GILLINGHAM GOLF CLUB. Advisory Report on the Golf Course incorporating the STRI Programme. Making great sport happen

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1 Making great sport happen GILLINGHAM GOLF CLUB Advisory Report on the Golf Course incorporating the STRI Programme Report Date: 13 th August 2018 Consultant: Paul Woodham

2 Gillingham Golf Club Date of Visit: Thursday 9 th August 2018 Visit Objective: Present: Weather: Review of course conditions and agronomic performance. Mark Salmon Chair of Green, Steve Smith Head Greenkeeper Mark Jaques Deputy HGK, Paul Woodham STRI Ltd Rain. Recent infrequent rainfall following prevailing hot and dry conditions. Headlines My 2017 visit documented course conditions following a wet summer but a dry first half of the year sees the course under pressure from the reverse situation. Prevailing heatwave and drought conditions have been endured since end-may and at a sustained level not experienced since The challenge in conditioning the greens coming out of winter was complicated by failure of the irrigation system during May into June. Turfgrass stresses have continued to be high and wet/dry cycles have stimulated localised disorders couch as fairy ring activity. Type I fairy ring has caused visual disfigurement and Type II fairy rings were seen to host thatch fungus. Neither were too disruptive and the forthcoming renovation will aid recovery. Anthracnose disease activity was more widespread and has been very active in recent weeks through the UK. Spring maintenance was successfully completed during May and reported a swift recovery despite the extended unseasonable cold conditions. This was the first use of the Clubs own Graden sand injected scarifier unit. This process is aiding the control and reduction of organic matter. Soil analysis results record further control of organic matter towards targets but with the desire for further reduction through cultural management such as ongoing aeration and control of irrigation. Green approach/collar areas show a higher level of drought/heat damage, especially in areas of compaction i.e. traffic points. Severe temperatures (50 C) very quickly stresses areas of shallow rooting grasses with grass cover also lost on many areas of unirrigated bunker slopes. Bunkers remain a hot topic and thoughts of improvement is fully supported. Many bunkers have lost definition and shape over years. A problem is seen where the bunker floors lack the shaping required to gather the ball or tilt too steeply towards the bunker face. Bunker playability is compromised through contamination form stone and silt/clay soils migrating into the sand from the bunker base and entering the bunker from eroding soil faces. Key Actions Fungicide treatment in advance of greens renovation to halt anthracnose disease. Use a soil moisture probe to support irrigation scheduling/targeting. August greens renovation: Deep solid tine, scarification, Verticut, overseeding and top dressing. Repeat Graden scarification as part of next spring renovation. Architects bunker review; to include turf lining and revet walls, with reshaping where required. Objective Measurements: 4mm single cut. Measurement Gillingham Golf Club Average Target Range Soil Moisture (%) 35% (range 18-45) 15-30% Hardness (Gravities) 95 Gravities (range ) g Smoothness (mm/m) 29 mm/m <25 mm/m Trueness (mm/m) 10 mm/m <10 mm/m Green Speed 7ft 8in 8ft - 10 ft Organic Matter 0-20 mm (%) 5.5% 4-6% Organic Matter mm (%) 5.1% <4% Soil ph Phosphate (P2O5) 21 mg/l >10 (mg/l) Potassium (K2O) 97 mg/l >30 mg/l Key: In Target Marginal Variance Out of Target

3 Photo Observations and Comments Figure 1: Anthracnose disease activity has been prominent in recent weeks with disease pressure increased by a return to infrequent rainfall and humid conditions. Figure 2: The disease has thinned out the live grass cover and caused small depressions in the surface. An immediate application of fungicide was recommended to halt the disease progress. Forthcoming renovation will smooth the surface levels out. Figure 3: Type I Fairy ring activity appeared to be more visible and disruptive but the major activity was confined to localised areas rather than more widespread anthracnose disease. Figure 4: The upper profiles are certainly appearing healthier now and with a higher percentage of sand dressed into the turf base to help dilute organic matter and promote surface firmness. There is a faint layer of organic matter (turf base algae/squidge forming where the sward has thinned and moisture has settled. Figure 5: Green collars and approaches are more battle scarred having succumbed to the severe stress of heat and drought conditions. Grass cover has been lost where weaker and shallow rooted Poa annua (annual meadow grass) has stressed out. Figure 6: Fairways have also suffered but have generally coped ok. Slit tine aeration channels have opened up but not seen to be causing an issue. The slits will benefit from drying down to open deeper fissures in the soil. This will promote deeper rooting opens aid drainage. Gillingham Golf Club

