Sand!

We are now starting to see a lot more sand around the course trying to capture the linksy feel of the environment and whilst getting pictures for the  blog i was reminded that sand and cameras really don't go well together with the zoom on my camera now disappeared and the camera is not looking like it's going to last much longer!Lesson learnt! Sand 1 Camera 0.

A lot of the winter programme has come to an end and many thanks go to all of the team for all of their hard work in all weather. We only have the 13th Sandy waste area to the left of the fairway around the sharp rush to finish, the removal of the top soil and enriched sand within the area leaving only bare sand to colonise naturally, this bare sand will benefit plant and invertebrate species which specialise in open sand habitats within the dune system as well as making this area much more playable as previously it was very thick grassland and finding your ball was almost impossible but now a much more open area is a benefit to all.

Here is a picture of the area to the right of the 2nd green which has been completed using rough turf and heather, a vast improvement from the trees and bramble which dominated the right hand side of the green previously.

The left hand side of the 2nd has also been completed following the removal of the bramble that had covered the bank, this bank as you can see has now been transplanted with marram and looks far better and more like the environment we are striving for.

2nd bank from the 3rd tee side with some rustic sleeper detailing to complete the job.

The 15 the tee has also been completed with marram added in between the heather to blend into the beautiful natural landscape.

This area is now much improved and will now withstand the wear and tear of golfers far better.

From this.

To this!

 The 16 th tee has also been completed with the  5 foot high bramble bush that surrounded the tee having been stripped and reduced to bare sand and now having been finished by being planted with marram this tee now looks fantastic sitting there perched upon the dune.What a fabulous teeing natural teeing ground!

The greenkeeping team over the years have stockpiled a huge quantity of old turves and topsoil which has been left to decompose naturally with all the beneficial bacteria, fungi and earth worms doing their bit in the big compost bund around the turf nursery and we have been screening this composted materials this week for use on the golf course for divotting etc. This process of recycling old materials makes the site very sustainable with our own turf nursery and our own natural soil supply and it is beautiful soil whilst saving us a fortune and not having to import any materials for turfing etc.

 The soil screener,its big!

 The result,lovely soil.

The team have also been very busy this week aerating the greens with a 8mm solid tine.

Aeration is critical to the turf health, it relives soil compaction and reduces the accumulation of thatch as well as providing oxygen to the roots of the plant as well as spaces for the deep rooting fine grasses to explore. 

The greens have been rolled to restore surface smoothness following aeration and they are quick!

The course in general is drying out nicely and with the water table getting gradually lower day by day we are hoping all the bunkers will be back in play soon.

The forecast with just the odd shower over the weekend in general is very good and preety settled with some nice sunny periods.

There is a few more maintenance practices planned on the golf course in the next week or so, we are looking to get an application of Lawn Sand on the greens and a light top dressing will follow.

The tees will have a light feed and a light sand dressing also.

The fairways have also already had an application of wetting agent which should in the long term greatly improve the condition and uniformity of the finer grasses population on the fairways.
Wetting agent will work in the soil to stabilize moisture levels  as well as balancing air to water ratios and provide better access to nutrients in the rootzone resulting in stronger turf throughout the season that will perform in all conditions as well as increase turf resilience and stress tolerance.

As always a huge thanks to all the team for their hard work,dedication, passion and enthusiasm to the club and golf course,truly fantastic to see.

Happy golfing,

Rhys Butler, Links Manager, Royal St David's Golf Club.

Where did i put them sunglasses?

Just a quick update for you all on the maintenance practices that have been happening on the links this week.

The weather plays a big part in when we carry out many of our greenkeeping tasks, for example a nice bit of rain to wash in topdressing and fertilisers etc.This week provided an ideal opportunity to carry out a lot of tasks which we wouldnt normally be able to do such as some localised overseeding work we started on Monday as with above average temperatures and looking like it will remain settled for a while every opportunity to improve the playing surfaces must be grabbed with both hands! 

As previous in overseeding we have used a solid tine to a 8-9mm depth and used a drop spreader to broadcast the seed and then brushed/matted the seed into the holes.

After this we have topdressed the overseeded areas to improve seed and soil contact and improve germination chances, we will also apply seaweed to these areas in a couple of weeks to enhance germination.

The weather being so mild and with heavy rain forecasted for Thursday,which it certainly did! was an ideal opportunity for us to start our top dressing programme which will help keep the greens firm,restore surface levels and smoothness and helps promote a good soil profile as well as improving percloation rates and controlling thatch levels as well as encouraging a healthy dense sward.

Here is a picture of our widespin dresser in action 

Even this liitle fella loved the topdressing so much he wanted to join in!

After the topdressing is broadcast it is matted in to the turf gently with some astroturf on a metal mat.

The opportunity to apply the first fertiliser feed for the year was also taken with a traditional Lawn Sand dresssing being applied which has a little bit of iron to tackle any moss in the base of the turf as well as reducing the pH to encourage the finer grasses and deter worms from casting as well as a little nitrogen to fill any bare areas left by the removal of the moss of which there is very very little but we are aimimg for the very best greens so attention to detail is paramount.

It's very important to have all these tasks done which are an important base and start for the season and is equally pleasing to be ahead of the game through good planning of the links team.

Out of interest the blog is still having many views and we are now over 3,500 views! Fantastic,like ive mentioned before if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Rhys Butler, Links Manager, Royal St Davids Golf Club.