South East Girls and Golf Week

Cutting the 2nd green in the dark at 4.45am

For the past two weeks Ealing has hosted two big events. First up was the South East Girls Championship where girls from Kent, Sussex, Middlesex, Essex and Surrey battled it out for 3 days. Kent came out on top and reports back from all competitors was very positive. Next up was our second annual golf week. It started off with Invitation day and contained the Club Championship, Pro and Am-Am, Junior and Scratch Open and finished off with the Generation Bowl yesterday. Again the reports back from all those who played during the week was great.

A lot of hard work and hours has been put in by the Greenstaff over the last two weeks. Some very early starts were needed to get ahead of the golf and present the course for the days play. The weather in general was very kind and the only hicup was last weekend when we had some flooding. The course played very well. Green speeds were maintained at 12 feet for all of the events and went up to 13.5 feet for the Pro-Am.  All in all a very satifying period. It's always good to see the course perform at its best and we look forward to hosting future events soon.

Mid-Season Greens Renovations

After a busy few months we completed our mid-season greens renovations works this week. Once the Seniors Open was completed on Monday, the week started with a verti-cut Tuesday morning with a micro tine following behind. Unfortunately the weather wasn't kind to us on Tuesday and after heavy downpours, six greens were still to be completed mid-morning. Once the weather improved in the early evening the Greenstaff reconvened the renovation and completed the verti-cut operation and spiked five more greens. With the weather improving on Wednesday, the rest of the greens were micro-tined and 15 tonnes of sand was applied to all greens. A wetting agent was then applied to the greens and 10 tonnes of sand spread on the approaches. A tough couple of days.

Miro spiking with 8mm cluster tines

Many members ask why we do this work in the mid-playing season. There is one main reason for this and it is recovery. At this time of year getting the greens back in play very quick is important when you have a busy golfing diary. Because temperatures are in double figures night and day, growth can be boosted at this time of year. If you look at the picture below you will see the 9th green two days after the work was competed on Friday afternoon. That green was still stimping over 10feet and smoothness was 9 out of 10. Not bad considering two days previous we were 'digging the greens up' in some golfers eyes!

15 tonnes of sand applied

9th Green two days after