DURBANVILLE GOLF CLUB COURSE REPORT APRIL 2013

Transcription

1 DURBANVILLE GOLF CLUB COURSE REPORT APRIL 2013

2 General: All the members would have noticed that we hollow tined all the greens at Durbanville during the third week of April Why are we doing it at all? Aerification, or coring, is the removal of small soil cores or plugs from the turf surface, leaving a hole in the surface. AERATION is one of the dirty words of golf course maintenance. Many question the necessity of disrupting play each spring or early autumn. Most golf greens, and especially ones such as ours, are susceptible to an accumulation of thatch a build- up of dead grass and plant material. This, if left, will lead to soft, waterlogged surfaces in the winter, dry patch in the summer and surfaces prone to regular disease outbreaks. Compaction caused by golfers also needs to be relieved in order to restore air spaces in the soil profile which are essential for healthy plant growth and drainage An important purpose behind core aerification is the removal of unwanted organic matter, allowing roots to grow. With a healthier root system heading into the golf season, the grass plant is better able to withstand the stress of traffic. Aeration also relieves compaction, promotes air exchange and helps with water infiltration. Cultural practices are an important part of turf management worldwide. Heavily used areas such as golf course greens often deteriorate due to compacted soil, thatch development, and excessive use. Cultural practices are accomplished by aerification, vertical mowing/cutting, verti draining and topdressing.

3 1. Course Condition: Greens: We completed all our Cultural Practices on the greens during the month of April. During the Cultural Practices the greens were verti-cutted in four different directions at a depth of -2 mm; this was done to remove excessive thatch and organic material. Verticutting on the greens This was followed by hollowtining; it is good turf management law to ensure that your greens receive these practices on a six month basis. We remove small cores as deep as possible, because the most important part of the green is not only skin deep, but 100mm down. Hollowtining relieves compaction, creates improved drainage, better infiltration rates of nutrients to the plant, enhanced carbon dioxide and oxygen exchange and off course the most important aspect from hollowtining is the removal of organic material build-up. A Core extracted from hollowtining

4 Thirdly we top dressed the greens using a sand called Mill feed, to cover the green and to fill all the holes left behind by the hollow tinning machine. The sand then got dragged with a broom mat to spread the sand consistently. Hollowtining and having sand on putting surfaces for about ten days is a small price to pay to ensure year round excellent putting surfaces. The greens will be mowed at a height of 5mm and then dropped gradually over 10 days to get back on 3mm. Extra fertilizer and water were applied at this time to expedite recovery. From May onwards we will be applying a growth regulator program to stunt any Poa seed head production. Tees, approaches, fairways & rough: All the tee complexes were hollow tined followed by verti-cutting at a depth of -8mm in four different directions. The difference between our spring and autumn verticut on these areas are: Spring- we promote new growth and autumn- we dethatch, that is why our autumn verticut is far more aggressive. The tees and approaches also received a granular fertilizer application. The leveling, sodding and top dressing of the tees will be an ongoing project in the upcoming months.

5 Construction/ extension of the 10 th tee complex Cultural practices were also done on the fairways. During summer with high soil temperatures, longer photoperiod, daily irrigation, constant mowing and monthly fertilizer applications you will receive a tremendous amount of growth that leads to thatch. We did verti cut all the fairways to get rid of excess thatch. Thatch build up on fairways can become problematic, it works against the roots, which means you don t get water infiltration and a lot of water gets wasted. With thatch build up one can t consistently get the desired quality of cut that is needed. This is the most effective means of regulating thatch accumulation and thinning of coarse grasses. All the fairways received a granular fertilizer application afterwards. This will result in better turf vigor, playing quality and presentation around the golf course. 8 th Fairway after verti cutting

6 Bunkers: During the upcoming months maintenance/reconstruction will be done on certain bunkers. New sand will be imported where necessary, especially the greenside bunkers and some fairway bunkers. Work will be done on the shaping and resizing of the existing bunkers to give them a more modern look. We are endeavouring to maintain the playability on a day-to-day basis. 2. Machinery: The machines are in good working order with daily maintenance programs in place. Our management program is active on all machines. All reel cylinders will be grinded during the month of May to ensure we get the desired quality of cut that is needed to present the course in the best possible condition. During the winter months when the frequency of mowing decreases all the machinery will undergo a thorough winter maintenance program. 3. Irrigation: With the subsequently decrease in air temperature, lower soil temperatures and shorter photoperiod the need for daily irrigation on the course decreases. This allows for less/no irrigation. The main goal this winter will be to fill the irrigation dams again so that we can be prepared for when the irrigation season starts again. During the upcoming months when we do not irrigate, we will be servicing the pump house and the entire system. (Cleaning sprinklers, replace serviceable parts, ext) 4. Rainfall in April: 55 mm

7 5. Objectives for May 2013: Nursery establishment/growing in Bunker construction Tee levelling Drainage installation To present the course in the best possible conditions Continually strive to improve areas on the golf course Newly constructed nursery green

8 Kind regards from your Southern Turf Management Team. Wynand Ferreira Golf Course Superintendent Durbanville Golf Club