GOLF


I want this course to be the best in the Channel Islands. I want to consistently


”


produce the best quality surfaces and greens. I


really want the golfers to come out and enjoy the


Golfers enjoying the course


course and have it in the best condition it can be, because that’s what I strive for


when we try to change the holes, the hole cutter almost breaks or when you’re trying to knock hazard steaks in the ground sometime the wood almost splits. Then, in the winter, it holds a lot of moisture so the native soil here is a challenge and being below sea level doesn’t help with that.” “We get big spring tides, and we’re right on the beach so these ten-metre tides crash over the sea wall, and with the rain, there is a period of time where the water can’t escape out, so there’s a lot of open ditches and things like that to try and channel it away, but there isn’t enough drainage with the old push-up greens. Because of the soil type and the lack of subsurface drainage, the moisture is retained for a long time and, in the summer, it’s hard to get the aeration and the water in there. One of the reasons why I got the Air2G2 was to make the greens more forgiving, so I could control how they play. With USGA greens in a tournament, you can control the firmness,


moisture and speed but here, when I arrived, there was no control over how the course played.” “It’s a constant programme to keep the greens aerated and open. I have been going out with the Air2G2 with the 300mm probes on quite a close spacing to relieve the hard panning and opening them up, and then we come in with the Verti-Drain with different tine configurations to try and keep it on the top as well. We do that quite regularly to keep them moving, and then we follow up with a wetting agent and watering to try and help.” “We’ve been doing a lot of work with topdressing using higher quality sand so they putt better, as well as amending some of the programmes to try and get the rootzone a bit healthier and stronger because some of the greens have problems with nutrition. I looked at all the soils and used profile porous ceramic to help improve the condition of the soil rootzone. When we


get the tides come in, we get a lot of salt on the course, so running gypsum programmes and other amendment programmes means we can pretty much control the greens now. We’ve already had positive feedback from our members and players during competitions we’ve had, so we know we’re going in the right direction.”


“I want this course to be the best in the Channel Islands. I want to consistently produce the best quality surfaces and greens. I really want the golfers to come out and enjoy the course and have it in the best condition it can be, because that’s what I strive for.”


PC June/July 2020


41


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