Golf


water in the rootzone and air warms up far faster than water.” However, Colin points out, “Greens are still


prone to compaction because golfers are walking on very small diameter sand particles.” Colin admits to having a job on his hands


“just to keep up with neighbouring courses like Hunstanton (another Top 100 course ten miles away on the North Norfolk coast) who constructed the course properly.” That said: “Golfers like our environment -


the tree-lined fairways and stripey presentation. The pressure’s on us to attract younger members and pay and play income, because the average age of players is well into retirement age,” he says. The woodland creates year-round


maintenance though. “Sometimes, after strong wind, the course looks like a tornado ripped through it - twigs and branches all over the fairways and trees blown over. A big blower and sweeper are vital kit for keeping the course playable,” Colin stresses. He returns to the issue of shade. “Many


greens do not enjoy direct sun and the backs of some have to wait until April or May, so we do suffer from cold, wet putting surfaces. We have a major task to have greens ready for spring and the new season. It’s a case of


“ 44 I PC JUNE/JULY 2017


compromising when you have trees and it’s the greens and grass that usually bear the brunt.”


The sight of upper foliage billowing in the wind, whilst dead calm reigns below and the flags stand stock-still, is a sobering one for Colin because he knows that lack of air across the greens can be the kiss of death. “It’s all about drying them and


encouraging air movement over the surface, because fusarium, our biggest headache, loves damp, cool conditions. We have to ensure we remove dew off the sward early on as it would still be there later in the day because there are so many shaded areas. Switching tees and greens helps, as does dragmatting the course.” Alongside the programme of tree-thinning


and felling, preventative spraying early in autumn, or even September, helps the team gain the upper hand. “Fusarium frequency and severity is


reducing,” reports a thankful Colin, “and we don’t apply as much fungicide now. I keep swapping and changing brands, applying a systemic fungicide (Banner Maxx) when the grass is growing as it is taken into the plant. Fusarium can spread quickly under snow, so we apply contact fungicide to stick to the sward and that works well when the grass is


dormant.” Since coming to the course, Colin has


wrestled with what had, until recently, seemed an intractable problem - outbreaks of dry patch on several fairways. Despite regular applications of turf


treatments, the patches persisted, particularly on the 17th fairway. “Whatever treatment I applied, we could never seem to regain full grass cover,” he says. Even in rain-sodden 2012 when, in one


month alone, the course recorded a whole year’s precipitation (eleven inches), the dry patch stubbornly stayed firm and reseeded turf failed to thrive. Soil tests only confirmed Colin’s worst fears. “Half an inch below the surface the rootzone was bone dry.” Whilst searching for a new way to tackle the outbreaks, Colin cast his mind back nearly ten years to his time at John O’Gaunt, where he had trialed a wetting agent as part of his thesis on ‘Water Management on Fairways’. In 2015, Colin applied a wetting agent to the 10th hole, with similar outcomes. “I like the convenience of only having to apply it once to gain year-round protection,” he notes. “Application of the wetting agent across


the course has brought environmental gains too,” Colin adds. “I estimate that we now


It’s all about drying them and


encouraging air movement over the surface, because fusarium, our biggest headache, loves damp, cool conditions


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