration is carried out in conjunction with twice yearly hollow tine aerification. Rolling is carried out every other day to maintain green speeds at an acceptable level. A spoon feeding fertiliser programme is adapted on the greens along with monthly applications of Spatio growth regulator (trinexpac-ethyl), primer wetting agent and regular shots of iron.


Fairways are maintained by four Toro 6700 seven unit fairway mowers, and regular applications of Spatio growth regulator are applied to cut down on fairway biomass. This allows the greenkeeping team to maintain two cuts per week in the height of the growing season. Fairway height of cut ranges from 12mm to 14mm.


Mowing of tees and approaches is


carried out on a twice weekly basis throughout the growing season. These are maintained with three Toro 3100 machines. The tees and approaches, like the rest of the close mown areas, are treated with Spatio growth regulator. Scotts Sierrablen slow release granular fertiliser is used on these areas to provide nutrients and help the turf stand up to the wear and tear of daily play. Tees height of cut is 10mm and the approach height of cut is 8mm. Maintenance of the semi-rough is


carried out on a once weekly basis using a Toro 4700 and a Toro 3500D. This is a two man job with the larger Toro 4700 cutting one band around the fairways


and concentrating on the more open areas, allowing the smaller Toro 3500D to cut in between bunkers and the tighter spaces. Both of these machines cut around the club house and maintain other areas such as the childrens playground and the grass banks which surround the members swimming pool. The rough is unique at St Nom but behaves in a very similar manner to rough I have worked with previously in the UK. During the earlier summer months the Toro 580D rough machine is out non-stop and cutting it is a full week task. However, as we experience very high temperatures in the summer, it tends to stop growing and maintenance is carried out as and when needed. The aim of stopping mowing and letting the rough grow a little is to create a wispy uncut appearance that produces seed heads and looks brown in colour. The timing of this is crucial, and cutting too late can end up with us missing this opportunity, resulting in areas burning off in the high temperatures. The long rough (or the hay) is


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