FRIDAY 25TH JANUARY 2013





LINKS SUPERINTENDENT REPORT

DECEMBER 2012

 

 

 

WEATHER

The early part of December was very cold with the ground being frozen solid and the daytime temperature rarely above 2^oC. This all changed during the second week of the month with it becoming being very mild, warmer than average and at times particularly wet, especially so over the weekend 21^st – 23^rd when the culmination of prolonged heavy rain meant the Barry Burn burst its banks in a few areas causing large areas of standing water and for much debris to left deposited along its course. This period of heavy rain also meant the water table rose substantially meaning that the natural drainage of water across the courses, be it on turf or in bunkers, was severely affected.

WORK ON THE LINKS

The bulk of the work this month was continuing with the Winter Works Programs across the courses however the cold spell at the start of the month meant that the gorse management work commenced and the wet weather at the back end of the month meant that the bulk of our time was spent clearing flood water and tidying/repairing any resultant damage.

CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE

The greens were cut once and rolled twice during December and also received an application of fungicide and Iron Sulphate to prevent disease ingress. The approaches and surrounds received an application of Iron Sulphate.

From just before Christmas through to the New Year the bulk of the work involved removing water from the 10^th, 11^th and 17^th holes by pumping and verti-draining after they suffered from flooding from the Barry Burn.

Winter Works

·        Removing slabs etc from alongside 1^st tee and driving up-fill sand on to site

·        Mound in front of 4^th tee lowered and re-turfed

·        Turfing of mounds to right and rear of 9^th green completed

·        Preparation work to pathway at 8^th hole

·        Preparation of Island at 17^th including the installation of a new irrigation pipe network and the turfing of the RHS

·        Removal and turfing of another section of road along the right side of the 6^th green

·        Revetting bunker at LHS 5^th fairway and raising run-in

 

Gorse/Broom Removal

Gorse and Broom cutting took place at:

8^th carry, 9^th carry, RHS 14^th carry (broom removal also), LHS 14^th and LHS15^th

BURNSIDE

The greens were cut once and rolled twice in December and were sprayed selectively for disease with fungicide.

Verti-draining took place on approaches and fairways with ½” tines whilst the tees and walkways were slit tined.

Winter Works

·        Turfing of 6^th tee was completed

·        Bridge alterations at 3^rd and 4^th

·        Weeds and silt removed from burn at 3^rd/4^th

Gorse Management

Gorse cutting/removal took place at:

RHS 1^st, LHS 6^th, RHS 8^th, RHS 9^th, LHS 11^th, next to 15^th tee, in front of 16^th tee (roots also removed), LHS 18^th green and around various road edges/corners.

 

BUDDON LINKS

8mm solid tining on greens commenced and the 11^th and 14^th fairways were verti-drained.

Work commenced on and around the 4^th green to re-contour the left side of the green down to the lake edge. The bulk of the beach type area within the confines of the lake was removed during this time with the sand being used to raise the low area on the approach.

Four bunkers were revetted during December – 2 at the 8^th and 2 at the RHS of the 16^th green.

STAFF TRAINING

Stuart Kerr, Andrew Pickard, Mark Reynolds and Stephen Sutherland attended a course in Basic Irrigation Design at Elmwood College on the 12^th of the month.

 

Sandy Reid

Links Superintendent

8^th January 2013



Monday 10th December 2012

LINKS SUPERINTENDENT REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 2012

 

 



WEATHER

November was a fairly mild month with about average rainfall and a slightly higher than average temperature. There wasn’t much in the way of wind therefore the courses didn’t dry up as quickly as we would have hoped after periods of rainfall. The last week of the month saw some welcome frosts which helped dry out and firm up the surfaces which made vehicle access to and from jobs less disruptive.

WORK ON THE LINKS

November as always sees the start of the Winter Works on the 3 courses and the commencement of any aeration programmes such as Verti-draining. Winter greens were established, having any divots plugged and being top-dressed.

CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE

The greens and surrounds were verti-drained with 13mm tines and top-dressed immediately to not only fill the holes but to increase the sand content in the upper soil profile. A cut and a couple of rolls ensued they were back to being smooth and true within a day or so. Any outstanding Hydro-ject work was completed and an application of fungicide was made to prevent any disease outbreak.

Other work

·        Cutting/strimming of thick rough and sea lyme dominated roughs was completed

·        Tees and fairways were all top dressed

·        Fairways were verti-drained with 13mm (½”) tines

·        Patches of Yorkshire Fog were plugged on the 1^st tee

Winter Works

·        Job of raising the 2^nd part of the Island on 17 commenced

·        Excavating sand from between 10^th & 11^th holes for up-filling the Island

·        Low area on 9^th fairway raised and re-turfed

·        Mounds at right and rear of 9^th green were stripped and lowered

·        Braids bunker lowered by 9”

·        Road along side 6^th green removed and turfed instead

·        Astro turf matting removed from path at 8^th

·        Gorse in front of 12^th tee reduced in height to improve sight lines

 

BURNSIDE

Greens were only cut twice during November but along with the approaches were applied with Sulphate of Iron to harden the grass leaf and help control moss. These same areas were Verti-drained using 8mm tines to a depth of approximately 18cm (7”) and rolled a couple of times afterwards to level surfaces.

Other work

·        Old permanent winter tee mats were removed and turfed over with new portable mats being put out instead

·        Verti-draining of fairways with 13mm tines commenced

·        Raising and trimming sprinklers as required

Winter Works

·        Back tee on 6^th hole was raised and re-turfed

·        11^th tee was extended forward

·        Bridges at 3^rd and 4^th holes were removed to prepare for raising and replacing

BUDDON LINKS

The greens were top dressed and aerated with 8mm cross tines whilst the 6^th fairway was scarified completing this sort of work for the season. The new type of portable winter tee mat was put out on to the par 3 tees.

Winter Works

·        The fairway, approach and surround of the new 10^th hole were turfed using turf from the 17^th fairway of the Championship Course and from the start of the 2^nd fairway of the Buddon Links

·        Work adjusting the 4^th green and it’s surround commenced

·        Bunkers were revetted at the 4^th, 6^th and 14^th greens along with one at the 6^th fairway

·        New line of sprinklers was installed on 4^th carry/walkway

 

STAFF TRAINING

Three members of staff attended a 4 day training course on fine turf management presented by the STRI in Kinross. 

 

 

Sandy Reid

Links Superintendent

6^th December 2012

Saturday 17th November 2012

Well it has been a busy two weeks.

With the course being shut the last two weeks (Mon-Fri) we have been able to get on with some verti-drain work on greens and fairways.

1/2 inch tines going down about 9 inches and with no heave - straight in straight out.  

All greens were completed by the Thursday and all the fairways were completed by yesterday.

Once the greens were verti-drained they were: double rolled, top-dressed, brushed in and double rolled again for golf at the weekend. We are trying to get as much sand in to the profile as possible. 14 tonnes of sand put on the greens that takes us to just under 200 tonnes of top-dressing applied this year.

Holes filled up.

Another area to get some top-dressing was the fairways.

Great to get some sand in when the weather is on your side.

Last week the main job was lifting the fairway turf from the 17th fairway. This turf was put down at one of the new holes on the Buddon course. All turf saved.

Big area 3000 sqm of turf

A start was then made this week to scraping the top soil to one side.

We will now drive in sand from an area of rough between 10th and 11th. We are trying to raise the fairway up and shape the land so that anymore water that comes from the burn flooding will go back into the Barry Burn rather than sitting on the fairway.

Another job on the go is at the 9th, a bad area for flooding after heavy rain.

Again scraping the topsoil which is not that bad and adding more sand underneath

then adding a scattering of topsoil back on top of the sand.

As you can see the topsoil is too thick and too rich. It is not allowing water through. Most of the topsoil saved from this job will be mixed with sand and used on other jobs on all three courses.

Job half completed and we hopefully finish turfing this next week.

The road at the right hand side of the 6th green has been turfed.

One of the mounds between the 1st green and 2nd tee has been lowered.

