Golf
Martin is a Scot born in Glasgow. Talking to him you would be forgiven for thinking that he had just got off the plane from Scotland, as his Glaswegian accent is as strong as ever
View from the 18th tee
decided to apply for the position. He travelled to Ireland for the interview, which happened to be on St. Patrick’s Day and, to his delight, was offered the position of Head Greenkeeper (as the job title was back then). He has remained at Monkstown ever since, marrying and starting a family in the meantime.
When Martin arrived at Monkstown, the
course was suffering from drainage problems and many days of play were lost due to it being waterlogged. When he went for his job interview on that St. Patrick’s Day in 1989, the course had been closed every day since the previous Christmas. The cause was an impervious soil pan 25cm below the surface throughout the course. It was decided, therefore, that the
fairways should be verti-drained. This work was carried out fifteen years ago using twelve inch tines. The soil pan was shattered and the results were immediate. Since then, the fairways are verti-drained annually and followed up with an application of 600 tonnes of sand. Sand slits were installed on the 11th and 18th fairways. It is very rare now that the course is closed due to heavy rainfall. The greens are all soil based. However,
after many years of sand topdressing, the top five inches of rootzone is sand. Hollow coring is carried out only once a year in the autumn, using half inch tines, but the greens are solid tined monthly from October
through to and including April. The feeding programme changes each
year. The reason for this is that Martin relies on the results of soil tests, taken the previous spring, before deciding on what nutrients to apply. Based on these results, he applies a granular feed in spring and then, every three to four weeks, applies a liquid feed during the growing season with plant growth regulators added to the mix. During the winter months, 20kg of Sulphate of Ammonia and 10kg of Sulphate of iron is sprayed every six weeks, with liquid seaweed added. The greens are lightly sanded every
second week in summer. This practice is very popular with superintendents nowadays. Tees and greens are irrigated with water
coming from an old reservoir located beside the 16th tee. This reservoir used to serve the village of Monkstown. Many mature trees are growing on the old
part of the course (the front nine), but conifers were planted on the back nine during the 1960s and 1970s to give definition to the new holes. However, these eventually grew too big and had to be dealt with. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, new trees were planted, mainly Scots pine, oak, beech and ash. The violent storms that hit Ireland in January and February 2014 took their toll on many trees in Monkstown, so more will be planted to replace these. My visit to Monkstown Golf Club was a
memorable one. The course overlooks Cork Harbour and, on a fine sunny day, the views are spectacular. It is a lovely place to play golf and remove the cobwebs of life.
This article first appeared in Greenside, the official publication of the GCSAI
What’s in the shed?
Jacobsen Triplex Greens mower x 2 John Deere Pedestrian mowers x 4 Jacobsen Triking mowers x 2 Jacobsen 3800 fairway mower x 2 Jacobsen Bunker rakers x 2 Articulator rough mowers x 2 Tru Roller x 1 Toro 5700 sprayer Ultra Plant topdresser for greens Ultra Plant topdresser for fairways Ford 2120 tractor Shibaura tractor New Holland tractor John Deere Aercore Verti Drain (greens) Verti Drain (fairways) Salsco mulcher John Deere Gators x 4
”
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