Technical


For a golf course just yards from the English Channel and bordered by Canute Road, you could be forgiven for thinking that the major objective would be keeping water out. But situated in the driest corner of England, and having just experienced the most severe drought season, Royal Cinque Ports' Course Manager, James Bledge, is committed to making better use of his available water resource


James Bledge, Course Manager, Royal Cinque Ports A


nd that’s been focused by a decision to reduce the club’s water extraction licence for irrigation by a quarter, down to just 30,000m3


. James highlighted that, in an average year,


with careful conservation that should suffice, but he needs to take every contingency in case of another dry season, when areas of the fairways frequently burn out and turf quality can suffer severely. This year, he has turned to the new wetting


agent technology of Qualibra, which he believes will fulfil the club’s demands to optimise the use of water resources and meet his specific agronomic challenges, as well as improving playing surface quality for members. The aim is to move surface water down that will maintain fast, firm conditions, and then hold moisture in the rootzone for better utilisation by stronger plants. “Royal Cinque Ports (RCP) has an incredible


reputation for challenging links golf that attracts players from all over the world, including some of the most prestigious long- standing competitions,” reported James. “That creates a level of expectation that we are continuously looking to exceed, and to meet players’ increasing demands for improved year- round turf quality and playability.” Loss of grass cover on areas of the fairways in


dry conditions every summer has affected playability, and has the knock-on effect for rejuvenation time and revenues. The RCP fairways typically have just 100 mm of soil over pure sand so, for any moisture to be utilised, it has to be held in that rootzone.


Furthermore, the extreme undulating


fairways that characterise the unique experience of playing RCP pose another challenge for irrigation. The need is to get rapid water penetration and retention on the crowns and slopes, to prevent run-off and water pooling in the troughs. That’s crucial to maintain consistent playability, and avoid the unsightly effect of zebra striping - with dry, burnt off crests and lush verdant green valleys. The course does have full irrigation, but


James pointed out that the reliability of the ageing system has caused problems. “We will be looking to upgrade, but it’s a costly investment that we want to spend time getting right. It will give us the chance to integrate more monitoring and control over differentiated targeted application where it’s most required, but we still need to use that in conjunction with holding onto the water applied to get the best results.” On the greens, speed is still the driving factor


for RCP members’ satisfaction. James reported increased actions to reduce thatch levels on greens and a programme of topdressing to improve firmness. The recent addition of a new high-capacity sand applicator will enable the team to make more frequent light dressings, intended to build-up the required sand content, without affecting day-to-day playability. But he is adamant that they don’t want to hold moisture at the surface to maintain good ball roll speed and to avoid a build-up of thatch. The further advantage of quickly moving water down from the surface is that it reduces the risk of rapid evaporation and wasteful loss of


PC JUNE/JULY 2017 I 123


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