West Kilbride June Links Report 2021
June has been another busy month with on-going general maintenance being carried out on the course. Unfortunately, we did lose a week of work as all green staff had to self- isolate from the 28th of June till the 4th of July as two of the team tested positive for Covid. Thankfully, they have both recovered well. I managed to organise for Gt Ground-care to come in and carry out essential maintenance on the course during that week.
June has been another dry month with 46.4 mm of rain, the average for this month is usually between 80-90 mm.
The following work has been carried out on the course:
- Selective weedkilling has been carried out on the course and will be on-going as required over the next couple of months.
- Several fairways have been sprayed during any periods of rainfall with wetting agent, seaweed and amino acids to help promote quicker recovery
- Hand-watering as been carried out as required and I have added wetting agent tablets into the irrigation tank for the nightly programmes. These tablets help with moisture retention on the surfaces and they also help clean the pipework and inside of the sprinklers.
- All tees and approaches have been sprayed with wetting agent, liquid fertiliser and seaweed. I plan to overseed and top-dress all the weaker tees again as well as some of the approaches over the next couple of weeks.
- Divoting of tees is being carried out regularly and landing areas are being divoted as much as possible.
- The paths at 14 and 18 have had an application of outfield fertiliser applied to help maintain plant health and growth.
- All fly-mowing of bunkers and strimming is on-going.
- Roses have now ben planted in the flower beds at the club-house.
On the Greens
- The greens have been verti-cut down to 2mm
- I have applied a chemical called Prohexidione to the greens, this helps supress Poa Seed-heads to help smooth out the putting surfaces. This is tank mixed with Ammonium Sulphate to promote tillering and a pigment dye to maintain colour.
- The greens have been de-stressed after all the recent competitions and club championships. The height of cut is back up to 3.5mm from 3.25mm and an application of wetting agent, seaweed and amino acids has been applied. I plan to overseed several greens and top-dress all greens over the next couple of weeks.
- Rolling has been reduced to 2 days per week.
- I plan to spray all greens with a preventative fungicide shortly as soil temperatures are high which is ideal for turf disease to occur.
Course Matters
- We have recently noticed two sink holes appearing on the middle practice green. I have looked at both the drainage and irrigation drawings and there doesn’t seen to be any pipework or drains in the area. These areas will be cut out, re-levelled and re-turfed when the weather allows.
- Our new Dyna-Seeders are working well on the greens with good germination rates and little disturbance seen after the task has been carried out.
- The new Pro Gator and sprayer are both great additions to the fleet as it is reducing the weight and compaction to the greens. I am still awaiting delivery of the Dakota top-dresser, this will hopefully be with us by the end of July.
- I have also been given the go ahead to purchase new Sarel rollers and a new Wiedenmann aerator which allows us to tine deeper into the soil profile, this will help break up pans in the soil and ensure there is little or no standing water on the surfaces after heavy rain. The Sarel rollers attach onto the Toro and are used on the greens. The aeration process is quick and efficient with little disturbance as it is only the first couple of inches that are being tined. These Sarel rollers are also beneficial for de-compaction especially after regular cutting and rolling and can also assist with seeding and top-dressing practices.
Richard Fulton
Head Greenkeeper