Ground Report January 2018 Introductory Notes: 1. The temporary ground rules for the winter period 2018 remain in place. 2. Ground activities listed below reflect the end of the growing season and are subject to prevailing weather and ground conditions. 3. A programme for the completion of the winter projects and other general maintenance activities has been produced and is appended to this report (Appendix 2 Version 3 January 18). Works to be completed this month: Greens: Cutting frequency: Normal frequency during the winter period, if mild, would be once a week, by hand. However, with limited grass growth it has not been necessary to cut the greens in the last few weeks. Ironing frequency: Now suspended for the winter period. Hole changes: Holes are being changed once weekly. Treatment this month: All greens have been solid tined. Condition issues: Isolated patches of toadrush have appeared on some greens, these will be treated by scarification as soon as the greens are dry enough. Patches of the fusarium disease killed off by frosts in early December have returned on some greens. If these persist and become more widespread they will be treated by a further application of Sherriff Amenity fungicide. Tees: Cutting frequency: Normal frequency during the winter period, if mild, would be once every 2 weeks. However, with limited grass growth it has not been necessary to cut the tees in the last few weeks. Treatment this month: It has been too wet this month to carry out any further hollow tining of tees. Condition issues: Vulnerable tees are now being protected through the provision of mats and the installation of the permanent artificial teeing areas on the 1 st and 4 th. Fairways: fairways in the last few weeks. Treatment this month: Leaves have been blown off fairways into piles, ready for collection, as soon as ground conditions permit. Condition issues: Some isolated patches of weed continue to be present. It was agreed that the problem would best be addressed in early spring, before the start of next season and may require the use of a specialist spraying contractor. Rough: rough in the last few weeks. Treatment this month: None Condition / length issues: None
Bunkers: Raking frequency: All bunkers that have not been partially flooded have been raked again during late December. Treatment this month: The remaining back nine and fairway bunkers will be topped up with sand over the late winter period (See Appendix 2). Condition issues: The right hand greenside bunkers on the 8 th and 15 th are now temporarily out of play to allow contaminating clinker and stones to be sealed off, and the sand replaced. Soil has now been placed, with sand to follow, once ground conditions permit. An inspection of all the bunkers was undertaken at the end of November following a period of extremely wet weather to identify those subject to flooding. A second inspection was carried out 5 days later following a period of dry weather to establish how quickly each had drained down. The following bunkers receiving drainage improvements this year as part of the winter programme are as follows: 4 th front greenside, 9 th right greenside, 11 th right fairway pot, 11 th left fairway adjacent to ditch, 13 th left fairway at dog-leg. Other bunkers most prone to prolonged flooding will receive drainage improvements in subsequent year s Winter Projects programme of works. Practice Areas: practice areas in the last few weeks. Clubhouse grounds Some of the white posts around the putting green are loose and need bedding in again. Fairway yardage plates are also in need of re-painting. Both activities have been included in the winter maintenance programme. The Ground staff continue to clear remaining more resilient nettles at the base of hedgerows as part of the winter maintenance programme. The Gardening Sub-committee has developed the following gardening proposals: A draft high level 3-year Planting and Maintenance Plan (See Appendix 3) for Board review and approval. The costs included in the Plan are provisional, need further development and would not necessarily result in an equivalent increase in the Ground budget as some planting costs are already included. Supporting documents providing a more detailed summary of planting proposals for each bed and border, and the ongoing maintenance regime required for each. The documents also clarifying maintenance activities that can be undertaken by the volunteer group and those needing full time support. Draft proposals for improving the visual appearance of the Clubhouse from Palatine Road photograph to be presented to the January Board by Eric Botham for comment/approval. In addition, a number of members, supported by the Ground staff, have cleared the copse to the left of the 1 st green, which had become overgrown. This will improve the appearance of this area and the view of the 1 st green from the buggy path. The Ground Committee extend thanks to Biddy, Paul, Julie and the
