COURSE NEWS 11th MAY
Lack of Rain
Unsurprisingly, the current talk of the sheds is the lack of rain whilst a year ago it was completely the reverse. Already - and this is just early May - Gavin has the sprinklers on every night. The main problem is Dry Patch on the top of the slopes, which requires extensive additional hand watering with wetting agent.
The greens are now well into meadow grass seed head season, which are very visible. Early in the week the greens were verticut - very shallow (1-2 mm) scarifying - which lifts the heads and exposes them to the mowers. This will be followed up by spraying with growth regulator, which also suppresses the seed heads. It’s a constant challenge at this time of year. The sprayer has recently been ‘MOT’d’ - regulations require it to be checked every 3 years. Cost £275, not cheap.
The greens speed was measured at 9’ 2” on Friday morning, which is fast for so early in the season and despite the seed head issue - credit the extended dry spell. We don’t have the technology to measure the greens firmness (it’s called a Clegg hammer), but empirically they seem pretty firm - as do the fairways, judging by the bounce and roll. In Eaton’s early years before the turf sward had properly established hot dry weather turned the fairways into concrete, yielding some very flattering driving distances.
If anyone visits the sheds these days they might observe that all the staff cars have their wing mirrors wrapped up in carrier bags. One - or more - of the local magpies is offended by its image in the mirrors and is attacking it, destroying the rubber seals that keep the mirror in place.
There is little else to report. It’s been another short week, and most effort has gone into mowing. The course looked magnificent on Friday morning with the mowing stripes very prominent. Oh, and the geese are too busy parenting to be aggressive….
Course committee
The greens are now well into meadow grass seed head season, which are very visible. Early in the week the greens were verticut - very shallow (1-2 mm) scarifying - which lifts the heads and exposes them to the mowers. This will be followed up by spraying with growth regulator, which also suppresses the seed heads. It’s a constant challenge at this time of year. The sprayer has recently been ‘MOT’d’ - regulations require it to be checked every 3 years. Cost £275, not cheap.
The greens speed was measured at 9’ 2” on Friday morning, which is fast for so early in the season and despite the seed head issue - credit the extended dry spell. We don’t have the technology to measure the greens firmness (it’s called a Clegg hammer), but empirically they seem pretty firm - as do the fairways, judging by the bounce and roll. In Eaton’s early years before the turf sward had properly established hot dry weather turned the fairways into concrete, yielding some very flattering driving distances.
If anyone visits the sheds these days they might observe that all the staff cars have their wing mirrors wrapped up in carrier bags. One - or more - of the local magpies is offended by its image in the mirrors and is attacking it, destroying the rubber seals that keep the mirror in place.
There is little else to report. It’s been another short week, and most effort has gone into mowing. The course looked magnificent on Friday morning with the mowing stripes very prominent. Oh, and the geese are too busy parenting to be aggressive….
Course committee