Golf


The 16th, with the recently refurbished clubhouse on the horizon Hitting the greens with 25mm coring tines


at 3.5in deep, 60 tonnes of topdressing and ridding the surfaces of an inch of thatch in one pass brought an instant gain. “The Ruffords No3’s rounded sand particles helped keep air in the profile and improve the ‘biology’,” he explains. “You should have seen the ball wobbling


across the greens because the surface was so soft,” he adds, “and they were always wet because the thatch soaked up water like a sponge. But, once we’d created a firmer


platform to work from, we could begin eradicating disease.” Symbio compost teas were part and parcel of his plan, recently augmented by Enhance fertiliser, which includes bacillus beneficial bacteria. “By 2007, we were down to 7% thatch and


that’s reduced further to just two or three percent and we apply fungicide four times a year now instead of nine. The suppliers are not over the moon that we are applying less, but some golf clubs do just what sales reps


tell them without thinking. I prefer to try out more natural methods to keep the course disease-free. By doing that, we’ve broken a vicious circle by introducing beneficial bacteria and fungi.” Nurturing ‘good guy’ bugs is all well and good, but site constraints have stymied Craig’s earnest endeavours. “The course is sited on the salt line of the Thames and is close to seawater,” he explains, “which means we cannot have our own borehole whilst, two miles down the road, there’s


PC JUNE/JULY 2017 I 33


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