29/06/2011

Wednesday 29th June

First post for a long time, here is a quick look back:


Week starting the 13th June - Main jobs that week were top-dressing greens and approaches/surrounds, low areas on fairways were cut @ 6.5mm, weed killing around the course and general tidy up of course in the way of strimming/feathering areas around greens.

During the middle of that week a homemade fertiliser mix of: sulphate of ammonia, sulphate of iron, dried blood and hoof and horn were applied to the greens - this feed should see us through to the Women's Open. The rest of the week greens were dewied and cut with boxes off.


Then the rain came and it rained and rained and rained. For a while i thought i was working at Augusta, the greens (with the fert and rain) were really green!!


Week starting the 20th June - With all the rain and all the growth, we were brushing and double cutting the greens and of course rolling to achieve decent speeds for the different club championships. Fairways were sprayed with wetting agent, ammonia and iron both at light rates this was to build the grasses up before we verti-cut the following week. Work continued at the Pro Centre getting areas ready for turf. Weed killing on going.


Back to this week greens top-dressed and a start made to verti-cutting fairways and cutting behind them at 7.5 mm. Tomorrow we have a helicopter hole by hole shoot for BBC so all the course furniture has to be hidden away.


At least the sun is finally back.

14/06/2011

Tuesday 14th June

LINKS SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT FOR MAY 2011

WEATHER

May was a much more unsettled month than April with considerably less sunshine hours and cloud almost ever present. Rainfall totalled 94 mm which included some heavy persistent falls, whilst average noon temperatures were no better than April at 13° C. A westerly airstream dominated for most of the month apart from an easterly spell early in the month.

WORK ON THE LINKS

Championship Course

Aeration

Selective aeration involved hydroject treatment to walkways and traffic routes, whilst certain greens were pencil tined. Areas previously treated with “Rescue” were midi-tined prior to overseeding and solid tining was carried out locally. Tighter, compacted tees were mini tined and high spots on fairways were slit tined with cross tines.

Top Dressing

Sand top dressing was carried out as usual, covering greens, approaches, green surrounds and teeing grounds during the month. The turf nurseries and Public Putting Green were also dressed as were new turf areas and fairway extensions on the 1st, 4th, 6th and 7th holes. A considerable amount of blown sand from the Golf Centre construction had to be removed from the Putting Green more than once during the month.

Bunker Maintenance

Bunker maintenance was carried out in the usual manner which included pumping water following heavy rains. Bunker floors were subsequently loosened and certain bunkers were topped up with fresh sand.

Turf Repairs

Local turf repairs were carried out on the Public Putting Green which was opened on the 13th of the month. Some disease scars were plugged on the 2nd, 9th and 11th greens along with weaker spots within “Rescue” treated sections of green surrounds.

Turfing commenced at the end of the month on the banking at the new Golf Centre following preparation work.

Weedkilling

Selective weed killing continued as required around the course and the burn walling was cleared of weed or grass growth. Total weed killer was applied to ditch bottoms as arranged. Greens were sprayed with Mecoprop late in the month for pearlwort control.

Fungicide

Greens were sprayed with a preventative fungicide application for fairy ring control late in the month.

Nematicide

A garlic product “Eagle Green Care” was applied to certain greens to reduce specific nematode numbers identified from soil samples in the laboratory.

Mowing

Mowing regimes intensified according to growth which was inconsistent during the month due to slow improvement in temperatures. Greens were brushed and rolled in conjunction with mowing as required and hand mowing was carried out when possible.

Fertiliser

New turf areas received a fertiliser application along with walkways and some weak roughs and trafficked areas generally. Greens were treated with a light dressing of TX10, an organic based fertiliser while newer tees received a 12-0-9 fertiliser treatment.

Conditioner Treatments

Various turf conditioner treatments were carried out as usual during the month.

New turf around bunkers received an application of wetting agent with liquid seaweed and liquid iron as did green surround areas with a little liquid nitrogen added. Indications of dry patch areas were treated on greens and tees with an appropriate penetrant whilst all greens were covered with a mixture of wetting agent, water conditioner and micronutrients. Certain greens received Hydroject treatment with liquid seaweed added and tees were sprayed with a wetting agent, liquid iron and liquid nitrogen tank mix.

Primo Maxx

Two applications of this top growth retardant with micronutrient catalyst were carried out during the month as part of the ongoing seasonal programme.

Preparation Work - Tea Hut

Following the building site clearance around the new Tea Hut, preparatory work was carried out with sand infill prior to turfing over.


Irrigation

Hand watering was practised as required and sprinklers trimmed around. Irrigation pipe was pulled in to cover the mounding and peripheral area at the Golf Centre and sprinklers installed.

Fibre optic conduit pipe installation continued and decoders replaced where failures occurred.

Agronomist Visit

The Agronomist visited on the 19th of the month and asked for soil samples from all greens to be sent for laboratory analysis.

Burnside Course

Top Dressing

Greens were top dressed lightly, three times during the month, along with re-turfed areas.

Aeration

Hydroject aeration was carried out on walkways and other trafficked areas around the course. The 10th green was cross tine aerated in the middle of the month.

Weedkilling

The selective weedkiller – Mecoprop was sprayed on greens for pearlwort control. Selective weedkiller was also applied to the seeded rough on the right of the 10th hole and total weedkiller was applied round the Starters’ Box.

