As you can see from the below picture 2 problems in one on the greens at the moment.  The orange spot is called Microdocium Patch or Fusarium (Fuzz) to most of us.  If you look at the picture you can see fresh grass in the centre of the patch so at this time of year we've taken the decision not to spray as the actual surface remains reasonable good.  Cost of spraying 18 holes is about £700 for this disease, so with the plant growing strongly this is not a sensible environmental or economic view.
   The second problem which is more of an issue is the white flecks in the picture.  You can't help but notice the white seed heads in all the greens on the Abbotts.  This are the seeds of Annual Meadow Grass or Poa.  As we lower the height and put the plant under stress it produces seed to protect itself.  This causes the surface to be slow, grainy, puffy and visually very unappealing.  We will continue to verti-cut greens and in the next few weeks the seed will slowly disappear leaving cleaner, smoother surfaces.

   The 18th pond is looking much better in terms of weed but we were a bit trigger happy with the dye, leaving a pond that is probably visible from space and certainly glows in the dark.  The dye will not harm the plant or animal life and will slowly dilute in the next week.

  I'm off camping in Dorset over the weekend so expect lots of rain and wind over the bank holiday.

  The course has looked good this week with steady growth and dry days creating good definition to all parts, although no areas of the course have had time to fill in so there are plenty of holes in all surfaces. Abbotts greens mower has had new bottom blades and the cylinder has been reground.  This week we have verti-cut greens on Abbotts to remove lateral growth and encourage new shoots to fill in any holes.  Greens have had three-quarters of a ton of sand on each together with a fertilize to help fill in and smooth out  surfaces.
  The 18th pond is partway through dredging out some of the pond weed, this is choking the pond both for the fish and aesthetically for the golfer.  As you can see below someone had to volunteer and this time it was the course manager.
   

The weed will be left on the bank for a few days to allow wildlife to return to the pond.  During our clearance we found Roach, Rudd and goldfish, together with American Shrimp and the rather dangerous looking Alderfly larvae that you can see below.