SCOTSCRAIG GOLF CLUB Date: 8 th April 2010 RJW/LR STRI, Bingley, West Yorkshire, BD16 1AU Phone: 01274 565131 Fax: 01274 561891 E-mail: info@stri.co.uk Website: www.stri.co.uk The purpose of the STRI Agronomy service is to assist clients in matters of agronomic management. All recommendations are offered free of bias. The STRI has no commercial connections or obligations to any manufacturer, supplier or contractor. Agronomy and Advisory Services
CONFIDENTIAL SCOTSCRAIG GOLF CLUB SPRING AGRONOMY REPORT ON BEHALF OF THE R&A CHAMPIONSHIP COMMITTEE Date of Visit 8 th April 2010 Object of Visit To review the early spring condition of the course and confirm the maintenance operations in the lead up to Local Final Qualifying in July Present Mr. George Pendrich - Course Manager Mr. Richard Windows -Turfgrass Agronomist, STRI Ltd. I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Despite the very cold winter, the greens have emerged in excellent condition with a consistent cover of grass to all the surfaces. The main objective of the forthcoming season is to get smoother greens with better pace earlier than last year and, sustain quality surfaces throughout the year with less fluctuation in performance between wet and dry weather. An altered nutritional approach is being implemented this year involving regular applications of liquid fertiliser throughout the season to provide better control of growth, with less flushing, which compromised ball roll last season. The weaker 4 th green will require additional nutritional inputs this year to sustain better density and vigour. It was agreed to implement objective measurements in the early June visit and again in the autumn to accurately inform the greenkeeping programme in the lead up to LFQ and in the future. The condition of some green surrounds and traffic routes around sensitive parts of the greens were a concern. To minimise the amount of GUR for LFQ, it is essential we implement the appropriate renovation work to these areas over the next few weeks. The fairways did support a decent sole of grass and the application of fairway wetting agent and appropriate irrigation (if the summer is dry) should be sufficient to avoid losing grass to these areas this season. However, judging by the existing density of the turf, it is likely an application of autumn fertiliser will be required to the fairways at the end of this season. Tighter mowing has been extended down the slopes and around certain greens to develop better run offs to these surfaces. Feeding, top dressing and some
Scotscraig Golf Club 2 solid tining will be implemented to these areas to boost turf vigour and density for the main season. The condition and presentation of the bunkers is good but work over the next few years should involve maintenance to develop tightly mown approaches to optimise the gather of greenside bunkers. This season should concentrate on conditioning the turf in anticipation of closer mowing next year. The cold winter has allowed significant time to be allocated to tree and scrub removal around the course. All the work completed in this regard has been very successful and will continue to require large amounts of maintenance time over the next few years. II GREENS REVIEW AND COMMENTS The September hollow coring and overseeding was considered to be very successful as surface firmness was considered to have improved and an excellent strike from overseeding was obtained. Subsequently, increased proportions of the finer grasses were evident in the sward. What is more the early implementation of this work meant a strong grass cover was present going into the autumn and winter months, which has meant the surfaces have emerged very strongly into the spring. As this operation was so successful, we do hope it can be implemented at this time of year again in the future. From mid-december, the weather turned very cold with significant falls of snow. Approximately 6-12 inches of ice accumulated over all the putting surfaces and remained present for approximately 6 weeks. Following ice melt, there was very little damage to the greens with only minor discolouration to some of the low lying areas being evident. Very isolated patches of fusarium scarring were also evident. In general, the greens emerged from the very cold winter in very good order. Spring preparations have recently begun involving an altered approach to early season nutrition. This has involved foliar applications of nitrogen along with other micro nutrients and supplements, which all seem to have improved turf vigour and density in comparison to previous years. The plan is to sustain this spoon feeding approach throughout the season to provide better control of growth and playing qualities. Over the past few weeks, twice weekly mowing has been implemented in addition to regular Turf Iron rolling (2-3 times a week) and an application of top dressing has recently been applied. The amendments described in previous reports and implemented expertly by the Greenstaff are designed to improve early season playing qualities and provide high quality greens (in terms of smoothness, trueness and pace) throughout the season. Judging by the condition and performance of the greens during the visit we are confident that these objectives will be met this season. One of the other main aims of maintenance is to reduce the fluctuation in playing qualities during variable weather patterns. In essence, we want to make the greens more consistent between wet and dry weather. Specific issues regarding individual greens are described below... The 17 th green has responded well to the deep drill and fill aeration work combined with the application of ceramic amendment. As the tines from the deep aeration were able to penetrate so deeply into the soil profile, a
Scotscraig Golf Club 3 connection between the surface and underlying indigenous sand was created which has duly improved surface drainage to this perennially wet section of the green. We need to repeat this work again for the next 2-3 years to make further progress. The 11 th green continues to be fairly variable through the surface due to the retention of moisture to the lower lying right hand side. Drill and fill work should be completed this winter to improve the structure and drainage qualities of the underlying rootzone but, if additional drainage improvements are required, the installation of pipe drainage should be implemented next winter. The 4 th green has overwintered well despite the greater dominance of annual meadow grass to this surface. Root pruning of the surrounding trees was not implemented as investigations into the location of the irrigation pipe was required. It is hoped this work will be completed this autumn. As this surface requires greater nurturing, more frequent applications of liquid fertiliser will be required through the forthcoming season to optimise turf vigour and density. SUMMARY The greens have emerged from the cold winter in excellent condition and the early season playing qualities were very good. Spring preparation is starting to intensify and an early response to turf vigour has been obtained due to the alteration of early spring nutritional input. Top dressing frequencies and also volumes will be increased over the forthcoming weeks to smooth and firm surfaces as well as diluting organic matter in the upper soil profile. As described in last year s report, we do need to apply more sand to the greens over the next few years to reduce softening in response to the wet weather. In general, an excellent start has been made to the season and, following the implementation of the amendments discussed during the visit, we are sure the greens will perform excellently this season. CONFIRMATION OF MAINTENANCE DISCUSSIONS The following confirms the maintenance discussions during the visit... More regular turf hand rolling combined with greater frequencies of spring top dressing and hand mowing should optimise the consistency of smoothness, trueness and also pace this season. Regular speed and smoothness assessments will be made to continually inform the decision making process in this regard. Objective measurements will be taken during June and again in autumn to help refine the playing qualities of the greens in anticipation of LFQ and build up a bank of knowledge to aid longer term decision making regarding maintenance. We discussed the nutritional programme in detail and concur with the proposal to use predominantly liquid feeds this season. Foliar feeding using ammonium nitrate and potassium nitrate (as the nitrogen sources) along with Floratine supplements has been successful so far this spring. However, these supplements are rather expensive and cheaper costs may be achieved with the use of straight fertiliser products tank mixed to produce foliar feeds, e.g. potassium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, iron sulphate and magnesium sulphate. These are considered to be the most important nutrients for your greens.