volunteers for all their hard work and enthusiasm since the Sub-committee was formed, and the positive contribution the Club will enjoy looking into the future. To finalise the maintenance element of the Gardening Plan the role of Ken needs to be resolved. Subject to Board approval the preferred approach would to seek Ken s agreement to retire at a suitable date and replace with an apprentice on a permanent basis. The apprentice would report to Gary, undertake the heavier gardening tasks, but also green keeping activities as part of his ongoing training. Subject to Board approval, Patrick would contact Ken on this basis and Ground would submit a cost impact of the proposal. The EA have commenced trimming/clearance work along the edges of the stream from the 1 st to the pond on the 5 th. STRI Recommendations & Maintenance Week: All STRI treatment recommendations for December have been completed, apart from the treatment of greens with seaweed and iron, due to ground and weather conditions. Schedule of Major Competitions in January: 4 th Winter Stableford: Saturday 6 th January. 4 th Winter League: Saturday 13 th January Four Ball Stableford: Saturday 20 th January. Mixed Winter League: Sunday 21 st January. Stableford Aggregate: Saturday 27 th January. Ongoing liaison between Gary and David Hunter continues regarding course requirements for each week s 7-day competitions. Machinery update: The bearing on the front wheel of the mule has been repaired. Capital issues: Approval has been obtained from the Finance Director to part exchange the mule with a newer second-hand vehicle for 6k. The recently purchased wood chipper machine has failed a second time and will be returned to the supplier as unfit for purpose. Purchase of a heavier duty machine is currently being considered. Tree work update: A small tree on the 12 th was blown over in a recent storm. Attempts will be made to re-plant this. Larges branches were also felled from the copse on the 13 th during the same storm. These will be cut up and removed by the ground staff. If tree damage remains slight for the rest of the financial year a request will be submitted to the Board to use some of the emergency funding allowance for trimming the height of trees in front of the 4 th, 5 th and 8 th greens, which have not received attention for the last 3 to 4 years, plus any diseased trees in need of attention by a tree surgeon. Allowance has been included in the approved 2017/18 Ground budget for commissioning the specialist STRI report on tree management. In conjunction with the above proposed tree surgery Ground are now seeking approval from the Board for the commissioning of this report in April 2018 if, overall, we remain within budget.
Health & Safety update: No H&S reportable incidents have been recorded in December. The external H&S audit conducted by Alan B. Partnership took place on Thursday 21 st December 2017. The inspection included the diesel and oil storage arrangements. The report has not yet been received. Alan B. Partnership consider the non-slip treads recently applied to the wooden steps to be acceptable, it was agreed that steps should be removed wherever possible eg steps leading down from 1 st tee. Winter Project update: An updated programme for completion of the Winter Projects is appended to this report (Version 3 January 2018). Good progress has been made in December despite the adverse weather & poor ground conditions. Ground extend their thanks to Gary and his team for all the hard work during 2017. 2017/18 Grounds Budget Update: Based on expenditure incurred during the May to November period spend on diesel and petrol remains considerably higher (20%) than the equivalent period last year and the budget allowance. Analysis of invoices for the period indicates that the rise is due to an increase in unit rates and not an increase in consumption. Monitoring of costs will continue. A year-end under spend of 1.1K is currently forecast, principally due to forecast reductions in Gardener costs over the November to March period.
Appendix 1: Supporting notes on treatments being applied to greens and their benefits Sarel rolling: Produces small diameter shallow holes, which breaks up any crust that tends to form on the surface and allows the air, nutrient and especially water to start its journey down to the roots. Slim solid tining: Produces small diameter but deeper holes and allows the air, nutrient and especially water to get further down into the root system. It also prunes the root system and encourages growth. Over seeding programme: The aim is to incorporate more bent grasses into the greens as replacement to annual meadow grasses. This will improve the uniformity of the sward and reduce the differential growth rates particularly in the spring, which causes uneven playing surfaces. Top dressing: Regular applications of top dressing will reduce surface imperfections and produce a firmer and faster playing surface. In conjunction with tining it will also improve drainage through reduction in thatch. Verticutting: Vertical blades lift the horizontal grass sward allowing the following mower to cut the grass more evenly. In addition the blades remove excessive leaf growth that contributes to puffy, spongy surface conditions and open grooves in the turf canopy for the incorporation of sand topdressing. Ironing / rolling: The process smoothes the playing surface and the associated vibrating action allows the top dressing to pass through the tines deeper into root system. Wetting agent: Allows even water penetration through the playing surface and into the root system, reducing surface water ponding and dry patching. Vertidraining to greens and fairways: The tines are larger in diameter and deeper, up to 12 inches, and a heave or levering action is applied similar to that of a fork. Below the surface the compacted layers are broken up leaving pockets into which essential elements can percolate. The technique has also been applied to the 5 th and 6 th fairways with sand being introduced to improve drainage and surface condition.