Greens update 12/12/18

After the extremely wet and windy weather last week, it was good to inspect the course today and I was amazed to say that all the rain we had last week is draining / has drained away.

The work on the 1st (drainage ditch) at part of the Winter Works Plan is coming on well… and we have had a major result. Whilst going a bit deeper than originally planned we have uncovered a stone culvert that was pouring water towards the direction of the LH bunker on the 1st Green. Brett and the lads have already started laying in a drainage pipe at the bottom of the ditch (below the culvert and redirected water)… some 3 – 4 feet down and this will be back filled in areas where the sides are loose.. to prevent any subsidence. The area is roped off and should be treated as GUR for the time being. Please take great care when crossing over the ditch on the temporary walkways.

Brett wants to keep the ditch open until January to see where we capture the most water, to therefore determine the depth of swale we put in when we refill totally and re-seed.

The blue alkathene irrigation piping is going to be laid into the drainage ditch over the next couple of days, as well as being dug in close to the Green and filled in, as per the other holes we have just put irrigation into.

As an additional improvement to help redirect surface rain water to the left of the 1st Fairway, Brett is going to be build a raised swale into the area near the first tree on the LH side of the 2nd fairway, that will direct water towards the existing swale near to the end of the path down the 1st that leads into the pond. I believe the area used to be known as “Oscars Hump”. From what I understand when this was flattened a number of years ago, water then increased in capacity towards the 1st Green / fairway area. The material for this raised swale will be gained from material being dug out of this ditch down the 1st. It will also save carting material across the course and creating any excess mess / damage. Once completed this will be seeded ready for the new golfing season.
Please treat this areas as Compulsory GUR for the time being.

I’m pleased to say that the repair work we did on the 15th steps has held up well after the rain last week, and has also shown us that water in the more levelled area at the top of the steps runs “stream like” in this area. We have some guttering which were going to dig in at the top of the steps to re-direct surface water away from this area. The path at the top near the 15th Comp tee will also be compacted better now that we have some drier weather forecast over the next couple of days.

Those who have been up to the course since last Thursday will also notice that Brett has also cleared out the marsh ground area to the left / front of the 17th tee, and we seem to have unearthed a spring. In just 2 days Brett has cleared the area and with the amount of water running through it, it has formed a shallow pond area leading into the brook further down the LH side of the 17th Fairway.
We need to explore the source of this spring (or pipe break)… but we are now getting a stronger idea as to why the 10th Green and the area around it is generally wet.
It may be coincidental that the spring that was brought to our recent attention that leads into the 10th pond is also in the vicinity, on the other side of the 10th Green.

I have asked Brett to have a think about how’s best to maintain this “pond” area, and indeed if we want to create a small pond here for wildlife / as an added feature to the course then we can put a few stones in at the lower end, to channel the water properly into the ditch, and also to act as a small dam to hold back a bit of the water flowing through it. We will keep you updated on the progress of our findings. Please treat this area as GUR until we put Hazard marker stakes out in this area.

I popped over to Hazel Grove GC last Wednesday to speak with their Head Greens Keeper Mike Davy. He writes a monthly feature in the Golfing Newspaper that we get at our club.
The main purpose was to ask him about possible irrigation from pond water. It has been queried to me and Stuart whether we could use water from the 10th pond, so I wanted to get proper advice?

Hazel Grove GC use pond / surface water to irrigate the majority of their course HOWEVER theirs is supplied into a much bigger pond than ours, that filters water through a reed bed from farmland (which is my major concern with the 10th). They have a fountain that is on pretty much 24 / 7 producing oxygen into the pond, and then water is run off into a 20,000 litre storage tank. It is tested regularly before pumping across the course.
Mike Davy’s advice was not to be too hasty regarding looking into this. He did say that this last year has been an eye opener for Golf Courses across the country, and brought to the forefront more forward planning for getting water to the greens / across golf courses in the future.

With the irrigation we have put in supplied from the borehole tank, coupled with the new suggested way to deposit water from our bowser we are confident that we are in a much better place knowledge-wise for next year and beyond.

Finally…. we took delivery of a new (140 hrs on the clock) Toro Fairway Mower today. This won’t be used until early next year. The majority of the other Greens Machinery / Kit has also been serviced / repaired so we are ready to hit the course once we are nearing the end of winter, to start preparing for the new golfing season.

Note for your Diaries in early 2019:

We want to hold another Greens Q&A session possibly the end of Jan / very start Feb.
The intention is to give members a progress report of works that have been carried out since our last Greens Q&A session in the summer, and to let you know the ideas we have to improve our course over the next 12 months and beyond. Hopefully as many of you can attend this Q&A session as possible.

Any ideas or suggestions that you have that would contribute towards this Q&A session then please get in touch with either me, or Stuart.

Thanks once again for your continued thanks and support.

Regards

Rob Owen & Stuart Graham
Co-Greens Chair