Greens Report
Greens Report November 2021
Despite the concerns of the prophets of doom the autumn green treatment has been carried out with minimal disruption to the playing conditions. The weather has remained mild and the greens should quickly return to pre treatment condition. The rough has also been extensively flailed and this should be the first stage of a prolonged treatment to make it thinner and more player friendly.
As the winter months progress and the course gets wetter, it is inevitable that the use of trolleys will regrettably be stopped. It is important that we all observe this ban and it is worth making the point that members with medical exemptions should renew them before that happens as only current exemptions will be taken into account.
As was demonstrated on the recent video we should all observe the roped off areas as this is important in the preservation of the condition of the course.
Even though there are still not enough members using divot bags it is important that those who are concerned enough to use them continue throughout the winter. It may be some time before the seeds germinate but they eventually will and the benefit to the fairways will be enormous.
The main part of this report is to give details of the work that is to be carried out in the Winter Programme for 2021/22. I have taken the important information from the report that Ash made to the management to give an idea of what is planned over the next few months.
Verti Draining
Over the last number of years we have had a deep sub-surface aeration programme in place that was designed to complement the drainage network under the playing surfaces. This includes tees, walk on areas, fairways, approaches, greens and green surrounds. The greens have already been done but the rest of the verti draining will be carried out starting the 17th of November, weather permitting, and will take 2/3 days. It will be necessary to close individual holes as the contractor carries out this operation.
Drainage Outlets
Throughout the golf course under the playing surfaces there is an extensive drainage system designed to keep water flowing into the ditches. The outlets need to be cleared of vegetation and the pipe work rodded out once a year to ensure they run clear over the winter period. Due to the size of Wychwood and the number of outlets this operation will take several weeks to complete.
Irrigation
The area around the irrigation pump house needs to be cleared as over the last few years weed trees have established themselves and need to be removed and their stumps killed off. The pump house itself is in need of renovation and painting which will be labour intensive as it hasn't been done for some time.
The main irrigation abstraction point comes from Basford Brook and with the heavy rainfall last year the bank of the brook has moved and the abstraction point is now blocked by three foot of silt. In order to continue abstracting water this requires digging out so that the water gets to the tanks and can be pumped away.
The valve boxes and pop up sprinklers for the irrigation system need cleaning out as they fill with soil and silt and without this maintenance they will become less efficient.
Tree Works
Over the last number of years we have seen many trees starting to fill rough areas, ditches and around water courses. This reduces the drainage efficiency as well as obscuring the tee shots and landing areas on several holes. There is also a gas main running through the course and trees growing on top and within a 10 metre area need to be removed. The gas main areas are the left hand side of the 6th running down to the lady's 7th tee and the spinney on the left hand side of the 5th fairway just past the bunker.
The tee shot from the 15th white tee is obscured by the large wetland area filled with weed trees. Over the past couple of years this has been controlled by cutting them back which long term has only made matters worse as they come back thicker and more invasive. They now require cutting back and killing of with Roundup so that they will not return. This is a specialised job but several of our green staff are licensed to apply this chemical.
Trees on the boundaries of the course have also taken over particularly on the 13th and 14th and as these were not part of the original design they will be removed.
Within the golf course many trees have overtaken the sides of the lake on the 8th and 18th, completely screening it off from view. As these trees were not supposed to be there they will be removed. The trees and the gorse around the 8th lake on all sides are being removed which should encourage the heather that is hidden at present to flourish. Also unwanted trees and vegetation are to be removed on the 6th and 7th holes which should improve both appearance and visibility.
In front of the 9th tees there is a wetland and wild flower area which is suffering from weed trees starting to become established which is not only challenging the bio landscape but also obscuring the tee shot from the forward tees. These will be removed.
There is a large amount of organic debris produced from these operations as well as many more smaller jobs remaining from last year. We will be hiring a chipper to dispose of it, partly because of the burning restrictions due to the proximity of the gas main on the course. All tree stumps will be treated with Roundup to prevent them re growing.
Bunkers
Last year we managed to refurbish several bunkers on the course, mostly in the lock down period. The refurbishment started with removing the face and sides of the bunker then reshaping the base and renewing the drainage system. The holes that are being targeted this year are the 9th and 18th.
Ditches
Over the past year it has been shown that the clearing of the ditches has made a big difference to the course after heavy rain. The removal of silt and bull rushes will continue and although this has been neglected in the past it will now be made easier due to the work that has recently been done. We will hire a digger where necessary to carry out this work.
There will be work carried out on the water course between the 9th and 18th to remove vegetation, weed trees and pampas grass.