4 Photo Observations and Comments (continued) Figure 7: Discussions considered ideas for contouring the levels at the rear of the 6 th. I would suggest filling the gulley but still leaving a shallow contour to shed water through and away from the green. A 6ft fringe or framing rough would be maintained as cut rough prior to the bank. Don t over tidy the scrub. Figure 8: Good first impressions count for everything and although the fairway bunker crossing the 1 st hole is not the worst condition bunker on the course, the visibility of the right side is hidden from the tee and the edges are eroding. Sand depths are variable and a part of a drainage liner is protruding through the sand. Figure 9: The left side bunker at the 1 st is heavily contaminated and lacks interest/shaping. Figure 10: The right side bunker at the 1 st is too flat by contrast and does not encourage a full swing to clear the bunker leading onto a green which falls away from you. Figure 11: Our list could go on but the 3 rd hole is a good example of coffin shaping and poor design. The right side 4 th is also an example of eroding edges and poor levels. Figure 12: Close up of sand particles taken from a freshly sanded bunker. The sand isn t bad whilst relatively clean from contamination. This is a medium coarse particle sand but we may need something more sub-angular to help stability. Gillingham Golf Club

5 Recommendations Greens Make an application of Banner Maxx fungicide (propriconazole) as soon as possible to counter the effects of anthracnose disease. This would be best applied at the first opportunity and in conjunction with fertiliser to aid recovery. Anthracnose disease pressure has been particularly high this summer following wet winter conditions and summer environmental stresses. The attached technical information sheet discusses anthracnose disease in more detail. Dollar spot disease was also noted but localised on just one green. Banner Maxx will also treat this disease. A technical sheet is also attached to provide more information on Dollar Spot, a lesser seen disease in UK. Continue with plans for main season renovation due to take place towards the end of August. The ideal would be to run the Graden scarifier across the greens but without sand integration (for ease of operation on this occasion), but it is thought to be impracticable at this point of the season due to staffing levels. The next best option would be to run the Greentek scarifier unit across the greens at maximum depth achievable and apply a second pass with the Thatchaway verticut units. Overseeding can then be applied using a browntop bentgrass mix as this will aid the recovery from anthracnose. As part of the renovation, the opportunity should not be missed to apply deep solid tining using the Wiedenmann unit. This should be ideally achieved using 12mm diameter tines operating to a minimum 200mm depth with a low to moderate degree of heave. A C-Complex fertiliser would complete the renovation applied just following thorough integration of sand into the vacant tine holes and to smooth the surface out following scarification and verticut work. I am still keen for the Club to purchase a soil moisture probe such as the Delta-T Theta Probe. Many courses have found this tool very useful this summer to help support the irrigation management requirements deciding on how much and when to apply automatic irrigation and to target supplementary hand watering into the correct areas. This process of hand watering is particularly important although will soon be coming to the end of the main summer season, therefore hopefully will return to autumnal moisture conditions. Be cautious with application of irrigation during the last few weeks of summer. You should aim to get the surfaces as dry as possible but still with adequate soil moisture to encourage swift recovery from renovation. The danger of applying too much irrigation is that there will be further weakening of the sward with a lack of density opening up opportunities for surface algae and squidge to develop. This could already be seen in a few areas of the green which are prone to overwatering from the sprinkler system. Clubs have spent many hours of hand watering to control variances this season. It has been difficult to commit to this work due to staffing levels. Wet/dry cycles in areas of over and under-irrigation via the sprinkler system will have increased the risk of fairy ring activity. The fairy rings will recover, aided by renovation and activity calmed once autumnal rainfall returns to rebalance the soil moisture levels. Green Approaches, Collars and Surrounds The drought and heat stressed areas of green collar and immediate approach will require aeration and overseeding as soon as moisture levels stabilise. It will be important to offer these areas adequate protection moving into the autumn and winter months and it was pleasing to see white lines and post and rope fencing already set out in many vulnerable areas of green surround. Whilst it may be the bane of every golfer and even the greenkeeper in having to walk around or continually reset the posts, it is important to understand the benefit of protecting these areas especially when seed is trying to establish. Gillingham Golf Club

