Golf
Revetting the front and side faces of a remodelled bunker on the approach to the 17th green. The bunker has been reduced in size, primarily to cut-down on time-consuming maintenance. The grass bunker in the foreground serves a similar purpose
championship, but members and visitors will be looking to see a little extra polish around the course during the coming year”
Wales be advising on how the course should be set up for the team
“Not only will the Golf Union of
then through the summer, Kevin alternates Microflow applications with Mascot Microfine 12:0:10 plus 2% Mg and 2% Fe, a controlled release granular fertiliser designed to provide sustained growth and good colour. Kevin says that the USGA-specification
greens receive a higher proportion of granular fertiliser, as he has found that the product does not leach as quickly as liquids.
Over winter, applications are made of Headland’s Solufeed HI-K 13:0:45, a sulphur-free, high potassium, water- soluble fertiliser said to be well suited for low soil temperatures and turf that requires low, but readily-available, nitrogen input. To combat the worms which favour the course’s natural “push up” greens, Kevin uses systemic worm cast control, taking the opportunity to spray against leatherjackets at the same time.
Although the course has not suffered
from moss infestation since the upgrading of its newer greens, Fusarium Patch remains a threat, which is dealt with pro- actively by Kevin according to the weather and the season .
“Mild, still, misty autumn mornings usually herald a bout of preventative spraying,” he said. “The longer I’ve been at the club, the better I get to know the warning signs.” Groomers are fitted to the club’s principal greensmower - a John Deere 2500B - which is set to cut at 5mm every other day through the winter months, reducing to 3.5mm over summer, when the turf is cut daily. For tournaments and major club and inter-club competitions, the cutting height is bench set at 3mm. The club’s previous greensmower, which
A regular programme of deep-tine aeration helps keep rainwater moving downwards into the underlying sandstone
28 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2013
was replaced by the JD 2500B, has been retained as a back-up both for mowing purposes and as the principal verticutting unit. Tees are kept at 13mm during the summer months by a JD 2653B triple ride-on or a JD 220B pedestrian mower. Despite having only hose points and no pop-up irrigation, the tees have rarely
The golf club’s three-strong greenkeeping team: Course Manager, Kevin Rawlins (centre), flanked by first assistant, Stephen Atyeo (right), and trainee, Shaun Dyson
suffered from lack of rainfall during Kevin’s tenure, maintaining good, even grass cover from spring to autumn. Most of the credit for this is down to the fact that the grass tees are taken out of play over winter, golfers moving onto purpose-built winter tees with high-quality synthetic surfaces, a number of which were sponsored by the Murco oil refinery. Staying off the natural tees over winter
frees up time also for the greens staff by removing the need for constant divoting. Fairways are cut at least once a week with a John Deere 8700 five-gang mower, depending on growth rates, and Kevin makes a point of using the machine to create stripes which accentuate the flowing contours of the fairways and the demarcation point between fairway and semi-rough.
“I am conscious that some of our
fairways are quite wide in places, and I am expecting to be asked to reduce widths ahead of the Welsh Team Championship in August,” he said. “Although this may not be welcomed by all members, it will provide more time for other essential greenkeeping tasks if we can reduce the number of passes on some of the existing wider, more open fairways. It will also save on diesel!”
Ever since staff numbers dropped to
three in 2008, Kevin has been looking for ways to cut the daily workload, especially on jobs that have to be carried out by hand, rather than by ride-on machine. With the agreement of the club’s committee, he instituted a programme of sand bunker reduction, both in number and in size. Around a dozen sand bunkers have now become grass bunkers which can be mown rapidly by the club’s JD 1600 Turbo three- gang rotary mower, instead of having to be constantly raked and topped up with sand. Reducing the overall dimensions of a
bunker has had a similar effect, whilst allowing Kevin to train his staff in revetting skills. In addition to providing a firm and stable bunker face, the result has created a heightened challenge for golfers, as
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