Golf Course Tasks over the Winter Months

As we approach the winter months, the most frequent question I'm asked by golfers and non golfers alike is, what work gets done on the golf course during the winter? 



Morning frost on Par 4, 13th hole - 'The Silver Birch'
 

Up until last week at Pitreavie, we were mowing most playing surfaces weekly with the greens being cut 1-2 times along with some rolling when not cut.  The rolling helps maintain the a smooth and firm surface.

 

Rolling 13th Green on Friday 15th November.

With even colder weather finding its way to the UK this week, the mowing will likely become non existent other than an occassional cut (if ground conditions permit) just to keep the playing surfaces tidy.  However, the greenstaff will still be busy with a variety of work that include the following:-

DAILY ROUTINE COURSE SET UP TASKS / CHECKS

• Regular movement of tee markers to keep fresh and spread wear.
• Changing holes during the week, normally Tuesday & Friday.  This spreads wear, offers variety and helps keep clean edge on hole. 
• Trimming around holes on days not changed to keep tidy.
• Bunker raking frequency will be appropriate to level of play & animal disruption in the sand.
• Blowing leaves & other debris of greens and tees on a daily basis.
• Traffic management - rope and stake wet & high wear areas to protect. 
• Course scouting to monitor all the above as well as agronomic issues such as general plant health and any disease presence.

Blowing leaves from greens before play & mowing.

AERATION

Spiking work is being carried out on all playing surfaces to relieve compaction and increase oxygen levels in the soil.  This will improve general plant health in the short and long term.  Greens, tees, approaches and high traffic / walkway areas are already complete.  We are currently spiking fairways and the current conditions for this task are ideal so we expect to get good results.

 Spiking 17th Fairway to relieve compaction.

BEHIND THE SCENES

In addition, other tasks include:-

• Managing a fleet of machinery.
• Re evaluate organising of maintenance facility.
• Planning and organising for current work, as well as next year!

In addition to these regular maintenance tasks, there are other course improvement projects planned.

Look out for regular blogs on the these projects, with more information about the work as it happens.

Greens Spiking & Topdressing work

Deep spiking and top dressing work was carried out on the greens during Monday 7th & Tuesday 8th October and despite this work taking place in October, the surfaces have recovered well with the process now a distant memory! 

Thankfully this maintenance operation ran smoothly with work completed in two days, causing very little disruption to play during the process. This is largely a result of the greenkeeping team's hard work and use of some additional equipment.




Spiking process using 12mm solid tines to depth 200-250mm.

 

Light sand topdressing spreading in progress.

Top dressing brushing in nicely.

 

 

Rolling to smooth out surface and a fresh hole position.