There is also a programme of work in place to improve the flower beds around the club house and hopefully with the success of wild flowers on the course this can be extended into this area.
Brian Trenbirth
As the winter months progress and the course gets wetter, it is inevitable that the use of trolleys will regrettably be stopped. It is important that we all observe this ban and it is worth making the point that members with medical exemptions should renew them before that happens as only current exemptions will be taken into account.
As was demonstrated on the recent video we should all observe the roped off areas as this is important in the preservation of the condition of the course.
Even though there are still not enough members using divot bags it is important that those who are concerned enough to use them continue throughout the winter. It may be some time before the seeds germinate but they eventually will and the benefit to the fairways will be enormous.
The main part of this report is to give details of the work that is to be carried out in the Winter Programme for 2021/22. I have taken the important information from the report that Ash made to the management to give an idea of what is planned over the next few months.
Verti Draining
Over the last number of years we have had a deep sub-surface aeration programme in place that was designed to complement the drainage network under the playing surfaces. This includes tees, walk on areas, fairways, approaches, greens and green surrounds. The greens have already been done but the rest of the verti draining will be carried out starting the 17th of November, weather permitting, and will take 2/3 days. It will be necessary to close individual holes as the contractor carries out this operation.
Drainage Outlets
Throughout the golf course under the playing surfaces there is an extensive drainage system designed to keep water flowing into the ditches. The outlets need to be cleared of vegetation and the pipe work rodded out once a year to ensure they run clear over the winter period. Due to the size of Wychwood and the number of outlets this operation will take several weeks to complete.
Irrigation
The area around the irrigation pump house needs to be cleared as over the last few years weed trees have established themselves and need to be removed and their stumps killed off. The pump house itself is in need of renovation and painting which will be labour intensive as it hasn't been done for some time.
The main irrigation abstraction point comes from Basford Brook and with the heavy rainfall last year the bank of the brook has moved and the abstraction point is now blocked by three foot of silt. In order to continue abstracting water this requires digging out so that the water gets to the tanks and can be pumped away.
The valve boxes and pop up sprinklers for the irrigation system need cleaning out as they fill with soil and silt and without this maintenance they will become less efficient.
Tree Works
Over the last number of years we have seen many trees starting to fill rough areas, ditches and around water courses. This reduces the drainage efficiency as well as obscuring the tee shots and landing areas on several holes. There is also a gas main running through the course and trees growing on top and within a 10 metre area need to be removed. The gas main areas are the left hand side of the 6th running down to the lady's 7th tee and the spinney on the left hand side of the 5th fairway just past the bunker.
The tee shot from the 15th white tee is obscured by the large wetland area filled with weed trees. Over the past couple of years this has been controlled by cutting them back which long term has only made matters worse as they come back thicker and more invasive. They now require cutting back and killing of with Roundup so that they will not return. This is a specialised job but several of our green staff are licensed to apply this chemical.
Trees on the boundaries of the course have also taken over particularly on the 13th and 14th and as these were not part of the original design they will be removed.
Within the golf course many trees have overtaken the sides of the lake on the 8th and 18th, completely screening it off from view. As these trees were not supposed to be there they will be removed. The trees and the gorse around the 8th lake on all sides are being removed which should encourage the heather that is hidden at present to flourish. Also unwanted trees and vegetation are to be removed on the 6th and 7th holes which should improve both appearance and visibility.
In front of the 9th tees there is a wetland and wild flower area which is suffering from weed trees starting to become established which is not only challenging the bio landscape but also obscuring the tee shot from the forward tees. These will be removed.
There is a large amount of organic debris produced from these operations as well as many more smaller jobs remaining from last year. We will be hiring a chipper to dispose of it, partly because of the burning restrictions due to the proximity of the gas main on the course. All tree stumps will be treated with Roundup to prevent them re growing.
Bunkers
Last year we managed to refurbish several bunkers on the course, mostly in the lock down period. The refurbishment started with removing the face and sides of the bunker then reshaping the base and renewing the drainage system. The holes that are being targeted this year are the 9th and 18th.
Ditches
Over the past year it has been shown that the clearing of the ditches has made a big difference to the course after heavy rain. The removal of silt and bull rushes will continue and although this has been neglected in the past it will now be made easier due to the work that has recently been done. We will hire a digger where necessary to carry out this work.
There will be work carried out on the water course between the 9th and 18th to remove vegetation, weed trees and pampas grass.
There is also a programme of work in place to improve the flower beds around the club house and hopefully with the success of wild flowers on the course this can be extended into this area.
Brian Trenbirth