issues, thereby unlocking previously tight soils and letting the fertility products work at their peak all year round. This is producing huge cost savings as the fertiliser bill has reduced drastically.
They work very closely with Scotts, who supply their fertilisers with great success, especially as all Scotts products have been spoon fed, thereby reducing any possible thatch issues, and use Tower branded wetting agents, tonics and safe acids. As Marcus says, it is all about getting the soil in balance and ensuring the grass plant is healthy and stress free, coupled with a keen, willing and able staff who are open to new initiatives presented to them. Marcus has a staff of eight to assist him - Kevin Towend, Andrew Ival, Adam Cheetam, Philip Stanton, Andrew Sweeting, Gary Hudson, Johnny Platt and Tony Boyes. With course presentation high on the list the mowers are kept in pristine condition to ensure an accurate cut. Green speeds are monitored on a daily basis with the intention of keeping them around 10-11 on the stimpmeter between April and September for general play, increasing to 13.5 for tournaments. The average stimpmeter reading over the year was 11.2. Summer height of cut is 3.5mm rising to 6mm in the winter. The greens, collars, aprons and tees are cut on a daily basis during the growing
20
season, tailing off when growth slows. Collars and aprons are cut at 7.5mm all year round and tees at 9mm. The fairways are cut two or
three times a week - 15mm in the growing season and around 18mm at other times. Striping of the fairways begins as early as the end of February. Semi-rough is mown on a weekly basis at 45mm whilst the rough is kept at 75mm. Renovation work on the
greens begins early in the year, hollow coring in late January with 13mm tines and topdressing with between 1- 1.5 tonnes of Rufford No 2 per green.
At the end of February each
green is ‘Gradened’ at 13mm spacings to a depth of 20mm using 2mm blades. A further 1.5 tonnes of topdressing is applied. The greens are then
topdressed on a monthly basis, applying 0.5 tonnes of material to each green. At the end of September, or early October, they are microtined at 25mm spacings to a depth of 85mm. 1.5 tonnes of topdressing is applied.
An aeration programme is ongoing between the three main renovation periods, when they are sarrel rolled on a weekly basis and pencilled tined monthly to a depth of 100mm. Finally, in late October, they are vertidrained with 13mm tines to a depth of 250mm with a slight heave action.
The feeding programme is:
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