CSGC Links News February 2015 - No 3

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The County Sligo Golf Club

February 2015

Do we need Super fast Greens?

FebrUARY Links Meeting report Editor Vincent McGee

Links News Issue No 3 February 2015

; The County Sligo Golf Club

February 2015

Links meeting The February meeting of the Links Committee took place on Monday 17th.

Course manager’s report The Greens are showing signs of recovery from the disease damage which appeared just before Christmas. The soil temperature has just started to rise so with the correct nutrients input and light top dressing I hope to see a good recovery in the next two to three weeks.

Although we have damage on the greens they are still running good for this time of year. (Running at 7.8 feet on the stimpmeter).

Work is still slow on the links due to the new course improvements which we are still concentrating on.

Construction of the new bunker on the left side of 5th Green has started today (Feb 17th).

There is a small adjustment to be carried out on the right hand side bunker at the green. Once the new bunker is built we will be tidying up around the green and laying new turf.

Links Committee

Chairman: Serryth Heavey Aidan Doyle Carmel Hatt Paraic Hanley Mary Durcan Vincent McGee Oliver McDonagh Terry Brady

Mats remain in play on fairways and Par 3 tee boxes on both courses until the end of February.

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; The County Sligo Golf Club

February 2015

february Work carried out in February General: Turfing of filled drain on right side of the 5th Fairway carried out.

New hazard post put in up both sides of the new open drain on the 5th. Red up the LHS & White Out of Bounds LHS. (Need to clearly mark start & Finish of Out of Bounds).

Wind breaker has been erected around the new 3rd Green for protection.

Marram Grass planted at new mound on the left hand side of the 1st fairway.

Installed new irrigation around the 2nd & 5th greens.

The 14th & 15th greens have been roped off for protection due to high traffic volume.

• • • • • •

Greens: • • • • • Tees: • •

Greens been sprayed with insecticide to prevent bird damage (picking).

Sprayed with fertiliser to help recovery.

All greens have been top dressed with approximately 15 tons of sand.

Solid tined with 10mm tines (No disruption to greens).

Penetrant Wetting Agent (to prevent and cure dry patch and to move water through the soil surface and into the root zone) has been applied.

All tees have been sprayed with Iron & Seaweed.

Ongoing divoting of tee boxes on both courses.

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; The County Sligo Golf Club

February 2015

february Work planned for the rest of February General: • • • • • • • • •

Commence re-­‐turfing of high traffic areas on golf course.

Build a new bunker on the left side of the 5th green.

Samples of new signage on tee boxes will be ready for the next Links Committee meeting.

Replace broken benches on the course.

Rough Management will commence on the Bomore course.

Marram grass to be planted at the left side of the new 1st Tee. Bunkers will be edged and topped up with sand in preparation for the new season.

Divot Fairways.

Fairways and tees will be sprayed with insecticide to prevent the birds picking.

Greens: • • •

Continue with top dressing on greens.

Brushing to get a cleaner cut.

Closely monitor greens to help with recovery.

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; The County Sligo Golf Club

February 2015

Issues Raised at links meeting Ladies & Men’s Club Observation that speed of the practice putting green seldom reflects the speed of the on-­‐course greens.

Response: Mark advises that the putting green has possibly been cut last after the course greens thus contributing to a different stimp speed. Going forward putting green will be cut first in the morning. Possibility of members going before the time sheet is live and not giving the greenkeepers a chance to get ahead of the members.

Suggestion to publish stimp speeds of greens during the summer.

Response: Mark is looking at erecting a new information board for display near first tee box. This will display information on green speed, course work in progress, tees in play and general guidelines.

Is there a special file to archive the Course Manager’s monthly report for future reference?

Response: All the files are archived on the Course Manager’s PC.

Other issues discussed at the meeting: West of Ireland 2015 •

• • •

The Captain, Aidan Doyle, advised that volunteers will be needed to assist with the running of this year’s event. He specifically mentioned the new Championship tee on the 5th which will need to be marshalled by some experienced people. The biggest concern is the fact that you cannot see players on the tee box when you are coming up from the Bomore course and driving range.

