Advisory Report on the Golf Course on Behalf of the R&A Championship
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PRESTWICK GOLF CLUB Advisory Report on the Golf Course on behalf of the R&A Championship Committee Report date: 21st March 2013 Consultant: Jay Dobson Prestwick Golf Club 1 CONFIDENTIAL Date of Visit: 15th March 2013 Visit Objective: To inspect the golf course ahead of the 2014 Boy’s Amateur and to make recommendations for progress towards this. Present: Dr Douglas Mack – Greens Chairman Dr Paul Stevens – Green Committee Mr Ken Goodwin – Secretary/Manager Mr Murray Stewart – Head Greenkeeper Mr Jim McMurdo – Assistant Greenkeeper Mr Tom Jacques – STRI Ltd Mr Jay Dobson – STRI Ltd Contents Executive Summary 3 Key Observations 4 Greens 4 Tees 6 Fairways 6 Bunkers 7 Roughs 8 Key Recommendations 8 Greens 8 Tees 9 Fairways 9 Bunkers 9 Paths 10 Roughs 11 Prestwick Golf Club 2 Executive Summary • Once again discussions on rainfall totals through the late part of 2012 into 2013 were foremost in our assessment of the golf course. However despite this the greens have apparently provided good playing quality and have attracted positive comments from members and guests. • Growth is still slow, although some root initiation has taken place, however low air and soil temperatures mean that the over wintered condition of the plants is still affecting recovery and this will remain so until some harmonisation of temperature and moisture occurs. • Moss still remains an issue here and there on the greens, although there are signs of reduction in more trafficked areas. Application of iron sulphate prior to inspection will be of benefit in helping to desiccate the moss as we continue to work on managing this within the greens. • Profiles seem to be in slightly better condition with a notable increase in sand in the upper parts of the profile. However there is still evidence of some ‘stickiness’ in the top 30mm and this will be worked on over the next growing season. • Disease pressure has reduced significantly since we made some slight changes to the programme and at this inspection there were no symptoms seen. Individual meadow grass plants showed some pressure from anthracnose, however this was not widespread and fairly localised. There was no evidence of either fusarium or snow mould and no carried over red thread from the back end of 2012. • Maintenance has been fairly focused with the greens being verti-drained on one occasion and slit on six. Coring was only carried out on aprons and approaches and this was positive in helping to remove some of the thatch and organic matter and to help firm these up. • Top dressing totals were between 120 – 140 tonnes for 2012 and we would like to see >150 tonnes in 2013 if this could be resourced. We had some discussions on winter top dressing, something which has been beneficial to many links courses during drier periods in the winter time. Something to consider for the latter parts of this year and beginning of next. • We continue to discuss paths on the golf course and some positive and excellent work to the 3rd and 17th have improved both of these areas notably. We still feel that some work to manage the traffic routes on the golf course in a more appropriate manner and to reduce the amount of hard materials would be positive. To this end, we feel that the trial of the Tebbutt rubber grass mats with the RTF and dwarf Rye on the approach to the ridge at the 10th would be a worthwhile consideration to allow members and committee to assess the effectiveness of this. • Further discussion on bunkers took place, including looking to standardise the approach presentation towards the bunker throats. While this is not going to be possible for all bunkers and in fact would look out of place, certainly moving the semi rough back slightly to allow more ‘gather’ would be positive on a number. Further discussions on the standard bunker presentation from our previous inspection including leaving the bunker tops as rough and unmanaged is positive and looks attractive and authentic. We also looked at some water table issues in the Cardinal bunker and on the bunker on the approach to the 17th. These have been relatively wet due to the rainfall and high water table over the last year or so. However we would hope that in drier conditions would reduce and lower this in conjunction with improved drainage and use of the pumps and further assessment of this will be made at our next inspection. Prestwick Golf Club 3 • We continued to discuss some of the rough and extensive grassland on the golf course. There are some positives in recovered heather on for instance the left hand side of the 14th and the area to the right hand side of the 18th has dried out considerably due to some drainage work carried out by the greenkeeping team. We would continue to manage the buckthorn as has been the case at the rear of the 11th tee and the more rank material in the roughs over the next few years. The use of Rescue on the left hand side of the 14th in the rough area appeared not to work as well as we would have hoped, however it appeared relatively clean at inspection with only some creeping soft grass having retained its nature. Further application on selected areas in late August would be supportable. Key Observations Greens • As would be expected at this time of year, general agronomic condition was slightly variable as there is little or no recovered growth in the grass plants as yet. As can be seen from the photograph, the application of sulphate of iron has made the leaves ‘smutty’ however there are the beginnings of some recovered growth here and there and certainly surfaces were intact. • Soil and air temperatures were still below 5°C which means that growth will continue to be relatively slow till these pick up. Having said this, ball roll qualities appeared reasonably good and certainly anecdotally the greens have performed well through the back end of 2012 and to the start of this year. Prestwick Golf Club 4 • Moss remains a contributor on many of the greens, a combination of dull and wet conditions over the last 2 years which favours the ingress moss as well as the slightly water retentive nature of the upper profile, something we are working on currently. Having said this, there appear to be slightly reduced colonies on a number of areas and certainly where traffic is more concentrated little or no moss was seen. • Profiles remain ostensibly similar to previously. There is a notable incorporation of the Hugh King washed dune sand in the upper profile at approximately 10mm in places. Beneath this, a mix of the fen soil and medium coarse sand can be seen overlying the original indigenous sand which makes up your greens. Generally we need continue work on the organic matter as the surfaces appear to still be water retentive, something we will further assess at our programme visit later in the spring. There was some evidence of pitch marking here and there and surfaces were retaining too much moisture here and there. This concept will improve as we increase top dressing totals to get the thatch and organic matter in the upper profile under control. Prestwick Golf Club 5 Tees • Tees have no real major issues, other than those areas that are being commonly used over the winter. These will be recovered as normal through the spring as temperatures and weather conditions improve. The main point at inspection is the management of the rear-most platforms this year and next ahead of the Boy’s Amateur. As per discussions, good control of thatch and organic matter, reductions in moss populations and increases in top dressing with thatch control and removal would be a worthwhile addition to the programme towards the end of this year. We would generally recommend: • Scarifying • Coring • Top dressing • Oversowing (where appropriate). and then further protection in the spring of 2014. Fairways • There is still a fair amount of dog lichen within the fairway tops and this is something which we feel still would be improved by some slightly more competitive grass plants. Low level use of Prestwick Golf Club 6 Porthcawl or similar would certainly help fill in the gaps and is something we feel should be a consideration going forward. • Outside of this, fairways appear to have held up well over the winter months and although slightly discoloured due to early season condition and some desiccation due to the cold and dry conditions prior to inspection, showed reasonably good playing qualities. The divoting programme is also well formed and dealt well with the damage from winter play. Bunkers • Winter works are well progressed and some excellent shaping and revetting has recovered some of the bunkers prioritised for work this winter. The main point of discussion was the adoption of a recommendation to have bunker heads unmanaged where appropriate. This reduces substantially maintenance and management input whilst at the same time leaving a more authentic look and feel to these features. • The wet weather continues to create some problems here and there with bunker floors which are near the water table. This was most notable in the Cardinal bunker as well as the approach bunker on 17. In the short term, we feel we should just review this further later in the spring and move matters forward from there. Prestwick Golf Club 7 Roughs • Rough areas on the golf course continue to improve with reductions in the rank material and control of standing vegetation such as sea buckthorn and gorse.