GAILES LINKS GOLF COURSE

Transcription

1 Making great sport happen GAILES LINKS GOLF COURSE Advisory Report on Gailes Links incorporating the STRI Programme Report Date: 15 th November 2017 Consultant: Richard Windows

2 The Glasgow Golf Club - Gailes Links Date of Visit: 13 th November 2017 Visit Objective: Present: Weather: To review the late autumn condition of Gailes Links and confirm ongoing maintenance requirements. Brian Dickson Course Manager Richard Windows STRI Ltd. Dry and cool with an overnight frost. Headlines Positive feedback has been received regarding course condition despite the wet weather since July. The greens were retaining water before deep aeration in October but not to the extent of last year. There has been no surface water to the greens since deep aeration in October despite intensive rain. Currently, deep aeration is required to maintain good drainage to the greens and this remains essential. The longer-term target is to sustain drainage with less intensive and disruptive action but this can only be achieved once the issues with the underlying soil profile have been fully rectified. Garlic oil has been applied for leatherjackets in mid-october and very limited activity has been noted. The average firmness of the greens was 74 gravities, which is softer than the desired target. Green approaches and fairways were in excellent condition. The Practice Range has performed superbly well this season and provided a great facility. Scrub and grassland management is the major focus of the winter work programme. Key Actions Deep aeration with 12 mm tines and full heave will be achieved to the greens shortly. After Christmas, implement deep aeration with 25 mm tines to 200 mm followed by intensive sanding. Regular sanding should commence after Christmas, through the spring and then dustings in summer. Apply preventative fungicide prior to Christmas and Trucal after the next deep aeration operation. Aim to achieve 8 mm deep aeration and sanding in mid-march, May, July and September to the greens. Hollow core and sand immediate approaches and wetter areas of surrounds shortly. Aim to use indigenous sand to 3 and 14 as fairway dressing to illustrate improvements from this work. Apply wetting agent into approaches (as per greens) and fairways next spring. Implement fairway protection to vulnerable landing zones. Tree and scrub removal will be focussed to holes 3, 6, 7, 8, 11 and 18. Reduce mowing height to fairway on pathway areas to improve presentation and flow between surfaces. Grassland management and heather topping will continue this winter.

3 Photo Observations and Comments Figure 1: The greens have performed well but are softer than the desired target due to moisture retention in the rootzone from the presence of an iron pan. Ongoing aeration and sand funnelling remain essential to alleviate the issues. Figure 2: Immediate surrounds and approaches were in great order and will receive the hollow coring work in addition to deep aeration to wider approaches. Figure 3: The purchase and use of the fairway protection mats are essential to avoid damage to fairway areas during scrub management work around the course. Figure 4: The fairways were in good condition and the process of deep aeration was underway and winter protection measures shall continue to be implemented. Figure 5: The pathway network requires improvement to enhance presentation and this process will commence shortly involving mowing these areas at fairway height. Figure 6: Grassland and heather management has commenced and shall continue over the winter.

4 Photo Observations and Comments (continued) Figure 7: The scrub management work is superb and creating far more authentic links character to the course. The shapes created are excellent and the plan is to leave many areas with a clean sand finish to naturally revegetate. Figure 9: Tree removal is an important part of the winter programme and will focus on several areas including the left of 3.

5 Recommendations Greens The medium-term aim of greens maintenance is to achieve a situation whereby the underlying issues with the soil profile are corrected and greens drainage, surface firmness and general performance are sustained with limited input in terms of deep aeration. However, to achieve this, we do need to sustain the intensive work for several years to correct the underlying issues and create the foundation for success in the future. The next deep aeration operation will involve 12 mm tines with full heave applied. As this softens the surface, sand top dressing should be delayed until after Christmas. Trucal should be applied after the next deep aeration operation. A further fungicide treatment should be applied before Christmas using the Instrata Elite in stock. After Christmas, the large 25 mm tines should be set to achieve a penetration depth of 200 mm and the kiln dried sand should be worked down the holes to fill them up as much as physically possible. The aim is to create distinct vertical channels of sand through the upper soil profile and crucially to sustain better water movement through the iron pan. As this process is completed several times over the next few years, the iron pan will be appropriately broken up and the level of free draining sand in the upper soil profile will be far greater meaning higher rates of drainage will be achieved on a regular basis and the level of deep aeration can be duly relaxed. Sustain regular applications of sand through the late winter to spring period to fill the holes and prepare optimum smoothness for the season. The aim is to sustain light applications of sand through the season again next year to maintain organic matter at the 4-5% range. Green Collars, Surrounds and Approaches All immediate surrounds and approaches, combined with selected wet areas, will be hollow cored, top dressed and seeded with fescue in the later winter/early spring. All greens deep aeration work should be extended into the approaches to accelerate surface drainage. Protect any weak/vulnerable areas of surround with ropes and hoops during the winter. Revolution wetting agent will be applied as per the greens to all the approaches. Tees Repeat the same hollow coring process to the tees again this winter. Reducing the number to markers on the tees will help manage traffic more effectively during the winter and allow play to be focussed on specific surfaces. Several tee bankings and pathway areas around tees will be the focus of winter work which will involve smoothing contours allowing for easier access and maintenance. Fairways To demonstrate the positive results from fairway sanding, the indigenous material from the tree removal work to the 3 rd should be dressed across the adjoining fairways at a rate of 50 t/ha 2-3 times between November and April. A wetting agent programme using Osprey Active will be applied a couple of times during the spring.

6 Rough Repeat the excellent grassland management work to the fringing rough. Top the areas of heather to maintain vigour and density. Tree & Scrub Removal The main focus of the work this winter will involve gorse, tree and scrub removal on holes 3, 6, 7, 8, 11 and 18. A great start has already been made to the 6 th hole. The aim should be to create as much open sand as possible to allow for natural regeneration. Therefore, seed or chunk turf into areas close to play only. Ensure the sand is left clean and thoroughly track the sand to consolidate and avoid sand blow. Create movement and shapes through the sand and excavate to the winter water table in areas that are sufficiently out of play to create dune slacks (which are wet areas in the winter) for even greater ecological value. Signed Richard Windows BSc (Hons), MBPR Agronomy Service Manager Official Agronomist to the R&A Championship Committee t: +44 (0) e: richard.windows@strigroup.com STRI is completely independent and has no alliances to commercial products, services or contractors. This ensures that our design, project management and advisory services provide the best solutions for each individual client.