This years maintenance week commenced on the 8th of October. The committee took the decision to keep the course open and the maintenance team worked hard to work around member and visitor play. Although late in the season we have been lucky and the temperatures since then have allowed for some excellent recovery. The greens were solid spiked with 10mm tines at 2″ spacings to a depth of 45mm, which was our target area where we still have a bit of work to do reducing thatch levels. We followed up with a sand topdressing to dilute the thatch layer which should bring the organic mater into target area of between 4-6%.
The approaches to greens still have a high organic matter content so while we had the machine set up to complete tee aeration we took the decision to hollow core some wet and thatchy approaches to remove as much material as possible using 13mm hollow core tines at 2′ spacing to a depth of 60mm. The maintenance created an excellent opportunity to Pot seed our greens and approaches with fescue which was the third time we have been able to overseed this year.
The teeing grounds at Nairn Dunbar take more wear and tear than any other surface of our course so we also hollow cored all teeing grounds with the same setup on the Procore as the approaches with 13mm tines. We chose to hollow core the tees to remove the excess organic matter in the profile. By coring the tees it will alleviate compaction and improve air movement in our soils, thereby increasing microbial activity and the breakdown of thatch. This practice also physically removes thatch and will allow us to exchange the poorer soils to a better one through a straight sand topdressing, helping to firm up all surfaces providing true links like conditions. The topdressing will provide the ideal environment for the Barenbrug BAR MEDAL seed we used to thrive and help improve the sward composition of the surfaces. We have decided to use BAR MEDAL on our teeing grounds as it offers superior wear tolerance and establishment, combined with a very fine appearance. We have worked hard to reinstate acceptable playing characteristics to all surfaces using sand topdressings, brushing, rolling and an application of fertiliser to aid recovery.
The Championship tee markers have now all been moved forward to the regular teeing grounds allowing us to let the new grass establish. As you can see from the pictures below, the teeing grounds are in need of a rest after a long season of general and competition play. We do not want to compromise the condition of our tees going into spring 2018 so the use of mats during the winter will reduce the damage and allow recovery.
The full winter course commenced on 30/10/2017 and “winter rules” will operate until March 2018.⛳️❄️⛄️
Although a little disruptive please be patient as we attempt to change the botanical composition of the sward to a more desired species and in turn finer links like surfaces. ⛳️🏌
I would also like to thank the following members who gave up their time to help get the essential maintenance completed to schedule ; David Bunker, Bruce Sherriff, Alan Ewing, Darren Pitchforth, Bob Towns and Kenny Campbell
Nairn Dunbar Golf Links 