Bunkers

Bunker maintenance included pumping out water, loosening floors and topping up as required.

Waterlogging

Standing water was again pumped from the low lying area at the 3rd and 4th holes following heavy rains.

Irrigation

Local hand watering was carried out and sprinkler arcs were adjusted as needed.

Conditioner Treatments

Greens and approaches were sprayed with liquid iron and liquid seaweed early in the month. Wetting agent was applied to greens and approaches also as part of the seasonal programme.

Fertiliser

Teeing grounds received a 14-0-10 fertiliser whilst the new 15th tee was treated with TX10, organic fertiliser as was the new turf on the 13th fairway and the 5th green. Greens received a liquid fertiliser spray 14-0-7 with seaweed and liquid iron near the end of the month.

Buddon Links Course

Weedkilling

Selective weedkilling continued on the course as required to include the “tented village” area and the 2nd and 18th fairways.

Mowing

Greens, approaches, aprons and tees were verti-cut in the early part of the month along with appropriate brushing and rolling. Weekly mowing of additional areas such as the practice facilities and junior course was established in May.

Top Dressing

Tees, green approaches and aprons were top dressed during the month.

Overseeding

Following half green solid tining, seed was broadcast, brushed in and top dressed on the 6th, 11th and 12th greens.

Waterlogging

Similar standing water clearance applied as per the other courses following heavy rains, followed by bunker renovation where required.

Debris Clearance

Following the gale force winds on Monday 23rd of the month, a considerable amount of debris was collected and swept up from the 7th hole in particular.

Fertiliser

Towards the end of the month, greens received a fertiliser dressing comprising sulphate of ammonia, dried blood, hoof and horn meal and iron sulphate.

Turf Repair

The re-routed irrigation pipe track which was installed to divert the mains pipe to the putting green from under the new Golf Centre construction was turfed over at the end of the month.


Environmental Work

Environmental work was again limited during the month. Timbrell treated broom was removed from the left hand side of the 15th hole on the Championship Course and sections of the Barry Burn were manually cleared of weed.

Several wind blown trees were cut up from within the 6th, 7th, 16th triangle on the Burnside Course whilst 8 or 9 fallen trees mainly from the area of the 7th / 9th holes on the Buddon Course were also removed. Several blown branches were removed from trees on the 9th and 10th holes on the Championship Course.



John S Philp
Links Superintendent

13/06/2011

Monday 13th June

Well, the last couple of weeks we have had The Links Championships on the course.
Here are the results:

Final Friday 10th June

K Harper bt A Fyfe 6&4

Semi Finals Wed 8th June

A Fyfe bt A Sweeney 1up

K Harper bt G Singer 3&1

Quarter Finals Monday 6th June

A Sweeney bt J Craig 4&2

A Fyfe bt R Reyner 1 hole

G Singer bt E O’Brien 1 hole

K Harper bt S Nicoll 5&4

Links Matchplay 1st Round Friday 3rd June

A Sweeney bt J Oldroyd 5&3

J Craig bt R Wardlaw 2&1

A Fyfe bt A Reid 2&1

R Reyner bt S Norrie 1 hole

G Singer bt D Elder 5&4

E O’Brien bt D Cairnie 5&4

K Harper bt P Drummond 3&2

S Nicoll bt D Cargill 6&5

Hogan Trophy Wednesday 1st June

Best score on the night was Danny Elder with a 76. His 3 round total of 220 also won him the Hogan Trophy to be presented on 10th June in the Caledonia GC. In 2nd place was Aaron Sweeney with a total of 224.

CSS for the Hogan Trophy was 79 (Reduction Only)

Gents Links

Leading scores for the Championship Course 2nd qualifying round

A Sweeney 69, D Elder 72, K Harper 77. CSS 75

Ladies Links

Final Friday 10th June

F Gilbert bt F Millar 3&2

Semi Finals Wed 8th June

Ladies Links-Championship Course

F Millar bt C Penman 1 up

F Gilbert bt L Fenton 1 up

Rosebowl-Burnside

Final Friday 10th June

M Brown bt P Sawers 3&2

Rosebowl Semi Finals

P Sawers bt A Leiper at 19th

M Brown bt S Sneddon 1 up

Quarter Finals-Wed 25th May

Championship Course

C Penman bt C Robertson 7&6

F Millar bt K Reid w/o

L Fenton bt F Blair 3&1

F Gilbert bt J Meek 1up

Rosebowl-Burnside (full handicap difference and any extra holes are on a sudden death basis with strokes applying again)

P Sawers bt J Clark 2&1

A Leiper bt C Healey 1 up

M Brown bt Y Heap w/o

S Sneddon bt C Orr 7&6

No photos this week as my camera has bitten the dust hopefully have another one next week.

03/06/2011

Friday 3rd June



Another great day on the links.


Yesterday, temperatures reached 23 degrees and today looks like its heading that was a well.




On Wednesday, Bob Taylor visited Carnoustie for an environmental course walk.


Bob Taylor is recognised as the most experienced consultant dealing with all aspects of ecological and environmental management on golf courses. Today he was working on behalf of the Rand A.



More turf was put down at the Pro Centre.



Great effort from all the guys especially turfing up the hill, which can be sore on the back of the legs. Next stage is to plant a mixture of marram and buck thorn on the banks to stop people climbing up the slopes.


No hanging about here!