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.