Greens News
Weekly Report 30:06:08
This week we will be working on the greens. The last feed the greens recieved is starting to wear off now and the different grasses are growing at different speeds. This makes the putting surface uneven so we will verti-cut, feed and topdress this week.
Weekly Report 23:06:08
The greens will recieve another application of seaweed this week and a light top dressing. We hope to finish spraying the base of all trees with weedkiller. The tees will be fed tomorrow. The irrigation to the tees has now been sorted in-house so we are now ready to start work on them and try and improve their condition.
Weekly Report 16:06:08
This week we will be pencil tining the greens to allow air and water down to the roots this should help to soften the greens. Renovation work has now started on the tees most of the pop-ups are now working correctly with only two sets left to fix. The tees will recieve a feed this week.
Last week we erected the new driving nets behind the chipping area.
These have still to be lowered and cemented into the ground.
The shoe cleaner has now been moved behind the 18th green.
It has still to have a timber frame put round the edge and
more
sand brushed into the astro turf.
The new smoking shelter has now been finished. It had to be
moved to the other side of the building because of
health and safety reasons.
Weekly Report 09:06:08
This week we hope to apply liquid iron, wetting agent and activate to the greens. Last week we rolled the greens using a set of sarrell rollers which we had on demonstration. These rollers have small spikes on them which help the water get to the root of the plant. The greens will be verti-cut this week. We hope to have the driving nets assembled this week.
Weekly Report 02:06:08
This week we are moving the shoe cleaner to the back of the 18th green and building a new astro turf base for it. All the materials for the practice nets are here and we had intended to start them last weekend but due to the course being so busy it was decided the work should be done during the week. The seaweed and wetting agent that was applied to the greens last week has now started to work. This week we will put down another top dressing to help the greens roll smoother and faster. Greenstaff will be working late on the course this week to complete the strimming and weedkilling round the base of all trees.
Weekly Report 26:05:08
This week we will be pencil tining the greens to break the surface and help the water get down to the roots. This should also help to soften the surface. We will be applying some liquid seaweed to the greens tomorrow. The rest of the week we will be cutting. Work on the practice nets will begin this weekend .
Weekly Report 19:05:08
This week we will be spraying and strimming around the base of trees.
We also have soil to level the base of all newly planted trees. Over the
past few weeks members will have noticed the greens being very uneven,
this is due to different species of grass growing at different speeds.
Now that we have got steady and constant growth we will be taking the
hieght of cut down to summer hieght so there should be a noticeable difference
in the greens over the next few days. Again for the rest of the week we
will be cutting.
Weekly Report 12:05:08
This week we will be working on the greens. We will be feeding and topdressing them and putting down a wetting agent. For the rest of the week we will be cutting.
Weekly Report 05:05:08
We have a new member of staff this week. Scott Turnbull is our new first year apprentice.
Members have probably noticed that the grass is now growing so we will be cutting most days now. The greens however are still not growing as much as we would like this is due to temp during the night.
We hope to finish the base for the practice nets this week.
Weekly Report 28:04:08
This week we will be lowering the hieghts of cut on greens tees and fairways. Today we will be topdressing the greens. This will be followed by an application of wetting agent on tuesday or wednesday. The new practice nets will be delivered this week so hopefully it won't be long till they are in use.
Weekly Report 21:04:08
We are almost finished installing the new drain at the 9th. For the rest of the week we will be planting trees and building a base for the arrival of the new practice nets. We also plan to give the greens another top dressing this week.
Weekly Report 14:04:08
We have hired a digger this week to investigate and sort the wet area around the 9th medal tee.
We are also hoping to use the machine to dig a base for the new driving nets and plant some new trees to replace ones that were damaged during the winter.
Our agronomist is due to visit today to put a programme into place for the greens this year.
We have a problem with Black Layer on our greens which you can read about here....
Weekly Report 07:04:08
This week we will be edging bunkers and cutting. This will keep us busy all week. Holes 15 and 16 are now open. Practice nets have now been ordered for the chipping area.
RGC Greenstaff
New Machinery
The club have recently traded-in a utility mower & purchased a new fairway mower. This machine will allow us to cut the fairways in a single day using only one member of staff. This is a significant labour saving & should allow time to be devoted to other course maintenance tasks.
Ralston GC purchased it's first John Deere machine about 7 years ago. Since that time we have become a valued customer and built up a good relationship with Nairn Brown,our local John Deere dealers. Our fleet of machines is constantly improving with up to date John Deere models being brought in on a rolling programme. The council and greenstaff here at Ralston GC hope to improve the course over the coming years with the continued training of staff and utilisation of modern greenkeping equiptment.
John Deere 3235C
The John Deere 3235C in the picture above is the new fairway mower. It is set to cut the fairways at 13 mm. There are 5 cutting units which are all fitted with rear roller brushes, these help to disperse grass clippings which allow us to cut during wet or damp conditions with minimal mess.
In the past the fairways were cut using three smaller triplex mowers that took three men one full day to cut all the fairways.
The new machine is a lot more powerful which means the fairways can now be cut in one full working day by one person.
Ralston greenstaff with some of our Machinery
The two machines on the outside of the picture above are called John Deere 2653A's. They previously were used for cutting fairways and first cut. Now with the purchase of the new fairway mower these will only be used for cutting tee bankings and first cut.
Augusta eat your heart out
Greens staff also have three 220B hand mowers.These are used for hand cutting greens and are fitted with groomers to help stand the grass up before cutting. These machines give a better quality of cut.
RGC Greenstaff