GOLF


worked quite well, but this is where the extra nitrogen came from this year as we pushed it up towards 30g/m2


.”


This summer has also seen Richie rethink his wetting agent programme for the greens. “We have gone back to the drawing board with our wetting agents. We now use Aquatrol Zipline soil surfactant, which will be applied once a month at low rates throughout the year, but with the summer heat stress, this was upped to a fourteen day programme, which worked well.” Richie is proactive with his disease management and follows a recommended fungicide programme from coming out of seeding at the end of August to the end of December. “We use a few different mixes, but the base products are Heritage, Dedicate, Instrata and Exteris. The final two treatments will be Banner Maxx and a Medallion mix. They are going to be a 2/1 mix, then it will flip the other way around.


This will give us some security. With the milder weather over the winter, we have been hit by fusarium, so we can’t afford it to get any worse.”


“We must be proactive. I don’t think there is any other way now; there is no chemical that gives 100% control, with iprodione going this year and propiconazole next year. That’s it, we’re done, we now effectively must anticipate disease the best we can. This year, again with the weather conditions, some people timed it right and some did not. We were unfortunate and got hit with a bout of Fusarium, so it’s just about control now.” Richie used to cut the greens seven days a week if he could, but he now uses a cut and roll approach. “With using Primo Maxx during the summer growth periods when the growth is high, we are now able to mow around four or five times a week, and we will roll in between using a greens iron, which is a fabulous tool.


Left to right: Richard Stephens, Mat Corbishley, Steve Giles, Seb Dolezyczek, Will Cummings, Gary Sykes and Jez Quirk


PC February/March 2019 43


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