The Duke’s Green Keeping

Its been an interesting couple of weeks for a few of us with myself, Craig and David all volunteering as tournament support at various venues.  David Dukelow was out handmowing greens morning and night for the Open de France at Golf National in Paris.  Craig Parry spent his time up at Castle Stuart, hand mowing greens for the Scottish Open.  Last but by no means least, I was lucky enough to assist for the US Women’s Open at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisconsin.

My week in The States consisted of a mixture of tasks, from changing holes to raking bunkers and assisting with the stimpmeter readings. The set up for the tournament was different due to the nature of the course design. There is a bridge which connects the front and back nines which the maintenance team couldn’t cross as it needed to be used by the players and spectators. This meant that the maintenance team had to be split in two with around 35 guys on each team for the front and back nines. The back nine team led by Jeff Wilson the Superintendent on The River Course and the front nine team in a temporary staging area led by Ron Bierwith the Superintendent on The Meadow Valleys course. Communication between the two teams had to be pretty good as it was like setting up two golf courses but they had to be exactly the same. The USGA were out taking stimpmeter and firmness readings on both nines to ensure the course played the same. It worked really well with a tough course set up as you would expect from a US Open.

The winner was Na Yeon Choi of Korea who shot a course record 65 on the 3rd day.

I see it as hugely beneficial for an all round experience, to see other venues, how courses are managed and set up. With The Duke’s hosting the European Amateur Championship in 2014, the more experience that our team can gain will be invaluable.

That’s all for now, after all the tournament excitement we need to get back to repairing bunkers again! Fingers crossed for some sunnier days ahead.

Derek

Hi All,  With the success of Derek’s blog myself and the Duke’s Golf  Team thought it was time for us to get involved!

To introduce myyself, my name is Ayden Roberts–Jones ‘The Duke’s Club Professional’. The Team also consist of Alan Martin ‘The Duke’s PGA Professional’ plus a fun filled bunch that works on the 1st Tee, driving range & shop.

I have been at the Club for over 9 amazing years and have had a lot of fabulous experiences while being here. As I am new to ‘the blog’ I would love to hear any feedback on any topics that may be raised. I am hoping over the course of the session I can chat to you all on our Golf Operation, our guest experiences, tuition tips & hopefully get to know you all a bit better.

Currently it has been a trying start to our season. Many superb days for golf but equally as many bad days. Here at the Duke’s we are lucky to have a large fleet of Golf Buggies. We have been recommending to all of our guests to take a buggy for their game, with the roof and back hood it helps to keep both golfer & clubs dry…. well some of the time!!

Look forward to many future blogs and as mentioned above if you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Thanks and speak soon.

Happy golfing

Ayden

You Tube – Golf Lessons with Ayden

Suppliers Day 2012

On Tuesday 12th of June we hosted our suppliers golf day where 14 battle hardened teams played The Duke’s in a 4 man team texas scramble. The rain did consider spoiling things for us but the sun came through and a great day was had by all, especially the returning champions, Spaldings, who managed to defend their crown.  A huge thanks to all the suppliers who supported what is turning out to be a great annual event which is now in its 6th year. Some new features in the event this year saw a hickory challenge on the 16th hole where everyone used a hickory club for a nearest the hole prize which was won by Robert Marshall . Also on holes 3 and 12 we had a power play where there was an additional pin on the green in a tough position which you could earn double points for taking it on.

A fun day was had by all with the leaderboard being very tight at the top half of the leaderboard.

Winner – Spaldings 54 points

Runners up – Sherriff Amenity 53 points

Nearest Hole Hickory Challenge – Robert Marshall, Greentech

In addition we also held a charity raffle with prizes all donated by our suppliers where we raised £270 for Rachel House (CHAS) in Kinross. http://www.chas.org.uk/how_we_help_families/our_hospices/rachel_house

Looking forward to seeing everyone again next year.

Derek

Hi All,

We have had the pleasure of welcoming a couple of new additions  to our team this week, a new Toro 5610 fairway mower and a Trimax Merlin rough mower.They have both been put to work already and are great additions to our team!.

Our seasonal staff are settling in well and are getting through the increased workload that comes at this time of year when the season is fully underway and grass has gone crazy over the past few days due to the brilliant sunshine we are experiencing. The daytime temperatures have been great but its the nighttime temperatures into double figures that we have been waiting for.

This week we have  applied granular fertilser to the greens (19-5-19) and approaches(23-2-10), with the current warm weather, it shouldn’t  take very much time at all before all the playing surfaces are uniform, which has been a struggle this year due the the cold conditions. Once we get uniform growth on the greens, tees and approaches we will then be applying some growth regulator to control the growth a bit more.

