2nd bunker

Before I start this bunker we were repairing walk way between 2nd & 16th green I lifted damage turf up found the drain that was 3/4 full of silt, clear as much of silt out as possible then fill up the hole with 10mm stone up to the soil surface, before we turf it I used the sand from the 2nd bunker as it was washed out & contaminated with silt, got me thinking while I was here to save a bit of money & improve the look of the bunker I revetted the bunker so I don't have to fill up with as much sand saving money and if sand is washed away it's not as much cost to top up again,

Drain back 16th green

The drain that connects the two ditches at 2nd to 13th which runs behind 16th green, is choked with silt so i dug a section out to try and clean out as much silt as possible using the water pump & hoses this has help but not all of the silt is out we require a drain jet which would do the job.

Turf damaged areas

I have dug turf up which is very wet, as you can see the soil underneath the turf is dry, firm which is mainly clay which goes to a depth to about 2 foot, so I dug through the clay into free draining soil which is below the clay & found the water table as you can see water.
Once this was done filled holes up with 10mm stone right up to the surface followed with sharp sand level out & turf over ready for the season.

GREENKEEPER INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

February issue of GI is out and they have feature my blog in Greenkeeper international (GI). This may be a good time to point out that I'm dyslexic & that there will be quite a few errors in my grammar & spelling but you will get the drift.

Mat back 1st tee

I've have dug in a mat put 10mm stone round it, as you can see I put post in sunk them in 3 feet into the ground, so we can put up an take down the net much easier, the net will be put up nearer the season but it a much stronger frame, so should handle the stronger winds.

Wear & tear

The digger has done a lot of work so the parts have just worn out & is requiring new parts, but once they are replace the digger be back in action.

Regrind

While the staff out on the course, I'm in shed starting on striping down units & regrinding units & replace any bearings.

New year

Back to work & was face with the damage left behind by the floods so I've been round the course looking at bunkers, paths, bridges, trees & ditches we have been lucky as it could have been a lot worse, now we have clean up to do as well as trying to keep on top course maintenance (aeration,slitting,spiking) we are hand cutting greens & tees, keeping traffic movement to a minimum because of the soft ground conditions but unfortunately we have to travel round the course to get things done lesser of two evils.
Some of the bunkers we have sand washed out of the bunkers, the sand that is left in bunkers has been contaminated with silt which has given a dark look.
Some paths have been wash away but we fill them back in, some we will do away with completely depending on time.
Bridges crossing the ugie has lots of debris on them but no undermining of banks where the bridges cross, they are just requiring a lick of paint so this be done later.
There is a lot of debris & slit on the course but we be picking this up shortly.

Course flooded

Course flooded

Flooded on 23/12/2012 here some pictures of the course

Shed

when course is flooded we have sorted out the shed, painting benches, painted post & sorting out tool shed.

Course flooded

The ground conditions are very wet ground hasn't had chance to dry out, when we get more rain the the course floods

16th fairway drainage

16th fairway is very wet to help I'm putting in a few drains this will help, there is a lot of thatch & moss that is holding a lot of water, putting in drains, aeration, top dressing fairways will improve the fairway & scarifying in the spring time.

Verti drain, hollow coring, drainage

October has been a busy month we haven't had the best weather this year, but to help drain greens better.
I verti drain greens down to a depth of 275mm x 20mm followed by hollow coring greens down to a depth of 85mm x 12mm which was a lot of hard work picking up all the cores.
I overseed greens with a pure bent mix which I followed up with a topdressing of sand, due to heavy rain I kept the sand dressing light but followed later with another light dressing.
I have verti drain fairways down to 200mm x 20mm, also all tees have been verti drain as well, once i've done all fairways still have a few left, I be topdressing tees with sand.
Due to bad weather I be undertaking drainage work I've cleared the drain up left hand side of 16 but now starting to dig lateral across fairway starting near the green at 5m spacing working up the fairway.
This will help but soil & thatch problem will not help water get to the drains, but with regular aeration & topdressing with sand & sand banding will help water get to the drains in return sand dressing will dilute thatch layer, aeration get air into soil putting fractures into soil & increase soil microbes, better root development,