Hi all!
I know this will split greenkeepers but whats your opinion....
Over the last 6 weeks we have had about 200mls of rain but the problem is that the grass has continued growing.
Last we i decided to cut the course as i believe if i let it grow much further i would to have had to change all the heights and it would take weeks if not months to get all the heights back.
The machinery have done very minimal damage but there has been some mucky tyre tracks due to surface water but i know 1 shower will rid the course of this but members are complaining....
Question is would you have cut or have taken the chance of dry weather in the near future?
Regards
Brian
everything happens for a reason
Personaly I would have left it. If you were leaving tyre tracks you were not doing the ground any favours. There is not going to be that much growth. I did cut my greens a week ago in a dryish spell but that was with handmowers. As you say a bit of rain will soon wash the marks out. I don't know where you are in the country but up until now we have taken 335mm of rain this month!
Chris
You will never see a statue in honour of a committee.
30 Nov 2009 by Monty
If there is any surface water then i would have stayed away, it would be different if the water had been puddles on some areas which you could drive around. We have had a lot of rain i've never seen our pitches look so good with so little fertiliser, not had chance to put any on yet, either to wet or to windy.
It's a lot less bother with a hover!
30 Nov 2009 by AB
I'm with you Brian. I would also of got out and cut it. You just never know when it's going to get better, and at the end of the day our job is to produce playing surfaces.
Of course it's not ideal, but sometimes we have to compromise our ideals.
AB
Hi all,
Chris to answer your question its North Dublin and its 200ml in the last month..
I left the course as long as i possibly could and AB i totally agree sometimes we cant always perform best practice as weather conditions just allow.
I always try to carry out proper procedures and will be vertidrainning all my fairways to relieve any compaction that i may of caused.
Many Thanks Lads
Brian
everything happens for a reason
Hi Brian, What I remember of the North side Dublin, it was fairly heavy soils. I can understand the position you found yourself, with the mildest November on record, coupled with so much rain....... but that's why they call it the "Emerald Isle"!
It was always going to get checked sooner or late and I think you probably woke up to a heavy frost this morning?
How high is the city dump now? Have they stopped raising it? ....... Much higher and the tourists will mistake it for the mountains of Mourne!
Hi Monty, I think you can thank the dry spell in August/September, which caused the grasses to slow right down and fertiliser to sit doing nothing. Coupled with the free atmospheric nitrogen from all the recent rainfall.
Hi Chris, I think you guy's in the south have had more rain than us in the Midlands. Let hope that River Uck water don't contaminate the beer at Hervey's...... or maybe it always has and that's why it has such a unique flavour? mmmmmm! lol!
KB
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under who’s shade you do not expect to sit.
1 Dec 2009 by SOS
Hi Glen
Not to redirect your good thread but, WINTER mowing on golf courses does seem to be a murky world at times.
With many courses experiencing saturated greens at present although this may differ depending on green contruction/soil type etc why do so many insist on hand mowing. How realistic is the bench setting to the actual HOC when using these light weight machines compared to a triple mower? The foot printing from the operator per square inch puts more compaction onto the surfaces than a triple mower just to tidy a surface that will only be cut a couple of times a week at present. Many won't think twice about putting a tractor/vertidrain over the greens during the winter.
As for fairway mowing many haven't been in a position to spray for worms yet due to the high winds let alone smearing these casts when mowing. Most courses to my knowledge are using winter rules at present and many golfers would just like a clean although longer than normal piece of grass to play their ball off. I personally feel that this far out ways the stripes or trying to obtain an even height of cut over the winter period.
Hopefully we will encounter a dry period at some point. One dry cut is far more effective than two/three cuts when the grass is wet. We tend to opt for pm cutting if possible to help us achieve this during the winter months.
BRING BACK THE DROUGHT, are we ever satisfied.........
Hi.brian
I sympathise with your situation, Only you will Know if your doing any damage and if you have caused damage in certain areas you will know what to do the next time.I look after a multi sports center in dublin myself with winter pitches and a nine hole golf course attached. The growth this late autumn/early winter has been exceptional, still growing 25-mm a week and with particular heavy rainfall over 250 mm in the last month alone. routine maintenance and grass cutting has been a nightmare.
and yes i have been out cutting when idealy i normally would not. I am normally a believer of leaving well alone untill the conditions are right, but for the last six weeks the conditions have not been right., and there not for the foreseable future. If i had'nt cut, the grass on my pitches would be 6 inches high imagine the complaints then!
heres hoping for dryier times ahead , i think we've got a couple of hours on friday.
Regards RC
2 Dec 2009 by turfjack Last edited 2 Dec 2009
Brian
I know exactly where you're coming from. I always try and minimize the amount of mowing I do in the wet, and always try and wait until at least most of it has soaked in and make sure the guys are not doing any damage.
The summer over here has been miserable (although nothing like the rains back home for the last few weeks!) and I got caught out early in the year as we always get a dry spell. Since it never came I ended up having to raise the hoc on fairways when I finally got back out on them. pita yes, but at least they didn't scalp or do any damage. After that I kept an eye on the forecast and loaded them up with a growth regulator which really helped and I really didn't have much of an issue for the rest of the year. I the wettest areas I just skipped them and on a few occasions when they were still too wet for a riding machine I just a walk mower as at least the areas were smaller.
Anyway to answer your inital question, you did what you felt was needed and depending on how much rain you got after you have your answer!! If all you had were a few muddy tire tracks you are probably fine. If the damage was worse, my only concern would be the slower recover over the winter as the growth slows. Members always think they know better in situations like this, where something on the course is not as it should be, so make sure you explain it to them (even if it's just a note on a clubhouse noticeboard) just to remind them you do know what you're doing. Communication is key.
Alan FitzGerald, LedgeRock Golf Club
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