Fairway mowing US Open Style

Will this ever happen at Capel ?
Click on picture to enlarge.
All 10, thats right 10, fairway mowers make one pass each fairway, don't worry if the next fairway is a few meters wider, they just add another fairway mower to the line, they had about 13 fairway mowers ready to cut the course.

If you are wandering why the grass is so much greener, its because it is all cool season grass, Bentgrass (our greens), ryegrass (some of our surrounds) and poa annua, (our nemesis) are used on tee boxes and fairways; the greens are bentgrass; and the rough is Kentucky bluegrass. They can use these turf types due to the cooler climatic conditions with an averaged max of 24 degrees C. In fact Couch grass just wouldn't provide the quality of surface and would struggle due to the lower temperatures.

The Olympic Club has 45 holes consisting of  2 x 18 holes, The Ocean Course and the Lakes Course (The Open played on the Lakes) and a 9 hole par 3 course.

They have 50 full-time grounds staff which was boosted by 100 volunteers sourced from other golf courses including superintendents, greenstaff and turf technicians with advice from the USGA green section agronomists. 

The club can fund the courses through their Althletic Club with over 5000 members and 2 club houses, not only for golf but other sports as well. The clubhouses feature a fitness center, cardio solarium, hotel facilities, handball and squash courts, circuit training facilities, two basketball courts and two swimming pools along with restaurants.
I just thought you might be interested in a little trivia for a change, considering as they played the US Open we were all out on the course, cleaning up.

Oh and by the way another severe weather warning has been issued for tomorrow grrrrrrrrrrr CLICK HERE FOR WARNING

Popular posts from this blog

Saltene and Couch Grass

Image
I thought I would talk about this subject instead of what has been run of the mill course work updates lately, nothing like a bit of variety to keep it fresh... It is this time of year (summer if you didn't know better) the couch and saltene in the greens become more visible and start to out compete the bent grass. If you have been good students and followed the turf 101's on this blog you would know Bent is a cool season grass preferring cooler temps, Couch and Saltene both warm season grasses preferring hotter temps for optimum growth. So what happens when the two compete against each other year round ?   During the cooler months,  April through October the Bent grass out competes the Couch and Saltene, the Couch and Saltene are still there just not as pronounced as during the warmer months, thanks to their vigorous rhizomes even tho the bent has control of the top, the couch and saltene are waiting to pounce when warmer temps arrive due to their extensive rhizome syste
Read more

Hydraulic Oil Leak

Image
Over the weekend we had a Hydraulic Oil leak under the mower when mowing greens, unfortunately as it was pre-dawn mowing with a heavy dew, the operator only detected it when the sun came up after he was halfway through.   Of 13 greens mowed, 8 are effected of which 4 are cause for the most concern. Wishful thinking, I am wondering, and will find out soon enough, with the greens renovations only just completed whether the vigorous growth we have encourage to recover from Reno's and the higher cut we were mowing at will lessen the impact and we may be able to cut out most of it....Experience tells me IT IS wishful thinking. With this type of oil leak, it isn't so much the oil but the temperature of the oil that causes most of the damage, instantly killing the grass it contacts. We have applied Activated Charcoal, and a dilute detergent to deactivate and dilute the oil, there isn't much more we can do I am afraid.  We have sanded the 15th to see if that helps, unfo
Read more

Fairways, Saltine and Merry...Xmas

Image
The front 9  fairway renovation went well with strong growth occurring, alleviating some compaction and more importantly allowing the gases exchange from the root-zone,  this should hold them in good position for summer. You would have noticed the yellowing saltine in the greens I have taken advantage of the mild weather conditions being more aggressive with measures for Saltine and Crab grass in the greens than previous years. The Saltine will stand out more so than normal as it discolours with the herbicide effect, as a result it may appear there is more than usual in the greens, there isn't it just seems that way with the discolouration making it stand out more. Unfortunately due to the vigorous nature of the grass, control measures are more for   suppression and long term control than immediate eradication. Further due to the high risks of photo-toxicity to the bent grass in warmer weather, product applications are ceased during summer. The initial treatment a
Read more