6 Fairways It may be necessary to apply a low rate nitrogen liquid fertiliser to the fairways to stimulate recovery into the autumn months. I understand that there is a suitable fertiliser product in-stock. Bunkers The Club are quite right to consider projects to improve the current presentation, design and playability of the bunkers. The summary of our discussions are as follows. In my opinion some form of barrier (liner) is required between the bunker floor and sand layers. This is to reduce the ongoing risk of contamination from stones migrating up through the sub-soils. We discussed options for installing permeable bunker liners using products such as Profusion bunker blinder (rubber crumb), or Redlynch (Bunker Base), or a permeable crete aggregate such as Better Billy Bunker. Profusion rubber crumb blinder is particularly popular and provides an enclosed clean environment where the integrity of the sand is kept for greater periods especially when the bunker is designed correctly. Fabric liners are also considered. Woven geotextiles such as Whitemoss Bunker Matt are some of the better material liners but there is always a concern in my experience, that the liner emerges through the sand over time. This is more common in situations where pests are commonly digging into the bunkers. Hyline fabric is also widely used and installed by John Greasley Ltd. Natural turf (upturned) has proved successful if installed correctly, and if choosing an appropriate quality turf. Do not use a cheap turf imported with high silt and clay content. The problem I have seen is when the liner is keeping the sand uber clean from natural dirtying and a prolonged period of dry conditions is experienced. The sand can lose all moisture and become unstable. There is also an issue of soils eroding from the edges either through environmental abrasions such as wind and heat or from animal damage largely through the back edges of bunkers. Consideration could therefore be given to installing natural turf or artificial turf revet wall to provide a better defined edge and more secure perimeter within the bunker. There is no one design or construction method which would currently suit all bunkers on the course. A problem I noted is that many of the bunker floors are either too flat or tipped the wrong way towards the faces. The bunker floors should ideally gather the ball towards the middle of the bunker. Revetting could be done using natural turf. I think this would be the best solution in the case of Gillingham GC. This ideally needs to be a thick cut downgrade fescue turf with a good thatch layer for strength. Avoid using clay/silt based turfs and rank grass species as these will quickly erode and become problematic for ongoing maintenance. The use of artificial turf for revetting is becoming increasingly popular. Systems such as Ecobunker and Durabunker offer solutions and ready supply of turfs. I would advise that the top two rungs of turf are finished with natural revetting turf (high quality) to minimise the risk of the turf browning off, especially in south facing aspect locations. I fear that the use of artificial revetting in a dry location, without irrigation coverage and with a small greenkeeping team, could cause problems further down the line. Keep the designs simple and functional. More importantly, look for further opportunities to reduce the number of bunkers. The Club operates a tight ship and has little resources for maintaining bunkers. Further points to mention include the need to create shaping which encourages surface run off water to divert away from bunkers, and to accept that bunker improvement projects need to be adequately resourced. We typically see courses trying to reconstruct bunkers as key hole surgery. There should Gillingham Golf Club

7 be at least 30% working area around the bunker to ensure the ground is contoured and the profile incorporates a good depth of growing medium (i.e. avoid spreading the reclaimed bunker sand as topsoil or using the subsoil only). Finally, we need to consider the correct sand selection. There is no one ideal sand perfect for all situations. The current sand is compatible with greens dressing material therefore lacks angularity required to offer a firmer interpacking. The sand will perform well when slightly moist but will lose stability when too dry. I would suggest looking at Buckbricks sand as this tends to receive good feedback. The first step to moving forward is to engage a qualified and practicing golf course architect. The brief needs to involve a review with consideration to reducing the number of bunkers on the course with a view to saving maintenance costs in the longer. Any removal of bunkers must allow for the full removal of sand and reshaping and reinstatement of the ground using an appropriate depth and quality topsoil. STRI can conduct an architect review however I would suggest employing Jonathan Gaunt, Gaunt Golf Design ( ) who I have worked with on other projects as he has a very sharp eye for detail and a thorough understanding of bunker design using membrane systems. Another name to suggest, other than the Club already contacting Donald Steel, is Alan Walker (based in Essex). The Club could then create up a plan or tender to go out to contractors or look at partnership opportunities working with contractors but with the Club participating where required to reduce costs. In summary: o Appoint an architect to carry out a review. o Settle on a design and method of construction. o Incorporate some form of liner. o Find a way of working with a contractor to save costs. o The key to success is in the design and shaping. Signed Paul Woodham BSc (Hons), MBPR Agronomy Services Manager t. +44 (0) e. paul.woodham@strigroup.com Gillingham Golf Club