As mentioned in the previous post we have been completing the aeration work to the tees by top dressing and seeding them before an application of a 23-2-10 fertiliser to ensure that when the seed germinates that it has some nutrients to allow it to establish. Getting seed to germinate is easy, its the establishment that takes a bit more consideration.

Another one of the tasks to keep on top off at the moment is bunker edges. They can grow very quickly with lush growth at this time of year which not only looks untidy but also is very time comsuming to trim back if left too long. Once we have trimmed the grass back we spray the edges with a growth regulator to slow the growth which allows us to take care of other areas of the course without having to utilise a lot of time and effort into the bunker edges.

Lots of mowing going on at the moment with the course is really starting to shine now that the sun has decided to make its appearance, long may it continue!.

Derek

Hello again.

Not quite the summer sunshine we had just before the Easter holidays at the moment. After ensuring the irrigation system is working correctly it has barely stopped raining!

In between heavy rain showers we have been hollow coring tees. Its been a staggered approach over the past couple of weeks, mainly to attack moss on the tees. To start off we verticut the tees to a depth of 3mm to thin out the moss, we then applied a granular fertiliser with a high iron content which would hit the moss and encourage grass growth. We waited until the moss had turned black before verticutting them again to pull out as much moss as possible. The plan was then to hollow core,top dress and over seed but due to the rainfall over the past week we have managed to get all the tees hollow cored and will complete the topdressing and overseeding this week (weather permitting!)

One good way of taking advantage of the rain over the past couple of weeks is to wash in any fertiliser we need to apply at this time of year. So keeping this in mind we have fertilised greens, tees, approaches and fairways so it shouldn’t be too long before we start to see some increased grass growth which is well timed as we have 4 new staff starting this week to assist us.

The next couple of weeks will be busy getting the new guys up to speed and training etc. Its a busy time of year…..

Derek

Hi Everyone,

It’s all go here at The Duke’s, as I am sure it is at most golf courses at the moment. The drought continues for us on the east coast and with the temperatures up into the 20s it’s an early start to ensure the irrigation system is working correctly!. A few minor repairs to deal with some pipes leaking but nothing to much to set us back. Normally after this period of dry weather I would be expecting the greens to be drying out, but for the first time in 4 years we have decided to use a wetting agent programme which has proven to be a good decision!. We have only had around 25mm of rainfall so far this year and speaking to some colleagues through near Stirling, they have had nearly 200mm in the same time period. I am sure further west will have had even more and would gladly pass some our way though!.

We have spent the past few days verticutting the tees before we apply a 4-0-4 mosskiller fertiliser. This should knock back any moss that we have on the tees(generally the ones that get used the least).

The greens have had applications of foliar fertilsers, seaweed and wetting agent this week in an attempt to take advantage of this unseasonal sunshine, this combined with a little irrigation we should see some growth, which is a bonus this early in the season.

As I said at the beginning, its all go, so better keep taking advantage of this weather and get out of the office!

Speak soon

Derek

Preparations are fully underway for the start of the golf season, the lack of snow compared to the past 2 years combined with the mild weather is really kicking the grass into action probably around a month earlier than normal. Getting the bunkers back into good condition has been a priority this month. The windy conditions are blowing the sand around in the bunkers, which has meant we have been busy moving it back to where it should be.

GREENS:

We have refrained from using any fertiliser as yet this year on the greens, the application in October of a slow release fertilizer (12-0-44) has continued to keep the grass ticking along over the winter months and along with a couple of applications of liquid seaweed in February they continue to appear healthy for the time of year.  They are now being mown twice per week which is unusual for February but the sun is shining so I am not complaining. They have had the first light top dressing of the year, we will continue to light top dress every 2-3 weeks. The greens have also had the first application of wetting agent for the season, this will continue once per month till the end of September.

TEES AND APPROACHES:

The tees have been mown this month and are due to be hollow cored/top dressed and overseeded in march as well as an application of mosskiller fertiliser. Also we have been working our way around the tees, cleaning up the yardage markers as they can get pretty grubby.

FAIRWAYS:

The fairways have been mown and have applied a mix of iron and nitrogen to give them a better colour and a small amount of fertiliser until we apply a granular fertilser in April. We have also fixed a few more drainage problems on 10 and 11 fairways.

Other activities on the golf course -

We have been transplanting a few sapling Scots Pines, Gorse and Broom down at the left of the 7th green which will bulk up in time to provide additional cover with the mature Scots Pines that we have planted over the winter.

We also received some great news this week from Club 59 who awarded the Duke’s Best Greens in the UK at their annual awards.  The team are delighted!

That’s all for now,  look forward to catching up next time.

