JULY UPDATE

Firstly, apologies for this one being late. Between being on a 5 day holiday to Ireland and being so busy, I've not had the time to do this.

This past month has been very wet, temperatures rarely above 14.c, it's been testing to say the least. We have had a few breakdowns, fairway mower was shearing the drive spindles (strange one), our 4500 has had a few running issues and also a burst hose. As if we aren't busy enough with being understaffed, I'm spending as much time in the sheds as I am on the course!

In saying that, the course is playing really well. It's presented very nicely with only some minor areas that we are struggling to keep on top of. The greens are running nicely, although there is a continued flowering of the Poa resulting in seed heads. It's without a doubt the longest we have had seed heads but surfaces are putting very true despite not ironing the greens at all.

The Symbio program continues to impress. Our soil profile is very clean in comparison to this time last year. It's more uniformed and thatch is greatly reduced resulting in some firm surfaces. Dressings are fortnightly and very light now also. Root mass has seen the biggest improvement, with roots now consistently over 8" deep and I'd guesstimate on around a 30% increase in mass which is only going to help in the long run.

This coming month, we will be looking to pencil tine the greens to around 8". Disturbance as always will be kept to an absolute minimum. Dressings will continue and applications of seaweed should see us through the last of the playing season.

Divoting remains a headache but thankfully there are some volunteers being rounded up to carry out some divoting duty on the worse areas. All help is greatly appreciated.

That's about it for July, all the best and fingers crossed we get some sort of 'Indian Summer'.