Course Manager Mark suggested that we explore the possibility of a shuttle bus to run between the main car park and Bomore and ban other traffic.

The Captain suggested that a sub committee be set up to deal with the recruitment of marshals and volunteers for the duration of the championship.

This will be discussed further at the next meeting.

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; The County Sligo Golf Club

February 2015

Super-fast greens

…do we really want them?

The constant demand for ever-­‐faster surfaces is doing this industry nothing but harm. The most recent advice written in some journals and magazines is to cut at 2mm on a regular basis and give the members what they want.

What rubbish! There are no prizes for cutting your greens at a height so absurdly low that nothing other than weeds will grow. This is not sustainable, it is not sensible nor is it necessary, irrespective of the soils, the grasses, or the environment you have. It is a researched fact that mowing low reduces the capacity of the plant to photosynthesise.

Once this basic metabolic activity is compromised, so is the general health of the plant, and weakness and decline is inevitable thereafter. The decline may take longer on

some greens than others but the result will be an agronomic and playing disaster – the last thing any club needs in the present climate!

Effective course management is all about finding a balance between the requirements of the golfer and the requirements of the plant. However while the requirements of the plant have largely stayed the same over recent times, the requirements and expectations of the golfer have changed immeasurably. There is an insatiable hunger for speed at all costs fuelled by television and tournament golf. Unfortunately the plant we rely on is not designed to be pummeled and thrashed by man and machine on a week-­‐by-­‐ week basis and unsurprisingly it needs a break from time to time.

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; The County Sligo Golf Club

As golfers we like nothing more than playing on firm well paced putting surfaces where the ball rolls true and these characteristics can be achieved without recourse to absurd mowing heights.

February 2015

of cut we should focus more on the performance of our greens. This means measuring the quality and speed of roll so that these key elements deliver for the golfer. At the same

The best greens in this country comprise native brown top bent and fescue grasses with annual meadow grass mown at around 4mm (for routine play) and perhaps a little lower for special events.

‘a drought and disease prone turf’

With occasional rolling and verticutting in the correct circumstances alongside regular top dressing these greens provide good natural pace without needing to be mown any more tightly.

time we should be measuring the health of the component plants in order to achieve a performance balance between the surface and the plant system.

Perhaps rather than being prescriptive about heights

It’s not about height of cut it is about performance. So let us

refrain from talking specifics, particularly when it comes to height of cut.

The adoption of the 2mm recommendation across the country would ruin many of our courses and create an abundance of drought and disease prone turf. It would do very little for the finer grasses we work so hard to encourage and would promote annual meadow grass, which as a ruderal species would thrive in a highly pressurised environment.

Top players are becoming increasingly vocal about the failings of annual meadow grass under tournament conditions around the world.

In the UK and Ireland with their wet maritime climate, the water retentive thatch

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; The County Sligo Golf Club

February 2015

it produces along with its incessant seeding are real problems when it comes to producing smooth and firm surfaces throughout the day.

It would do nothing but harm to golf course budgets at a time when clubs have to be careful and ever mindful of costs and in some cases it would lead to already well-­‐paced surfaces becoming unplayable.

Finally in a climate where there is a desire to make golfers play more quickly to shorten the time it takes to play a round of golf, it would be the death nail for pace of play.

‘low mowing does nothing for the plant’

Most golfers simply cannot cope very well with stimpmeter speeds in excess of 9ft so giving them 10 or 11ft would make an already slow game even slower.

Sadly the results of prolonged low mowing does nothing for the plant, the golfer or the reputation of the clubs who practice it. Resist it at all costs and instead focus on a holistic and sustainable programme of work, which will deliver good performance for the player, for the plant and for the pocket.

Author: Alistair J Beggs (STRI)

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; The County Sligo Golf Club

February 2015

Links News Editor: Vincent McGee Please contact me with any comments or Links issues.

The views expressed in contributed articles are not necessarily the views of the editor of this publication or Co Sligo Golf Club. Editorial content and photographs cannot be reproduced without prior permission from the editor.

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