Rough Scarifying Work

Work has begun to remove more organic material from the turf surface in the rough areas. The scarifyer blades are set to 15mm depth to tear out thatch and dead grass. Cutting blades are trimming the grass at the same time which is then collected in the hopper. This will further thin the rough areas for next season. Another pass will be done in early March before the grass starts to grow.

Hollow coring work on approach areas.

Coring work was carried out on some of the softer approaches to remove some organic matter. Approaches at 2,6,8,9,10,16th will be done, with a heavy sand dressing afterwards worked into the holes. 

Fraser's Kilimanjaro Climb

Fraser Jardine our 1st assistant who looks after the Silverburn Course recently climbed Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the CHAS foundation. They offer support to Fraser and his wife Amanda with their daughter Gracie. They raised almost £22,000 with their fund raising efforts over the past few months.
Well done Fraser.

Greens verti draining

The greens were verti drained with 12mm solid tines to a depth of 300mm. A slight heave was applied to the heads to shake up the profile. Rolling was done afterwards to return the surface to normal. There was no requirement to do the 5th green that was re laid last winter. 

8th green Silverburn update.

Work has progressed well this week with irrigation and drainage work completed. Final raking on the root zone and we were ready for turf. The green and approach were done first then the surrounds. New turf was purchased for the surrounds and 9th tee. The project is almost complete after ten days. Great work from the contractors Greentech Scotland under the supervision of Colin Buchanan and his team. Fraser Jardine will now nurse it through the winter and get it ready for play in April. 

Fairway Verti draining.

The 7th fairway is very wet due to the excessive rainfall over the past few weeks. This fairway sits on a seam of grey clay which slows down drainage from the turf surface. 30 ton of sand was applied before it was verti drained with 25mm tines to a depth of 400mm. This will help in the short term but long term it needs a complete new drainage system to catch surface water before it reaches the clay layer. 

Green overseeing

During the maintenance week the greens were punch tined with 12mm tines to a depth of 25mm. Bar fescue seed was applied by hand and brushed into the holes. 20kgs of seed was applied to each green. A pass was made with the vredo overseeder planting more fescue and some Bent grass. Sand dressing was applied afterwards and worked into the holes filling them to the top. 

8th Green Silverburn

Work begun today to re-build the 8th green on Silvetburn. This green was very poorly constructed in the 1970s when the course was extended to 18 holes. The root zone and subsoil will be removed and new drainage will be installed under and round the new green to ensure that the area is kept dry. These pictures show the state of the soil and subsoil below the green. Large stones.clay and  silt layers all the way through the profile. 

Rough Treatment

After mowing out the main rough areas we have now sprayed them with herbicide and gramicide to remove weeds and Yorkshire fog/Rye Grass. Once the chemicals have killed these weeds/ grasses raking  will be done  with the terra take to rip out thatch and dead grass  

Foliar application to greens.

Today we sprayed a Floratine foliar package to greens containing  5 Lts knife, 10lts Renaissance and 10lts of Astron. We have the club championships next weekend so this will give a nice tonic to the turf overall as it is packed with micro nutrients and a little bit of iron.

Rough Thinning Work

We have started to rake through the rough areas  with the Terra Rake. Over the past few weeks the rough has grown to a height of approximately 350mm. The condition of the rough is good with a wispy thin sward in most areas, signs that we have made real progress over the last few years. To keep these areas thin we are now raking through the wispy grass and removing some material from the base. This work will continue throughout the summer months.

Seeding Time

In the last few days the annual meadow grass in the greens has started to produce seed. This is common at this time of year but it impacts on the green surface with a slightly bumpier / slower ball roll. Unfortunately it is always going to happen in late May early June just when we are trying to develop good surfaces. We have reduced the quantity considerably over the past few years with reduced nutritional inputs and an aggressive fescue over seeding programme but it is something we have to live with for a few weeks at this time of year.The greens at 2,3,4 & putting green have a mottled appearance at the moment due to the higher percentage of annual meadow grass. Nutrition levels have been kept low in the past few weeks to keep the annual meadow grass as weak as possible and allow the better grasses to compete.

