Greens over seeding work 2019

The course has been closed this week for some turf renovations on greens. Pot seeding work was carried out to introduce large quantities of fescue seed into the ground. This was brushed in by hand prior to a pass with the vredo disc seeder to connect the small seed pots. A heavy dressing of sand was applied and worked into the turf surface with a rubber drag mat. An application of seaweed has been applied to aid recovery from the aeration work.

Solar Panel Installation

Recently we had installed 102 solar panels to reduce our energy costs at our facility at Links Farm.Rising costs have driven this project and we will see an instant reduction in energy bills especially during the summer months when the irrigation system is used every day. This is another great investment by the club in our facility at the club.

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. 
  

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