May 2022

Greens:
It was a tough start to the month with the greens becoming woolly and slow.  This was due to the top dressing dulling our blades to a point where they struggled to cut cleanly.  It is always a tricky week or so following top dressing where timing is the key.  We had a freshly sharpened set of blades waiting to go, however using these too soon (before all the top dressing has washed through) would dull the new set immediately.  As such, I always err on the side of caution, with costs and downtime to consider in returning dull blades to sharp.

With some very beneficial weather and fresh blades from mid May, the surfaces started to improve towards the end of the month.  The increase in soil health from our chosen program, including continued use of compost tea, chelating agents and organic acids is really starting to show.  Once I feel the health is robust enough to withstand the environmental stresses of this coastline, then I will start to have more confidence in dropping heights of cut and increasing speed.

Rough:
The excellent growing conditions throughout May has made keeping on top of the rough almost impossible!  As a result, certain areas simply became far too long to be reasonable for play, notably the mounds on 16^th along with the carries on certain holes.  Please accept my apologies for this, the work is ongoing, to get us on top of the rough by early June.  The situation hasn’t been helped with three breakdowns on our main rough cutter this past couple of weeks.  Repairs have all now been carried out in house, we hope for a smoother month ahead for the rough!

We can only learn from experience and try and adapt accordingly with regards to the struggles with the rough this month.  Here are the improvements I believe we can make:

i) The rough machine will be set up to a slightly shorter height of cut, to leave the duration between our cutting sessions longer, and to make playing conditions more reasonable and consistent.

ii) In peak season we could consider split shifts on occasion to keep the rough machine running for 16 hours in a day.  This can be achieved with worker one starting 4.30am until 12.30pm, then worker two starting 12.30pm to 8.30pm to follow on.

iii) We are learning the rough machine has a couple of notorious weak points from wear and tear.  The parts suffering the most, such as specific bearings and housings will now be held in stock, leading to reduced downtime.

The rough management program, is one of the biggest changes I have tried to implement at Whitby. It should also prove to be the most beneficial, given time. The long term gains will be to our labour resources, budgets and overall appearance of this coastal course.  We are currently suffering from some short term pain for the longer term gain, of which I appreciate the members must also suffer.  Our method of cutting and collecting, is at the moment very time consuming, however, growth should start to slow with a thinning of the sward evident in the seasons to come.

We are already starting to see improvements to certain areas, and as such are able to leave these a longer duration before cutting again.  Other areas, like between 3^rd and 5^th and 9th and 13^th will take a little longer.



Bunkers:
For various reasons the bunkers continue to be an ongoing issue! I feel our search must go on for the ideal sand.  I was keen to move the club away from building sand, despite this medium having great staying power, it very easily compacts, needing 40 hours renovating time every three weeks to keep loose enough to be suitable for play.  The current medium on trial, was offered free of charge, however has proved unsuitable in the high winds, with drifting occurring, promoting plugged balls, and loss of material happening on a daily basis, particularly from the bunkers too shallow in design, which we have ten of.

We have further sand samples to experiment with.  Although they each come at a price, they would still prove far more cost effective than dedicated bunker sand.  I am hoping one of our next samples can strike a balance between all the previous mediums trialled, with enough depth and body to prevent drifting and loss, whilst remaining loose enough not to compact so quickly and easily.

Any remaining issues for the bunkers, should be rectified over time with our management plan to reduce size and number, increase depth along with transforming a select few into lower maintenance mounding containing features like gorse, heather and tall fescue.



Tees & Approaches:

Some further improvements to the tees and surrounds this month thanks to a dedicated mower, a reduction in height of cut and continued feed and weeding.  These surfaces will be improved on again early into June as they will get an application of selective herbicide, nitrogen, wetting agent and growth regulator.

In summary:
We have had some fantastic support again this month from Al, Jimmy, Liam and Austin helping out the team around the sheds and yard.  Ian Norman has volunteered to take on some massive strimming jobs, tackling areas that we simply don’t have time to make it around to.  This has helped improve the overall look of the course, by tidying up the roadside fence and various ditches that had got away from us. Thank you also to Jack and Gordon, Ali, Amanda, Sam and the board for the continued great work, help and support.



Looking to June:
We will be Introducing aforementioned new measures to catch up to and keep on top of the rough.  Selective weed control across the whole course will commence, with contractors covering the fairways. Weed control on the Tees, surrounds, ditches, banking’s and rough continue to be carried out in house.  We have a few untidy areas to push back with the Amazone, along with some further banking’s needing attention.  

Our two old flymo’s have become too temperamental for use, these have now been replaced, in favour of repair costs that would have included engine parts and new shell bodies for each. Upon arrival of the new units we will immediately remedy the ditches of the 1st, 2nd, 13th, 15th and 18th.

Best Wishes, Peter, Jack and Gordon.