Friday 1st March

Course Update

At last the bunkers on 10 &11 have got sand in I hear you say!!!

We feel the same, there has been a lot of blood, sweat and a few tears (not me) to get this project finished, but we feel that we have almost got there. We have put a couple of inches of sand in all the bunkers and will wacker plate before we add the final levels. We also have a few areas to tidy up including some loose stones in the heather and some tyre marks.The heather that we have added to a couple of the bunkers will remain GUR whilst it is bedding in.

All the greenkeeping staff are very happy with the way the project has gone but are now looking forward to the warmer weather and a chance to cut some grass!!

A before and after shot just shoes how amazing the the two holes now look and we believe the bunkers will be .

10th

11th

There has been questions asked of when the two holes will be re opening. We have a lot of new turf around most of the bunkers which needs time to settle in and root. A decision has been made by Ed & I to open both holes with bunkers in play around the time of the Captains Drive In, weather permitting! All the new fairway height turf will be GUR with drop zones provided but the bunkers will be in play.

Moving on to other areas, firstly, you may also have noticed around the course that we have stripped some areas of turf. Don't worry, this is not for new bunker positions,  it is just high traffic areas that need turfing most years due to wear or direct sunlight issues.

With the start of spring now upon us, we are starting a few spring maintenance tasks across the course. We have decided this time to only hollow core the problem wet/poor greens which will be 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 16, 17 & the putting green. This will be done with the walk behind Pro-core with 7.3 mm hollow tines and then top dressed with a 70/30 fen-dress root zone. All greens will be deep tinned before the coring at 10 inches deep with 8.3mm solid tines.

  

After the very hot dry summer, like many courses (trust me, many are far worse than us) we have lost a little grass from the fairways. This was more through the shear heat of the sun compared to drought. We feel at Broadstone we have got off lightly and have a pretty good coverage of grass on the fairways. 

Over the next couple of weeks you will see the fairways being scarified at between 2 & 3 mm, to remove unwanted thatch and moss. We will then follow this up by seeding any areas that are weak. Above is a picture of a tractor mounted scarifier (ours is a little rustier that this picture, we would love a clean shiny one like this)! The picture below is the scarify blades that tear through the ground and pull out dead and unwanted leaf litter.

What a great time of year it is, the birds are singing at 5.30am and the golf and grass growing season is slowly coming. The course starts to lose its weary, wintry look and begins to come alive. Rain is forecasted from Sunday for a couple of days but lets just hope the temperatures rise and it doesn't snow like last year .

The past week has seen temperatures reaching 20 degrees but please take my word for it that is still very cold or even frosty in the mornings when we arrive at work early. The soil temperatures are still low and the grass is hardly moving. 

Thank you for reading my blog, like I always say, I'm always open to any comments or questions about the course. 

P.S. - please keep all your fingers crossed for Southampton over the next couple of months, we need all the help we can to stay in the premier  league!!

Friday 8th February

Course Update

What a start to the year it has been for the green staff!!! You create a couple of before and after pictures of 10th & 11th bunker works and think 'this will be easy' but there is always a lot more to it than that!

We began works on the 7th January with the shaper Conor Walsh and our consultant Gordon Irvine on the left bunker on the 11th hole.

I feel that the best way for you all to see the progression through the past couple of weeks is thrugh some photos and captions. 

10th Green bunker construction

Conor creating heather bank which was originally nearly 100% gorse.

 Leveling up the right hand side of the collar to reduce severity of run off.

  

Soil (well, nearly 100% sand) extracted from turf nursery on 11th to help create new

                                                bunker left hand side of 10th green.                                                

                                                                              

                                                     

Lack of office work forced me to get stuck in on this day! 

 Front right bunker

 Front Right bunker edge ready for turf

Left hand side blending in beautify

View from fairway with a little turfing on the left to do

11th Bunker Construction

                                                  Conor starting bunker work 11th green                                        
                                         

                                          Only a few hours later a new master piece has
                                                              been created.

