GOLF
pleasing course.”
The ever-changing weather patterns we are experiencing have some detrimental eff ects on sporting venues, and greenkeepers and groundsmen have to adapt to this, and Phil is no diff erent. “In recent years, rainfall fi gures for the area have vastly increased. Winter has been a mixed bag of very cold temperatures and snow, followed by periods of heavy rainfall - consequently leading to prolonged periods of saturated ground conditions and localised fl ooding. This is having a negative infl uence on the maintenance of turf surfaces, therefore accurate timing of maintenance practices is critical to ensure we hit the windows available to us. I’m fi nding now that May is more like our old summers. Then you get to June onwards and the heavens open, so we fi nd we’re more productive at the start of the season. It has changed a lot over the last fi ve years, and we just have to adapt our methods to suit.”
Phil likes to keep his fertiliser regime on the greens as simple as possible and believes, by looking at the surfaces, you
can tell what requirements they need; he has a lot of variants to consider between the diff ering construction and soil types he has to work with. I believe, as turf managers, it’s very easy to overcomplicate things and become overwhelmed by the amount of products available on the market, therefore we aim to adopt a measured approach in order to achieve desirable results. “Our sand based greens tend to be a little needy and often require additional inputs, whilst the soil-based greens generally perform well throughout the year - with the exception to a few problem areas, which we are looking to micro-manage and install a primary drainage system to improve their year round playability.”
“I use a variety of fertiliser products, but I tend to kick off the season with ICL’s Greenmaster Cold Start to get them going and aid winter recovery. Then, I begin a liquid feed programme with the Consolidate range which allows me great fl exibility and consistency of plant growth instead of peaks and troughs. I have also recently been improving our moisture management
I have enjoyed it so far, but 2020 was a freak year and one of the most challenging years I have ever had in
greenkeeping, but I have
loved the responsibility in challenging times
PC April/May 2021
27
“
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