Scotscraig Golf Club 4 Through the mid spring to summer period, the emphasis will change from foliar feeds to liquid feeds using the Farmura Porthcawl product in combination with Super N and iron sulphate applications. These will be applied at low rates on a fairly frequent basis to provide optimum control of vigour, density and playing qualities. The use of Compost Tea will be trialled this year to assess its effect of the natural vigour and health of the turf. It will be interesting to assess the performance of this product over the forthcoming season. The Revolution wetting agent programme will begin shortly and be applied on a monthly basis throughout the season to optimise the uniformity of moisture penetration, minimise dry patch and optimise surface firmness. There is no need for a preventative application of fungicide this April as turf health and vigour is strong. In the unlikely event of disease occurring, apply a fungicide with both contact and systemic activity e.g. Instrata. The slightly thin areas, which previously supported patches of Yorkshire fog, should be overseeded and top dressed on a local basis over the next few weeks. III GREEN SURROUNDS The majority of green surrounds are in good condition and supporting a strong cover of grass. Closer mowing has been extended around some slopes to provide better run offs around the greens. Following the low mowing height implemented into these areas, some renovation in the form of feeding, overseeding and top dressing is required to increase turf density. While these areas are generally in good condition, we do have some concerns regarding the presence of significant bare/thin areas around some greens e.g. right of 12 (see Photograph 1) and front left of 4. To ensure these areas do not have to be marked as GUR for LFQ, it is important renovation work is completed immediately involving feeding, seeding and aeration along with protection from traffic. An application of fertiliser (e.g. 12:6:6) should be applied to these areas to provide a good boost of growth. Photograph 1: Weak turf to green surrounds is a problem
Scotscraig Golf Club 5 IV FAIRWAYS The grass cover to the fairways is generally good and has strengthened significantly over the past few years in response to feeding and overseeding work. To attain grass cover, especially if the weather turns dry, fairway wetting agent will be applied on a monthly basis through the spring to mid summer period using Dispatch. Appropriate inputs of irrigation will also be required to ensure we do not lose grass cover, which you have worked hard to improve over the past few years. It may also be beneficial to replace the grooved rollers on the fairway mower with smooth ones for summer mowing to minimise the disturbance pressure on the relatively vulnerable turf especially to the slopes. A decision will be made at the end of the season regarding autumn fertiliser applications to the fairways. Judging by the condition of the turf during the visit, it is thought that this will be necessary. Drainage performance on the 14 th fairway has improved over the past couple of years following the installation of pipe drainage and may improve further now that the trees to the right side have been removed (see Photograph 2). However, we do need to work hard to ensure sufficient volumes of sand are applied to the area between the burn and the green over the next few years to improve surface drainage, underfoot firmness and the quality of lie. The target should be to apply sand at a rate of 100 tonnes/ha/per year to this area. Photograph 2: Tree removal to 14 th Hole V BUNKERS A decision shall be made shortly on whether to continue the policy of spraying the revetted faces with total weedkiller (Glyphosate) or to terminate this policy and retain grassed revetted faces. Grass faces do extend the life of the revetted face but do require regular strimming to provide a neat and tidy appearance. The use of Primo- MAXX growth regulator may help to reduce the frequency of strimming if you decide to retain grass faces. An aim over the next few years is to improve the gather of individual greenside bunkers by extending closer mowing (i.e. as green surround) to the approach of each bunker. As the turf is not strong enough for this close mowing yet, the primary effort
Scotscraig Golf Club 6 this season should involve improving the condition of the turf by top dressing, aeration and localised feeding. VI VII ROUGH A huge amount of scrub and tree management work has been achieved this winter due to the extended period of cold weather. The removal of broom and gorse to many areas of the course has been particularly effective. A very good plan and vision is in place regarding the management of these areas over the next few years and it is hoped individual projects will continue to be achieved throughout the forthcoming winters. Once scrub has been appropriately controlled, more specific operations to further improve the aesthetic and ecological value of the course will be considered. RESOURCES A new fleet of John Deere Hybrid Mowers have been purchased for use this season along with a new Toro Greens Triple mower. Investigations into the benefits and potential use of the new Syngenta low drift nozzles should be explored to optimise the efficacy of products applied as well as reducing spray drift. Signed Richard Windows B.Sc. (Hons.) MBPR RIPTA Turfgrass Agronomist Official R&A Agronomist Scotland (East)