Hole 14, Green – Update

I have made the decision to close the 14^th green for the next few weeks due to its current poor condition. This green unfortunately has dried out, which I’m sure surprises you as much as it did myself. With an irrigation bust having to be repaired on the adjacent 13^th fairway this area of the course was isolated from irrigation to fix the repair. It was only 4 days that saw no irrigation or rainfall on this green which was enough to send it deep into stress mode.

Recently we took some sample plugs from the 14^th green, inspected the soil profile, looked at the roots & made the following conclusions:

•   There is no root system from the plug taken. A normal healthy green should have a root mass to a depth of around 4 inches or 100mm. The roots on this plug were non-existent.
•   Thatch in the green was to a depth of around 1 inch or 25mm. Thatch is a build up of organic matter over the years that stops water percolating in the root zone, ties up nutrients & harbours pests. A healthy thatch layer is between 1 – 5mm.
•   There was no organic material present in the profile, only sand. A healthy profile should contain around 10% organic matter. It’s this organic material deep in the profile that keeps soil moisture even, encourages roots to go deeper & stops the plant from drying out.

 Procedure going forward on a monthly basis:

•  The 14^th green has been aerated with 8mm solid tines.
•  An application of gypsum to help alleviate the salinity in the soil.
•  An application of Renovate which is a Bio enhanced greens grade fertiliser containing humic acid, wetting agents & microbiology.
•   Dusted with sand to increase microbial activity & encourage new shoots.

Profile shows pure sand with a 1’ thatch layer                     

Washed plug shows thatch only & no roots