                                                   Gordon marking out edge of bunker

                                           Installing pipe into bunkers to improve drainage.

Cutting in freshly laid turf onto bunker bank

                                          Bunker front of green during turfing process.

                                          Getting Broadstone back to it's traditional bunker
                                                                             shapes. 

We would also would like to thank the majority of the membership that have given positive comments to the greens staff about the bunker work. I know that you can never please everybody but members can be assured that the work has been finished to a fantastic standard and we feel you will love the look of your approach into 10 and your tee shots into 11.

We are hoping to get the sand in the bunkers by the end of February. This will be done in stages, a couple of inches at a time.

Couple of other points about the course -

• I'm aware of the 5th winter tee condition being worn. We will be using the front summer tee for competitions but want to keep the main tees wear free for the start of the new season At present any teeing ground we use, especially high wear ones have very slow recovery. This winter has proved to us that whilst the work on the 6th tee has helped us avoid using a mat this winter and beyond, the 5th ideally would benefit from some additional teeing ground space, something we will look at in the future.
• With the weather being very wet, the greens are softer than usual. This means that pitch marks will be happening every time a ball hits the green. Please could you all repair yours and if you notice any others, could you please do them. When repairing a pitch mark, start at the back of the mark then work around. The better the mark is repaired, the quicker it will recover.
• During this wet period, can all members make the effort to carry their bags as this will relieve wear especially around the tees and greens. We are aware that some members cant carry but we it would great if you could keep your trolleys away from the greens.

Thank you again for your patience during the bunker works.

Kind Regards

Paul

Friday 21st December

Course Update

Let's start by wishing every member a very Happy Christmas from all the green staff. We feel we have had a very good year out on the course and with the work we have done and what's in the pipeline, there seems to be a good vibe going around the club and its great to see Broadstone back on the map after a couple of rocky years.

Drainage on the second fairway has now been completed with just the turfing left to finish. We have carried out a very full job here because as you are all well aware, it has been the wettest fairway for a long time and we wished to carry out the fullest job possible. We drained it with pipe work from right to left joining into the existing mainline on the left hand side of the hole, which was clear. We are currently turfing these lines when the weather allows us. You will also see lines straight up and down which may seem like they will never disappear. this is called sand slitting, they are 12 inch deep slits filled half and half with gravel and sand. It is also known as secondary drainage and runs parallel to the pipe drainage. it will pick up any excess water and take it to the pipe drainage which they cross. The sand slit lines will not be turfed as they are only a couple of inches wide and once the spring starts they will fill in very quickly.

With the weather not on our side over the last few weeks, turfing the drain lines has not gone as quick as we wanted due to the turf nursery being waterlogged. We will get the hole open as quick as I can but would like to get the drain lines turfed before you play the hole.

We know this area does look a bit untidy at present, however, recovery should be quick in the spring. As they say, no pain, no gain!

The Course is holding up to the weather that we are being hit by where so far this month we have had 140mm of rain on top of 145mm in November. We are seeing improvements to the surface drainage each year from tee to green. This is due to the vast amount of aeration, thatch control, correct wetting agents, top dressing and of course installing drainage in the correct places.

A quick catch up on the Heights of cut out on the course.

• Greens           5.5mm
• Approaches   12mm
• Tees               12 mm
• Fairways        16mm
• Semi              1.75 inches 

The fairways go dormant this time of year and are not cut very often, especially after the summer we have just had. The greens are hand cut whenever possible throughout the winter with the occasional normal machine cut with when time/conditions suit. We find that handcutting greens gives a better cut and less compaction on the green during the winter months. However, we are also mindful that it takes 3 times as long to carry out so weather and manpower windows dictate how many times we can achieve this.  

