Happy Holidays

Since the last post we have replaced the old irrigation control computer with a new one. We had to buy a 32bit operating system and install that onto the computer to make it compatible with the irrigation control system software. After a few little issues with missing files we managed to get the entire system running perfectly and have reinstalled all the backed up data from the old computer. In all it took about 2 weeks to get everything back to a normally functioning irrigation system and hopefully we will have minimal operation of sprinklers during daylight hours. I would like to thank the golfers for their patience during this down time as we had to irrigate during the daytime when we manually turned sprinklers on while golfers were playing.

Now that the system is fully functioning we have noticed a couple of niggling electrical issues that is causing some sprinklers not to turn on, or in some instances they will turn on, then immediately turn off. We have had this happen other years and as yet we have been unable to identify the cause (it appears to be a random occurrence and will correct itself).  It is during this time of year that we historically get issues with electrical problems and pipe leaks in the watering system. I will be on course most days during the holidays checking on the condition of the irrigation system.

I wish all the members all the best for the Christmas break and good golfing in the New Year. See you all out there and hopefully we all have a great 2015.

Course Update

A couple of weeks ago we had a run of very windy weather which caused quite a bit of debris to be blown about the course. One Saturday morning when mowing greens I came across a large branch on the 13th fairway that had fallen from a big pine tree to the left of the fairway. The wind had been so strong that the debris covered the entire width of the fairway. With help from member & neighbour, Robbie Franklin, we got the branch removed before the first group of golfers came through.

 Large branch across the 13th fairway

A few posts back I mentioned that we are regularly dusting the greens with sand and using an old Vicon fertiliser spreader to do the job. While not ideal, it is adequate to apply a light covering of sand to the surface.

Vicon spreader applying sand to the greens 

Another maintenance procedure we have just completed on the greens is pencil tyning. This involves 8mm solid tynes closely spaced, at a depth of 125mm and the process took just over a day to complete with minimal surface damage. The aim of this procedure is to create thousands of small fissures from the greens surface to 100-150mm into the soil profile so that water will penetrate into areas of known hydrophobic(non-wetting) soil. We are due to put out the next application of wetting agent soon and I am hoping this will improve our chances of getting the product to the problem areas. With regular pencil tyning over the summer period we should also provide a better soil, air, water ratio which in turn will create a better environment for the browntop during stress periods.

We have been lucky to have received some good rainfall recently and that has taken some of the pressure off our watering system. For those of you that thought the course was drying out you would be right. This week the irrigation control system computer failed and we are trying to source a computer that will run our control program. This is not a simple as first thought because the program is relatively old, written in 32bit and not compatible with today's 64 bit machines. Hopefully this week we will be sorted and the irrigation system will be back up and running. In the meantime  I would like to ask the golfers for your patience and understanding as manual watering of greens could be needed during the day until we get the system fully operational.

Course Update

We have applied our spring application of slow release fertiliser to all our greens recently and in conjunction with that have started our program of spraying plant growth regulators (PGR) on a regular basis. PGR's are used every 3-4 weeks during the growing season to reduce the vertical leaf growth of the Browntop bentgrass and develop a tighter, denser turf surface with more growth in the root system. The end result is we can keep the mowers at a slightly higher cutting height and still maintain a good green speed. With this program in place, the regular light dusting of sand on the greens and better control of our soil moisture levels I expect our greens to be firm, smooth and slightly more challenging than has been the case during previous years.

The tees have recently been fertilised and we will be applying PGR's to these areas on a regular basis also.

With the approval of the management committee areas of unmown rough around the course has been trialled to try to create a bit more character and interest into the style of the course. These areas are now starting to become apparent and will probably need at least a full season to develop. With our short, tight layout and narrow fairways, areas of longer, drier wispy rough should provide a nice contrast to the irrigated fairways and also provide a more challenging shot when hitting to a green.  Our sandy, undulating fairways are more reminiscent of links type golf as compared to the flat, tree lined, parkland's style of golf course. With the the management of soil moisture on fairways and greens and the areas of unmown rough, the aim is to get the course playing more in the traditional way where shot selection is varied with low, running shots used when the situation arises. In most situations a well struck mid to short iron landing on the green should hold hitting from fairways, but in most cases they should run through the green when hit from the rough. As I mentioned, this is a trial to make the course more interesting for all levels of golfers and I can already see benefits for the higher handicap players, and the challenges for the lower handicap players. The extra run on the fairways means the higher handicappers are able to reach the par 4's easier, while that makes it more difficult for the lower handicappers to (a) stay on the fairway and (b) hold the greens from a shorter distance.
I would be keen to hear from anyone who has an opinion(positive or negative) on this trial and hope that everyone understands that it will take at least a full season to evaluate how it is working out. Personally my aim is to make the golf course more fun and interesting to play(we are that type of golf club).

