Renovation work

It's three weeks since we over-seeded the greens and the results have been spectacularly good.  Lines of fine fescue seedlings are clearly visible on all of the greens particularly when the sun is low in the mornings and evenings.  For the first two weeks after seeding we kept the moisture level in the greens a little higher than our usual target to enable the new seedlings to germinate and get established.  The higher moisture level combined with high temperatures resulted in lush grass growth and slower greens over this period.  Now that the seed is well established we can dry the greens out a little more but we still need to provide enough moisture to support the new seedlings.  We also applied Rescue to the first three or four metres of approach and the collars of the greens, to kill off the coarse ryegrass in these areas.  This has also worked well and we've been putting in lots of seed to replace the rye with the over-seeder and by hand where required. Getting rid of the ryegrass completely will probably take a few years of repeat applications but subsequent applications will not have as dramatic an impact as the first.  We're also trialling rescue on some of the main course greens but it's too early to assess the results.  The 7th green has been sprayed, the front part of the 8th and the left side of the 11th, the treated areas look quite pale at present but the colour should come back over the next couple of weeks.

Fescue seed coming through on a green surround

Lines of seed coming through on an area of green treated with Rescue

Creating slots for the seed mix

Spreading top dressing mixed with seed

The 11th green with the Rescue treated area on the right