Course Managers Update - Around the Greens in March 2021
Published Thursday, 11th March 2021
More mild weather continued in February. The average
maximum was only 26.4 degrees with just five days over 30 degrees. On top of
this we received a total of 76.5mm of rainfall causing a busy month with staff
on leave and the grass virtually jumping out of the ground. From a Course
Managers point of view and if anyone is taking orders, I will have another five
years of these summers in a row please!
The Greens
breezed through the month without any major problems. The small amount of pest
activity late in the month was the only issue worth noting. The greens will
benefit from the renovations scheduled for the 14th and 15th
of March. The high rainfall and the fact that the November renovation was not completed
has seen a small build-up of “black layer” in some of the lower areas on some
greens. There are a couple of small patches of Oxalis on one or two greens
which have been sprayed and will be monitored for further applications if
required.
The Tees are
in great shape heading into autumn and will further respond if players continue
to repair divots. An application of selective herbicide will take place in late
March to continue to control infestations of Kikuyu and a pre-emergent will
also be applied to avoid germination of Poa and other winter weeds. The height
of the cut will also be raised to the winter height in March.
This has been the first summer in at least 5 years where
we have needed to cut fairways 3 times a week for the whole season. I’m really
happy to see the amount of recovery of the Kikuyu over and around old Ground Pearl
patches. Turf was laid over areas on the 5th and 1st
fairways and will continue in March. Little Ground Pearl was seen during the turfing
process which is a massive positive and shows that we may just be winning the
fight against them. As for the Poa, we will trial using a pre-emergent on one
fairway and compare with Poa control after germination. We will be comparing allelopathy
effects.
The Bunkers are still in need of some attention and we request that all members, visitors and guests rake bunkers after use.