Hand watering greens Surrounds
Aeration and overseeding is carried out in April and September. They are cut at 10mm on a twice a week frequency.
Tees
Tees were constructed with 150mm deep sand profiles and are maintained at 10mm, cutting twice a week and fed on a little and often regime. They are divoted weekly throughout the playing season. Tee markers are moved regularly to reduce wear. They are topdressed monthly and aerated with the vertidrain in February and November.
Fairways
All the fairways were built with a 40mm sand layer over the underlying clay soils, Due to the high clay content of the course, the fairways were primary drained at ten metre centres, and sand mastered to provide secondary drainage to keep them playable all year round. The fairways are cut twice a week, maintained at a height of 10mm, and fed on a little and often basis. Divoting is done once a month, enlisting the help of the members, who have been extremely enthused by their new facilities. “We are now looking to invest a further £75,000 in sand dressings for the fairways over the next couple of years, which will help restore levels and continue to maintain a good free draining top profile over the drainage system.”
Rough
“We mow the semi rough once a week, maintaining a height of 50mm. A selective herbicide is applied to control invasive weeds which are usually spot treated only. The amount of semi rough we cut is agreed between myself and the
Greens Committee
each year; we can set the course up in many different ways to suit the requirements of tournaments etc.” “The full rough is allowed to grow naturally, with no applications of herbicides or pesticides. We are trying to increase the biodiversity of the course. These long grass areas are managed on a cut and collect policy, usually getting one cut in the spring and one cut in late August - early September.” “As for the presentation of the course, very little striping is done. We mow up and down fairways giving the course a set up to keep it looking as natural and ‘linksy’ as it can be.” Phil’s objectives are to ensure the course comes to fruition and continues to mature on all fronts. No mean task given the weather he and his team have had to contend with. “Greens, tees and fairways will only get better as more work is carried out on them, and more work is required to nurture the rough grass areas and get them to mature into swathes of fine grasses. We also plan to plant more heather and gorse around the course.” To that end, Phil has planned, with the club, to invest more money in building poly tunnels to facilitate a nursery area for propagating their own gorse and heather varieties (calluna vulgaris). The aim of the project is to grow over 200,000 plants in a four year period and plant them around the course. The club are also working hard to encourage wildlife to establish out on the course. “The wetland areas offer a great sanctuary for many birds. The greenstaff have even built a bird hotel - a concrete structure filled with sand and wood shavings - to create a home for sand martins. We’ve just got to decide where to put it now! We’ve also been erecting bird boxes in trees, particularly barn owl
Over eight miles of artificial grass pathway has been installed
boxes, as there are quite a few seen locally that we’d like to encourage to nest on the site.”
“Myself and the Greens Committee have built up a great working relationship since I came here, and the members are also on board as we try to realise the dream.” As one commentator in Pitchmark magazine said, ‘St Ives members must scarcely believe their luck. Whilst their previous nine hole course and clubhouse was pleasant enough, their new course and HQ is magnificent. It’s akin to marrying Sporty Spice and waking up on your honeymoon with Beyonce’. The future looks bright for the club, especially if they can secure the sale of the other chunk of land at their old nine hole course.
It will certainly be a course to look out for. Phil is keen to see it through and produce something special for the members in the coming years.
What’s in the shed?
Toro GM1000 x 4 plus transporting trailers Toro GM3250 x 3 greens triple mowers
Toro RM3100 x 3 greens surrounds / approaches Toro RM3500 x 1 rotary deck mower Toro RM5510 x 2 fairway mowers Toro GM228 x 1 rough mower Toro Workman 4 wheel drive utility vehicle Toro 200 Sprayer x 1 Toro E Workman x 2 John Deere Pro Gator 2030K x 1 John Deere 5400 tractor x 1 John Deere 4410 tractor x1 Dakota 414 spreader x 1 Tycrop Propass 180 x 1 Ransomes 9510 x 1
Greenkeepers bird hotel 22
Bird boxes have been erected
Bernhards Express Dual 4000 x 1 Bernhards Anglemaster x 1 SISIS AerAide System 1500 x 1 Hydroscape Bio-clean water treatment plant
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