Dear Members,
Just a quick update on some of the ongoing work on the course.
The past month has given us brilliant weather, with perfect temperatures to grow grass.
The greens are in good shape at the moment. The health is great, and they are rolling very well.
We have continued our couch grass removal over the past month. The pain we suffered earlier this year has paid off. When we started with the new product called Pylex, we used 8 tanks of product to each application to target the areas inside the perimeters. Last week we used less than 2 tanks, and this included a few larger areas on the perimeters. This goes to show that the vast majority of the couch we treated last year has been killed off, which is a great win.
Our Poa removal is still going ahead very well. We have a lot more Poa this time of the year as compared to the same time last year due to many reasons:
- A wetter winter meaning germination was a great deal easier
- Heavier falls though winter, which meant many of our Poa suppression applications were not as effective as they could have been.
- Due to it’s suppressive nature, we were not as aggressive in the poa control because we were also trying to get recovery on the bent after the couch removal.
- After such a dry summer, we had very high salts, which also prevented an aggressive approach to the poa suppression
- By this time last year, we had many days in the high 30’s which naturally puts the poa under a great deal of stress.
Along with our Poa and couch removal, our Kikuya removal and control will increase over the next month. These three grasses, which are actually highly sort after on many courses around the world, are naturally occurring, and grow very well in our soil and climate. This means their removal and control is an all year round process. Our goal is to make every year a little better than the year before, depending on the weather.
Our Spring renovations, although a little later than normal, will take place on Monday and Tuesday the 25th and 26th of November. We will be coring the greens, tees and surrounds, and have them all back into play by Wednesday the 27th. They should be quite good to play on by the weekend straight after.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all members the very best for the festive season, and good golfing.
Regards
John Benbow, Director of Facilities
