Course update 04/08/2017

Course update 04/08/2017

Hello all,

I just wanted to start by saying how lovely it is to hear all the positive comments coming in from lots of you. I know there is still lots and lots to do out there but I feel we are heading back up the ladder.

I have to start with the weather.

On July 11th, I was moaning to Ed saying I need some rain. His reply was 'you shouldn't of said that!'

From the 12th July to 1st August we have had 133mm (5 1/3inches) of rain. The course has held up very well and all the top dressing, aeration and other practices we do are paying off.

I know the greens are a little slower than usual and every time I think they may dry and speed up we get another downpour. I hear some of you say 'get the roller out!' but this would be one of the worst things we could do when they are as soft as they are. It would be highly damaging to the turf from digging into the green as the roller has a lot of downwards pressure and therefore stressing the turf and then bringing on any unwanted turf diseases such as anthracnose.

I am trying to hand cut the greens as often as possible which I feel gives the green a great finish. The job takes 3 experienced operators 4 hrs (total 12) each whereas cutting with a ride on mower takes 1 man 5 hours, so you can see why sometimes we cannot do this. You will probably see that a lot of clubs hand cut tees and not greens but I feel that I would rather put more man hours into the greens.

You may have seen me over the last week out on a new machine, looks a little like a road sweeper!! I can assure you it is not, it is our new rotary cut & collect rough mower fitted with a heather kit. The heather kit allows us to cut at a higher height. This machine is used on nearly all heathland courses around the UK plus many more others. The machine will cut and collect the debris from 0 inches to 9 inches and from using it this week I feel this is going to transform our areas away from the main playing surfaces.

Ed and I have decided that this year we will top all the heather and gorse, just to tidy all areas up but not to lose the heather flower. We will then spend the next couple of months putting together a long term plan as to how we can better manage the heather areas all over the course, to try and remove the gorse and any unwanted weed in our heather. It will be a long process but we have to start somewhere.

In the picture below, we have cut the left side at 6 inches and the right side has not been touched so you can just see how at this height, we just tidy things up without yet going into it too deeply, that will come later. As you play at the weekend you will notice many areas we have cut over the course and will notice a difference in the appearance. Like I have said above, this is a tidy up job before we write a full heather regeneration project for Broadstone Golf club

Coming away from Broadstone, I played Ferndown last Wednesday in a Greenkeeper event and enjoyed the course. They have spent much time last winter refurbinshing bunkers, something I am very keen to progress with at Broadstone in time. Their new bunkers were settling in but I have to say we have a wonderful course at Broadstone and was happy to be back here! I enjoy playing other courses and always learn things both positive and negative, however, it also helps me appreciate what a special venue Broadstone is and furthers my desire to keep on improving it.

Many thanks for reading 

Paul

P.s Keep on top of your divots and pitch marks 👍