As far as July’s go it’s the best weather conditions we’ve seen for many years with just 26mm of rain, above average temperatures and some regular windy days which has all assisted in keeping the course to a very playable standard through winter so far. The best indication of course conditions this time of year is how we can utilise ride on transport and to date we have only removed these for a total of five days (only twice for competitions days) and for the most part there has been no restrictions on where they can drive. As we head into the latter half of winter we find ourselves in a really good spot to hopefully see us get through the cooler months playing in some very acceptable conditions.
GREENS
Our new procore machine has bought instant results to our greens with a noticeable improvement in their draining ability over the past couple of weeks. What I have noticed in its first few usages is that immediately after verti draining the greens become quite soft for approximately 5-7 days due to the compacted soil being loosened up. In the weeks after the surfaces have then become much firmer as a result of water being able to infiltrate down into the soil much easier. I expect with further use that this initial softness will subside as we continue to break up the compaction and improve the drainage ability of the soil.
The feedback I’ve received from golfers regarding the greens recently has been really positive and this is particularly pleasing for this time of year when it can be challenging to keep them as smooth and firm as we would ideally like.
FAIRWAYS/TEES/SURROUNDS
As we do every winter we applied a herbicide to our couch surfaces to eradicate the winter grass that pops up vigorously over the cooler months. We should hopefully begin seeing this grass turn yellow over the next couple of week as it begins to die and by the end of August hopefully have these areas fairly clean of this unwanted grass type. Applying this product is likely to also cause a little discoloration in the santa ana but this won’t last long as the weather begins to warm up and it wakes itself up from dormancy. Although this will likely have a slightly negative impact on the playing surfaces through August, removing the winter grass is important to ensure the couch grass has less to compete with through spring when it begins growing again.
We also applied a light rate of slow release granular fertiliser to all of our cool season tees and surrounds to help nurse it thorough the last of the cooler weather and the plan will be to hit these areas with a much higher rate once spring time is here.
With the weather being kind throughout the past month all playing surfaces have remained in a very acceptable state and it does show that provided we don’t get too much rain that santa ana can still be a great surface to play from even during winter when its dormant.
13th TEE
The main larger teeing area on our 13th hole has been out of play for some time and we plan to begin works on this tee to get it back in play ready for the summer period. For probably the past 10-15 years this tee has always been a nightmare to manage and particularly through the summer months as it dries out considerably faster than most other tees on the course. The two main issues are its grass type (mix of poa, bent) and the large trees that are positioned next to the tee. Not only do these trees limit much needed sunlight but they also suck moisture from the soil which both equate to poor grass growing conditions.
The other issue with this tee is its positioning as the trees down the left side of the fairway have now grown to a point where a hook for a right hander is required to get the ball on the fairway. At some stage there will be a need to thin this area out to not only make the tee shot more manageable but also to help sunlight break through. The smaller tee to the right where we have been playing does a better job of opening the dog leg of the hole up and from a design perspective is a better location for the tee to be placed. Additionally it is not impacted by the large trees to the left which enables better growing conditions from this area. With this is mind we will continue to use this tee as an option
For now we will begin the process of replacing the existing grass with santa ana to the larger tee to help with its resilience through summer. We have now sprayed it twice over the past few months to kill off any unwanted grass species/weeds which explains why this tee currently is dead and has very little grass coverage. Over the next few weeks we will begin preparing the area with the plan to lay the new grass sometime in late August/early September. At this stage we plan to lay turf only in the areas where it is required. This tee does have a large amount of natural couch already present so we hope to re-establish this to minimise the recovery time required as much as we can.
All things going well id expect to be back playing on this tee sometime around the start of December.
Ryan Hammond
DG&CC Course Superintendent
Filed under: Golf, Members, Membership Level, Members Slider