Can't see the wood' for the tree's.....

I'd like to post some information about the recent tree planting exercise that has been undertaken on the 3rd hole this week. Firstly the reasons why? This summer we have been faced with some issues of errant tee shots entering neighbouring properties on the 3rd hole. After consultation with a  Health & Safety expert, a golf course architect & members of the greens committee a number of measures have been introduced to try & help reduce & minimise the risk that these errant shots may cause.
One of the proposals was to plant more trees on the left of the hole. The thinking behind this was to try and influence the tee shot that people play off the tee. By making the left side of the hole less appealing to golfers, we can try and reduce the number of incidents of balls entering properties and potentially causing damage. Alongside the new planting we will also be removing some old silver birch tree's down the right hand side of the hole to give golfers more confidence of playing down the right. Now of course nothing can stop a bad shot, and the likelihood of balls still entering properties' remain high, due to the close proximity of the properties to the golf hole, but the club has to be seen to act in a reasonable manner and we have a duty of care not only to our neighbours but also to the members and golfers of Muswell Hill Golf Club. To not act on the incidents could ultimately end with a dramatic redesign of the golf hole with it's length being reduced.

So to the tree's that have been planted. Working with tree expert John Nicholson a selection of pines, oaks, birch and lime have been planted. Over 200 tree saplings were planted. The reason for choosing these tress was to give us the evergreen coverage with the pine, to help with some quick growing species the lime and birch and to ultimately have some oak as final specimen tree's.

One of the most important factors to remember about new plantings is that some of these tree's, potentially up to 70% of the ones planted, will be removed in time as the tree's mature and develop. This style of woodland management will give the golf course a continuous coverage of different age species and ultimately lead to the establishment of trees that will last for well over 150 years.

The work to thin out copses all across the golf course will begin, with the long term aims of providing better trees on the golf course in terms of golf strategy, tree health and preserving and enhancing environmental and wildlife habitats.      

Where's the winter?

Normally by this time of year on the golf course the mowers would be taking a well earned rest whilst we would be hard at work on our winter project's. But this year the slow down in grass growth hasn't happened yet, and although it's been very windy of late, Storm Desmond the  current 'named' force of nature to batter down on us, temperatures have been regularly above 10 degrees which means continued grass growth. A long side the wet weather we've been experiencing has made presenting the course that little bit more challenging. We've been using the handmowers a lot more, less traffic across the golf course & the cutting heights have been raised to help protect the plant going into winter. It's very important we keep the plant 'green & healthy' as environmental stress, low temperatures, reduced sunlight, increased rainfall can all lead to a weakened grass sward and at this time of year recovery is minimal. Having a healthier plant coming into the spring will give us the best possible start for next year's golfing season.
We've started some of our winter maintenance programmes, the first of the paths have been added to the 2nd, 7th & 17th and some tree work has begun around the course. Drainage has also been installed into the problem wet area in between the 16th bunkers on the right hand side of the green.
This work will carry on through the winter as will  the course presentation but with course protection a major factor in all the work we do.
Enjoy your golf. 

Back on the Greens

As I write this next chapter of the blog I'm  pleasently pleased to hopefully see a frost forming outside, I'll explain more shortly, and the fact we have been able to get 4 of the greens we drained back in play today.
The greens drainage project was completed in 15 working days with the greenstaff putting in over 930 man hours, a highly commendable effort.
Since we finished the drainage works on the greens four weeks have passed, four weeks of seasonally unwarm & wet weather that have been perfect for the greens recovery but have also been a perfect breeding ground for fungal turf disease & and meant we've had to try & catch up on the course presentation while trying to prepare the course for the onslaught of Winter. The initial period of recovery was to let the greens rest after all the work that had gone on. Then came a micro management program of liquid feeding, cutting & rolling.
The greens were handcut & rolled to help the drain lines settle in, some localised lifting will be required and works will need to be carried out in terms of topdressing & hollow coring but the greens have settled down really well. One of the most challenging aspects of the recovery was to provide an environment we're the grass plant was able to produce root's that would allow the turf to knit together & begin to take in nutrients. This was achieved by carefully managing the height of cut, when was constructive to roll and a balanced nutrient program.
We were also helped by mother nature. So thank you mother nature.
Once the final turfs were layed on the 18th green we could turn our attention to maintaining & presenting the golf  course. The warm weather that was proving so beneficial to the recovery of the drained greens meant other areas of the  course
still required cutting several times a week. And there was the small matter of the annual autumn leaf fall event that proves ever challenging. But the greenstaff have taken all this in their stride, and hopefully not too many balls were lost..!!!!
As I mentioned earlier hopefully the first signs of frost this winter will single a slow down  in growth so we can concentrate our efforts on  tidying up the  course and beginning our winter maintenance programmes.
I'd like to thank the membership for their understanding whilst we carried out the drainage works. The benefits will be there with drier putting surfaces that will enable us to produce better, more consistent surfaces throughout the year.
And as you may have noticed, all the recent rain has provided a good early test to see how the greens perform with the drainage installed, and the good news is all the outlets were flowing with water taken from the greens.
Enjoy your golf & good luck to the incoming captain's of Muswell Hill Golf Club.

