Technical
chipping green was in a very shaded site, so it made sense to go with Poa there too. The challenge was to recreate the Poa sward without turf or suitable seed being available on the market. Time frame provided our final obstacle. It
was decided that the project would run from spring to the autumn meeting. With a start date of the 12th May, we would have until the 6th September before it needed to be performing at championship standard - just fourteen weeks for tree clearing, construction and grow in. As we were approaching the playing season, I felt that this was achievable.
The Design Process
As the club wanted a quick turnaround, we had to get started quickly. My role was to project manage, with Ricky Willison (our Director of Golf) designing the green and Weller Design providing architect drawings. The project was due to start after the spring meeting on the 3rd May, leaving four weeks to source and test materials. We chose European Turfgrass Laboratories Ltd (ETL) up in Scotland as our testing site. Ideally, the green should look and play as closely as possible to the other nineteen greens at Ealing (including the putting green) with the same grass species. It didn’t have to play to the standard of a USGA spec green, but must handle extreme wet weather; an increasing issue in the UK. As we would have around a twelve week growing in period, turf would be the easy option but, in my opinion, not a suitable one. Turf would look good on day one but, within weeks, you could go backwards. With the club expecting a top class green, I did not want to take the risk. Seed was another option that was not really viable. If we went with the traditional fescue/bent, it would not produce the required standard within the time frame. Creeping bent was definitely an option as it is a fast germinator and would produce the required standard, but it is a different species to the other greens on the course. Two solutions countered these issues. First, a
shallower rootzone than the 300mm standard used in USGA designs. A gravel layer would be added along with drainage, but the rootzone would sit at 250mm deep instead of 300mm. This is something that I had done before on previous projects, which not only saves money in time and resources, but also allows the rootzone more moisture. Perfect for Poa! Second, cores. Over the years, I have
Over the years, I have implemented turf nurseries and made several tweaks on existing greens using Poa cores instead of imported seed or turf. These worked extremely well. However, I had never created a full green with this method
”
implemented turf nurseries and made several tweaks on existing greens using Poa cores instead of imported seed or turf. These worked extremely well. However, I had never created a full green with this method. What I had seen was how well Poa cores had done in terms of germination and performance. The other great advantage was that a Poa cored green would look exactly the same as other greens already on the course. So, with the rootzone depth set (and tested by ETL) and the Poa core method confirmed, we were ready to go!
Construction
As the golf season would be in full swing, we decided to use some external labour for the construction and site clearing. I’m usually really keen for clubs to do construction jobs in house but, without that option available, we selected people that we’ve worked with before; people that I know do the work to my standard. Work started on the 19th May. The first task
was to fell all the trees, which was done within two days by our external tree surgeons, Moore Trees. As soon as the last tree came down, some external spoil was brought in to create the green’s shape. Once all the spoil was laid, Oliver Flanagan
(who has worked with me on other projects in the UK) did the grading and shaping. It was decided that the grass surrounds should be to
the same standard as the green itself, so irrigation and drainage pipes would be installed and a 50mm ‘sand carpet’ would be laid in this area to help with performance. We were now two weeks into the project. Our main aim was to get the green finished as early as possible, so that we would have an extended time for the grow-in, which would be tight anyway. On closing at the end of week two, we had
the trees felled, green shaped, materials added and irrigation and drainage laid. We were ready to lay cores on the 2nd June.
Core laying As the new green would be 300m2
in size, we
knew that we would have to use the main greens as the source for the cores. We were now officially into the playing season, with societies booked and competitions in play, so it was far from ideal. But the club wanted this green playable as soon as possible, so there was no other option. My first estimate was that we would need
three or four greens for the cores. That seemed manageable in terms of returning the course back to standard very quickly. However, it quickly became apparent that we would need to use rather more greens. In total, eight greens had to be hollow cored, each needing a recovery plan afterwards. The membership weren’t entirely happy about it, but the additional facility was worth it in the end! To get the cores, we set our verti-corer with 12mm tines going down 50mm deep on a 50mm square pattern. We started laying the cores on the 2nd June and, as I was keen to do it in one day, it required a big effort by the greens staff. The cores were laid out around 25mm thick.
They were spread evenly across the green and raked out. Once laid, I decided to apply creeping bent A4 seed set at 2g/m2
as back-up,
just in case the Poa didn’t take the way I wanted it to. I need not have worried! At the end of that first day, the cores were down and seed sown. To finish it off, we gave it two rolls with a hand mower, using just the metal roller at the back. It looked pretty good after that!
Grow in
All the hard work was now done and the project entered the grow-in phase. Anyone who has experienced a grow-in will tell you that it can be just as intense as construction - and as important. From my experience, the
Area cleared in two days
External soil brought in PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015 I 111
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