Bunker renovation

Over the last few weeks we've been re-shaping the bases of some bunkers and at the same time removing stony subsoil that migrates to the surface and contaminates the sand.  We dig out the stony material (In some areas of the course the subsoil is more gravel than sand.) re-shape the base and put in a layer of stone free soil before topping up with sand.  When shaping the base, we aim for a bowl shape with the lowest point about two thirds back from the bunker face, so that most balls will roll away from the face.

Neil digging out stony subsoil on the 4th

Management of the rough

We're currently doing work on the rough grassland areas flail mowing and collecting the clippings. To get a clear idea of the purpose of this work it helps to think of it as nutrient removal rather than mowing.  By removing the clippings we reduce the nutrients available and this helps to develop finer grasses that thrive in impoverished soils.  The aim is to develop wispy rough that enables errant golf balls to be found and makes playing a shot more difficult but not too difficult.  Without intervention from mowing or grazing, the natural succession is from fine grasses to coarser grasses and then on to scrub followed by woodland.  Clipping removal enables us to replace coarse grass with fine grass where necessary and to reverse or halt this succession process.  In areas that already have fine rough cutting may only be required once every two to five years to maintain the current state but the coarsest areas on the course may be cut as often as twice per year.

The other important rough management task is the removal of invasive scrub and trees from the grassland.  We aim to maintain a balanced heathland mosaic and without the removal of seedling trees and shrubs we would soon have a woodland golf course.  This work is generally carried out during the winter months.

Whilst there are obvious benefits from this work in terms of playability and maintaining the heathland character of the course, there are also ecological benefits.  The sparser sward that develops enables wild flowers such as harebell, sorrel and large thyme (it's actually quite small)  to thrive. From an ecological standpoint the dry acid grassland that provides the ideal golfing rough is very desirable and improving this grassland is one of our targets within the environmental stewardship scheme we're participating in.

Flail mowing and collecting the clippings

Weather summary for January

The unusual thing about the weather this January was that there was nothing very unusual about it!
In recent years we've become accustomed to such extremes of weather that an average month comes as quite a shock.  Rainfall was close to average with 51.6mm as was the mean temperature at 4.9°.
The lowest temperature recorded was -2.4° on the 20th and the highest was 14.6° on the 9th.

January course work

The main tasks we've been working on this month are

• Verti-draining greens, tees and areas such as paths and worn parts of green surrounds.  This aeration work is probably the most essential winter renovation task as it alleviates the compacting effects of golf and vehicle traffic.
• Gorse coppicing to rejuvenate old leggy gorse, mostly on the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th holes.
• Sapling cutting in the rough and gorse to prevent the course turning from heathland into woodland.  We remove large numbers of seedlings every winter and without this work the transition to woodland would be surprisingly rapid.
• Topping up sand in the bunkers where it has blown or washed away.
• Renovating the bunker left of the 3rd fairway.  (Don't worry - although it looks very deep at present, the final sand level will be similar to that before work started.  We're digging out deep because this area is very stony and we intend to put in a layer of clean soil to prevent stone being brought to the surface.)

Neil and Danny working on the 3rd bunker - some of the stony areas were so compact that a pick axe was needed to loosen it

Andrew and Shane topping up bunker sand

Trevor vertidraining

Weather summary for December

The temperature in December was a little above average at 6° (the average is 5.3°).  The lowest temperature was -0.8° on the 30th and the highest 14° on the 18th.  After the wettest November on record December was also relatively wet with 59.7mm compared with the average of 50.7mm.  The total rainfall for the year was 654.7mm, making it the wettest year since 2001 when we had 750mm.  The 2014 rainfall total was nearly 300mm higher than that recorded in 2013!

River course construction work update

Construction work on the new 3rd green and 4th tee on the river course is now finished.  The turf on the green and tee is now well established and the recently laid fairway turf is beginning to root and will be able to withstand further flooding within the next couple of weeks.  Once all of the turf is well rooted we can be confident that in the event of future tidal surge flooding the area will drain quickly and the salt resistant fescue turf will recover.  All of the costs associated with this project have been covered by our insurance.

The timing of the opening of the new areas for play is very dependent on the weather over the winter and spring but it's unlikely to be before the end of May.

River course work

We've been getting on with a few tasks on the river course this week.  The last of the scots pines between the 3rd and 4th holes that were killed by salt water flooding have been felled.  Work is in progress on slightly raising, extending and strengthening the bund on our boundary left of the 6th green.  It should now protect this area from all but the very highest surge tides.  Work has also started on building a couple of low mounds between the 8th and 9th holes.  The main purpose of these is to encourage players on the 8th to aim slightly left so that fewer balls are hit towards the 9th carry.

Danny felling the last couple of pines

Working on the bund left of the 6th

Starting work on the mounds

Arthur and Shane laying turf on one of the mounds right of the 8th

Mishap on the marsh

The large digger that has been working on Hazelwood marsh in recent weeks fell into a dyke yesterday and it's still there today.  No one was hurt but it looks like recovering it will be a difficult job and repairing it will be an expensive one.

Oops!

And then the tide came in

River course construction work

The turfing of the new 3rd fairway and approach was completed today.  We've been here before but hopefully this time it will have time to get established before the next storm surge!  Once the roots have got a grip the fescue turf we've put down should survive occasional saltwater flooding.  The areas further from the playing line that have not been turfed have been seeded.

Shane laying turf this afternoon

Tree planting

We've planted some pines right of the 3rd hole on the river course to replace those lost to the storm surge.  The new trees have been planted on higher ground above the level of the storm surge.  Some more pines were planted left of the 14th hole on the main course to screen golf lane and some of the buildings beyond.  Behind the 13th green hawthorn hedging has been planted close to the boundary to screen Leiston road.  Some of the gorse transplanted to this area last winter is already well established.

Shane and Danny planting pines