CAPEL GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE

The fairway renovations went well, recovery is already well underway with all outcomes achieved. We are finishing off fertilising the fairways balancing the manual irrigation system with demand and once complete will have the fairways in good condition leading into the summer months.   One issue I need to address is the appearance of dry areas (dry patch ) on the back 9 fairways, this is not due to the coring but as a result of the manual irrigation system and set speed pumps with antiquated piping leading to inefficient irrigation.  While coring does drop the moisture levels temporarily,  it is the less than efficient irrigation system on the back 9 which can not quickly replace that moisture loss that results in these dry areas whenever we carry out works such as renovations, large scale spraying or any maintenance requiring follow up irrigation.  The combination of the manual system, set speed pumps and small old weak pipping in places mean we need to shut off the entire sy

A great start to the working week with the start of coring the back 9 fairways, after 12 hours we have completed the coring brushing and clearing of 5 fairways and cored 6.  Tomorrow we hope to have the coring complete prior to the competition players catching up, leaving the brushing and clearing to do. Scroll cutting cleared fairways will also be attended.  Just a reminder, please do not hit up on staff unless called or out of the way during this important work. We do apologise for any inconvenience caused by disruption and we hope you understand, the aeration of the fairways has many advantages, allowing air and water into the profile, alleviating compaction, encouraging micro organism to breakdown organic matter, release of nutrients are just some of the major benefits. This provides us with a base to have healthy strong turf surfaces for you enjoyment.  Thank you  and Happy Hooking 

Hopefully the glitches which have prevented me posting have been sorted, thank you for your patience over that extended time.  Greens have recovered from the October renovations very quickly and were being cut back at normal height of 2.8mm just a few weeks after. One issue we are having with the greens at the moment is a flush of Poa annua seed head, generally we manage to control 40 to 60 % of seed head formation through the peak time limiting its impact, normally just prior to our renovations through certain product applications. Unfortunately as a result of the unusual cooler wetter weather which extended through September / October this delayed the trigger of the timing of the peak seed formation into the recovery period for the greens at a point where we need to cease product application for the poa in order for the Bent Grass to recover sufficiently from renovations as the product does regulate Bent grass growth as well. We are taking measures to reduce its impact through broo