Dew Inhibitor

Today we sprayed the greens and aprons with a dew inhibiting chemical. The head greenkeeper jokingly said that this is a good test of my spraying ability as any missed spots will be covered with dew.

Oak processionary moth (OPM)

I visited another golf course in London yesterday and found one of the trees had been labelled  with OPM and a date. I also noticed what I assume is an old OPM nest.

Frost and dew

On Monday this week the course had its first frost. The reason I mention this is because even though most of the turf on the course was covered with frost, the greens were still covered in dew which needs to be removed to reduce the chance of disease.

Burning waste

It seems to be common practice to burn garden refuse. I say this because I have noticed many houses doing this since autumn started.

Pictured here is a large smouldering fire fuelled by branches, bramble and wood chips from all the recent tree felling we have been doing.

I understand that certain waste is best eliminated by burning such as tgr bramble which could spread seed however I struggle to comprehend this exercise. Surely this green waste could be put to good use somewhere else?

Cutting around the drainage bumps

Today was the first time that we cut the turf around the mounds left after installing the drainage on this fairway.
I was instructed to not drive over the mounds by any means.

We also leave the area roped off so that no trolleys can have access, although pedestrians are allowed.

Mushrooms in the rough

Gorse removal from carry area

Pin-position alteration

Yesterday we needed to alter the pin-positions but it was quite tricky as the greens were saturated. This means that it is really difficult when you try and lift the core of the new hole you are making. This is because the water seems to create a seal which prevents any air from entering the cavity you are making and therefore the core is sucked into the hole and sometimes doesn't come up.

Our deputy head greenkeeper figured out that by making a small hole in the direction of the hole-changer until you make contact with it, you create an inlet that allows air to enter the base of the core. This prevents the core from staying behind and makes it easier to extract it too.

Recovery from Fusarium

These photos show how the greens have recovered since being infected with Fusarium. Note how the recovery starts from the centre of the patches.

Verti-draining the fairways

Over the course of last week all the fairways on the course were verti-drained.

In some instances they were also top dressed with a fine sand however this was only done on the ones that have the worst drainage.

Slitting the aprons

Tree maintenance

Some more before and after pictures showing the tree maintenance that we are carrying out.

I have also included a photo of the chipper that we use to reduce the branches to wood chips. This is most useful for the removal of branches that would otherwise need to be further reduced in size with a chainsaw.

Tree maintenance

Yesterday and today we continued with tree maintenance on the course.

The head greenkeeper informed me that this has not been done on the course in many years (approximately 10) and we will be carrying on with this throughout winter.

Slitting the greens

Today the first assistant greenkeeper was tasked with slitting the greens. The pictures show how flat-triangular spikes make slits in the turfgrass followed by a roller which pushes down any areas that may have been lifted.

Our deputy-head greenkeeper informed me that this practice is normally carried out fortnightly from autumn through to winter and is intended to aerate the greens. This practice is not followed by top-dressing.