I just want to finish by mentioning that I did a question and answer in a greenkeeper magazine that you maybe interested in reading. Page 38-39

http://www.greenkeepingeu.com/magazines/GK_Dec-18/

Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year

Paul

Friday 30th November

Course Update

Lets start with the good news from Golf Monthly. In the last top 100 golf courses from GB & I published in 2016 we were rated at 96 which is excellent seeing as there are some amazing golf courses around. The latest rankings were released yesterday and we have climbed 2 places to 94, which is a great achievement across the golf club. Please look at the rankings in link below.

https://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/courses/top-100-courses/top-100-golf-courses-60876

The weather has not been nice to us this month and has given us over 6 inches of rain, which is frustrating but I feel the course has held its own and soaked a lot of it up. During this time of year we work hard on drainage outlet clearance, from cleaning ditches to making sure all outlets are free and clear. If anyone does notice areas that are unusually wet, please let me or Ed know as it could be a blocked drain that will need looking into. 

You will notice that there are slit marks in the greens recently which will help with the drainage, root depth and decreasing the organic layer (thatch). We will slit up until early February as often as possible with very little disruption to your golf or the green.

The greens, tees and approaches are in very good condition at the moment and we are still getting growth which is very rare at this time of year and the bent grass is really starting to show in the greens. I am not sure how many can remember back 4/5 years ago when at this time of year when we had pure poa greens, they were very yellow. They looked good through the summer but would tail off quickly in terms of health and colour through the autumn, we were not playing on surfaces like at present in late November. 

The drainage we have done on 10th green is already a success and its only been 6 weeks since completion. Both outlets, front and back, have a lot of water flowing out of them and it will only mature and work better over the coming years, both in terms of drainage and also in getting bent grass to thrive in a drier environment. It is a very similar story for the back of the 3rd green where the drainage is working well, improving this area but also stopping water getting on to it from the railway line.

A notice to all golfers from Monday where tree work takes place from a private contractor. He will begin on the right hand side of 1st green, where the 3 oak trees will be removed to allow light on the green as it sits in shade for a big part of the day, especially in the winter when the sun is low. The photos below, taken in late September are mid morning (11.15am) shots and show just how much the trees shade the surface for most of the day for most of the year. 

SAFETY WARNING - The contractor is happy to leave to green in play but will not stop the chainsaw or chipper whilst you are putting so please play on through the noise! Any ball that may head a little off course and end up near where they are working, please use the word fore and then please get one of the workers attention before entering their working space. Many thanks for your cooperation with outside contractors. Once finished on the 1st, the contractors will then move on to deal with the tree next to the 4th tee and then 2 poorly beech ones next to the 3rd tee.  

Drainage work on the 2nd started well until the weather hit and we then had to stop them due their machines marking and wheel spinning. They are 90% through and need two days to finish the works, we can then get on to the fairway and turf the main drain lines. We are hoping the weekend forecast does not bring the rain it says and then they can get back on Monday to finish.

One last note regarding the 10th green. We are very happy with ongoing recovery process of the drainage lines. So much so that we have decided to re open the green this weekend. Please be aware that the occasional bump or two might happen when putting across the newly turfed lines but it should be better than putting on the temporary green. We plan to stay on the main green for the next week and then we shall re-evaluate whether the recovery of the turfed areas is ok. If we feel the green is strong enough and the drain lines are showing little stress, the likelihood is that we shall continue using the main green. 

A note from all green staff. Please remember to remember to replace your divots and repair your pitch marks. 

Kind regards 

Paul

October

Course Update - October 2018

Winter is almost  is hear but somehow we are still getting temperatures of 20 plus degrees in the day. Along with the moisture in the air and the warm daytime temperatures, its a beautiful recipe for disease. Predominantly Fusarium (see pic below)

This now brings me on to why we are overseeding our greens with the best cultivars of Browntop Bent grass there is. As you may know 13th & 14th greens have an excellent percentage of |Bent on them and they coped the best out of all greens with our latest disease outbreak. Worst greens by far were 1 & 3 which sit in shade most of the day. In my opinion we are on a great path with the greens trasition and 13 & 14 just clarify why. There are still chemicals to help with disease but they are gradually getting banned. we have lost two this year which are not being replaced. The cost of an application of fungicide is £1,250 which is a lot seeing as some courses with poa greens can apply up to 15 a year. We are up to date with our preventative fungicides that are permitted, although we wont be won't be using 15 this year!