Greens Drainage continued

So as the second week has passed and we just enter the third week of the drainage works here's an update on our progress.
The undertaking of draining 6 green's in a 3 week period was always going to be a monumental task both in terms of the effort, skill & dedication required to complete the task. And it is a great pleasure for me to say the effort from the member's of the greenstaff & the contractor's from Profusion have helped make this project such a success.

After our initial delays in week 1 due to the bad weather we made considerable gains in week 2. Starting the second week we had begun work on the 12th & 14th green's. By the end of the week we had finished 3 greens and had trenches dug, piped & stoned on the 11th. This has been a great effort and lots of long hour's. But the dedication shown by the lads has been a credit to themselves & the golf club.

The process of works has seen the contractor's move ahead onto a green using lasers to determine the gradient and work out where to place the drains.
The next step in the process is to cut the turf to a 1 inch depth, then roll them up and number them so they can go back in the correct order. The contractor's then begin trenching and removing the spoil. As the works progress the pipe and stone is then added followed by the rootzone. The rootzone is then compacted every 100mm to prevent the drain lines sinking. This is an important part of the process as one of the overwhelming factors about the whole project is to be able to return the greens surface back to a playing surface. After the rootzone is levelled off the turf is then put back. This is a case of almost jigsaw like puzzles as the turfs are layed. Once the turf is layed back down it is then a process of rolling, top dressing & light feeding to get the turfs to knit in and be ready for play again.

So as we progress on with the works on the 18th green I'd like to thank all the members at the golf club for their patience whilst we carry out these work's and say a big thank you to the member's of the greenstaff team.

All these work's will only improve the surfaces at Muswell Hill Golf Club and that is something we are all committed to.

Thanks & enjoy your golf.

Greens Drainage Week 1

Winter Projects are both an exciting and nervous time for the Greenstaff at the golf course. Exciting as Course developments & improvements are something to be proud of and the prospect of 'getting stuck' into the work means long but rewarding days & nervous as at more than ever do we check our weather forecast to see what is forecast and what mother nature will throw at us.
This Winter we are undertaking the drainage of 6 green's across the golf course. Greens 4,11, 12, 13, 14 & 18 will have pipe drainage & rootzone added.
The main reason for the drainage work is to help get water through the soil profile. Being on heavy clay soil after any significant rain events the soil profile quickly fills up with water and becomes saturated. This renders the greens surface unplayable & also has limiting effects on the root development and health of the grass plant.

After a week's delay the greens drainage works got underway this Monday with the contractor's arriving on site. The contractor's bring with them specialised machinery & expertise, coupled with the greenstaff previous drainage experience & enthusiasm which will lead to these work's being completed and the Green's back in play as soon as possible.

We started the drainage works on the 12th green. The first task is to cut the turf, which is then lifted & numbered so it can go back in the same position. Kind of like a big turf jigsaw.  All the greens will have drains installed at 3 metre spacings across the surface with the greens surface surveyed  to find the natural fall of the land and the drains installed to fit this profile.

The works this week has seen us trench & install pipe, stone & rootzone on the 12th & trenching work with pipe & stone installed the 14th.
We've also managed to get some turf back down on the 12th & water has been running out of the drains allready. That was a truly great sight to see the drains working & drawing water through the profile.

This has been a really good effort by the lads after the rain earlier in the week meant we couldn't get going until Wednesday afternoon. We worked until dark, can't beat trenching in the dark, to try and make up some of the time we lost.

The weather forecast looks fair for next week so more of the same will be required for us to complete the works.

Again thanks for your understanding whilst we carry out these work's. Drier surfaces will follow.....

