Last blog post....

This will be the last post for Greenkeeper diary. I hope you have enjoyed it and it has given you a good insight into the work that we do and the work that goes into keeping the courses in a great condition.

The glorious warm weather faded towards the end of last week which was unfortunate, but it actually was good for the course as it was badly needing a good dose of water.

Here is what I have been up to in the last two weeks.

I have continued to sand the tee signs on both courses. So, if you have seen a young guy being attacked by midges sanding tee signs, that’s me. Once I had finished sanding all the signs I then started to paint them with a dark gloss. This ensures they are looking their best but it also helps to protect the wood against the elements.


                        Before                                                                                            After

        

This sunny, dry weather is obviously great for the course in general and makes it very pleasant to work and play golf in, but it can cause the course to dry out very quickly. You may have noticed that we have been watering the greens and some tees in an effort to prevent the grass from drying out and burning in the heat. The lines on some of the fairways and greens lie above where the drains are. The drains are obviously very important in winter and long period of rain to ensure the course stays playable, but in summer it causes water and nutrients to drain freely and water is therefore not retained resulting in the burning of the grass. This will repair over time as we will surely get some rain soon. 

Another job that I started last week with Bobby was to edge the bunkers. This is a job that gets done throughout the summer. All that is needed is the edging shears, a bucket and a rake. You edge the whole way round, then picking up the grass clippings, ensuring that any stones and other weeds and grasses are taken out. Then the bunker is raked. It makes such a big difference visually once the bunkers have been edged. (see pictures below)

                       Before                                                                                                After

                                                                                           

Edging Process

                                                                  Left of 2nd fairway

          Bluebells 16th May                                                                               Ferns 16th June

Foxgloves beside the 2nd on the Hilton

Once again thank you for reading the blog and giving me feedback, it is much appreciated. I hope you all enjoy the courses over the summer. 

Week commencing 30th May.

This week was a very varied one. Monday's job was to add sand into the bunkers on the Allander course. I did this with Heather and Gordon. Over time, some sand will inevitably leave the bunkers from hitting shots, sand on shoes, sand being blown out and some sand being washed away through rain. The process of adding sand is as follows: we loaded up the tractor trailer with a few tonnes of sand and then emptied the appropriate amount into the bunkers. We then shovelled the sand evenly throughout the bunker. We then smooth out the sand using the rake to ensure areas are not deeper than others. Then we do a funny looking shuffle dance and heel in the sand to compact it and make sure it beds well ensuring that it’s not too loose. Once we have done that it is raked again and then we keel again and do a final rake.

On Tuesday I was raking the bunkers on both courses in the morning and then filling in divots on the Hilton in the afternoon. At this time of year, the divot mixture is a mixture of divot sand which is greyer in colour than bunker sand and grass seeds. You drop about a handful of the mixture into the divot and then drag the sole of your shoe over it to smooth it out. Lastly, once all the divots have been filled you would use the switching pole to switch over the divots, this ensures that the divot sand is level with the ground and so when we cut the tees the sand won't blunt the blades.

I had a different task to do for Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. One job that gets done every year is to touch up the tee signs. These get weather beaten over the year with the constant rain and sun (mostly rain). This week I have been sanding the wooden surroundings on the signs with sand paper to get any loose paint and marks off which will give a good base for varnish to be applied. ( see picture below).

On Friday morning I changed the bins and raked the bunkers, then in the afternoon I changed the holes on the Allander and the putting greens beside the clubhouse. I could feel a notable difference to previous weeks doing this job in that the ground was a lot harder due to the dry weather. You may have noticed that we are having to water the greens in this dry weather to ensure that they do not dry up and start to burn.

Both courses are looking great just now as is the clubhouse surroundings with the hanging baskets and flower beds being filled thanks to a few of the members giving of their time. 

Week commencing 23rd May- The art of raking a bunker.

My Monday mainly consisted of raking the bunkers on both of the courses. Something that I have not mentioned yet is the art of raking the bunkers. There is more to it than you might think. Over time sand will shift throughout a bunker. There are a few factors that shift the sand such as: areas that have higher footfall/ shots, lower sections of the bunker and areas that might end up with more sand due to the way it gets raked.

The bunkers should be as lump free as possible making it fair for golfers hitting out of them. My job is not only to rake the footprints and other marks out of the sand but to make sure the sand is evenly distributed throughout the bunkers. Often the bunkers just get raked backwards which over time will result in sand shifting toward the edges and as a result we rake forward and back and ensure they are raked evenly. 

Below is a panorama from the 9th tee on the Hilton. 

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I flymoed the areas around the burns and the areas around the bunkers. The reason that we have to flymo around these areas and not use the usual sit on mowers is because of the steep and inaccessible slopes. If anyone would like a work-out I can recommend flymoing the banking on the 12^th on the Allander! You will come away with very long arms, calves of steel and likely crushed toes from the steep slope! Who needs the gym….

On Thursday and Friday, I raked the bunkers then helped Tish and Heather to empty the bins at the clubhouse, strim, clean the shoe cleaners and blow debris from around the club house. 

Let this great weather continue!