Greens

We remain pleased with the greens. The double pass of overseeding has gone really well and conditions could not really have been better to establish this young seed.

I am fully aware there has been discussions about the greens being relatively slow. We are aware of this and know that whilst the trueness is pretty good, a foot or so quicker would keep most golfers even happier. Can I assure you we could easily get these greens quicker within 2/3 days if that was the priority. If we had a major event in 2 days time and prioritised that over the health of the thousands of pounds worth of bent seed applied over the last 2/3 months, you would now be putting on much quicker surfaces, lower height of cut, rolling, verticutting, away we go!

However, that is not our current priority, and if we did what is listed above, we would kill the majority of the germinating seed that is coming through. We are balancing the short term needs of golfers with ensuring that bent grass establishes on our weaker greens such as 1,3, 12 and 16, therefore giving much better surfaces for all of 2019 and beyond. We appreciate your patience while we do this, we feel strongly that 2018 was a better all year round for the greens than 2017 and that 2019 will be even better again.  

Drainage on 10th hole

As you are aware 10th green is by far the worst green for drainage and as written in the winter program we decided to fully drain it. The drains run horizontal to the hill on the left of the green where we feel most of the water is coming from. The idea is to catch the water as it works its way across the green. If the 1st drain line doesn't catch the water the next one will and so on. Most green drainage will be done with a traditional herring bone system but it was felt by the  drainage consultant to design a system that would catch the natural spring water that filters in from the hill that feeds the Oakley arms.

Buggies On the Course

With the winter setting in we have the problem of balancing the protection of the course, the needs of the golfer and also ensuring their health and safety. We very much hope that we don't have to prevent use of buggies or trollies as we know how much some golfers need them. We will therefore allow them as often as we can but buggy users can also help themselves. When I have staff calling me saying that a member has driven a buggy through one of the wettest area of the course, behind the 3rd green, it is very hard to think they will be sensible enough on some of the slopes out on the course. Please can all buggy users be sensible with their routes around the course, especially as conditions get wetter, it is for your own and others benefit. We will always have wet areas on the course so please stick to the paths, keep on he high sides of the fairway, even stay in the semi rough where you can and stay away from greens and tees.

Could I also ask now the winter is approaching that you all try and use carry bags as often as possible, I know it is not for everyone but it helps greatly reduce turf wear and compaction on the course.

*****

I see the forecast is for cold but dry weather this weekend. I hope for all us golfers, the dry weather continues but that the warmth returns soon!

Kind Regards,

Paul.

Friday 14th September

Course Update

Hi all,

Since writing my last blog the course is losing that amazing heathland brown and if I am being honest, I am not a lover of the two tone look of the fairways at the moment but that's my opinion. I am almost certain that we are not going to lose much grass on our fairways from the dry weather but we may have a couple of areas where overseeding will have to be carried out. Apart from that we are very happy where the course is at are right now.

I mentioned last month that we would be over seeding via hollow coring (dimple seeding) A little write up about the coring was in last week's round up so I wont go on too much. It went very well and I hope it didn't impact on your golf. We had a great strike from the seed and we were hoping for a second pass of seed this week via the verti seed. This was not possible due to the windy weather conditions so it is now scheduled in for Monday 17th, as long as weather permits.

Seed coming through in the tine holes

The Autumn is definitely here. The mornings are cold, The grass is slowing up and it is dark when we are on our way in at 05.30. The biggest head ache for all of us over the coming months is that the leaves are beginning to fall, meaning lost balls for you and us blowing/clearing the same area day after day to try and help!!

Above was the first outing with the wooly hat on 

I have had a lot of members asking what we are doing on the old 16th green next to the 17th tee. In the picture below it shows the short journey we have currently taken. I decided that all the cores we remove from the green, it would be a good idea to build a green with the same make up of the greens on the course. We have old 9th but this green is used in the winter so I don't like taking too much turf from it. Whether it be from animal damage, a hydraulic leak or vandalism, this will give us greens specification repair turf feel at no extra cost.

