thatch, we also overseeded heavily with traditional fescue and bents. I was probably able to achieve this as the thatch wasn’t that excessive and seed was able to take and establish in the tine holes. I felt it was important to do this, as the season is so short for our members that the last thing the club needed was a long period where the greens were in ‘transition’, which could have had a major impact on our revenue levels. After eighteen months we have achieved an acceptable level of thatch and created a much denser sward. In my view, the key element to getting good green speed and consistent roll is to have a dense sward, where the ball rolls across the grass rather then through it. It should also be remembered that, without a good grass coverage, a ball cannot grip, hold and spin.
As we have now established a good
sward I feel that I now have something to work with, which means I can concentrate our efforts into reducing the coarser grasses that dominate on some greens. I wanted to wait until we had a good level of grass coverage before we started to verticut and groom regularly, so at least there will still be grasses left on the greens afterwards!
As with most of what we do as
greenkeepers on golf courses, I believe we must always put the members and visitors first. If I had been verticutting regularly on a thin sward I would not have expected our members to wait any longer for us to improve the surfaces, and then we soon would have seen a decline in members and visitors, impacting on our long term
The clubhouse and ‘typical’ MacKenzie approac to the small 18th green
plans for the course. So much of what we do in our maintenance operations is a fine balancing act, between long term benefits for the quality of grasses and short term financial gain! Moving on, the future at Cavendish is looking good, we are still two to three years away from producing the top quality playing surfaces that I feel is acceptable to this course, but we are moving in the right direction. We have a board that are as dedicated to improving the course as the greens staff, a machinery replacement programme has been implemented and a development plan put in place. The first
stages of this plan will see most of the bunkers restored to the original MacKenzie design, and the greens drainage improved.” Having walked the course with Peter, it was heartening to hear a young greenkeeper talking with such passion for the job. His grasp of the history of the club, and his desire to return it the true MacKenzie design is commendable. It’s a challenge he seems to be relishing, with the aim of offering the MacKenzie experience to the next generation of golfers at the Cavendish. On the following page is Peter’s July newsletter to the Cavendish members.
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ON SHOW AT SALTEX
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