Controlling moisture during dry periods

Now that we are in to a nice dry period controlling moisture in our greens becomes a priority. During a hot, dry period it is very easy just to switch on the irrigation system and overwater the greens. If you did this not only would the agronomics be affected but from a playability view point, the ball tends to 'snake' along instead of rolling smoothly. At Ealing we have a number of tools such as a weather station that gives us the information to allow us to make informed decisions on watering. However there was a tool that came out several years ago which really changed the way we water. It's called a moisture meter!

Our Fieldscout TDR300

We use the Fieldscout  TDR100 and 300 to measure moisture content in the greens. Our Course Manager was out this morning measuring every green to see how each is performing. A Fieldscout uses Time Domain Reflectometry technology. It basically sends a signal between two probes which then converts to a percentage. The higher the percentage the more resistance which means more moisture.

At Ealing because our greens are clay based (fine particles) we will have a lot higher readings that say a sand based green (medium/coarse particles). The figure that we are trying to reach are between 30 and 35%. If they go below the greens tend to get crusty and hydrophobic. Above and they get soft with the ball plugging. From the figures below 12 greens were in the correct zone this morning with 7 under and none over. We will now tweak those 7 greens to try and bring up their percentages slightly. During periods such as this we will take a single green reading daily (2nd green) and all 18 three to four times per week. Another tool which allows us to maximise our greens performance!

Moisture Readings Saturday 21st June

Watering some dry areas

Construction to the Chipping Green begins!

Over the last 2 weeks we have been working on our new chipping green project. So far all the trees in the area (apart from the Yew tree) have been cleared, rootballs removed, green has been shaped and drainage,gravel carpet and rootzone added. It has been an intense period and the weather hasn't been to kind, but we are quite happy with progress so far. Constructing any new project takes careful planning and all stages has to go in sequence. As the area is tight manoeuvrability can be hard, so taking our time making sure everything is done right is our number one priority. It pays long term to do so.

Over the bank holiday weekend drainage was installed along with a 'gravel carpet' at a 100mm depth and rootzone at 250mm. It is the backbone behind the greens performance and allows water movement to be controlled. This weekend we will be adding the irrigation system and shaping the surrounds. Once this is completed we hope to apply the poa cores on Monday, with turfing of the surrounds following soon afterwards. We then enter the 'grow in' stage when the count down begins to our opening date of early September. It will be intense but well worth it!

Trees to be removed

Tree Surgeons felling trees

The Church appears!

Spoil added

Green is 'cored out'

Ricky and Olly 'shaper' discussing design

Drainage added

Gravel Carpet at 100mm depth

Rootzone at 250mm depth

TP Tour Comes to Ealing!

Last Monday the TP Tour came to Ealing to play the 2nd London Pairs Tournament. This was held for the first time last year and features up and coming pro's and amateurs, as well as established tour processionals. It was a fourball better ball tournament with 38 pairs playing 18 holes, with the top 6 scores going in to a 4-hole 'shoot out'! Defending Champions James Heath and Adam Gee successfully defended their title. It was good to see as they are both former winners of our Ealing Scratch Open and always good supporters of the golf club.

For the agronomy team it was a good chance for us to show off our golf course. Many long hours went in to this event and the feedback from the players was excellent. The course was well defined and greens were running at 13.25 feet. Our own Course Manager and Director of Golf played as a team. They even complained that the uphill putts seemed fast!

Greens running at 13.25feet

Attention to detail

Even the ducks liked it!

Greenkeeping team hard at it

It was a beautiful day

Chipping Green Project Commences 19th May

Last week it was confirmed that our new chipping green would proceed with construction set to start week commencing the 19th May. Over the last few years it is a project that has gathered pace and we are keen to implement this straight away now that funding has been agreed. The design has been jointly done by Weller Design and our own Pro, Ricky Willison. The area that has been agreed on is the new clearance on the way to the 9th tee. Space is tight with the whole area only totally just over 600m2, but we feel with careful thought and design we will get a top playing surface that we desire!

The project is being managed by our Course Manager Greg Evans and underwritten by our present Captain and immediate past Captain. Because the area is tight and light will be an issue we have decided to install it to full USGA specifications but with a twist! Instead of the industry norm of turf or seed being used we will be 'coring' a couple of our existing greens and using those cores as the seedbed. It is something that we did a couple of years ago with our turf nursery and worked a treat.