8 Objective Data Soil moisture content was above the ideal target range due to the mornings heavy rainfall. There is indication however that the moisture contents have been variable through each green during the course of this hot and dry summer. This has been a widespread issue at nearly all courses but one which needs to be managed carefully, especially taking care not to over-compensate and irrigate too much. Surface firmness was remaining within target despite higher than ideal moisture content. The ongoing control of organic matter is creating more resilience against softening down at times of wet conditions. Gillingham Golf Club

9 Objective Data (continued) Green smoothness was above target (lower number = smoother surface). This was largely due to anthracnose disease unsettling the surface and thinning the sward leading to more chatter (minor vibration during ball roll). High moisture was also a contributor. Trueness was unaffected and remained within or on the cusp of target. Gillingham Golf Club

10 Objective Data (continued) Green speed was just below target but noting that 8mm of persistent and heavy bursts of rain was starting to disrupt play. Gillingham Golf Club

11 Soils Laboratory Data Top 20mm organic matter is now within or on the cusp of target on all monitored greens. Excess accumulation of organic matter is present through 20-50mm depth but less of a concern than managing the turf base and top 20mm layer. Gillingham Golf Club

12 Soils Laboratory Data (continued) Conditions remain the same through the lower depth of the upper profile rootzone and topsoil. The focus is on physical aeration to aid root development and drainage, allowing for integration of sand into tine holes. Soils Laboratory Graph 4: Gillingham Golf Club

13 STRI St Ives Estate, Bingley, West Yorkshire, BD16 1AU T F E. ORGANIC MATTER CONTENT CLIENT: GILLINGHAM GC DATE RECEIVED: 02/08/18 ADDRESS: WOODLANDS ROAD, DATE REPORTED: 08/08/18 GILLINGHAM, KENT, ME7 2AP. RESULTS TO: PW TEST RESULTS AUTHORISED BY: CONDITION OF SAMPLE UPON ARRIVAL: MOIST Michael Baines, Laboratory Manager SAMPLE NO DESCRIPTION LOSS ON IGNITION (%) * A17089/ mm mm mm mm A17089/ mm mm mm mm A17089/ mm mm mm mm *ASTM F Standard Test Methods for Organic Matter Content of Athletic Field Rootzone Mixes (Method A) THE RESULTS PERTAIN ONLY TO THE SAMPLE(S) SUBMITTED AND TESTED Testing Certificate Page 1 of 1

14 STRI St Ives Estate, Bingley, West Yorkshire, BD16 1AU T F E. SOIL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS CLIENT: GILLINGHAM GC DATE RECEIVED: 02/08/2018 RESULTS TO: PW Lab No. Source ph P 2 O 5 (mg/l) K 2 O (mg/l) A17089/1 GREEN A17089/2 GREEN A17089/3 GREEN Mr MABaines, Soil Laboratory Manager THE RESULTS PERTAIN ONLY TO THE SAMPLE(S) SUBMITTED AND TESTED.

15 STRI St Ives Estate, Bingley, West Yorkshire, BD16 1AU T F E. SOIL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS GILLINGHAM GC Date: 02/08/18 ph Analysis ph GREEN 5 GREEN 11 GREEN 15 Phosphate Analysis P 2 O 5 (mg/l) GREEN 5 GREEN 11 GREEN 15 Potassium Analysis K 2 O (mg/l) GREEN 5 GREEN 11 GREEN 15 THE RESULTS PERTAIN ONLY TO THE SAMPLE(S) SUBMITTED AND TESTED.

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