search.noResults

search.searching

note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
Golf


Aeration cores on the 14th green


When he took over it, would be true to say the course was not in the best of shape. His brief was a simple one: to build a new greenkeeping team, gather a fresh set of kit quickly ... and to hit the ground running. “During my first six weeks here, I spent a lot of time laying on the ground repairing equipment on a near completed 5‐year lease, but not well maintained,” said Luke. He now has a new fleet of John Deere machines courtesy of Sittingbourne dealers Burden Brothers on a fresh 5‐year lease, but with a service agreement and PowerGard 5‐ year warranty. This covers absolutely anything other than neglect, taking a huge weight off his shoulders and giving him more freedom to concentrate on course improvement.


“I’m well able to handle wear and tear machine care, like hose replacement, and used to sourcing parts. When I came here, in truth there wasn’t decent enough equipment to keep on top of course care. Now, there most certainly is.”


The 18‐hole course is quite short, just over 6,000 yards all told, but the course footprint is huge, at over 155 acres. Play is tight, with swathes of woodland on either side. The front nine is at the bottom of Knatts Valley


Overseeding the 9th green


and the back nine runs along the top of the hill. They are two very different sections with contrasting playing conditions, not to mention a quiet country lane in between. Near surface flint is a feature of the upland back nine, with as little as two inches of topsoil in places. In the valley section, thinnish clay overlays chalk, which is always pretty close to the surface.


The course is generally free draining, but worm casts ‐ and therefore badgers ‐ are a big problem. The high pH means that worms just love it here.


“It’s like looking after two different golf courses, the greens especially,” said Luke. “Six of the greens on the top part of the course ‐ the back nine ‐ were reconstructed thirty years or so ago. They’re not USGA spec and, for some reason, these do not drain well. There’s major work to do on them.” “There appears to be some kind of membrane a couple of feet down which is holding the water. My plan is to tackle them one by one, introducing primary drainage with trench, piping and shingle and run water down into adjacent woodland. There is a lot of natural run‐off, so it may not be as big a task as it could be.”


The nine holes that run along the valley


are the more picturesque part of the course. Blowing and collecting leaves here especially is a time consuming job as autumn passes into winter and Luke said it was a relief ‐ no pun intended ‐ that it was just about over. It was a small price to pay though for the glorious, mostly beech, backdrop skirting these holes.


Tree care has been rather neglected over the years and Luke will be doing what he can to improve management of the native Downland trees. A degree of thinning and removal of non‐native conifers is a long‐term task for his team.


“Lifting canopies to get better airflow to greens and some reshaping of holes is what I plan, but I won’t be going into the woodland itself. I will concentrate on coppices between holes and the tree line immediately adjacent to the course.”


Luke is quietly hoping for a cold winter because this will allow him to tackle a lot of the necessary tree work.


Path reparation is a big project for the new team and a cold, slow growth winter will also enable this to get under way. “Everything we’re able to do over this winter will be for the long‐term improvement of the course. Upgrading the


Looking down the tight par‐4 4th 28 I PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018


View across the 6th with piles of beech leaves ready for clearing


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148