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