6th Tee Continued

Work has gone well on the 6th with its new irrigation installed last week.

 

 

 

This was followed by the rootzone being spread across both Tees ready for final levelling before turfing in the new year.

Work Continues on the 4th

The 4th is moving forward quickly thanks to the kind weather we have had for a change this last ten days, from the initial topsoil removal we have carried out the following :

Installed over 150 Metres of Drainage around the green included in this are the 2 new bunkers, and removing the need for the existing soakaway

 

Subsoiled and shaped Two new bunkers followed by topsoiling to a rough grade.  The Bunkers will be much more visable from further down the fairway having the back faces lifted to make the sand higher.

 

The two new bunkers have had the drainage completed and have been stoned ready for the next part of the work. 

 

The rest of the banking has been topsoiled ready for final grading before we turf in the New Year

 

 

 

The Banks have been built up considerably to improve the visual appearance of the hole.  It will also allow us to maintain the banking much more easily and safely therefore enabling us to keep a better surface.

 

6th Tee Taking Shape

Subsoil shaping has been completed for the new 6th Tees

Drain Installed through the middle of the Tee, linking into the new road drain

 

 

New Pathway being shaped

 

70/30 Rootzone being tipped ready for grading, approx. 100 tonne will be required to create a dry level teeing surface.

 

 

 

 

Work Begins on 4th Begins

Work has begun on the 4th Green Surround.  Topsoil has been stripped and subsoil is being moved from the new pond on the 2nd over to the 4th to create the mounding and bunkering around the green.

We have also been raising the canopy's of the willows behind the green to allow more light into the area. 

The 2nd Progress so far

Leylandii Removed from the side of the 2nd (Horrible Things) Not many left on the course now!

 

 

Topsoil Being Stripped ready for stock pilling to be used at a later stage

 

 

Topsoil Stock Piles to be used once final sub soil grading has been approved and when ground conditions permit.

 

Subsoil Shaping has began, all reusable turf stripped and reused around the course

 

Green Extension - Subsoil has been shaped and new drainage installed to the green extension

 

 

Greens Extension - Gravel Carpet being installed above the drainage runs.

The Winter Reconstruction work

Work begun on the 28th of October, work is being carried out to holes 2 4 5 & 6 to improve how the holes look and play as well as improving the overall safety of the banks which will in turn improve the quality of turf that we can provide.  The pond that is being built in front of the 2nd hole will not only add a great feature to the hole but will also provide us with the huge amounts of material required to carry out the projects this winter.  This Blog will provide a detailed summary of how the work progress's this winter.

How the green on the 2nd looked before the 28th October

Will you really miss these Bunkers ??

Bunkers that flooded whenever we had more then a few mm of rain, the shape of the bunkers are dated and do not enhance the hole in any way.

August Renovation

This year was the first year we have done a major renovation in August.  Usually we have carried it out towards the end of September however results can be varied depending on weather conditions.

You are now benefiting from the August renovation which has and will extended good green conditions threw to the 2nd week in November when we begin Winter aeration on them.

The Renovation Work in August included carrying out the Following

Double Scarifying

 

 Hollow Coring to  a 7 Inch Depth

 

 

Topdressed Greens - 80 tonne was applied in 3 days before a further 20 tonne was applied after seeding took place.  100 tonne in7 days not bad!

 



 

 

Power Brush - Our New machine enabled us to get the Sand into the 7 inch deep tine holes before they started to close. We  did not get bridging of the holes like we do when we use the drag mat.  It did cause a few complaints over the first couple of days with members thinking we had not done any topdressing as it was so efficient at its job.

 

 

Seeded Greens - Double Passed with the seeder applying Velvet Bent to the surface continuing our ongoing program of reducing the poa annua % in our putting greens.



 

 

Rolled Greens - To assist in getting the greens smoother and aiding soil seed contact.

 



 

 

Fertilised the Greens - To assist with Green Recovery and to give vital nutrients to the new seedlings.



 

 

This process took less then 1 week to complete and greens had recovered with within 14 days start to finish.

 

Course In May

 

Above pic - cannot wait to remove those horrible leylandii at the back of the green next winter

 

New 1st Tee Maturing

 

14th - Preparing for the Seniors Open Rhoddies finally out in the background

 

View from Clubhouse - Hand Mown Approach and the Blossom and daffodils still out in the Middle of May, Crazy!

Results of Spring Maintenance

The following Pictures show how the Spring Overseeding program has worked.  Pictures were taken approx. 14 days after overseeding towards the end of April

Picture showing the Overseeding working across a sand band Line on the 2nd Fairway

 

The Picture shows the Bent Grass coming through a scar on a green.

 

The Picture Below shows seed coming through on the Tees after only 8 days of germination

 

 

Spring Renovation

The last 10 days has seen intensive renovation work being carried out to all areas of the golf course.  This has included the following :

The Verti Draining of all Tee's & Approaches, and the completion of all the fairways.  This has been done using 25mm x 300mm Solid Tines.  This should assist in de-compacting area's from the winters play but will also enable the topdressing that followed to get through the profile assisting by creating vertical drainage lines.

Scarifying on the fairways was also carried out once the snow had left the course, we used a 2metre wide machine that also collected the debris to leave as good a finish as possible.

While the Fairways were being Scarified we also scarified the Greens, Tees and Approaches using a Triple Machine, scarifying in two directions.  This will help to reduce any thatch build up but also help to create an improved seed bed and stronger turf.

Once the scarifying was completed we began Over seeding all area's.  This year has seen us put down seed to just about all area's of the course.  Different cultivars of seed from different manufacturers to best serve the areas its been planted.  Over 140 20kg bags have been put out over the golf course to improve turf quality.

