Grounds Newsletter

Here comes the sun...

Finally after weeks of wet weather, we have seen the warmer weather.

This meant that we could finally get out on the course with heavy machinery without worrying about damaging wet and boggy areas.

After a lot of cutting, coring, verti-cutting. Air2G2... the course has seen a DRAMATIC turn around in May.

We hope you have all noticed the improvements and are enjoying the rewards of our work.

Grounds Newsletter

The team have been making sure that any wet weather days are still utilised to keep the course in shape.

Ironically, the mix of sun ☀️😎🌻 and continued rain 🌧️ has created perfect growing weather.

Many areas of the course need to be maintained / cut on a more regular basis.

The team have also addressed hedgerows and bushes.

Grounds Newsletter

With the ground finally drying out it’s time for the team to try and catch up on weeks of maintenance the was hindered by waterlogged greens and fairways.

The team have been able to carry out some of the following multiple times in May and June:

• Aerating the greens with Air2G2
• Verticutting
• Micro and Dyna Coring
• Top dressing and sanding
• Treating/feeding
  

Grounds Newsletter

Verti-cutting is done to remove and reduce the lateral growth that you will see on the putting surface following quick growth.

It’s like giving the greens a precision haircut that paves the way for better turf resilience.

Basically the grasses that are growing sideways.

These aren’t desirable as they don’t produce a smooth surface.

So as a traditional cutting unit may roll straight over these grasses, the vertical blades rip them out.

It has a very positive impact on green speed as well!

Grounds Newsletter

A key part of the green maintenance each year is “Coring / Tining”

Thatch can build up quickly and it has been that wet recently Rochdale has even seen algae on the greens! Last week a group of volunteers helped halve the time it usually takes the greens team to dynacore and sand the greens.

For a better understanding of why we “CORE” the green and how it’s a year round activity see this video from GOLF MATES:

WHY DO GREENKEEPERS CORE THE GREENS ?

A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR GROUNDS VOLUNTEERS FOR THE TIME THEY PUT IN.

THEIR ASSISTANCE MEANS THAT MORE AREAS OF THE COURSE CAN GET THE ATTENTION IT NEEDS.

Grounds Newsletter

It’s great to see stripes and dimonds in our fairways with clear defined rough and semi rough in most parts of the course. This is still an ongoing focus area.

Grounds Newsletter

With the prestigious SCRATCH PLATE this weekend, the grounds team have been hit with another blast of wet weather.

However, knowing how vital the quality of the course is to the scores they have worked hard Monday to Saturday to get the course in the best shape it can be given current factors.

Work carried out this week:

• DynaCoring
  
• Sanding / top dressing
• All tee’s on the back plates
• New pin positions and cups painted.
• Bunkers addressed and cut
• Greens cut multiple times including Saturday morning
• Viber rolled to help the sand and surface profile
• Usual course maintenance prior to comp days.

We are hoping that the above will go some way to ensuring the course is ready for a busy weekend of golf and a prestigious board prize event.

Grounds Newsletter

The team will continue to do all we can to improve the course.

We hope that everyone playing this weekend enjoys their golf

Best of luck to those playing in the tough 36 hole scratch and good luck to the gents doing the 72 holes in 1 day this Sunday for charity.

We apologise but with a 5:15am start, the pins will be the same 😂