A mound created between the 18th green and 1st tee to stop golfers coming off the course this way.

Braids bunker on the 2nd fairway has been lowered. We can now cut the head of this with the fairway mower giving a much better appearance.

 

Monday 12th November 2012

LINKS SUPERINTENDENT REPORT FOR OCTOBER 2012

WEATHER

October was reasonably settled apart from a very wet period in the middle of the month which again caused serious flooding on parts of the courses as the Barry Burn burst its banks.

WORK ON THE LINKS

The favourable weather at the start of the month allowed for any renovation work to continue without hindrance with scarifying, coring, seeding and top dressing being the main tasks.

The flooding of the Barry Burn on the 12^th of the month meant that there was a big clean up required afterwards with silt removal, aeration and top dressing taking place for a fortnight afterwards in order to get the affected areas back into suitable and safe areas to play from. The 3^rd hole of the Burnside remained closed right through October.

 

CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE

A spray of Sulphate of Iron & fungicide and an Autumn/Winter fertiliser mix were both made to the greens prior them being verti-cut and being overseeded with fescue using both the Dyna-seeders and a disc seeder borrowed from Panmure Golf Club. They were top dressed thereafter to keep surfaces smooth and were Hydro-jected towards the end of the month.

Other work

·        Heavy trafficked and Hogan tee’s were hollow cored, seeded, top dressed and fed

·        Surround and approaches were top dressed and fed as required

·        Weaker patches on fairways were overseeded

·        Cutting thick/poorer roughs continued as required

·        10^th green along with 10^th & 11^th fairways were hollow cored, top dressed and verti-drained to help dilute the silt and alleviate the flood left from the Barry bursting its banks

·        Pumping flood water as required

·        Adding sand to flooded bunkers

·        Raising greenside sprinklers as required

·        Granular Sulphate of Iron applied to areas with worm cast problem

·        Hollow between 18^th green and 1^st tee was raised to try and prevent golfers exiting the course via the 1^st tee

 

BURNSIDE

Selected greens, areas of greens and approaches were deep scarified and/or solid tined followed by being top dressed.

Other work

·        Weed removal from Burn at 3^rd/4^th

·        Continued cutting back of thick roughs

·        Tee’s fertilised as required

·        Winter tee’s and heavy trafficked areas verti-drained

·        Hand weeding of operator pollinator area in trees at 16^th

·        Pumping water and removing silt from affected areas.

 

BUDDON LINKS

Greens were top dressed twice and received an application of 4:0:8 fertiliser. The 1^st and practice greens were deep scarified and overseeded with fescue.

Other work

·        4^th, 7^th and 9^th fairways were deep scarified and top dressed

·        16^th fairway was overseeded with fescue using disc seeder

·        Ditches cleaned

·        Pumping water from practice ground

New Holes

The new seed is establishing reasonably well although there have been some isolated pockets of disease.  The whole area was fed, sprayed with fungicide, and rolled through October and any remaining posts, rope and exposed stones being removed from the site.

The 2 walkways over the ditch at the left of the new 10^th hole and the traffic route in front of the new 11^th tee were turfed using turf from our nursery.

 

TRAINING/EDUCATION

·        We had Neil Christie from NPORS on site to carry out training and assessing on the use of the forklift, digger and tractors with 12 members of staff gaining qualifications (4 in each category)

·        Ron Brown, the retired foreman of the Dick Precast works, came in to teach one of the members of staff, Derek Murray, how to make the concrete decking we use for bridges on the courses

·        3 members of staff along with John Philp had a day trip to visit Muirfield GC and The Renaissance Club in East Lothian

·        I attended an Appraisal training course in Aberdeen

 

Sandy Reid

Links Superintendent

8^th November 2012

Saturday 27th October 2012

 

Another dry week, but temperatures started to plummet towards the end and as i look out the office window i can see some flurries of snow.

 

The 11th fairway was dry enough for us to mini core and top-dress,

other areas cored were fairway extensions at the 4th and all the teing areas were finished. These areas all recieving top-dressing too.

Certain greens were overseeded again, mainly areas that take a lot of play and rye grass areas just off the greens. We will hope to Rescue these areas come the spring.

