Course Update

16/03/2018

Hi everyone, I would love to be saying the summer is coming but the snow over the weekend has been a greenkeepers nightmare. Ever since I've been in this industry I have never seen a March like this, all I can say is I'm happy we got all the winter protects completed and they are bedding in nicely.

3rd Green On Sunday Morning

The cold wet weather we have all seen over the past few months has held the growing season back. Speaking to colleagues within the industry, we are all suffering the same fate and some data from a well respected agronomist, suggests we are at least 3 to 4 weeks behind schedule. Soil temperature at this time of year are usually rising to 7/8 degrees but at present we are still at around 2 degrees. Grass usually kicks in to life at around 8 degrees, so we are still some way off. This is not just us, courses further north are even further behind, lets be thankful we live this far south!

You will see us out cutting on a regular basis, This is mainly to keep presentation up together and to define all areas of play. I have had the hand mowers out on the greens and tees throughout the winter and hope to carry this on in to the summer as often as I can.

Heights of Cut on the course at the moment are -

Greens - 5.5 mm (Cut By Hand Mower)
Tees - 12 mm (Cut By Hand Mower)
Approaches - 12 mm
Fairways - 17 mm
Semi - 2 inches
High Rough - 5 inches


As you may be aware we have been carrying out some spiking. The Tees and Approaches have had inch tine holes at 12 inches in the ground, This is excellent for the turf and will let it breath from our wet winter.


Looking ahead to this week I will be spiking the greens with pencil tines ( 8.3 mm) at 10 inch depth, The greens will be hand mown after and this procedure should have very little, if any impact on your round of golf. I will also be top dressing all areas of the course this week depending on weather conditions but again I will do my best not to affect your golf.

Last but not least, Please can you remember to replace your divots and repair your pitch marks. It is a massive help to the greenstaff and helps your course recover after a hard day of golfers.

Kind Regards

Paul

Course Update

6th March 2018 

I started writing this blog in my lounge watching the snow come down and finished it when it all disappeared very quickly in the last 24 hours.

Cold Weather

Since my last blog temperatures have dropped. The greens have been frozen for a couple of weeks and now they have a blanket of snow over them. Amazing to look at but a pain in the neck for us clearing up!!


Now the snow has lifted, the ground underneath is saturated and frozen in places The forecast is for further rain and the temperatures rising which could mean very wet ground. All I can promise you is that all the Greenstaff will work their hardest to get the course back fully open without restrictions as quickly as ground conditions allow.

 12th Bunker

I hope you have all had a chance to see the work on the 12th Bunker. The weather was perfect for the construction and everything went to plan. All my greenstaff did a great job and I feel we are starting to have a great team at Broadstone. It was my first big job working with Matt, my new Deputy, things ran well and Matt worked with our 2 apprentices closely and did an excellent job mentoring them through a big project.

All the new turf including the heather will need to have time to root and bed in, so I hope you will all be happy to help and use the drop zones provided.

The sand is the same type we have used in the chipping green bunkers for the past few weeks. The feedback we had was excellent and all staff that play golf (including the Pros) love it.

I hope to open the bunker for the start of April.

18th Steps

These steps have bugged me for years -

• They looked unsightly.
• They were rotting.
• It is the last impression leaving the golf course which I didn't like.
• They weren't wide enough to spread wear

The new steps are made from Oak sleepers The heather has been bought up to the edges to finish them off. I feel they will leave a great impression in peoples minds as they leave such a wonderful golf course.

Other Winter Projects

Just a quick round up of the other work we have completed:
 

• Bridges - All bridges on 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th have now been replaced, this has been a time consuming but successful job and we are pleased with the finish.
• Tree/scrub work at 11th - This is nearly complete and has received very positive feedback from the members.
• Tree thinning at 16th - This is nearly complete, with just a few unhealthy trees to be removed and a tidy up job to complete.
• Scrub clearance right of 7th - This starts this week, we will need to close the hole at times to allow this to take place safely
• 5th/6th Tess - The turf is bedding in well and will be fed and dressed over the coming weeks. We hope to have both tees available for use by early April.

Thankyou for reading my blog and as the greens will be soft/receptive over the coming week, please repair as many pitchmarks as you can, including your own

Kind Regards, Paul.