Golf What’s in the shed?
TRACTORS AND ATTACHMENTS Kubota 4200 tractor Kubota 5040 tractor
John Deere 5410 tractor c/w Quicke front loader and 4 in 1 bucket
McConnel backhoe MOWERS AND ATTACHMENTS John Deere 2500A greens mower Toro 3250D greens mower GreenTek thatch-away heads GreenTek verticutter heads John Deere 2635A tees mower Toro 2300 tees mower Toro 3250 trim mower Toro 5610 fairway mower
John Deere 1545 front rotary mower Lastec Articulator
Major 8400 roller mower Amazone Groundkeeper Sidewinder trim mower
AERATION AND SCARIFICATION EQUIPMENT
John Deere Aercore 1500 Charterhouse Verti-Drain Graden Contour Toro Hydroject Toro pedestrian greens aerator Sisis fairway slitter Huxley greens slitter Sisis Veemo
GENERAL COURSE EQUIPMENT
John Deere HD200 truck-mounted sprayer
Mantis Bunkermaster Ryan Mataway seeder Tru-Turf RS48-11D golf greens roller Scotts pedestrian spreaders x 3 Reist overseeder Tractor-mounted fertiliser spreader SQRL 600 pedestrian sweeper Ryan sod cutter
Greentek chassis + sarrel roller, rotary brushes, brushes
Dakota top dresser Rubber dragmat Slurry tanker Warwick trailer Quad trailer
Marshall 4 tonne trailer Wessex 3 tonne trailer Transport
John Deere E Gator John Deere HPX Gator x 2 John Deere Pro Gator x 2 WORKSHOP EQUIPMENT Hunter grinder Sealey Mig welder Compressor Redmount two-post hydraulic lift Ramps Petrol generator
+ a range of hand tools, chainsaws, hover mowers and knapsack blowers
36 PC JUNE/JULY 2013 Benchmarking will be carried out across wider areas of the course Big rolls of turf ready for laying on the sixth tee, relevelled and landscaped during April 2013
schedule the work more comfortably over three days.” Two days after the work had been completed, Paul applied a tank mix of Aquatrol Revolution wetting agent and Farmura Porthcawl liquid organic feed to promote strong rooting and healthy growth. Within ten to fourteen days, excellent germination of the newly-sown seed was being seen and members were reporting a marked difference in greens performance, with ball roll returning to normal. By the time of the Senior Ladies Open in mid September, the greens had recovered and were playing and looking extremely well.
Since the first Graden deep scarifying, sand injection and seeding operation in July 2009, a further six treatments have been completed across the entire course. Paul commented that he would have
preferred to have carried out the work at times of the year when greens recovery would be fastest, ideally between April and September. Having been asked by the committee to minimise impact on the club’s competition calendar, Paul ended up doing the job both earlier and later in the year than originally intended. “Although we did not achieve the best possible germination, the treatment has added to the seed bank of bents grasses that are now starting to win back the greens and out-compete Poa,” Paul pointed out. “Commercial pressures mean that there will rarely be a good time to do the work and I still remain unsure as to when it should be done. However, the results achieved to date are all positive.”
Having enrolled the club in a benchmarking and performance review programme in 2011, Paul says that measurement of organic matter levels within the greens has shown a drop from around nine percent in mid 2007 to around five percent in late 2012. So, the recommendation is that deep scarification, sand injection and seeding by Graden Contour in the spring be dropped in favour of hollow tining and sand topdressing. Graden treatments in the autumn will remain.
“Having started off with a soil profile that would not support the establishment and proliferation of bents, I am pleased to say that the work carried out over the past five years has helped restore optimum growing conditions within the top 25mm of all greens,” said Paul. “Our primary aim is to achieve bents dominance and then look to reintroduce fescues.”
The improvements seen in the fineness and evenness of the putting has been furthered by a change of topdressing composition from an 80% sand, 20% soil mix to the pure sand dressings being applied on a little, but often basis in 2013. To help enhance the smoothness of the surface resulting from an increased density of finer grasses, Paul has introduced a fortnightly turf ironing programme, accompanied by weekly stimpmeter tests, with results posted in the clubhouse.
He also uses brushes on one of the
triplex mowers at the start of the main growing season to help lift and remove
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