The aim is to construct and build mid-May with the cores going down early June. As we plan to open the area for the autumn meeting in September it will give us 3 months to grow in and open to a top standard.  The specification for the area is as follows:

• Green size 296m2
• Surround size 331m2
• Green to be built to full USGA specifications which consists of a 100mm gravel carpet with 300mm of predominately sand sitting on top
• Whole area to be fully irrigated and drained
• 50mm 'sand cap' will be used on the surrounding area, with rye turf
• Path to be widened from 1 to 2metres
• 9th gate to be moved from its existing position 5 metres further up the footpath making the walk from the 8th green to 9th tee straighter

At present we are thinking of adding a small bunker but there are some safety issues attached to this. We will decided once rough shaping has taken place.

It is a small but exciting project for us. As usual it has many challenges but is something that we enjoy. Our aim is to produce a chipping green which is of the same standard as the main greens if not better. We will do update blogs throughout the project. All that we hope for is that the weather is kind!

First Major of the Year - Spring Meeting!

As we approach our first major of the year the course has really taken shape over the last month. This is always a funny time of year for the greenstaff as we are finishing winter snagging jobs whilst getting the course ready for the playing season. In April our cutting regimes intensified with greens going from two to three cuts up to daily. Also other areas such as fairways have increased from once a week to three times. Heights of cuts have come down with greens now cut at our summer height of 2mm. We are getting lots of compliments at the moment which is always nice to hear.

For the weekend the main focus will be on the greens. Instead of just cutting they will be rolled as well. It will increase the speed from a daily stimp meter reading of 11 feet up to 12 or beyond. Smoothness will also increase and having just done a smoothness test we are happy that we have hit our first 10 out of 10 for the season. Pin positions will be a bit tougher and it will certainly feel like a major. It's always nice when the spring meeting comes along as for EGC it signals the start of the playing season!

Spring Drainage Works at EGC

The last two weeks have been very intense at EGC. Last week all the greens,tees,approaches and collars were given their spring renovations. The main focus of the week was aeration and sanding with the greens receiving 40tonnes on their own. This week the intensity went up another level and 380 metres of drainage was installed in to the 15th fairway and snagging areas on the 1st,8th and 11th holes. This is part of our overall drainage programme which is into its second year now. With this work completed we now have 13 fairways and approaches which we consider 'acceptable' in extreme weather. Work is planned to the second fairway in the autumn and in year 4 all fairways should be up to standard.

The pictures below give you an idea of the work which took place. We did 850metres over the week and with the 800metres last autumn, it has been a good winter. The work consisted of turf cutting the turf off, trenching out the drain lines, backfilling with sand, consolidating and finally putting the turf back on. It was a great team effort and once these areas settle down secondary drainage will be installed with a gravel bander.

Marking out the 15th approach

Gully pots going in to the 15th fairway

Turfcutting the areas

Trenching away

Checking levels

Pipe laid

Nice clay sub base in 15th green

Sand backfilled

Finished product

Gully pot installed

Marking out irrigation lines

Turf back on

Trenching across the 15th fairway

We needed some help!

382metres installed in the 15th fairway in 3 days

Marking out the 8th approach

View up the 1st fairway

1st fairway finished

Turf cut off the 8th green

Nice to know the aeration/spiking programme is working!

Typical greenkeepers!

Trench finish on the 8th green

Consolidating the sand

It's not suppose to be enjoyable

8th Approach all finished

Number 10 Downing Street for one of our Greenkeepers!

A couple of weeks ago one of our assistant's Ryan Bezzant visited Downing Street during national apprenticeship week.  Ryan joined us last autumn and enrolled on the NVQ scheme. He was picked by the Greenkeepers Training Committee to represent the industry as one of the government trailblazers organisations.

 

 

Ryan outside Downing Street

The day went really well and Ryan met the Chancellor George Osborne. He commented on the day 'it was a truly memorable occasion and one I will remember for the rest of my life. I now want to focus on my apprenticeship at Ealing and thank the golf club for supporting me'.