GOLF What’s in the shed?
Toro Triflex 3400 11 Blade for greens (summer height 2.6mm winter 6mm)
Toro Triflex 3400 11 Blade for approaches (summer height 7mm winter 9mm)
Toro Triflex 3400 8 Blade for tees (summer height 10mm winter 12mm)
John Deere 7700a fairway unit (summer height 12mm winter 18mm)
John Deere 1600 Turbo Wam rough unit (75mm all year round)
Toro 3500d Groundmaster Rotary Sidewinder for semi rough (35mm)
2 x bunker machines - 1 Toro and 1 John Deere
John Deere 2500b dedicated to the vibro rollers
John Deere 2500e dedicated to Greentek verticutters and scarifiers
John Deere Pro Gator John Deere E Gator Kubota Mini Digger
John Deere 4520 with front loader John Deere 4520 John Deere 3720
Amazone for non-maintained rough clearance during the winter
John Deere TC 125 Core Collector Bear Cat tractor mounted chipper 300l Sprayer Turfco wide spin topdresser Imants Shockwave Wiedenmann Terra Spike Agrimetal tractor mounted blower
The machinery was on contract, but now this is purchased outright. The club buy small items locally, but all machinery through a main dealer. Whilst you’ll see there is a mixture of Toro and John Deere machines, there is no loyalty to a single brand; as Roger says: “we choose the best kit for the job at the best price. One piece of kit that has significantly helped to improve our playing surfaces has been the Thatch-Away Verticutters and scarifiers; superb!”
Roger is looking forward to hiring a vert- drain for drill and fill to aid aeration in winter: “I’d say that a Hydro-Ject would be top of my wish list.”
Inside the new irrigation pump house
greens last year with impressive results. The machine penetrates to 31cm into compacted layers and back fills instantly with soil amendment. The machine does not damage the turf surface, and allows you to put it back into play within an hour. The team will repeat the process on a further six greens this year! The Hunter irrigation system, installed within the last three years and housed inside a dedicated pump-house, is proving to be paying dividends. The system irrigates greens, tees, approaches and fairways; “Absolutely brilliant!” says Roger, “And I can control it from a mobile!” The course, along with many others in this
country, has experienced torrential rain in more recent years. Flooding has occurred but, fortunately, this clears usually within two hours when rain has ceased. There used to be issues with airflow, but the team have remedied this with most areas cleared of bracken and other growth. There just remains one small section to tackle as soon as is practical (see before and after shots).
A small practice area is maintained by the
greenkeeping team. No other facilities are provided for members other than the usual clubhouse ones ... but there is a bar!
Maintenance Regimes (see boxed item)
All team members are able to carry out mowing and basic tasks but, as seen in the
team list, each has his own skill set which enables more specialist work to be carried out by those with relevant skills and experience. Most work, including spraying and construction is carried out by the team with very little requiring outsourcing. Presentation ranks very high and all are committed to maintaining the high standard expected. Pride in what is achieved is clearly evident.
Ongoing yearly seasonal renovations will include:
Spring - hollow tining
Summer - micro-tining monthly Autumn - Shockwave, double scarify Winter micro-tine greens
Bunkers require ongoing renovations and this is a project I witnessed at first hand during my visit. “All bunkers are susceptible to flooding through erosion and silt build-up” says Roger. “So, we carefully dig and find the original sand under the course to ascertain bunker depth. We then use bunker-lining turf (prevents stone lift), grassing the banks to reduce new sand pollution.” I asked about other bunker methods/products recently introduced and Roger said that he had researched and seen one particular installation. He feels that for Wheatley, the method he’s employed works well.
Before bramble clearance 32 PC February/March 2019
After bramble clearance between the 2nd and 4th
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
