The course is enjoying it's first taste of early season sun and is looking much better for it.  Work will move thick and fast now as we try and catch up with conditioning the golf course.  Late last week the Abbotts fairways were scarified to remove some of the dead material and moss.  This has left small balls of rubbish which will disappear as we continue cutting in the next week.  The fairways on Wednesday and Thursday will receive a mixture of fertilizer for growth, Iron for moss control, a growth regulator and selective herbicide to kill clover and weeds. 
  Unlike other years when we would simply throw on a granular fertilizer and watch the grass grow, we are now looking for better control of the plant, with the ultimate goal of cutting as little grass whilst creating the best possible surfaces.  So the sprayer will be much more in evidence on the fairways this summer.
  The product used on the 11th,12th and 14th fairways on the Abbotts to kill off the rye grass has done a great job but some of these areas need to be seeded which is being done on Thursday.  All this work on the fairways is aimed at improving the turf quality but equally as important, is enhancing definition which is something we always struggle with.
  Abbotts greens have been topdressed with .8  of a ton of sand on each green.  This will help fill in any imperfections.  The Priors is being topdressed early next week.




A picture of the improved definition on the Abbotts fairways.

Spring has finally shown it's hand with the last of the really bad weather behind us.  Now we have the job of forcing on the surfaces as quickly as possible.  Greens have received a light verti-cut and topdress on the Abbotts.  This will be followed up in the next week or two with a solid-tine and heavy dress on both courses.  Later in the week all greens are being sprayed with fertilizer, a light iron application to harden the grass against disease and seaweed to encourage root growth.  Along with this we will be spraying a product that slows the vertical growth rate of the grass thus improving the sward density by encouraging the energy from the plant to produce more shoots.  All these processes are part of our usual regimented pattern.  This will continue right through the growing season to enable consistency of surfaces on not just a daily but weekly basis.

Greens will be topdressed heavily in the next week or two to smooth out surfaces and increase sward density.

The weather looks finally to have turned a corner with warmer days on the way.  This week's focus has seen a good deal of cutting on the course and the new shrub bed taking shape by the Pro Shop.  All tees have received a tonic containing seaweed, this will give the roots a much needed boost and will help force on these important areas.  T-mats are being brought in and Yellows/Whites split.  Greens are in good shape and are ready to be pushed on.  Early next week we will verti-cut and dress Abbotts greens with a view to solid-tine and dress again within the next 2 weeks. 

Just a little picture to sum up my roll as a Course Manager!

The Bank Holiday starts with fairly settled weather, not the pattern we all hoped for but consistent through the next few days so will allow the course to dry and get some meaningful golf in.  We are currently engaged in some boring but no less important Health and Safety work.  As you can see below sleeper steps have had special hard backed matting attached to them to prevent slipping in inclement weather.  This is being used on all steps on the courses.  All bridges next week will be clean using a mossicide to clear sleepers of slippery moss and algae.
 The digger arrives from South Essex next week so we can begin some on course work before the weather warms up to much.  First on the list is the new scrub bed by the clubhouse.  We then need to address a few bridge problems on the Priors before fixing some irrigation leaks on the Abbotts.

Courses have received a battering in the last few days so hopefully we can miss the worst of the incoming weather.  Greens on both courses have been fertilized this week in the hope we can force on some growth.  As you can see on the course the greens have lots of black footprints on, especially around the hole.  This is caused by the high salt content in the fertilizer which draws the moisture out of the plant and leaves a burn mark on the green.  Normally we would water the fertilizer in after application to avoid this but with the irrigation not primed up and plenty of moisture in the air we have allowed some footprints to occur although most will disappear in the next few days.  








The horse damage of last week has recovered well with the Abbotts only showing scars on 9 and 11.  The Priors was hit harder but its only the 10th that shows up today.  I'm on my way to give Mickey Mouse a big cuddle for the next few days and with any luck get to eat some nice juicy burgers in Paris.

Below is a picture from the library, the weather today has been frankly awful and a decent picture nigh on impossible.  Aeration started today on the Abbotts greens.  This piece of equipment produces a hole 10mm in diameter and up to 10 inches deep.  We have opted to go 6 inches deep.  The machine takes about 25 minutes on each green and leaves a slightly elongated hole on the surface of the green.  Normally we would cut and roll greens after but with the very cold weather we have opted to double roll with the greens mower so as not to stress the turf to much. This kind of very deep aeration is a once yearly operation to try and open up the profile and allow air and water to penetrate deeply into the green.  We would expect the green to remain bobbly for 3-4 days before returning to its usual position.