Dear Members,
I would like to update you (article below) on what we have started and are planning this winter on the Course. What we are doing, why we are doing it and when it when it will be done. It goes without saying that whilst we have much we want to do, the clearing up and repairing the bird damage is taking much of our time and will continue to do so over the coming weeks as we continue with its repair.
Kind Regards, Richard Adams, General Manager
REPAIR TO IRRIGATION ON 5th GREEN: Essential works have been successfully carried out to rectify a long standing issue with the irrigation to our 5th Green which caused problems last summer. The re-turfing was unfortunately delayed because of the recent snow & ice conditions however the turf is arriving tomorrow 13-02-19 and the remedial works should be completed by Monday 18-02-19, in the meantime we have roped off the area. Please avoid this area.
6th TEE: The two bushes have been removed next to the tee to allow us to utilise more of the teeing area, provide better growing conditions and to enlarge the tee to better cope with the use it gets.
14th GREENSIDE BANK/BUNKER: Turf has been ordered to re-turf the greenside bank. We will lift up the turf we put down last year to level it with the fairway and landscape the bank to give it a more natural look, without losing its challenge, whilst providing better sustainability.
BUSHES ABOVE AND AROUND THE PUTTING GREEN: We have started to clear the bushes that have grown up above the putting green, all trees that we planted will remain. In their place we are going to plant wild flowers. It is important to control these bushes from time to time otherwise they will become unsightly and out of control, it will also allow better airflow to the putting green which will improve the playing surfaces.
BIRD DAMAGE: With regard to the Bird damage, we have tried numerous volunteers to shoot them without success. We have now agreed in principle with a professional pest controller with the right equipment and skill to do the job. He needs us to get England Nature authority as well as notifying the police which takes about a month to get, we are over half way through that process. Today we have ordered 6 more pallets of turf to re-turf the most sensitive areas affected on the Course and our plan is to spray a new legalised product in May/June when it is at its most effective to deal with the grub population. This year our plan is to strengthen the grass on the fairways with a greater feeding programme and to reduce the moss/thatch on the banks to better stand up to pecking birds whilst making our course less desirable for them with the help of our pest controller. Whilst we benefit far better than others when it comes to dealing with the wet winters and the hot summers, we do have our challenges when it comes to the grub population and subsequent bird damage. That combined with the banning of pesticides means we have to change our ways of dealing with this issue. It is devastating to see the damage, especially for the Green staff, but we will continue to deal with it as best we can and it will all grow back as it has in the past
To get the best productivity out of the team, we split the winter work into 3 areas:
FROSTY: Tree work (including tidying up the tree trunks) & Hedge Trimming,
WET WEATHER: (Painting and re-furbishing Course furniture, staff training & machine servicing)
PROJECT WORK: (Turfing and repairing Crow damage, bunker maintenance, aerating Tees, Fairways greens)
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