The process starting top left -

• Rotivate the area
• Remove unwanted material
• Level off
• Place all cores from the greens
• Level off to 4 inch soil depth
• Compact with roller.
• Over seed with Bent & Fescue.
• Install New irrigation heads.
• Maintain as a new green. This requires more top dressing, fertiliser and a higher height of cut(10 mm)

Lastly I would like to say we are well aware of problems with bunker depths. I sound like I'm making an excuse but with the very hot summer drying the sand out, we have lost tonnes from the wind and are waiting on a delivery from our supplier. 20 Tonnes are being delivered on Monday and will be added to the worst affected bunkers around the course.

Like I have said before, I welcome your feedback on the course and I hope you all enjoy your autumn golfing.

Kind Regards 

Paul

Bunker depth

Friday 17th August

Course Update

Hi there,

I hope you have all enjoyed the last few weeks since my last blog. I have had a little break to Tenerife which was a  little warm but nice to relax. Whilst I was away, back here at Broadstone we have had a couple of inches of rain which has changed the look of the course. Fairways have began to green up and grow strongly but as you may have noticed the greens have also thickened up due to natural rain water having Nitrogen in it. We are currently working with verti-cut units and brushes to help speed the greens up.

We are currently hand mowing (4mm height of cut) as often as possible due to the saving of man hours from the recent dry spell. I try and use the hand mowers as often as possible due to them causing less compaction to the greens and the presentation factor is second to none.






Coping with this unusually hot summer.

You will all be aware that we all have had a very hard/hot summer and now you are hopefully seeing a return of a little green in your gardens. Having played a few courses recently and spoke to many course managers. some are finding out how easy it is to lose large areas on your greens, fairways or tees. Many clubs have suffered loss of grass coverage from the heat and will have to spend a lot of money on grass seed. 

A lot of the issues from the warm weather have been to fairways due to lack of water. With a lot of our competitors using excessive fertiliser applications and then needing high water applications, whilst this can create lush green fairways, the course grasses that appear through over feeding and watering do not survive very well in drought. At Broadstone, fortunately, we do not fertilise fairways, (we do use a seaweed product for health) as our aim is to have fine heathland grasses that literally look after themselves. (Bent/Fescue). I hope you have all seen how well our fairways have stood up to this spell of hot weather. To help us, we have had the 8000 litre bowser out most mornings doing up to 10 loads and this has been a great tool and I have to give credit to Keith for his excellent skills.  Below is a picture of Keith and his tractor

With the opens almost over it takes me now on to our maintenance week. Just a brief outline on what we will be doing throughout next week weather permitting.

Greens/Collars - 

Remove cores from all greens with 8.3 mm hollow tines. We remove cores to relieve compaction, help keep on top of thatch level, release air and it also allows locked up food in the soil profile to feed the plant. There are many great benefits but I don't want to bore you all

Remove cores and take them to Compost heap,

Top Dress green with a 70/30 fendress.

Overseed with Arrowtown Browntop Bent seed. We seed on to the dressing as it only needs to be sown in to the ground at no more than 5mm

Brush in with rubber drag matt

Tees - 

Remove cores from all tees with 8.3 mm hollow tines

Remove cores and take them to Compost heap,

Overseed with a fescue seed mix before dressing as the seed need to be sown deeper than bent.

Top dress with a 50/50 Fenn dress 

Brush in with rubber drag matt

Approaches will only be solid tined and top dressed with a 80/20 fenndress. We will seed the approaches where needed.

The 70/30 or 80/20 in the dressing means  80% sand and 20% Fenn soil . A lot of courses dress with sand but with our greens program we are on a 70/30 mix which creates ideal conditions for bent to thrive.

Any questions you ever have, feel free to ask me in person or go through Ed.

Thanks for reading.

P.S The football season is underway, Southampton for the champions League,