Christchurch Golf Club

Course Update - March 2012

Further to the February board report, a meeting was held on Thursday 23 February with Dave Howard of the NZ Turf Institute, his assistant Jamie Bachelor, members of the board and club management including course superintendent Mark Lawson. This meeting was initiated at the board’s request to allow an independent review of the work programmes in place for fairway and greens maintenance.

By way of background Dave is based in Dunedin and has worked for the Turf Institute for over 20 years. He has been a regular visitor to the course at Shirley and is fully familiar with the course, its development and the various issues faced by the club over the years in managing the turf. He describes the land on which the golf course is situated as a mix of soil and sub strata with inconsistent profiles over an undulating terrain. This in itself makes management difficult as areas of the course will react differently to the various maintenance activities. He has indicated the program of fairway renovation recently completed has given the club a significant opportunity to develop high class turf. He indicated the inferior quality of the turf previously on the fairways with thatch and varying grass types would have been impossible to restore by a normal maintenance program.

Fairways

The board is aware of member comments concerning the condition of the fairways. In particular areas of limited grass cover the damage as result of scarifying not repairing and the impact of the poa reduction spray program. Accordingly the board sought clarification on these matters as well as some questions as to why these issues had arisen. Dave had completed a course inspection and had taken turf core samples. In discussions with the board the condition of the samples was explained. The following are the key findings:

1. The prime cause of the patchy grass cover and slow recovery of scarification is the very dry nature of the sub soil. Water penetration from irrigation is on average less than 2 cm apart from the low lying hollows. This is caused by the soil type and the hard nature of the terrain. The sub soil has not built up a deep moisture level which was clearly shown by the soil sample. The brown top grass root structure was down the full 10cm of the core sample but lack of deep moisture has resulted in the grass “shutting down”. Dave indicated this is the way this grass type responds to limited moisture. The dry summer has also meant the irrigation has quickly evaporated from the surface reducing further grass growth.
2. The key to recovery and to achieving a strong grass cover is to build the moisture content on the deeper sub soil. This can be achieved by applying wetting agents direct onto the fairways rather than through the irrigation system which has been the method previously used. By direct application on an accelerated program the wetting agents should assist in allowing irrigation to better penetrate the surface rather than sitting on the surface or running into the hollows. It is not a case of more water but better penetration of water applied. The board confirmed the direct application of wetting agents should commence forthwith.
3. The maintenance of fairways by opening the surface with scarification and solid tine spiking were appropriate techniques to assist water absorption. The timing of this work was important as it was necessary to have the subsoil moisture to assist grass growth. This lack of ground moisture was the cause of the current slow recovery from scarifying and poa suppression spraying although some additional damage occurred with the scarification process this year as the machinery set up was established.
4. The use of the poa suppression program using “Amitrol” was confirmed as appropriate given the fairway renovation work completed. The need to establish a complete cover of brown top grasses was important as once such a cover is fully established the seed bank of poa currently in the ground will struggle to establish. The frequency and application rate will then be able to be reduced. The use of this program is dependent on fairways having a significant portion of fairway grasses not being poa. Very few established courses were in this position. The program was only now possible at Shirley because of the recent fairway renovations.
5. The board agreed that once an improvement in ground moisture had been achieved through the direct application of the wetting agent (estimated 3 to 4 weeks), that reseeding be undertaken on any areas not showing signs of recovery. The use of new seeding equipment available was to be used. This was a priority prior to winter.
6. The board confirmed that the plan for future fairway maintenance would be formalised in a written document. This plan would be reviewed by Dave Howard from the Turf Institute and used as the work schedule for future activity. Dave did comment that, in everything he had seen and the discussions held with Mark, the plan would be a formalisation of the work already identified as required. Mark had demonstrated a good understanding of the issues to be addressed in maximising the potential of the renovated fairways.

Greens

Comment was sort on the current greens renovation program. By way of background Dave reminded the board of the significant problems with the greens that occurred in the late 90’s as a result of no coring for a number of years and the resultant build-up of thatch and dead organic matter. The condition of many greens at that time indicated complete rebuilds may be required. The heavy coring program instigated at that time has resulted in a significant reduction in the thatch content in the greens and a vast improvement in soil condition in all greens.

1.      Annual coring is an essential program to maintain greens. The timing of the program should be at the club’s discretion but it is best at times when course usage is lowest within the best grass growing time. Based on his knowledge of climate and growing conditions Dave Howard considered that the November/December time frame offered the club the optimal growing period.

2.      The size of coring tine is dependent on the extent of organic matter in the greens. A larger tine removes more of this matter and allows for easier application of the replacement sand. In deciding what tine size should be used, the extent of organic matter in each green should be known. Dave has suggested some analysis of green core samples be undertaken to better define the coring tine size. Dave believes that using different sizes for different greens may be appropriate.

3.      The recovery time following renovation will vary but it is important to ensure all core holes are completely filed with sand and that the greens are allowed to heal naturally to allow for complete grass coverage. The direct application of wetting agents to any identified dry areas will assist where recovery is slower.

4.      Dave was questioned on the new techniques and machinery available that enables injection of sand direct into the core holes. He indicated he has some reservations on the use of kiln dried sand and how such sand will react and integrate with non-kiln dried sand and the movement of moisture through the substructure of the green.

In conclusion, Dave confirmed that with increased use of wetting agents, the course renovation programme as implemented by the Course Superintendent Mark Lawson had his full support.

Ken Fergus

President