Member News
General Manager Report
Stephen Norton
I hope you are all keeping well.
As I write this email the golf course is still covered in a blanket of snow from last Sunday. This rather beautiful but unwelcome band of weather will hopefully soon pass by and we can back to normal. There is a risk however that the rainfall expected may not penetrate through the root zone creating an unstable playing surface. The significant risk here is not what we see with our eyes but what happens beneath the surface as it's possible with foot traffic, trolley, buggy or club impacts that areas of turf could be "torn" which would take time to recover. We are in something of a perfect storm.
The weather has brought to a halt the good progress we were seeing on the course projects however I know Neil and the team will be quick to pick these up again as soon as the weather permits.
Recently we saw some more damage done by a quad bike which came down the main drive from Birchwood Road. The CCTV has been passed to the police so I can only hope that the individuals are brought to justice. Thankfully most of the damage is superficial so it will heal a little quicker than they have on other occasions.
Neil's course report was submitted prior to the snowfall and I would like to commend him and his team on the condition of the greens prior to this. Birchwood Park receives a huge footfall of golfers every day and they have withstood this pressure, especially during a wet November, very well. A fellow Golf Manager shared this picture which aims to visually represent the amount of footfall each green receives. The below image represents just a single fourball and the amount of steps they took.
Imagine what that would look like with 20-25 fourballs playing each day.
Finally I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
Course Manager Report
Neil Crittenden,
It seems all I talk about is the weather, the driest summers, wettest winters and so it goes on. Greenkeeping is so affected by the weather it makes life difficult to plan let alone carry out works on the course and things are always changing from day to day. Just when we start our bunker renovations and project work, we have the wettest November on record with 169.8mm of rain beating the last wettest back in 2009. This has hampered us with the work we are doing as the soil is saturated and hard to work with, hopefully we will be blessed with some cold dry days to carry on with the works. As you can see from the graph, we had very few dry days and a lot of heavy rain-soaked ones.
With all the wet weather and exceptionally warm weather disease pressure has been huge especially on the Greens. We have been regularly spraying fungicides and keeping the Greens as disease free as possible. They are checked every single day for any new activity and our practices change on the outcome of the inspection. Talking with industry professionals there are a lot of courses that have been hit hard and recovery rate will be very slow this time of year. We have done well, and the Greens are looking good.
All the posts and rope are out so please keep to the routes that we set its for everyone’s benefit that we do this. It has been hard to keep the bunkers to any great standard this month with the constant heavy rainfall it really highlights the problems we have with them before they are rebuilt. With another five this year being completely renovated and seven filled in it will take us to a total of twenty nine completed. One thing that was planned this year was the cutting of the hedge on the 1st. we had around 10ft removed so going forward we can maintain to the desired height, I have been asked why we didn’t take it down further, but the hedge is there for a reason to shield stray balls going through to the car park and our yard.
Whilst out working on one of the Bunkers I was nearly hit by a golf ball without a single FOUR or apology and the only explanation I was given was ‘’Didn’t think the ball would go that far’’ and I was on the 4th Par 3, The golf course is perhaps unique in sport as Greenkeepers can often be seen carrying out work while the
course is in play. It’d be a little odd if a Groundsman was marking out a penalty area on a football pitch or the boundaries of a tennis court while a match was in play. But with tee sheets filled to the brim and our Greenkeepers having a massive area to maintain, it’s inevitable that eventually the Green-staff and the golfer will come into contact and all too often Greenkeepers find themselves in the firing line. with dangerous consequences.
The damage caused by a golf ball hitting you on the head is like a head-on collision in a car crash and of the 12,000 golf-related injuries recorded each year in the UK, around 3,500 are head injuries caused by a golf ball. The R&A’s Rules of Golf attempt to mitigate the potential dangers to both greenkeepers and other players. Within the ‘Etiquette’ Behaviour on the Course section, it is explained how golfers should always wait until the way ahead is clear before playing a shot. This applies to whether the person ahead is a greenkeeper going about his duties, another golfer, or a member of the public. Golfers have a duty of care not to put others at risk as result of their actions. There is no option but for greenkeepers and golfers to co-exist. For most full-blooded golf shots, the ball will travel at speeds of more than 100mph and to be hit on the head by a wayward, Pro V1, can cause serious injury. Golfers surely must be aware of this fact. We always move to one side and wave players through, where practicable and possible but sometimes we must work and the golfer must wait patiently, I find it very puzzling that most golfers would never play up intentionally to a fellow player because they understand the dangers of doing so, and the etiquette of golf, so why do it to a greenkeeper without four warning. So please be a little more aware of us when you are playing many thanks.
The Yellow Tee on 15th has been stripped of turf and the subbase levelled and a rootzone mix has been added. Levelling pegs are in place for the next stage of levelling with the rootzone and then Turfing with a Tees grade turf to finish, this tee will be so much better for the season coming.
Behind the scenes we have been building a new workshop facility down in our compound. New electric doors were added back in the summer and a level floor has just been finished to accommodate a machinery hoist. This will mean we can work on the course maintenance machinery in a far better and safer environment.
Before we know it, Christmas will be upon us, and another year passed from myself and all the Greenkeepers here at Birchwood we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
