Weather summary for April

It was a mild and relatively dry month, the average temperature was 10.8 degrees, 2 degrees warmer than the long term average and 3.5 degrees warmer than last April.  Last year April was the coldest on record, this year temperatures were towards the top end of the range.  The highest temperature was 18.2 on the 17th and the lowest 2.2 on the 15th.  The rainfall total was 13mm with 6.4mm of it falling in one day on the 7th.  The average rainfall for April is 37mm.

Wildlife walk

Our annual wildlife walk took place early this morning in wonderful spring sunshine.  Around 30 species of bird were seen or heard and red deer were present on the set aside fields.  Avian highlights were good views of a singing nightingale and a nesting tree creeper.  The bluebells at the far western end of the woodland are spectacular at present and well worth a look.  Many thanks to the leaders of the walk, Mike Swindells and Dave Thurlow.

Top dressing greens

The greens were top dressed this morning.  Top dressing is one of our main tools for promoting firm and true putting surfaces.  Through the growing season we aim to top dress once every four to six weeks and we usually apply around six dressings per year.  There is strong grass growth at present so the material will disappear into the base of the sward fairly quickly.

Danny top dressing the 4th green

Practice bunker

The new practice bunker is open for business and Simon Reeve was the first to try it out.  Of course Simon made it look easy; peppering the flag with a dozen golf balls.

Please take care when entering and leaving the bunker as the turf is still a little delicate.

Weather summary for March

It was a warm month with an average temperature of 8.4 degrees, 5.5 degrees higher than March 2013 (2.9) and over 2 degrees higher than the long term average (6.1).  The highest temperature recorded was 18.2 on the 31st and the lowest -0.1 on the 24th.  We recorded 13.8mm of rain, 8mm of this in the first three days of the month.  The average for March is 37.7mm.

Lawn Sand

Lawn sand has been applied to all of the greens today.  This is a mixture of a fast acting nitrogen source (sulphate of ammonia) and iron (sulphate of iron).  The iron will knock back the moss that has appeared during the mild wet winter and the nitrogen will promote grass growth to fill the gaps left by the moss.  Expect to see a darkening of the turf over the next few days and some tram lines along the spreader wheel tracks.  These effects are harmless and temporary; they will grow out fairly quickly.  As with all fertiliser application to our greens the product has been applied at a very low rate to avoid promoting too much lush growth.

Craig applying lawn sand to the 5th green

13th hole

The area behind the 13th green was one of the worst affected by the winter storms.  The cedar tree was seriously damaged and had to be removed and several hawthorn and blackthorn bushes along the boundary were blown down or damaged.  We have left some of the damaged scrub in place as it is helping to screen the road, which is more visible than it was prior to the storms.  We've transplanted gorse plants along the boundary with the long term aim of creating an evergreen barrier that effectively screens the road all year round.  More planting will be done next winter and bracken control will be carried out this summer in the hope of encouraging the suckering and spread of the blackthorn shrubs in the area.

Construction work

The base for the new 12th medal tee has been built up with sand excavated nearby.  The site will be left to settle over the summer months and the tee will be finished off in the autumn.
 Some work has been done on extending the pond on the 7th hole on the river course.  Work will continue on this project as and when the resources are available.  The crag that we're excavating is proving very useful for path building and maintenance.

Extending the pond on the 7th

Practice net

The new practice net is finished, apart from some levelling and seeding of the surrounding area.  It's hiding between the new extension to the chipping green and the 18th green.

Weather summary for February

February was much warmer and wetter than average. The average temperature was 7 degrees, the highest we've recorded since the weather station was installed in 2000. Quite a contrast with last year when the average temperature for February was 3.2. The highest temperature recorded was 12.2 degrees on the 24th and the lowest was 1.5 on the 11th. We had 61.2mm of rain (the average for February is 36.1mm) bringing the year total to 143mm, nearly 40% of the 363mm total for the whole of last year.
The mild weather has brought a little grass growth so we have much better definition of fairways than normal for the time of year.

The Met office have produced a very interesting report on the potential causes of the recent storms. Click this  link to read the pdf.