Head Greenkeepers Report January / February 2020

Hello! I hope the following will offer an insight into management of the course at the start of 2020…

The weather

I think it is pertinent to speak about this subject first as it’s the one that effects all golfers the most. One thing we must understand is that we are not suffering alone and all golf courses in the country are in similar boats. 

Storm Ciara, Storm Dennis and the aftermath

Recently, it has to be said, we have had a terrible run of weather. If it hasn’t been a passing storm X, it has been days of heavy rain. I will go into our rain figures in more detail later.

It may sound very strange, but I was very pleased with the course after Storm Ciara and Dennis had passed. Of these most recent storms, Ciara delivered the strongest of punch to us personally here at Penwortham. During that storm alone, we received 70+ mm of rain over a very short period (18 to 24 hours) and had some extremely high winds!!

I have learnt over a several years not to worry about things that you cannot control, but to learn from them and understand how you can improve any control systems for the future.

This is where my good mood emanates from. All the drainage work that the team and I have put into place over recent years has coped amazingly in the most trying conditions. Water has been arriving in huge volumes for weeks now, but due to the improvements all over the course, it has been able to exit the course as quickly as possible.

We are far from finished, but it highlights the work we have been doing. The quick removal of water “OFF” the course is Stage 1 for any effective drainage system, and this is where we have been concentrating. Its better to “fix the cause rather than the symptoms” and only when this is resolved, will investment in properly installed drainage, to the fairways and other areas, become fully effective.

Where damage did occur during the storms on paths etc, the severity of damage was successfully reduced by our control measures e.g. Storm gully on top of the 13th path. The damage here only happened due to the sheer volume of sudden rainwater the drain had to cope with. A small number of rotten trees were also lost.

Rain, Rain go away!!

Following another weekend which has been lost to the darn stuff I thought it would be interesting to show how we sit compared to recent years. I have gathered this information since I have been in employment here at PGC.

From a quick glance at these figures and the totals that they produce, you can clearly see how dry 2018 was for us. This information also shows that despite the dry period extending into 2019, we still ended up recording the wettest year on my records!! The figures in red indicate the months in which we got considerably more than our average (despite the average being significantly affected by those same figures), or the highest figure for that month.

These significant volumes of rainfall during the summer and early Autumn, put us in a poor position, with regards soil saturation levels, with winter approaching.

It must be mentioned at this point that the rainfall totals alone don’t tell the full picture. These statistics can be somewhat twisted because of short and freak events (No dig at our beloved Chairman there, or neither our outgoing Greens chairman). With high volumes landing over a very short period. More importantly is the actual lack of “dry days” between the rainfall. These are the days/ periods that allow the ground to recover. Over the last eight to nine months there has been precious few of these, unfortunately.

From the severe drought of 2018 to the ever-increasing quantities of rainwater that is being thrown at our course, it all indicates the importance for future planning.

When improvements in the irrigation system might be the furthest thing from people’s minds at the moment, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan for the next drought.

Likewise, clearly with the pattern of wetter and wetter years ahead. We as a club should look at what needs to be done to improve the course’s drainage capabilities.  The figures do not lie!!

Choices and operations may be carried out that we all might not agree with. Please be rest assured that everything that is carried out is for the betterment and future prosperity of Penwortham Golf Club!!

Winter Projects

I am pleased to say that all the tee surfaces have been completed and turfed a few weeks ago. Thankfully this turf had rooted sufficiently to avoid any damage during “Ciara” and in fact they behaved very well. There is a little “finishing off” around the edges which will occur very soon and is tied in with the completion of other works, such as the installation of the new winter tees. The tees surfaces will then be worked on to bring them on for the beginning of the season.

We have also recently worked on another project, that being the woodlands to the left of the first. This was done for a myriad of reasons but mainly as the first stage of improving the drainage on the 2nd and 1st holes, INCREASING wildlife, improving playing characteristics and aesthetics for that area. Further stages need to be carried out in future. No mature trees were felled during this stage. The ground however was cleared of a lot of debris, self-seeding plants and an earth mounding that ran the length of the wood boundary and the hole. This mounding has always been problematic for drainage, leaf clearing and maintenance of the area. This has now been removed (discovered to have been covering an old defunct irrigation pipe that had been fitted above ground!!!) and the area immediately looks better. With access now easily achievable and all ground obstacles removed it is planned to maintain this area as semi/rough.

The contrasting pictures below, show the difference that has been achieved in a very short period. The first picture was taken August last year and the second very recently. With correct management we hope to allow this original feature to flourish!!

Before…

…After

We have various further little projects to carry out and finish this winter, namely around the 15th green. I am also planning to carry out some investigative work on small areas where the drainage system seems a little suspect. This will allow either a quick fix or plan for a bigger project in the future. We have already started investigating the LHS of 8th fairway which also effects RHS 1st.

We also plan, before the season starts, to alter some bunkers by changing them into grass contours and swales. The bunkers in question are little used and very poor with regards playability, changing them will reduce costs but vastly improve their consistency from a playing perspective.

Greens

The greens have wintered well despite the rough start they had in Autumn. This is the problem of having disease early on. The scars you receive then have no real chance of repairing. If it wasn’t for this scaring especially on the 6th,17th and 18th then the greens would have looked fantastic all winter. I have documented the removal of chemical controls numerous times and will not repeat again.

We must now use more cultural methods and practices of reducing our susceptibility to getting diseases / drought. This I’m glad to say has been my main objective since joining this club.

What is meant by “cultural” methods? I hear you ask.

Well it basically means, methods that help our grass plants be as strong and healthy as possible to enable them to compete against any disease pathogens that may attack them.  (Without the use chemical fungicides). This is achieved by using a combination of techniques that encourage the growth of suitable grass species whilst discouraging the growth of pathogens. There is too large a list to name them all, but their main objects are either to create a healthier root system or reduce leaf moisture as much as possible.

Having said that, it was with great annoyance that we seemed to suffer our only disease issue of the year as a consequence of our Autumn renovations last year. This has been studied and learnt from and will hopefully be avoided in the future.

The club has enabled the greens department to purchase a few machines recently. These will greatly help us against our historic susceptibility to disease and drought. The regular use of this new machinery throughout the year will vastly improve the playability, sward composition, drainage and general presentation of our greens, collars, approaches and tees going forward.

This hugely important work can now be carried out with maximum effect but minimum disturbance to the members. Thanks once again to Greens committee and the Directors for your ongoing support.

Drainage

I am currently creating an action plan with regards to drainage improvements, whilst many of these can be patched in house. It is still hoped that we can use external experts in to help us do things on a greater scale for longevity, like originally promised to the members. This work can then be planned into next year’s workings in conjunction with the improvements around the 11th,12th and 13th green tee area.

Outgoing Greens Chairman

I would like to take this opportunity to thank, our soon to be Vice Captain.

As most of you will all know, Ray has held the (un)fortunate position as Greens chairman for five years. Over this period, he has not only given up a huge volume of his own time (amounting to weeks), for the benefit of the club, but to me personally. I will be forever grateful for this and his level-headed approach when dealing with “issues”.

There has been many times that Ray, ably assisted by the great Hugh Patterson, have had to respond to either a call or text from myself. Never once did either ever fail to, figuratively or literally, bring me down from the ceiling!!

I am so happy to have worked alongside these two over the last few years and I think, they would both agree, that its thanks to them I am a much calmer individual.

Thank you Ray and Hugh!

Matt Dobbs

Head Greenkeeper