7th fairway drainage project.

Work is underway to lay a new drainage system under this fairway. A new main drain was installed with several laterals across the fairway at 5.5mt centres. There is a seam of thick gray clay about 800mm below the surface  that impedes natural drainage. The new drains have been laid to collect water before it hits the clay layer taking it into the main and natural ditch on the right of the fairway. 

Putting green re- build

Work is on going to remove the old root zone from the putting green. The soil was very compacted in the top 400mm which was inhibiting drainage and grass growth. 

Greens hollow coring.

This week the course is closed for maintenance to allow us to hollow core the greens using 16mm tines. This has removed lots of material from the profile. The holes will be filled with a medium/ coarse sand which will further dilute organic matter in the root zone. Several dressings will be laid over the next few weeks and worked into the holes. Additional aeration over the next few months will push the clean sand deeper into the profile. 

Fairway renovation work.

The dry summer has taken its toll on the fairways on the Silverburn course. We dont have fairway irrigation on this course so we lost a lot of grass cover during the summer drought. We need to overseed the fairways but there is no point putting seed into the dead thatch layer. Scarifying work with the super 500 machine is removing the dead material and will allow better access to the soil layer below for seeding. They will be done in two directions to remove as much material as possible. 

Autumn coring work

The recovery process starts with some hollow coring work to remove thatchy material from the approaches on the Silverburn course. After the dry summer there are lots of areas that need renovated. Too dressing will be applied and then new seed laid to improve turf conditions. 

Preparation work.

A very light verti cut to refine some old highland bent grass in the sward.  A worthwhile exercise to improve dwarf density. 

Pitch Marks

It was very disappointing this morning to see the amount of un-repaired pitch marks on the greens. The course was very busy at the weekend with the first two counting medals being played but it seems that golfers are not interested in repairing their pitch marks. It has been a long cold winter and early spring so far and this does not help us. We are struggling for growth as it is but these pitch marks will  now become dead spots which further increases the time it will take to gain a smooth surface for the coming season.

GEO Certification

The club was recently awarded GEO status. This process has been on going for the past 18 months and covers every aspect of sustainable  management within all areas of the club. This is a tremendous achievement by all involved. The process starts again on the new on course platform for verification in 3years time. 

Forward yellow tee at 14th hole.

• The site for the new forward yellow tee at the 14th was cleared and the sub base levelled. This tee is situated between the green tee and main tee to reduce the carry to the fairway. Further progress will be reported in due course.