STELLENBOSCH GOLF CLUB COURSE REPORT SEPTEMBER 2014
General: Spring is here and with it everything on the course has started to grow again and the course in general has picked up. The playing surfaces are improving and aesthetically it is also very pleasing to the eye. We managed to complete the sodding project with the pathway project. I think we can all agree that it looks great and it uplifts the course aesthetically. We cleaned out the 12 th dam and planted some aquatic plants to hide the unsightly surface. We started with the fairway verticutting and will continue this until the first week of October. All our cultural practices will commence on the 28 th of September. Photo of the 8 th green complex
1. Course Condition: Greens: The putting surfaces have also improved over the last few weeks. This is mainly because of the warmer soil tempratures. The warmer soil tempratures allows for faster growth which in turn allows the Bent grass to grow at the same speed as the Poa Annua and this therefore creates a smoother and more even surface. We have started with all our pre-hollow tining spray applications to get the plant strong and growing healthy by the time we start with our culural practices. We will be seeding our problem greens with a stronger variety Bent grass when we hollow tine to try and improve the growing vigor and also improve the current type of Bent we have. This will be beneficial during the summer or winter as the growing pattern of the newer variety Bent is so much better in minimum and maximum tempratures. The greens will be tined with a 8mm tine after being dethatched at - 3mm in two directions to get rid of the dead organic material. As usual we will top-dress with a dry mill-feed sand at 50ton per hectar. Doing some work at the Nursery before summer starts.
Tees, approaches, fairways & rough: We have done a pre-cultural fertilizer application to assist in extra growth and recovery from the fairway verticutting. We will be reshaping all the fairways to enhance the overall look, improve definition and increase shot pleasure for different handicaps. We are hoping to have the new fairway lines nicely visible with good definition by the 2 nd week of October. We have finished our wall-to-wall broad leave application and will be following up on certain areas where required or missed. The tees and surrounds will be dethatched and hollow tined during our cultural practices. We will also be coring some fairways like the 3 rd, 4 th, 5 th and 6 th to increase recovery from the Kikuyu patch and to generate enough cores to close the old 9 th pathway along with some other old pathways on the course. 12 th Hole after one verticut
Bunkers: The bunkers are in good condition and draining well. They are nice to play out and they look neat. We will be flushing them again during the hollow tining period and loosening them for the season ahead. They will only be loosened again at the beginning of December. All the bunker faces and surrounds received a granular fertilizer application with the last rain we had. This will allow us to grow a lusher surround that will withstand the summer easier. 2. Machinery: The machines have behaved pretty well through the month. We are constantly battling with our carts as their clutches and starters are starting to give in. We will be replacing all of the brakes and batteries on these vehicles through the next couple of months. All the bigger machinery is running without any hassle. 3. Irrigation: The system check is done and all minor problems have been fixed. We are still battling with two communication problems on controller 3 and 8. We want all of the stations and communication to all controllers to function by the 30 th of September. We had a diver in to look at our suction pipes in the 12 th dam. We are waiting on his complete report, but he was happy that our pipe inlets and pumps were still looking fine and that the suction is far enough from any clay build up. We are currently running 5min cycles on the greens to maintain a healthy turf before cultural practices commence. We are also running 15minute cycles on the tees and surrounds to assist the Poa Annua through the dry spells that spring brings. We are proud to say that we have installed 6 of Hunter s new G885E sprinklers on the course, of which the practice green has 4. We are the first club in SA to install these state of the art sprinklers. Let s see what they do during the summer.
New Hunter G885E installed at the practice green 4. Rainfall in September 2014: 8mm September to date
5. Objectives for October 2014: Staff training Re-alignment of tees and shaping fairways Removing alien vegetation Cultural practices Kind regards from your Southern Turf Management Team