Golf
A Moor Park greenkeeper off- course tackling a fallen tree
What’s in the shed? Toro Greensmaster 3420 x 2 Toro Greensmaster 3250 x 5 Toro Greensmaster 3150 x 5 Toro Greensmaster 1000 x 4 Toro Reelmaster 5410-D x 4 Toro Greensmaster 4500-D x 2 Toro Reelmaster 3100-D x 2 Tru-Turf iron Toro Multi Pro 1750 sprayer Toro Multi Pro 5800 sprayer Toro Workman HDX-D Toro Sand Pro 2000 Tycrop Propass 180 topdresser
Sweep-N-Fill for post green aeration clean-up AFT 45 Trencher Trilo BL 960 leaf blowers x 2 Toro Muli Pro ProCore 660 aerator Soil Reliever deep-tine aerator
AS 940 Sherpa 4WD uneven-ground ride-on mower Charterhouse Verti-Drain Kawasaki 4010 Mules x 9 Club Car Carryall 500 Izuzu D Max pick-up truck John Deere 4520 tractors x 3 John Deere 4720 tractor
Greentech Double Quick tractor-mounted aerator Husqvana strimmers Allen hover mowers Stihl back-pack blowers
26 I PC OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016
A pair of the new Blinder-lined bunkers on the High Course
Amateur and the London Foursomes are also played on it. Years ago it staged the Bob Hope Classic, so it has a notable past as well as a continuing pedigree. “What is especially good here is that we
offer a mixture of golf environments on the same site, and members and visiting golfers appreciate the variety,” says Stuart. He’s a big believer in the merits of aeration
and has a programme of regular sarel rolling, and deep tining courtesy of a Soil Reliever. All the greens on both courses are push-up type and consist of Poa and Bent in 50/50, 60/40 and 70/30 ratios “Our strategy in keeping the push-up
greens dry is to minimise aeration during wet conditions over winter, when we’d just be drilling holes to fill up with water," says Stuart. “There’s solid clay beneath them, but they
were designed to shed water. We concentrate our greens tining across the summer months.” “We’ve only hollow tined the greens here once in eighteen years, and haven’t scarified them in six years,” he says. “Organic matter is bang on. We're very proud of them.” “We tend to be on the lean side for all
greens’ treatment. Our feeding programme is simply 40-60 kilos of N yearly, supplemented by a weekly topdressing regime during the growing season.” “We have irrigation on the greens, as we
do for tees and approaches. Our fairways have none because they are pretty much sustainable fescue.” All greens are all cut with a triple and, in summer, Stuart usually varies cutting height between 3.75mm and 4.00mm. He says he would never cut below 3.5mm. “Anything over eleven on the stimp and
we’re very limited on pin positions on the High Course, and this can be an issue,” he says. “Push-ups just weren’t designed to go above eleven. Members and guests are generally complimentary about green speeds though, I’m pleased to say. Fast and true is
what I like to achieve, and what they say they get.” Stuart’s operation is a totally self-sufficient one. All machinery is on a five-year lease, and full-time mechanic Sean Lake keeps everything up and running. Stuart tells me he likes projects that keep
him excited. Bunker renovation is definitely one such ongoing project and he’s very proud of what has been achieved in-house over the last thirteen years on both courses. His team has skillfully used the upside down turf technique to keep bunkers fresh and perfect for play. A successful trial, completed on seven of the High Course bunkers last year using Blinder recycled rubber granules, is signalling a change in bunker make-up however, and the liner’s producer and installer, Profusion, has been asked to put in a proposal for rebuilding seventeen bunkers on the High Course using it. Stuart is hoping to complete a bunker upgrade on the entire High Course over the next two years and in time for the next Carris Trophy. Woodland management is very much part of things for Stuart and his team. There are some remarkable trees aligning the courses, some going back to Tudor times. Not one of the oldest inhabitants by any means, but a beech had overnight been the victim of a combination of turbulent weather - unusual this summer - and prolonged dry conditions. It’s a mini emergency, a timely example of Stuart’s crisis management, and a near ‘all- hands-to-the-pump’ clearing-up operation. When Stuart takes me for a tour around the courses, he shows me this side of greenkeeping life at Moor Park. Then it’s back to the mansion to bid
farewell. Every golfer that plays here must feel like they’re in a period drama when they walk off either of the 18ths.
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