These roots need pruning!!!

Trees on a golf course bring many qualities. Lovely canopies, gorgeous smells and will give a golf course character and strategy. One other thing that they bring however (and it's not a good thing) are their roots! Unfortunately tree roots and a golf course don't go hand in hand. They block drains, smash pipes and damage machinery. One interesting fact is the root system of a tree is 2.8 times the size of its canopy. So the next time you approach a green, have a look at the surrounding trees. You will be surprised how many roots are affecting that green.



At Ealing we are very proactive in root pruning as our identity is a parkland golf course. Part of our maintenance strategy is cutting back the roots away from playing areas and over the years many greens such as the 1st, 6th and 12th have had their roots pruned as their performance was suffering. This week we pruned roots to the back of the 5th green. Over the past few seasons we have noticed the back section of that green has been suffering and we feel one of the major reasons is the row of Oaks directly behind it. Armed with our new trencher, a channel was dug 1.2metres in to the earth 110mm wide. The roots in the trench were cut and then we physically cut them back further. The spoil was then backfilled, compacted and seeded on top.

The whole process took around a day to complete and disturbance minimal. The long term benefits however hopefully will be plain to see. A good quality green, running smooth and fast!

Boards laid out first

The trencher moves in

Cutting the roots back

Spoil plops to the side

Backfilled and a nice clean job in one day!

TP Tour comes to town!

The weather was kind

Last Wednesday we hosted the TP Tour's London Pairs competition. It was a fourball betterball competition and featured many tour pro's and star feature was ex-ryder Cup player Paul Broadhurst. 46 pairs played 18 holes and then the top 6 scores played an extra 4 holes giving a 22 hole total. The event was eventually won by Adam Gee and James Heath after a 2-hole sudden death play off, with Adam holing a 12 foot winning putt.




The course was in immaculate condition with the greens stimping at 13 feet on the day. The Greenstaff were on top form and every area of the course was set up to professional standards. The comments from the players of the day were great. Twitter was very active with great tweets such as 'best and fastest greens I have every putted on' and 'Ealing Golf Club = comfortably the best greens I have putted on in England' To view our twitter page please follow this link https://twitter.com/EalingGolfClub

Greens stimping at 13feet

Players preparing

It was a great team effort by the Greenstaff and many hours were put in to prepare the course for the event. It was nice to show off our course and we look forward to seeing them back next year!

Fairways getting a cut first thing

Our Course Manger & Pro were out there!

1st Major of the year - Spring Meeting

Getting those stripes burnt in

The Greenstaff have been busy this week preparing the course for our first major of the year, the Spring Meeting. It's been a great week and has allowed us to prepare the course in beautiful conditions. This time last year it was pouring down and we had to postpone the event at that time. What a difference a year makes!

A lot of effort goes in to building up to a big competition. Greens are moved on a little, bunkers given that extra spruce up and course definition is top of the list. Long hours are needed, but it is worthwhile when you see the course in the finished article. Over 100 members will be playing this weekend and with the forecast decent, the greens will be firm and fast. On Friday morning they were stimping at 13 feet, so make sure you get on the rightside of the pins with your second (or third) shots. The new 13th back tee will be in play and we wish all competitors good luck this weekend. You may need it!

Pins being marked out this morning

New 13th tee being given some water

Guys hard at it!