New Greens – message from Graeme Pepper, Chairman of Greens and Damon Lonnie, General Manager
As members will be aware an announcement was recently made that the new front 9 greens will open for play on Saturday 25th November for the Men’s AM Par Competition as well as the Christmas Cup that afternoon.
Agronomist Richard Hurley has been consulted and has provided advice on how the club should manage these new greens, particularly in the first few months. Additionally Fraser Brown has provided his recommendations and the General Committee has now approved a Greens Management Plan which will limit weekly play through the first few months to approximately 650 rounds per week. This can only be achieved by closing the front nine holes outside competition times on a Monday, Tuesday (PM), Thursday (PM), Friday and limited play on Sundays. Play will be monitored and the policy reviewed as necessary. Throughout these days, the back nine will remain open with a 9 hole timesheet available online as well as the option to play the back 9 twice or progress onto the North Course to complete 18 holes.
This decision has been a difficult one however has been made in the best interests of the greens long term and enjoyment of members.
New Greens – message from Fraser Brown, Course Superintendent
Early Management of New Greens and Bunkers
Greens
On 25th November the new front 9 greens will open for play but will close again on the 26th and 27th. Our objective is a long term one, that is, to have World Class greens.
The way I look at, achieving this isn’t acknowledging that the project is completed on 25th November, more so that we have reached the stage where we can allow the additional stress of traffic. Management decisions still need to be taken to ensure we achieve the long-term goal and should the greens require it, I will recommend their closure/rest if I believe there are any signs of stress.
While the greens will look good when they open, it is important to remember that the grass is still very immature at 17 weeks, so when we introduce the additional stresses of player traffic and the upcoming heat of summer, unless properly managed, this will undoubtedly affect turf quality. It is important that we protect the greens during this period to ensure we can produce World Class greens for years to come. At this stage I ask for members assistance in terms of repairing pitchmarks and also to consider high traffic areas and to take less direct paths when entering/exiting the putting surface to spread any wear.
Keeping poa annua out is one of the main objectives for me with the new greens. This is a very difficult task as almost every course in Australia fights this problem within their greens, however I believe by encouraging density in our bent grass sward combined with manual removal and a poa annua growth regulator this will be achieved. Should the greens be exposed to excess stress initially this may cause thinning of the surface then becomes a seedbed for poa. Once established it becomes near impossible to remove as we have seen in the current G6 greens.
The greens will be maintained with the new practices that I believe are required for long term success but in the first summer the immature grass will require additional help. This will mainly require two main actions;
- Manage traffic
If we allow too much foot traffic on the greens too early we will cause significant damage to the surfaces which will result in bare or thin areas which is obviously not acceptable. Ignoring this may accelerate poa establishment into these bent grass greens. Including a rest day (possibly a Monday) will assist the greens with full rest from play and mowers. By minimizing weekly rounds by limiting play to less than 650 rounds would be helpful in minimizing wear.
- Sustainable initial height of cut
Often when opening new greens, the temptation is to mow at your normal maintenance height of cut to show off the new greens, but I feel, particularly in the early stages the height of cut needs to be based on the turf health not speed. The greens will be firm and true, and I aim to have the new greens running a good pace but I won’t compromise health to achieve pace. This includes during the two tournaments we host in early 2017.
Bunkers
The new bunkers are constructed to a different style which will encourage balls to roll back into the base of the bunker which will be hand raked. The aim behind this was to give a more fair lie in the hazards, where golfers are required to hit a good shot from a fair lie rather than being asked to hit shots while impeded by back lips or low turf tongues in the bunkers. The new maintenance practice will be to board the faces to ensure a firm face that will move the ball down to the bases of the bunker which will be hand raked. This practice is common amongst the best courses in the world.
As is common with new bunker constructions the faces of these bunkers will take time to firm up as required. My team are working hard on producing the best possible conditions but I would like members to be aware of this issue for the initial period. I would ask members to consider how we rake bunkers after playing a shot, if we could keep consistency in raking with the maintenance team that would allow better presentation and a fair lie for the next member. That would be using the toothed side of the rake for the raked section of the bunker and the back of the rake to smooth your footprints on the boarded faces
The turf around the fairway bunkers is obviously still bedding in, this will bed in quite quickly during the warmer weather but I would like to ask the members to be considerate when walking around these bunkers or entering/exiting. There may be soft turf underfoot so if members could please keep to the markings we provide on the bunkers that will reduce any damage to the bunker but most importantly ensure the safety of our members.
Once again on behalf of myself and my team I would like to thank all the members for their patience with the temporary greens during this period and that we hope everybody enjoys getting onto the new greens. If members could consider the following points it would greatly assist us in producing the World Class conditions we all desire.
- Repair of pitchmarks.
- Limit number of balls played into the greens to no more than one (1) during social play.
- Consider high traffic areas on greens particularly around bunkers and use alternative routes where possible.
- Continue to enter/exit bunkers where marked.
- Rake bunker bases using toothed side of rake and smooth the walls using the back of the rake.
Course Maintenance Videos
Please take the time to view the instructional videos below covering maintenance of greens and bunkers:
Click here for video on repairing pitch marks on greens.
Click here for the video on raking bunkers