Weather summary for February

February was wet and very cold with the last three days remaining below freezing all day.  The lowest temperature was  -4.4° on the 28th when the average temperature for the day was  -3.3°.  We've had a weather station since the year 2000 and this was the coldest February we've recorded.  The average temperature was only 2.8°; the February average for the last 17 years is  5.1° and last year the average was  6.7°.  The highest temperature was  10.1° on the 15th.  We had 50mm of rain which is well above the 36mm average for the month. 

Gorse and heather management

During the recent spell of frosty weather we've made good progress on gorse management by coppicing.  We've also been cutting back gorse where it is invading an the area of recently established heather right of the 11th hole.  Although areas of coppiced gorse look unsightly at first, they soon recover and the resultant fresh growth provides an excellent habitat for wildlife.  The photo below illustrates how old stands of gorse get very leggy and open, this offers limited opportunities for nesting birds and other wildlife compared with dense young growth.

Gorse coppicing

Removing gorse from a recently established area of heather

Golf Environment Awards and GEO certification

Aldeburgh GC were one of four finalists in the Environmental Golf Course of the Year category in the  2018 Golf Environment Awards, the winners were Carnoustie golf club.  The awards showcase sustainable golf course management and the work that golf clubs do to develop and improve wildlife habitats.   Golf Environment Awards web site 
We have also recently achieved GEO certification which recognises our commitment to sustainable golf course management.  The GEO foundation works worldwide and is "Dedicated to inspire support and credibly share golf's commitment to nature, resources and community".  GEO website

The Aldeburgh team at the Golf Environment Awards presentation dinner

Storm damage

The recent high winds destroyed the shelter by the 1st tee; there were also quite a number of branches broken off trees and lots of debris scattered around the course.

Weather summary for January

January was a wet month with close to average temperatures but more frosty mornings than we've experienced in recent years.  The total rainfall was 62.2mm (the January average is 45.7mm) with the rain spread fairly evenly over the month, there were only 9 days with no rain at all.  The average temperature was 5.5°, with a maximum of 13.6° on the 28th and a minimum of -1.5° on the 27th.

12th bunker construction

The bunker left of the 12th green has been moved and enlarged and the surrounding slopes have been re-shaped. 

Stripping the old turf

Starting to shape the bunker

After turfing

Tee marker posts

The old tee marker posts were getting a bit worn out so they've been replaced with some smart new ones from Pinseeker.

10th tee construction

The construction work on the new championship/medal tee on the 10th hole was finished off today.

Stripping the old tee

Levelling the topsoil

Laying the turf

Barn owls, kingfishers and orchids

After several years of owls using our barn owl boxes for roosting, two of the boxes were occupied this year, with two chicks in each box.  These were ringed for monitoring purposes through the Suffolk barn owl project.  http://www.sogonline.org.uk/scbop/.  Another first has been a kingfisher nest on the course, the adults are currently feeding young.  2017 has been a good year for bee orchids on the river course.

There were several bee orchids on the river course this year.

July course news

Record breaking temperatures and well above average rainfall during June saw strong grass growth and a maintenance programme dominated by mowing grass.  The warmer than average and very wet weather continued into July and we broke the previous rainfall record for July with 118.6mm in total.  The greens were top dressed during the last week in June and we’ve taken advantage of the strong growth to do some greens surface refinement through brushing, verti-cutting and occasional double cutting.  These operations help to improve smoothness, trueness and green speed.  The roller has been used regularly to counteract the slowing effect that the weather has had on the greens.  Selective weed-killer was applied to the tees and some fairways.  The annual ragwort pull is in progress, we’re just over half way round the course and will finish the job before the ragwort goes to seed.  The approaches and green surrounds have been verticut several times over the last few weeks to help fine down the coarser grasses.  We’re also boxing off the cuttings from these areas to help refine the sward.  Fertiliser was applied to the greens on the 17^th of July.

Here is a summary of a typical week of routine course maintenance.

Mowing

Greens 7x (1 or 2x by hand), tees 3x, Aprons 3x, Approaches 2 or 3x, Fairways 2x, Semi rough 1x, bunker surrounds 1x.

The bunkers are raked daily, the holes are changed twice per week or more often if there are major events and tee divoting is done weekly.

July/August maintenance work

We’re planning a light top dressing of the greens early next week if the weather is suitable or failing that the week after golf week.  We’ll also top dress green surrounds and approaches.  We’ve started cutting some of the areas of coarser rough around the course and this work will continue over the coming weeks wherever the rough gets too thick to be playable.  The greens renovation and over-seeding work is due to start on the 31^st of August.

Twitter

For members who would like to be kept up to date with course activity and anything of interest on the course we have a twitter account.  Follow the link below.

https://twitter.com/Greens_AGC