Golf
Swiss cheese initially, but is ready for play after a couple of weeks. If you played on it, you’d get a hole in one every time!” - down two or three feet to the subsoil, before the team backfilled with kiln dried sand at three- foot centres. “If we see a major improvement, we’ll do more but,” Colin notes, “the process is labour intensive.” A Verti-Drain devotee, Colin undertakes end of season work across the course in September and October, when winter tees come into play. He then overseeds all the tees after hollow tining them down to a 10- inch depth. From November to March, more hollow
“ 48 I PC JUNE/JULY 2017
tining, overseeding, aeration and verti- draining follows, including aprons. “We hollow tine right out to twenty or thirty yards from the green, before overseeding, letting the cores break up on the surface. It’s necessary, because of the golfer traffic they sustain, but the marginal gains bring results over time.” Any scarifying? “Don’t believe in it and I
More clubs are appointing a director of golf to manage club and course, usually PGA members - it’s an appealing move for them because the club saves salary overheads, but also this is a potential problem as they know very little about greenkeeping. A recipe for disaster
agree with the STRI’s ‘disturbance theory’. I’m controlling the growth of the grass using retardant and letting the grass break down. “Also, we began using compost teas - which break down organic matter - about six years ago and were able to reduce the quantity of fertiliser we applied.” “Scarifying breaks up the surface and
allows Poa to populate the sward as it is the first grass to germinate afterwards. Besides, fescue and bent don’t like too much disturbance.” Regular topdressing helps the team keep
on top of organic matter build-up. “I overseed only with pure bents on the greens as they hold on to too much moisture and fescue hates its roots in moisture and will not grow.”
But bents have done the trick for him.
“They have really taken off and, on some greens, account for up to 60-70% of the sward now.”
“Sowing good quality ryegrass on hard play
areas such as tees, where there are shade issues, does the job. The finer leaves are hard-wearing and quick to recover, sending out rhizomes and spreading to bare patches and weak areas. The fairways are mostly
fescues - they grow well there and they drain well despite the fine sand.”
Choice cuts
• Greens, not below 4mm in summer and 6mm in winter
• Aprons, 10mm all year round - become part of winter greens
• Tees, 12mm in summer and 16mm in winter
• Fairways, 16mm in summer, 18 to 20mm in winter
• Semi-rough, 50 to 60mm all year
• Heather, two to three times annually at 150mm
Colin continues his active involvement in greenkeeping affairs. As a long-standing BIGGA member, currently of Anglia region, he chaired various sections of the Association when at John O’Gaunt - all part of his lifelong commitment to the importance of education and the cause of greenkeeping within golf. “The course manager’s role is changing as members and golfers continually expect higher standards,” he points out. “The importance of educating greenkeepers in soil science is paramount, as is effective communications between the greens team and committees.” Developing a career structure is critical too
in attracting “clever young lads” into the sector rather than school-leavers “drifting into greenkeeping by default”. “The snag is that, generally, we are
undervalued and members often view us as an inconvenience. Course managers certainly do not command the respect that superintendents do in the US. I know several colleagues who have made the jump across the pond.” More clubs are appointing a director of
golf to manage club and course, usually PGA members - it’s an appealing move for them because the club saves salary overheads “but also this is a potential problem,” claims Colin, “as they know very little about greenkeeping. A recipe for disaster.”
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 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156