Course Update

This week we received our first good  rainfall for some time (15mm). To put that into context our monthly totals for the last 3 months have been August -15mm, September- 16mm & October- 12mm.
The wetting agent that we have applied around the course has certainly been of benefit with the minimal rainfall. Areas that would normally dry out on mounds and high spots have retained moisture and reduced runoff when irrigation is applied.

Turf cover and colour maintained on the mounds.

With the drier weather watering with the irrigation system has become more regular and the readings that we are getting from our soil moisture meter have been helpful in monitoring when irrigation is needed. Even this early in the season I can see that we are using less water than would normally be the case. The greens in particular aren't getting watered as often as previous years, yet are still maintaining a good turf cover with minimal dry areas. At the moment greens are getting watered about once a week with 12-15mm of irrigation each time whereas other years it may have been about every second night with roughly 4-6 mm irrigation. At the moment hand watering hasn't been needed.

Turf cover on a historically dry area on a green.

We have completed all of our weed spraying on tees, fairways and all areas of the roughs. As is typical the slight discolouring and slowing down of growth has occurred but this should return to normal in the next couple of weeks.

From the photo above you can see the greens have maintained a good colour despite only receiving 10kg of Sulphate of Ammonia (the only nitrogen source) since February 2014. Our fertility program for the greens supplies the bulk of the nitrogen in spring and early autumn in the form of a slow release product that delivers about 70-80kg of actual N(Nitrogen) to the greens per year.  We try to keep the actual N total under 100kg annually. We are due to apply this fertiliser in the next couple of weeks and it will give us a full 3 months of even, sustained growth with no flush at the beginning. Combined with the fertilising of the greens we will be sand dusting lightly on a weekly basis to help with any thatch accumulation and also to keep the surfaces firm. Unfortunately we don't have a spinner style topdressing machine so we make do with a Vicon fertiliser spreader. It does an OK job but it is one item of machinery that I would dearly like to upgrade. I will post some photos of the old thing in a future post.

One of the more unusual occurrences this week was this mark on the surrounds at the back of 13 green.

Burn marks back of the 13th green

It turns out some neighbours nearby decided to let off their fireworks for Guy Fawkes night near our green. I definitely wouldn't have been amused if it was on the green!

Unmown areas on the course

We  are trialling a few areas on the course of unmown rough to try and achieve a bit more definition and character. These areas will have minimal irrigation and hopefully grow into wispy, sparse rough that doesn't cause problems with lost golf balls. With our tight layout we have to be careful where we place these areas and also be mindful of the wear from traffic that could occur.

With the drier weather that we have had the last couple of months these areas are starting to show and develop. Below are some photos of some areas.

Irrigation season

It is the time of year when the irrigation system gets fired up checking the operation of the sprinklers, controllers, pumps & pipework in readiness for the summer watering.  The system gets a bit of use this time of year washing in wetting agent and as usual we have had a few teething problems with  cable issues, pipe leaks, etc. It didn't take long to find our first pipe leak for the season.

Our first pipe leak for the season in 80mm pipe

The sprinklers working on the 18th fairway

Course Update

It has been two weeks since the greens were renovated and full recovery isn't far away. The growth is still quite slow but I don't want to push it along too much and encourage the Poa annua at the expense of the Browntop bentgrass.

We have taken the opportunity to put out wetting agent on the greens, tees and areas on fairways that tend to dry out too much during summer. We have used 50/90 wetting agent which is a long term product that will give us a 90 day effective time frame before another application is made.

I will be taking moisture readings on all greens this week and it will be interesting to see if the wetting agent has had an effect on evening out the moisture profile.

We have also slightly lowered the cutting height of the fairway mower for the spring growth and the fairways are starting to look nice. We still have some more areas that need treatment with wetting agent and we will be spraying all fairways shortly for weed control.