Fairway Dressing

Top dressing using pure sand was applied to all fairways to further build up the sand layer in the turf surface. Around 90 ton was applied and dragged in using a rubber drag mat. This work is part of a long term top dressing programme to maintain firm, tight turf conditions on the fairways. It is also part of the build up to the Scottish Ladies Championship in early June.

Gorse Area 4th Hole Silverburn

The area of gorse that was recently cut to the right of the 4th hole on the Silverburn course has been marked with blue steel pegs. This area is to be treated as GUR for the next few months, with relief taken at the nearest point without penalty. It is only the area that has been cut that is marked as GUR.

Green Over seeding results

The results from the recent over seeding off greens has been fantastic. We punch tined the greens using blunt 10mm solid tines to create a 20mm deep hole. 20kgs of Bar fescue was broadcast onto the green and brushed into the holes. Sand dressing filled the holes to the top. We seeded on the 27/28th March and the seed has come through in little over 3 weeks which is a very good strike rate for the north east at this time of year. These young seedlings will be encouraged to develop over the next few weeks using seaweed products.

Rough management update

All rough areas are being cut with the Super 500 flail machine. Over the past 5 years we have cut/ raked and collected grass from these areas to thin the sward and return the rough to a thin wispy condition. It is noticeable this spring that the amount of grass collected has greatly reduced from previous years. This shows we are making real progress now with this programme of work. These areas will be left to grow now for the summer months with some thinning work carried out using the terra rake in mid summer. The natural fescue grasses will grow and give us  wispy type conditions to frame each hole. These pictures were taken at the 1st hole near the landing area below the green.

5th green Update

The new green at the 5th was opened for full play today. The existing greens turf has knitted well into the root zone. There are still some visible turf lines on the green which will fade as growth increases in the next few weeks and it is dressed further with sand. The new turf on the surrounds is well established and will improve further as we get more growth.

Course Information

A new temporary green has been cut at the 5th hole 40 yds short of the new green This will make the hole a par 4 again and allow counting medals to be played from 1st April. The new green will be brought into play at the end of April 17. The new green has been marked as GUR with a drop zone marked at the side.
We have started to punch tine the greens to allow new seed to be dropped into the holes. The holes are 25mm deep, with new seed brushed in and dressed with sand to fill the hole. There will be no more over seeding on green during the playing season. This will be done again in October when the course is closed for 4 days.
Directional sleeper signs have been placed at certain holes to help speed up play for visitors and guests. Old sleepers were used to maintain the theme used in other areas round the course.

Sand Stripping

As part of the 5 year ecology report recently submitted by the STRI work has begun on stripping the rank vegetation from areas in the rough. The plan here is to scrape away the grasses and underlying soil to reveal clean sand. The soil/grasses are buried deep in the hole and covered with clean sand to a depth of 750mm. The bare sand area is then left as it is for the natural plants and fine grasses to colonise it over the next 7-10 years. Weed seeds will not germinate in the sand which will allow the finer Fescue grassses to establish over the coming years. This has been trialled at several courses and has proved very succesful. These areas are now integral parts of the course and a ball should be played as it lies from the sandy area. These areas at 7/8 and the 12th holes are the first to be done and we will monitor how they develop over the coming months. The area at the left of the 12th fairway was covered in rushes and very penal if a ball landed in them but now a ball will be found and can be played from the sandy area.

Gorse Clearance

We have started the removal programme on the gorse area between the 1st hole on Balgownie and the 4th hole on the Silverburn Course. This is a large area that will be removed over a period of 4-5 years. The plan is to cut an area then allow it to recover before clearing the next plot. This will reduce the negative visual impact there is when we clear the gorse. By the time we reach the 1st tee the area behind will have healed and regeneration will have started.