Chris Young – General Manager
Hi everyone,
Wow where did the season go! The long dry Summer seems an age ago and now the nights are drawing in. However, we’ve been blessed with mild weather along with some heavy downpours which has started the recovery of the fairways well.
There’s been a lot going on around the course over the last few weeks and I’ll leave it for Chris to tell you the details. However, I would like to say thank you to all of you with your patience throughout. Its important work and means that not only will we have a much better course throughout the Winter but one in much better condition going into the new season next year.
We’ve also had some work done around the Clubhouse with the roof having all its moss and debris removed and a new coral for the bin collection area.
You’ll see that the course pathway renovations have started on the 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th tees. We also have renovations to paths going on between the 6th and 7th (Including a drain to stop flooding) 11th to 12th and 9th and 15th and 17th to 18th. You’ll also see that extending the tee’s on the 3rd and the 12th meaning that the competition tee’s will be of grass instead of mats, as it should be. The other pathway to be done is on the short course 3rd hole which Countrywide will be finishing for us in the next couple of weeks.
Recently I have been sending more communications out on the ESP system (Elite Live app) so you should have been getting more information from the club. The aim of this was to give you all important updates which often occur at short notice and of course recently with so much work going on, plans change at the last minute. Apologies to those who haven’t been getting it, I will ensure that for the Monthly updates we will put a paper copy out as well. For those of you who are not receiving updates you need to re confirm your preferences for information to be sent to you. A year or so back an update went out to everyone to re confirm and those that didn’t, stopped receiving emails. All you need to do to ensure is recheck your preferences and ensure that you press the update button afterwards. If you need any help with this, then please contact the office and we will help. If you have the App on your phone, then this can also be done from there.
Unfortunately, we have had a couple of mornings when the fog has swept in and on one occasion meant we have had to delay tee times to ensure that there is sufficient visibility for everyone to be safe while playing or working on the course. Mother nature doesn’t and hopefully won’t spring too many surprises on us. However, when this does happen, please be patient and understand that in the interests of safety we can’t allow play to continue when we can’t see the direction or landing of our drives and approach shots. As well as members, visitors and greenkeeping staff we also need to be aware of Walkers and horses utilising our many public access routes. Also, on a note of safety, can I just ask that no one enters the green keeping area. This is a busy area with lots of moving equipment and chemicals in storage or preparation. If there are any questions or concerns, then please bring them to the attention of the office or Professional shop.
As always if you have any questions or would like any further updates then please don’t hesitate to get in contact with me.
Chris Chris Sharp Head Greenkeeper
Many things have changed since the last Newsletter in August. The weather is one, amongst many improvements to the course. The most exciting of which (in my opinion) is the 2nd tee construction, the hole will be a completely different challenge once the new tees are in play. Yardages will change, as will the angle of attack and getting to the tee will be much easier. Out of bounds left will get you thinking a bit more, that’s for sure.
We will FINALLY be removing the AstroTurf mats from the 3rd and 12th tees! Since starting here this was one area that I felt let the course down the most. Regardless of the course conditions, the mats would always take away from final product, especially as they were used for competition tees. The 12th tee has been taken out already and play will take place from the back of the yellow tee, until the new tee is ready for play. The 3rd mat will stay in play until that tee is open for play.
I would love to say the new tees will be open before Christmas, however this will be determined by how quickly the turf establishes. They will most definitely be open before the new golfing season begins in 2023. As always, we will be looking to Mother Nature to provide us with kind conditions. This obviously extends further than just turf establishment!! Progress can be seen below
Those that have played the Main Course since last Monday, will have seen that the rope drainage was pulled through our 7th green. We will see a much improved putting surface, although during heavy rain the green may still flood. The difference being as soon as it stops raining the green will drain. It really is a remarkable product. It took the contractors 3 hours to install the rope and the green was ready for play the next day. The carry drain and sump will be back filled this week, with turfing completed over the next couple of weeks.
As many of you will be aware, greens maintenance took place across both courses last week. All in all, it was a successful week. The Main Course saw our deepest verti drain to date, with the machine reaching some 10 inches below the surface (using 12mm diameter solid tines). This was followed up with a top dress and a shallower solid tine (again with 12mm diameter solid tines) to a depth of 2 inches below the surface.
The eagle eyed of you will notice that we haven’t pulled a core (hollow core) from the greens since I began here. There is a reason for that. Soil samples that I had analysed showed that the organic matter (thatch) levels within the greens are within a manageable range. In fact, below 2 inches within the profile, the levels are where we want them. We have slightly too much organic matter within the top 2 inches and that is why we target this area with an additional shallow solid tine.
Shallow tine to 2 inches
I know what you are thinking… Why do we verti drain to 10 inches then? This allows us to get more sand into the green profile, opening more channels that reduce compaction, encourage root growth and improve drainage. Throughout the year we also carry out regular verti cutting (like scarification) to the greens, which is a great form of non disruptive organic matter removal. Let’s not forget that the application of sand in itself, aids in the dilution of organic matter. To provide you with some idea we applied a total of 50 tonnes of sand just last week across both courses.
We should start seeing good recovery over the next week with the greens and to encourage growth we will be overseeding Main Course greens on Thursday 13th October, please remain patient. On this note, thank you to the members who passed on words of understanding and missed out holes to allow the team to crack on. You have no idea how much easier this makes our job and enables us to get the greens open in a timely fashion. Thank you!
