Summer turf tips by Ian Campbell - Campey Turfcare Product Specialist
IN the thirty years I have worked in the turf industry, maintenance requirements carried out on golf courses have remained fairly constant, but the methods to achieve the results has changed and, in some instances, quite radically. Today’s course managers are under constant pressure to produce firm, true and fast greens all year round, with minimal disruption to the members playing times. ‘Drive for show putt for dough’ springs to mind. Like it or not, every golf course is judged on the standard of its greens.
Rubber dragmats
An ideal tool for rubbing in topdressing, removal of dew and clipping dispersal. The
John Deere progression -8 gang mower. Popular with local authorities
On visiting many different golf courses on a daily basis, the same topic always pops up: green speed. So, for my summer turf tips, I have picked four essential processes which I feel go a long way to helping achieve true, firm and fast greens, with little or no disruption to the playing surfaces - rolling, dragmatting, brushing and topdressing.
Rolling or, as more commonly known, turf ironing
At one time this was a very controversial subject. Going back fifteen years,
greenkeepers were much more apprehensive about rolling than they are today. At that time, it was considered to cause compaction and bruising of the
and speed. Regular brushing can also decrease the frequency of verticutting, resulting in a further reduction in maintenance costs and man hours.
Spinner allows you to topdress little and often
The days of applying a one-off heavy dressing with a drop dresser are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Time is expensive, and anything which reduces the number of passes required to complete the task is an enormous benefit.
turf. Today, it is the norm to roll, particularly as golfers now have high expectations of faster green speeds. Rolling is proven to produce healthier turf and, with higher heights of cut and moisture reduction, fewer diseases are evident. I frequently get asked ‘is rolling right for us?’ and ‘how often should we roll?’. No two golf clubs are the same; it will depend on the weather, type of grass, green construction, golfer’s expectations and finance. Although many clubs report less wear and tear on the greens machine, especially if you roll after topdressing. This, combined with less cutting, helps to reduce the need for potentially expensive reel and bed knife sharpening. Modern ride on rollers feature a three true level roller effect. This has a ride-over action on slight hollows and allows level areas to be ironed whilst low areas are left, so the playing surface is progressively rolled. This is how you get the ironing effect.
124
Compaction created, due to the frequent number of runs needed to dress a green, is another issue which can be avoided by using a spinner instead of a drop method.
rubber mats are less abrasive on fine turf so, in turn, reduce bruising to the plant leaf. The major benefit is that rubber does not wear out.
Brushing with a ride on triple mower
Regular brushing promotes a vertical sward. This, in turn, improves the quality of cut and, subsequently, improves ball roll
up being offered by all three of the main compact tractor manufacturers. Golf & Turf were also awarded the Hayter franchise in 1990, giving the team access to large commercial mowers that were needed to complete the range on offer to grounds maintenance customers. “The wrap-around mower was an absolutely key machine, both for us and especially for local authorities,” says Tom Scanlon. “Ultimately, the John Deere compacts proved to be the best matched machines for the mower. The power unit and the overall design were just more suited to carrying implements, with an independent pto and full frame chassis which the competition didn’t have. Based as they were on John Deere’s agricultural heritage, the tractors were built to last too, and last they did - many of those original machines are still working today.” “The golf business grew
more gradually, as there was not much in the John Deere or the Hayter lines to begin with, apart from gang mowers, for these customers. In the early 1990s, John
855 compact tractor with wrap-a around triple
Deere introduced the 22in walk-behind greens mower, the 2653 utility triplex mower, the 2243 greens triplex and the AMT five- wheel utility vehicle, which was succeeded by the Gator 4x4 and 6x4 models. “From that slow and steady start, I can say that, over the last ten years, the golf business has seen a huge expansion. By the mid-1990s, about 85 percent of our business was with local authorities and contractors - now it’s more like a 50:50 split with the golf course market.” Golf & Turf ’s longest serving area sales manager is Ray Bennett, who got into the groundcare industry in 1963 at the age of sixteen, and has worked for the dealership since 1991. His career started with Relf & Kendall, a domestic and commercial lawnmower business based in South Croydon. Later, after a break from the trade, Ray retuned to R&K, which led to him taking on the sales of spare parts to councils in south London, Kent and south Essex. “There were very few large contractors in those days, just the odd guy who did a bit of gardening, and all the professional work was done by parish councils and local authorities - the park
Spinner topdressers have up to a thirteen metre throw pattern, so an average size green will only take two to three passes to complete. This means you can reduce the time to do eighteen greens by up to a third.
Spinner topdressers are designed to throw the material into the grass sward and not on top. This, again, is very beneficial on cutting down on mower sharpening and saving on labour time needed for brushing or matting in.
Ray Bennett
superintendents, some of whom could be difficult to deal with, had their own budgets and ordered what was required, quite often in big numbers. Selling was undoubtedly a lot easier then, as there was a lot less
competition and the margins were stronger. These days we’re selling more package deals, often
TURF TIPs
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 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148