Superintendent’s Report – March 2018

Summary of works

March brought with it 57mm of rain. The rain came at both ends of the month but was still way down on the average.

March 2018 ……………Rainfall (Average 187mm)
April 2018……………..Rainfall (Average 160mm)

The average temperature for March was 27 degrees 1 degree down on February. With most days around the 27 degree mark (except March 18^th which was 40 degrees) and rain, all turf areas are growing vigorously. The morning temperatures have stayed around the 20 degrees mark, meaning the disease and insect pressure is still around but not quite as high. Looks like another 4 weeks or so before the pressure completely eases. The extreme heat, empty dams and drought conditions seem a distant memory.

At the start of March we decided to patch a few bare and weak areas on the greens. We did some patching on the 1^st, 4^th, 5th, 8th, 9^th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 15^th greens. On the 4^th and 5^th greens once the greens renovations are done towards the end of the month we intend to seed a few of our normal problem areas with PENN A-4 bent seed. Now we could patch these areas with turf from our nursery which is a Bent / Poa mix but we want pure bent turf there to help stop “Summer Decline” next year. Bent grass is a lot more disease and weather tolerant than Poa grass. We will over sow and repair the nursey green with PENN A-4 where we took plugs and turf to repair Corella damage during the season.

Once the patching had finished we started on hand spraying all the creeping Oxalis out of the greens. We sprayed out 32 litres of water mixed with the right chemical, which equalled to 1500m2 or 3 greens the size of the 2^nd green. Creeping Oxalis is a difficult to control weed that spreads easy and quickly.

We then went around all the greens to hand spray out Mullumbimby Couch. Mullumbimby Couch excels in moist soils and humid conditions and is also very difficult to control in Bent / Poa greens. Repeat applications will be likely in 5 to 6 weeks’ time.

In early March, soil tests were carried out on 9 greens. The results came back very good, all key areas within the recommended range. What was disturbing was once again the Sulfur and Chloride levels were a direct reflection of our irrigation water quality. The Sulfur levels were 3 times as high as the recommendations for Bent / Poa turf, while the Chloride levels are a whopping 7 times higher. Salt level is a key indicator of the quality of dam water used for irrigation. High-salinity water causes an increase in soil salts and as soil salinity increases it becomes more difficult for plants to extract water from the soil. This is due to an increase in the osmotic pressure of the soil water, that is the salts ‘hold’ the water so strongly that plants cannot remove it and therefore appear to be under drought stress even when adequate moisture is present. Sodium and chloride are the most damaging ions, chloride being particularly toxic). Plants accumulate chloride to the exclusion of calcium, magnesium and potassium, causing nutritional disturbances. In addition to being taken up by the plant, chloride will cause direct injury to the plant as water dries on the leaf, particularly if irrigation is undertaken during the heat of the day.

Works undertaken during March

Greens

Verti-drained greens once this month to relieve compaction and to help in the aid of fighting disease and summer decline, as well as allowing water to penetrate the surface. We use 8mm tines which go 100mm deep.
Coring of greens, 12mm hollow tine which goes 100mm deep.
Applications of herbicide targeting Creeping Oxalis.
Applications of herbicide targeting Mullumbimby Couch.
Applications of fungicide targeting Pythium prevention. 2 applications were put out.
Applications of fungicide targeting Anthracnose and dollar spot prevention. 2 applications were put out.
Applications of kelp products to aid in root development and disease resistance. 2 applications were put out 3 weeks apart.
Applications of wetting agent to aid in water penetration, to dry thatch layer and help roots to search for deeper moisture. Applications applied every 2 weeks.
Applications of gypsum applied directly to the plant, every 2 weeks.
Applications of gypsum applied directly to the soil, every 3 weeks.
Application of soluble fertiliser to aid plant health, every 3 weeks.
Application of soil conditioner.
Application of Magnesium.
Application of insecticide.
Greens are currently getting cut at 4mm, 4 times a week (most weeks during summer)
Greens are currently getting rolled twice a week (most weeks during summer)
Holes get changed 5 times a week.

Surrounds

Surrounds are cut twice a week at 15mm.
Apron cut around the green is at 6mm and done once a week.
Surrounds were sprayed with insecticide.
Green side sprinklers trimmed

Tees

Tees cut twice a week at 15mm
Application of liquid kelp fertiliser applied once a month
Application of wetting agent applied once a month
Tee sprinklers trimmed
Tee markers moved everyday

Fairways

Fairways cut once a week at 18mm.
Fairway sprinklers trimmed

Bunkers

All bunkers were edged and the grass edges were sprayed with a growth retardant.
All bunkers are raked fully 3 times a week and on Saturdays all foot prints are raked out by hand.

Rough

Rough cut when needed.
Try and cut around Tees and Greens once a week.

Irrigation / Dams

Dam water tested once a month for Salt / Sodium levels. 2^nd dam clear, 15^th dam clear
2^nd dam full
15^th dam full

Other

Pathway repairs – 8 Tonne of road base was put out to repair pot holes around the course

Staff

Course Superintendent: Mr David Nicholls

Assistant Superintendent: Mr Craig Coleman

Senior Greenkeeper: Mr Mathew Smith

Greenkeeper: Mr Shaun Hill

Groundsmen: Mr Darren Orchard and Mr Peter Ceaser

Works Planned for April