 

Fairways were cut along with approaches/surrounds and tees. Growth is starting to tail off now.

Another dusting off top-dressing was also applied to the greens before being brushed in, cut and rolled

Strimming mounds and other areas

that the Amazone cant get into. More rough cutting this week.

In the sheds, Derek is making up cement sleepers to go on the bridges as the local factory where we got them from before has shut down.

Digger training this week.

Neil Christie advising the men how to be safe in the workplace.

Wednesday 24th September 2012

LINKS SUPERINTENDENT REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 2012

 

WEATHER

September was drier than average which allowed playing conditions on the courses to be firmer and faster than at any time throughout the season. There were some strong winds at the beginning of the month which meant some of the seeding on the new holes wasn’t as successful as hoped for as seed was blown from some of the more exposed areas. There was also some heavy rain towards the end of the month which meant some localised pooling of water around the courses especially on the 3^rd/4^th holes of the Burnside.

WORK ON THE LINKS

September saw the commencement of some of our autumn renovation work, such as scarifying and seeding, across the courses but primarily on the Burnside and Buddon Links as with the Dunhill Links taking place in early October the Championship can’t really be touched.

The drier weather along with the slowed growth allowed us to raise the height of cut on greens to allow for better rooting development without compromising playability.

 

CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE

The greens received their usual monthly spray programs of wetting agent, seaweed and growth inhibitor and received a very light top dressing in the middle of the month. Weaker areas were fed as required and the hydro-ject was used on similar areas.

Other work

·        Approaches & surrounds were top dressed

·        Weak landing areas were fed to aid divot recovery

·        Barry Burn and ditches were cleaned as required

·        A selective graminicide was sprayed in roughs as required to control rye grass and Yorkshire fog

·        Young broom was sprayed with Timbrel as required to kill it of

·        Sand in bunkers was shaped up

·        The bunker at the LHS 14^th green was revetted to have it looking more presentable for the Dunhill

 

 

BURNSIDE

Greens were pencil tined whilst the approaches were aerated with slightly larger cross tines. Pearlwort on greens were sprayed with a selective weedkiller and growth inhibitor was sprayed on greens as per normal.

Other work

·        Cutting back thick roughs and collecting grass

·        Tee’s slit tined

·        Removing weeds from burn

·        Shaping bunkers

·        Trimming round irrigation sprinklers

 

BUDDON LINKS

Greens were verti-cut prior to the commencement of the deep scarification work along with over-seeding and top dressing.

Tees were verti-drained, clover around course was sprayed as required and the ditch in front of the 14^th tee was cleaned out.

New Holes

1^st Golf completed their work on the new holes by the end of the month and in my opinion to a very high standard. The seeding took place at the beginning of the month in difficult windy conditions which meant that some exposed areas were required to be oversown by ourselves towards the end of the month as some seed had been blown away.

In general most of the seed, especially on the fairways, has germinated, is establishing well and is increasing in density. Because of the windy weather greenstaff were also required to apply water manually to ensure an even coverage and reduce the risk of run-off that would wash seed away. This was also vital to aid in the germination of the new seed.

The new green on the site of the old turf nursery looks well after being turfed by the greenstaff and is now being cut at the same height as the rest of the greens and has received a couple of top dressings to help smooth it off and keep it firm. Once the approach and the rest of the fairway are turfed in November the hole will be complete and weather permitting should be ready for play in the early part of next summer......fingers crossed!

Other work carried out on the new holes by greenstaff  also included lowering the bumps on the second part of the current 12^th fairway, revetting culverts in ditch crossings and preparing a patch on the junior practice area for seed.

 

STRI AUTUMN VISITS

Both the Championship and Burnside courses received visits from Richard Windows of the STRI to carry out testing on the greens as well as a general course overview. Both courses received very positive reports and it is testament to years of good work along with the continued support of the committee that these results are possible.

We still have targets though and will be striving to improve where possible such as increasing fescue content and managing organic matter levels in the soil profile.

 

Sandy Reid

Links Superintendent

17^th Oct 2012