Greens Drainage

So as we enter the month of October bathed in glorious sunshine, long may it continue, the main focus on the golf course will be the upcoming Green's drainage program.
We are installing drainage into 6 green's, a big undertaking for the club & the member's but I'd like to offer a brief explanation of why we are doing the work and the benefits we will gain from the works carried out.
Last year we experienced really difficult situations on both the 4th & 14th green's with loss of sward coverage and unable to play on them.
One of the main reasons is the underlying soil's at Muswell Hill Golf Club,  namely heavy clay soil. This means the soils become very quickly saturated & unable to drain. These situations lead to a lack of oxygen  in the soil which has an impact on the air pore space & nutrient availability for which the grass plants need to thrive.
This has contributed to the loss of grass coverage on the surfaces and unable to support play.
The drainage that will go into the greens will help move the water through the soil profile quicker that will in turn help provide a  better environment in which to grow desirable grass for the putting surfaces.
The installation of these Primary drains will also allow us to install Secondary drainage in the future and further improve the drainage efficiency of the greens.
In the past we have carried out drainage works on the 16th, 9th, 3rd & 6th holes and these greens now perform amongst the best across the golf course. By carrying out the works to these greens we will have 10 greens drained that will help us to offer better surfaces throughout the year.
We are working with contractors on these project's and are planning to have the drainage installed within 3 weeks of starting the work's. This is of course based on us having the weather on our side.!!!
After this it will be a case of micro managing the greens before they reopen for play.
Target greens will be in play whilst the works are carried out. We have worked on these surfaces to try & improve them whilst the greens are out of play and by doing the drainage works now it gives us the best chance of quicker recovery and to get the greens back into play.
I'll continue to update the blog whilst we carry out the works.

Enjoy the beginning of the lovely Autumn weather.

A day in the life....

A pop song by four lads from Liverpool started 'woke up, got out of bed, ran a comb across my head..'

I'm not sure how many of the greenstaff comb there hair but rest assured our day starts nice & early.

This next post will hopefully cast a little light onto the daily routine of the greenstaff at Muswell Hill Golf Club.

During the year our starting time moves depending on when it is possible to get out on the course and begin our tasks. During the summer we start at 6 am, this means everyone is in for 6 and ready to go. The first machine to fire into action is the kettle. I always find an early morning brew is the best way to start the day whilst we sort out the jobs for the day...

The daily cutting regime in the summer can involve as many as 7 guy's out cutting first thing. One of the main reasons for starting early is to allow us to get ahead of anyone playing golf. Although this sounds like common sense, it allows firstly the surfaces to be prepared and presented in their best condition & it enables the greenstaff to complete the morning cutting duties in the shortest time. Giving ourselves a bit of extra time also allows for any unplanned events, machine breakdowns or a change in the weather are the two biggest factors, and gives us time to react and change plans where necessary.
During the main golf playing season the greens are cut a minimum daily, tee's & aprons, greens surrounds & the fairways are cut at least twice a week. On days where all the playing surfaces are cut, by 11am a total of 35 man hours can be spent cutting using anything up to 7 different machines with cutting heights differing from greens up to rough through to our long rough area's.
The machines have different number of blades and unit's, ranging from 15 per unit for the greens mower to produce finer turf quality to the long rough area mower which has five cutting decks with two rotary blades. Quite a difference.
Before each machine goes out onto the course a number of pre start checks are carried out to ensure the machine is safe to use and it's cutting units are cutting correctly. This is important as it ensures the operator's are safe and the machine is running efficiently.
I'm aiming to get all the greenstaff team trained & competent on all the machines we use. This is useful as it enables us to operate more efficiently as a team & allows a variation in job's which we carry out.
There is an immense sense of pride amongst ourselves when we prepare the course and it's all aimed at presenting Muswell Hill in the best possible way.

So when you see the greenstaff out there mowing away please bear in mind it could be the second or third time the lads have been round the course that day.!!!

Keep enjoying the golf.

Thunder & Lightening....

There's an old Greenkeeping tradition of naming the chainsaw's used at each club 'Thunder & Lightening'. The reason for which was long forgotten....

This next post is to offer an explanation of some of the Woodland Management work that has been going on these past eight weeks. I always think the key to Woodland Management work is to go unnoticed, where possible, and judging by the lack of people trying to knock my door down I'd say we have been relatively successful.

Muswell Hill Golf Club is a traditional, classic example of a parkland golf course and long may it remain so. Woodland's, like grasses, require management, planning & maintenance to ensure healthy, sustainable & desirable species.

The first works we have carried out have been the lifting of low lying limbs and branches around the course boundary's. These works serve a number of positive purposes. Firstly it helps the tree retain its natural shape and balance, helping the tree focus more energy into healthy new vertical growth. Secondly it allows us greater access with our mowing equipment and thirdly it also opens up more of the golf course to play. Once these areas have been lifted we can start to manage these areas as long rough  habitats, both improving the visual & ecological aspects of the golf course.

Some of our other woodland management works have focused on reducing the height of some of the gorse we have around the course. Other the years some of the gorse has become tall, leggy, very woody & very unattractive. By drastically reducing both the height & volume of the gorse we are allowing for a more natural shape to develop and one that will also serve as a better feature on the golf course.