Pitch & Putt IrelandCourse Maintenance April 15th
Some advice from our Technical Officer
WITH the new playing season getting into gear, it’s also a big time for course maintenance ahead of the start of the growth season and also an important period in disease prevention. Our Technical Officer Ger O’Connor will be giving us some course maintenance tips over the coming months to cope with the different demands that will occur in that time. He begins here with some general advice as well as some more detailed tips on hollow-couring and disease treatment.
General
- Make sure all sheds are cleaned and tidied and all excess products are removed and disposed of.
- All chemicals should be stored according to the new spraying guidelines. They should be placed in a locked and ventilated cabinet with an appriorate spilltray.
- Make sure all your machinery is checked, serviced and set to appropriate levels for use.
- Clear your course of debris as soon as ground conditions allow, especially in preparation for the first cut of the rough.
- Repair any damage caused over the winter by birds and rabbits etc.
- A club’s irrigation system should be checked for leaks and make sure all sprinkler heads are in good working order.
- All Bunkers should be edged, weeds and stones cleared from them and all low points covered with top-ups of sand.
Hollow-couring
- The recent cold weather means that we are still waiting for full growth to occur. Hollow-couring should be done by all clubs in the coming weeks if not already done so.
- The standard hollow core of a half inch tine (13mm) should be done.
- Make sure the appropriate application of sand is given to each green. In some cases up to three applications of sand might be needed.
- After tining takes place a solid spring/summer feed should be applied to help with the growth and the recovery of the greens after tining.
- Greens should be overseeded to match grasses on your course. A traditional green-mix should be used such as Bent-Fescue.
Disease-Prevention
- Greens should be cleared of due each morning each morning to aid in the prevention of disease spreading.
- If fusarium is present in the greens, they are best to be treated with a contact fungicide.
- Greens may also need to be sprayed for leather jackets at this time to prevent them arising.
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