 

 

 



The Fairways were overseeded (Picture above) using a Mix of Fescue and Rye, this year we have used a greater percentage of finer grasses on the fairways as a contrast to the use of a more wear tolerant mix last season.

 

 

Pictured above is the machine we used to overseed our Green's, Tees and Approaches, we double passed all these area's to achieve a more uniform coverage.  It will be the first year we are concentrating on an overseeding program on the greens.  This is because we now have a soil profile that should give us  success with the cultivars of bent grass we are using.

 

For the Tees we used new cultivars of Rye Grass that have a creeping form of Rye in the mix which will help aid Establishment and recovery from devoting.

 

The Approaches were overseeded using a Bent Fescue Mix and the Semi Rough has been overseeded with specific cultivars to aid wear tolerance and improve winter colour.

Once the Overseeding was completed we topdressed all the Green's Tees and Approaches with Straight sand and topdressed the fairways with a Humas Material the same as last year which will assist with growth and seed establishment.

 

Once the topdressing was dragged in using  the drag mat and new Brush all the areas have been fertilised,  The Greens, Tees and Approaches have been fertilised with a quick  release product which Is proved to release nutrient at low temperatures.  The fairways have been fertilised with a slow release product that should last around 3 months.  We have had the rain to assist and now all we are waiting for is it to warm up as soil temps are still low for the time of year. 

This has been a mammoth task over the past couple of weeks with unfavourable weather conditions and I know it has caused disruption to your golf however the efforts will be well worth it and should become visible over the next week to ten days.

Thank you





 

New Topdressing Brush

The New Topdressing Brush has arrived.  This will help to get sand into the profile much more quickly.  It will also help to fill the hollow coring holes more efficiently then the old drag mat/Coco Mat.  These will still be used however not as frequently.  The Brush will also act as a groomer and will occasionally be used to stand the grass up before cutting to reduce any graining/nap formation standing up lateral growth to allow for an improved cut.

Drainage Work Coming to an End

The drainage work carried out this Autumn & Winter is finally coming to an end.  Many area's have been tackled across the whole site.  (Well over 700 Metres) a full list of area's drained has been emailed to all members in my monthly report.  It also details what results can be expected from the hard work carried out by the team.

Major work has included the draining of the 7th Fairway/Rough, the bottom of the 4th Fairway,  right of the 9th Fairway to the 7th and across the 14th Fairway.

Many of the smaller area's tackled such as the 30 metres of drainage to the right of the 13th Green or the work behind the 3rd green have been dug out by hand.  This has been a hugely physical job for the team, working up to there necks in water and mud.

 

 

Then we have had so many old clay drains begin to pull water again due to the permanently high water table which has cause major problems were they are blocked. Again most of these repairs have involved hand digging into working plastic drainage as its just been too wet to get machinery over to the area of work.

 

We have also added a Steel Drain across the 1st Road to try and trap all the water that sheds off the 8th hole which then floods the 1st Tee Path and starters Hut.

 

 

 

The 7th has had 50 Metres of 150mm pipe installed across it to hopefully catch all the water that runs across the hole via old drainage and surface water.  The picture below shows the water flowing out of it already.

 





Verti Draining Fairways

 

The Fairway's are now dry enough to get the Verti Drain on them, (at last!). Solid Tines are penetrating the soil 10- 12 inches down using inch wide tines.  This work would have been done on regular basis throughout the autumn and winter however due to the rainfall this year it is only now that we can get on the fairways to carry out the task cleanly. 

Some of the basic reasons for Verti Draining include the break up of soil compaction from the years play, it also provides desirable conditions for healthy root growth. By breaking up the compaction, both roots and water penetrate more deeply into the soil and better absorb water and nutrients.

 

Benefits of verti draining are:

Enables the absorption of water from the surface to the drainage system below (if present), preventing run-off and surface water lying in undulations

Facilitates quick drying of turf to extend playing time

Improves and maintains good soil structure

Improves and maintains sward density giving a better playing surface and preventing the invasion of weeds and moss etc.

Improves the durability of the sward and recovery from surface damage

 

Greens Profile Changes 2009-2012

Greens Profile Changes 2009-2012

The Picture above was taken in 2009 just before I started at Robin Hood. This profile was a familiar site and the condition most of the greens were in.  The picture below shows the greens profile now.  After extensive drainage work, aeration and 400 tonnes of topdressing a year.

I recently presented at BTME in Harrogate (The Greenkeeping Conference) detailing the improvement work we have carried out at Robin Hood, over 130 greenkeeper's from all over the country attended my talk. It was quite daunting presenting and answering qustion's for an hour from fellow Club and Course Managers, however hopefully it's helped put Robin Hood & our greenkeeping practices on the map and assisted other clubs who are in a similar position to what we were back in 2009.

The current Hollow Coring and Topdressing that's disrupting the playing surfaces is being carried out to continue the greens improvement.  If this work was not being done could you imagine going back to the images of 2009, you certainly would not be putting on them today!

Over the year we will be reducing topdressing levels to around 300 tonnes which should be noticeable and mean less days when topdressing is visible on the surface during the season. 

60 Tonnes have already been put down this year after the Hollow Coring (9 Inches Deep) carried out in January.

We have also just purchased a chain driven topdressing brush after trading in some old equipment. The Brush should arrive in March and will enable us to get the sand into the surface much faster then with a standard drag mat which we use at present.  This will assist in making our essential improvement programs less disruptive to the golfer.

Andy Wood - Course Manager