Technical
turf did not need another 4 hours of watering. The day saw the drainage lines and the gravel carpets (nearly completed) installed onto both greens 3 and 5, whilst the rootzone layer was almost completed on the 4th green.
Day 5 - saw the completion of the construction on the 4th green. This green is now ready for the final preparation and then turf to be re-installed. The day went well with the crews working flat out; in fact, they worked so quickly that the wagons coming from Cheshire couldn’t keep up so, at times, they were waiting for material.
Day 1 - topdressing removed
It also saw the rootzone installed on the 5th; all but the last corner was completed, along with the completion of the gravel carpet on the 3rd. The next port of call was for the sub-base to be removed and shaped on greens 8 and 9.
Day 6 - saw the completion of the rootzone layer on the 5th, along with half the rootzone layer on the 3rd. The rain overnight was a slight problem for the crew working on green 8, as this had made the sub-base rather sticky and potentially could have caused some contamination in the drainage lines. After the levels were put onto the pre-dug out sub-base, it was decided to concentrate on the 9th and get the levels and drainage in on this green. Contamination wasn’t a problem here as the sub-base was so stony that there wasn’t much clay below the level of 320mm.
Day 2 - 4th green drainage
The levels and installation of the drain lines took all day. At times, another machine with a hydraulic pecker attachment was needed to break the stone in the drain lines to get the correct fall. By the end of the day, the drainage was two thirds installed.
Day 7 - saw incredible time lost trying to install drain lines at the back of the 9th. The pecker was needed to carve lines that were then dug out to the required levels. This took a good part of the day and was followed by the pipe installation and covering with gravel. Once completed, they were then ready to put the 100mm gravel carpet on. This was taken as far as possible before they were ready for the next set of levels.
Day 3 - Drainage gravelled on the 4th green
Green 8 had the remainder of the sub- base cleared to pre-set levels and was now ready for the final levels - drains were marked and then dug out.
Greens 12, 15 and 17 were sprayed in the morning with a preventative fungicide to protect the turf whilst it was on the plastic sheeting; also mixed in the tank was a growth regulator to slow the grass growth down. This was so it wouldn’t be too long by the time we could actually get on to cut it. In the afternoon, they were sprayed with Dew Cure. This allows the dew to slip from the leaf blade into the base of the turf, helping keep the profile damp and the leaf blade dry. This also helps with disease resistance.
Day 3-Gravel carpet going onto the 4th green
118 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2014
Day 8 - saw the return of the turfing crew which would now be on site for eleven days. Their start to the day was to final prep the 4th green, levels were taken, an organic fertiliser put onto the rootzone before the final rake. Once this was completed, the the turf was rolled back out onto the green surface.
The remainder of the rootzone was
applied to the 3rd; this was now ready for final preparation, along with the 5th. Once this was finished, the slew operator moved over to shape the spoil piles alongside the 5th. This was then seeded.
The gravel carpet was finished on the 9th green and then the operator moved to start the core-out of the 16th green. During this time, the final sub-base levels were installed on the 8th followed by the drainage and a start to the gravel carpet.
We are slightly ahead of schedule!
Day 9 - saw the completion of the 4th - the turf is back on and looks good! The 8th gravel carpet and levels were finished ready for rootzone. The 9th green was now ready for turfing and the turf was lifted from the 17th green.
The core-out on the 16th took some time as the crew hit some bedrock along the left hand side of the green.
Day 10 - saw some overnight rain making things tricky for the sub-base levels and drainage installation on the 16th. Slow progress was made but, eventually, the two tasks were completed, ready for the gravel carpet. Other progress was good with installation of the outfall drain on the 8th along with the installation of the rootzone layer.
Other progress saw the 9th green turfed down; on this green we swapped the turf from the 8th that was a little delicate when it was lifted. Putting it onto the 9th green was the better option (in my opinion) to get the best results. The 9th gets a lot more light and air circulation. This will give the turf the best possible chance of a good recovery! The turf from the 9th would go back on the 8th.
Other progress saw the core-out of the sub-base on the 17th green. Surprise, surprise it was rocky again!
Day 11 - saw a wet start, with 13mm of rain the previous evening. Things were a little sticky under foot, but work proceeded. Progress was made on the 8th green, with levels checked and amended where necessary and turf rolled before the heavy rain stopped all work for the day. The rain has come at a timely interval for hauling materials as most of the crew, bar two, were now on their three day break, leaving the turfing crew here to catch up. This would reduce damage to tracks and hopefully allow time for the ground to dry over the predicted good weather for the weekend.
There was also progress in the other areas in this short period of time. The gravel carpet on the 16th was almost completed, the sub-base cleared out on the 17th and some well needed drainage inserted in the 14th fairway.
As already mentioned, the heavy rain put pay to everything and, if anyone needed convincing that this was the correct way to go with regards to draining the greens, then they needed to look no further than all the clay based greens that were yet to be changed. They were flooded in minutes, whereas the greens that had been completed were nice and firm with no standing water!
Day 12 - saw the weather still not good for any type of construction work! The small gang that was left finished the drainage on the 14th fairway. Following this, they continued as far as the gravel
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