Type 3 fairy ring

Pictured here is the type 3 fairy ring. I was told by the head Greenkeeper that it is more superficial than type 2 (differentiated by a darker ring of turf) and type 1 (differentiated by small mushrooms growing up from the ring)

Wasp found on a green

Overnight bunker disturbance

Foraging beneath the silver moss

Here it seems as if some sort of animal wanted to get at something beneath the silver moss.  It would have occurred yesterday evening,  overnight or early this morning.

Notably, there is no sign of any turf roots or shoots where moss was displaced from.

Beetle on the course

Tree damage

In the pictures one can see that some bark has been stripped from the tree.

I do not know the cause yet but will keep my eyes and ears peeled.

Post and rail installation

Today and yesterday we installed wooden posts and rails to protect a carry area from pedestrian traffic.

The head Greenkeeper had us do this as he would like the carry to be an undisturbed grassland area. He argues that there is a pedestrian pathway just adjacent to the carry area so there is no need for golfers to traverse the carry area.

Irrigation and bunkers

If irrigation on the course is set incorrectly or for too long it could cause saturation and subsequent runoff into nearby low-points such as the bunker seen in the picture.  

Water tank foundation reinforcement

Bridge removal and replacement

Irrigation

Today we replaced a decoder on one of the fairway irrigation stations. The station was not responding to the main controller. After the decoder replacement and a bit of cleaning around all electrical connections the station is working fine.

Post green and aprons mowing

For two days after the greens and aprons treatment it is necessary to rub the clumps of soil that are lifted during mowing back in the turf surface.  This is most effectively done with an extendable flexible rod referred to as a swish.

The clumps of soil that are lifted during mowing are more prominent in the greens. This is arguably because the height of cut is less on the greens compared to that of the aprons and both areas are dosed with identical amounts of top dressing.

It is also worthwhile noting that the greens and mown with the triplex mower on both these days.

Post spraying watering

Immediately after appling wetting agent to the greens, a four minute irrigation cycle is carried out in order to get the wetting agent to the growth media as this is where the hydrophobic conditions need to be counteracted.

Greens and tees

Tees:
This week the tee boxes were sprayed with a treatment of the plant growth regulator Clipless.

Greens:
Tge greens were sprayed with a combination treatment of Turfcomplex and a seaweed based fertiliser.

Greens and aprons treatment

- brush the turf (to remove dew and encourage the turf to stand upright)
- verti-cut in two directions
- spike
- mow
- topdress
- incorporate with a drag-mat
- brush to further topsoil incorporation

Beetle on the course

Tee boxes

Application of seaweed fertiliser and wetting agent.

Ryegrass elimination

The yellowing of the grass in the picture shows the effects of spraying ... on the ryegrass in the rough areas.

A-team mowers

Today was the first time cutting with our A-team greens mowers since top dressing.

In preparation for this, prior to mowing yesterday the bed knife on the B-team greens mowers was changed to a slightly thinner one resulting in more of the turf leaf blade being removed during cutting. This was easily noticeable. The picture of the grass box shows the turf removed from cutting an entire green, prior to the bed knife change.

Red thread

This is a section on one of the tee boxes. I mentioned the symptoms to the head Greenkeeper and after asking me if the patches were red he informed me that it is called red thread. He then said that it is not too serious and that he will leave it to grow out.

Fertilizing the fairways

Fertiliser, iron and plant-growth-regulator was applied to the fairways today.

Bunker run

We did a bunker run today. 
A team of four guys went out. One to trim the grass around the edges of each bunker with a strimmer, one to trim the turf on the steep slopes and two to blow out the clippings and shape the bunkers with a flat rake.

Drainage channel clearing

Today the buildup of silt was removed from one of the concrete channels.

Habitat destruction?

Today an area alongside a drainage channel was cut whereas previously it had been left to grow as the grass over the path had been.  The reasoning behind this was that when player's use the path, they need to cross the drainage channel and the grass was obstructing the access. This is perfectly understandable however I believe it was unnecessary to cut the entire length. Perhaps it would have been better if only the grass at each bridge was cut.

As can be seen, we found a stag beetle in the area that was cut. Arguably this was home to this arthropod.