Derek

Hi All,

With the recent dry weather we have been able to get some mowing done this week,  using the mornings to get the bunkers raked and the afternoons to get some mowing done.  The greens, approaches, fairways and rough all being cut this week as well as an application of liquid seaweed on the greens. We have also been continuing with flail mowing the long rough where the 7th hole is the most recent area to get a haircut!

We’ve been continuing with some tree work where we have removed and thinned out some trees to the left of the 6th tees. This was mentioned last year in feedback from some of our members (we do listen!). This has really opened up the views to the north which on a sunny day is spectacular. It took around three days to complete but the transformation of the views are worth it.

We have still to complete some work at the 7th where we are planting some gorse in and around the newly planted Scots Pine’s and also have some drainage work to complete on the driving range to take care of some wet areas as well as a wet area in the 10th fairway where we will be extending a drain.

Its only a matter of weeks now before we start to see some of our seasonal staff arrive. We have 8 guys joining our team for the coming season. They are the chosen ones from over 80 applications that we received this year!. As well as 3 locals, they are joining us from Scotland, England, Ireland and Canada this year. We look forward to welcoming them to our team, without them we couldn’t provide the course conditions that are expected.

Last week at the annual staff ball our very own gardener, Steven Harms was recognised for his efforts by being awarded the title of Employee of the year.  Steven single handedly looks after the landscape grounds at The Old Course Hotel, and The Duke’s as well as assisting us on the golf course. The standard of the landscape areas has improved considerably since Steven joined us, he takes great pride in his work and it is not unusual for people to comment on his work especially when he is out there in all weathers. It was great to see one of the unsung heroes being recognised so if you see someone lurking in the heather beds, please pass on your congratulations as they are well deserved.

Check out our YouTube Channel this coming week for Ayden Roberts-Jones next golf lesson – this week, continuing on practice drills, on club to target line.  Ayden will take us through placing a marker ahead of the ball to give the golfer a sense of extending down the target line to promote to feeling of sending the ball to your given target.  Happy practicing!

Derek

As mentioned in the previous post we have been building a mound behind 17 and also planting some trees to the left of 7 green. Its taken a couple of weeks to complete but the weather was kind to us, allowing us to get the job completed not only faster but also without making to much mess which is always a bonus. The mounding behind 17 green had an immediate impact on the visual of the approach to the green which is now framed really well. We used a mixture of small hand dug gorse and larger plants(3-4 feet) transplanted with the digger to ensure the right look as well as the smaller plants probably having a better chance of establishing quicker.

We also removed a rather large tree on 17 this week. It was dead and as a result dangerous due to dropping branches every time it was windy. It only took a day to take down and clear up so now we need to get a stump grinder to remove the root. Digging out the root is not an option as we don’t want to damage the large pine tree next to it which now greatly improves the look of the hole making it more of a feature.

Our gardener Stephen has also been doing some good work tidying up the heather bed at the main entrance which was becoming overgrown with creeping buttercup. With them all removed he has dressed the area with stone and the appearance is much better.

This week we also got the good news that The Duke’s has moved up the rankings on top100courses.co.uk. Up from 36 to 27 in Scotland http://www.top100golfcourses.co.uk/htmlsite/story.asp?id=377 and also in at number 96 in the UK http://www.top100golfcourses.co.uk/htmlsite/story.asp?id=379

Great news!  We’re all delighted.

Speak soon.

Derek

This week we have been forging ahead with one of our winter projects, Jon and Steven have been constructing a mound behind the 17th green and planting some gorse on and around it.  For a change the weather decided to be good to us, with the frosty days being ideal for moving soil without causing too much mess.  We have some Scots Pine trees being delivered this week which are around 4 metres tall, so I should have some interesting photos for the next post of them being installed.

Craig have also been continuing to work on various drainage problems this week by extending  a drain in the 10th fairway. He assures me this will solve the problem we had, where the start of the approach was sitting quite wet.

This week, the largest gathering of greenkeepers in Europe is taking place at Harrogate for BTME (BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition). As well as a trade show there is lots of education opportunities to take in. As mentioned in previous posts Craig is going for 3 days, after receiving the patrons award from the BIGGA central section.  Austen and I are also nipping down for a day to see what new technology is available as well as attending some seminars and also interviewing some potential seasonal greenkeeping candidates.

We also welcomed back a seasonal greenkeeper back this week.  Mark Methven rejoined us to assist while we have some extra work to complete during the tree planting etc.  Its a bit colder than it was when he was last with us during the summer but I am sure he will cope.

We also got some good news last week when The Duke’s was included in Golfweeks Best Courses in Great Britain & Ireland 2012!

Until next time, don’t forget to check out the latest in Ayden’s series of golf lessons on our YouTube page.

Derek