I’m sure many of you are wondering what sort of conditions we will experience this Autumn/Winter. It seems appropriate to coin a famous saying here: ‘The early bird catches the worm.’ Timing is everything when it comes to worm cast management, as we found out last year. The worm activity was unprecedented in 2021 and we were very much reactive in how we handled the situation. This year has already seen us change our approach to worm casting management. BGL have invested heavily in a soil conditioner, and we have contractors that are aerating our fairways.
Verti drain to 10 inchesIn fact, holes 1 7 and the 17th were aerated on Friday 30th September. The rest were completed on Friday 7th October. This aeration will allow us to apply the soil conditioner and get it to where it needs to be within the soil profile. With the hope of deterring the worms away from our main playing areas. The timing of application is determined by the weather, as we will need a substantial amount of rain to wash it in. We have also purchased a tractor mounted spreader that will enable us to get large quantities out in a short space of time.
We hope to get good control of the casting from the soil conditioner; however, we have the top brush (tractor mounted rotary brush) to help disperse any casts that remain. The club policy towards hedgehog wheels has also changed, this will help against the build up of worm casts on wheels and consequently the dropping of them around the course.
Hedgehog wheels are great for protection against trolley damage during periods of frost, however during wet/warm winters they create more of a problem than anything else. Bearing this in mind, we will not ask you to use them unless we know frosts will be with us for a prolonged period. I don’t think we can overestimate what a difference this is going to make.
Even with these measures in place, there will still be the need to clean your trolleys and shoes off at the end of your round. We have now improved the shoe cleaning facilities, with the introduction of 2 new retractable air hose reels and 2 new air guns. Please treat this area with respect and do not use the guns to scrape mud off shoes or throw them onto the ground.
Instructions for use:
1. Pull the gun towards you (away from the reel), the reel will click once you stop pulling and it shouldn’t retract.
2. Once you are finished, pull the gun away from the reel again and the reel should click, then start retracting in.
3. The air gun should hang loose of the reel, but not meet the floor.
If you managed to get this far, well done! See you on the course.
Chris Sharp
Duncan Purcell – Head PGA Professional
Happy October everyone! The golfing season has come and gone so quickly it’s hard to believe that autumn is here. Despite the evenings getting shorter I hope to see as many of you up here at the Centre enjoying the fantastic facilities on offer.
In September we had the Club Championship. The course was in top shape and the weather was kind. Many congratulations to Paul Lewis on his Championship victory. No doubt a few Moretti’s would have been had out of the famous cup!
We also had the Seniors Invitational, with 60 golfers coming out to support Captain Keith Sonley’s chosen charity this year Thames Valley Air Ambulance. The golfers enjoyed a fine day and much needed funds were raised on the day so well done to all.
One thing that I would like to discuss is the use of hedgehog wheels this winter. After much consideration and dialog, we have decided to not enforce the use of these this winter unless there is a prolonged period of severe frost. The past 2 winters we haven’t had much frost and therefore the implementation of hedgehog wheels on trollies was more detrimental to course conditions. I will also suggest that for the course to be maintained in the best possible condition throughout the winter is that for as many people as possible to carry rather than use a trolley. I will be ordering in light small stand bags to make it easier to carry as well. It is well documented that we have a strong worm population on a few spots on our course and the use of any trolleys in these areas makes this problem worse. While I appreciate not all can carry, it would be most beneficial to the course is more do.
Thank you to those who attended on Tuesday 11 October (3 7pm) for the TaylorMade custom fitting event. If you did buy a Stealth driver, you have been entered into a draw to have a playing lesson with Rory McIlroy who wouldn’t want that! If you missed out, look out for the next Custom Fit event
With winter fast upon us, it is important to look after your golf equipment, most notably spiked waterproof shoes as well as changing the grips on your clubs. Please remember as members you receive 10% discount on full priced clothing and shoes, and 20% discount when you change 8 grips or more.
Finally, one of my shop team, Alex Panamarenko, is leaving us here at the Centre. Alex has been an integral part of the team and will be sorely missed by myself and my entire team. Alex has taken up a position in the cardiology department at Reading Hospital and we couldn’t be prouder of him. We wish him the very best for the future.
Duncan
Jack McDonagh – Driving Range Manager
Hi all, firstly I would like to say a huge thank you to all of you for your support over peak golfing season. It has been great seeing so many of you using the driving range and supporting the centre in a way that you may not have done before. I have been particularly impressed with the main sections commitment to using the range in the early mornings on Saturday and Sunday. We opened the range up earlier than we ever have this summer, as I wanted to listen to the feedback, I received last year from you all. Moving forward, this is definitely something we can do on an annual basis. I have already had some positive suggestions for next year on how we can get more members involved on the range, and I’d love to hear any suggestions you have on how we can improve! As the winter rolls in, and days get shorter, we are going to have to return to 9am opens every day of the week except Monday which will remain at 11am. This is to allow us time to hand pick balls in the morning, as the ball picking robots do not work in the cold, wet and icy conditions.
We sadly had to say goodbye to two of our long serving range team members, Liam McDonagh, and Ben McCann. Liam and Ben have both gone onto university and I wish them the best of luck with their futures.
I wanted to give a huge shoutout to one member of my team. Mark Henley! Most of you will know Mark by now, whether that be from his constant enthusiasm serving people over on the driving range, to eating an egg bap in the club house or just running about all over the centre and course. Mark is a real asset to the centre and it’s safe to say I couldn’t do my job without him. You will often see Mark serving balls, but it’s the work before many of us are out of bed in the morning that Mark does that is so crucial to our operation. Mark is often here at 5/5:30am running around the outfield picking golf balls so that every day we are well stocked for you all to come and use the driving range.
Thank you for all you do Mark, you are a machine!
