Greenkeeper Newsletter

Dear members,

Firstly, a huge congratulations to Jeff. Winning any golf tournament is a great achievement, but doing so in your home country must feel truly special. A few members of my team and I visited Great Northern last Friday and had the pleasure of following Jeff for several holes. We also took the opportunity to catch up with our greenkeeper, Kim, who volunteered for the week. I always encourage greenkeepers who wish to progress in their careers, to attend at least one tournament as it offers valuable insight into course preparation, including morning and evening shifts and working alongside greenkeepers from different course backgrounds. Greenkeeping is an open profession, and events like this show how everyone approaches tasks slightly differently and face different challenges. Discussing those challenges objectively can help us find better solutions for our own course.

The course was presented fantastically well, and I am immensely proud of Course Manager Kristian Jensen. Kristian and I previously worked together at Lübker Golf, and he later served as my Deputy at Simon’s Golf for several years before relocating to Fyn.

C5 green rebuild

If you’ve been following our updates on social media or passed by C5 during your round, you’ll know just how much work has gone into rebuilding the green. It has been a demanding project, and I want to acknowledge the incredible commitment from my team. They have put in long, physically tough days in very hot weather, and their performance has been outstanding. Even with covering for other staff members during the holiday period, they continued to deliver 27 holes to the highest standard possible every day during what has been an incredibly busy playing season. As we move ahead, patience and careful management will be essential for the continued grow in and future playability of the green and surrounding area.

The changes to C5 have been sent to the DGU and all meterage and ratings/signage will be updated before the hole opens.

To recap on the time frame:

• 23^rd June – We broke ground and lifted the green and fore green
• 24^th June to 8^th July – Removed the old green and constructed the new green
• 9^th & 10^th July – Re-laid the green
• 11^th to 16^th July – Continued shaping green surrounds and pathways
• 16^th & 17^th July – 1200 m² fore green rolled turf laid
• 20^th & 21^st July – 1200 m² semi rough rolled turf laid

The plan is to open the green for play on Monday 7^th September, which is only 7 weeks from when the last turf was laid.

C Loop will still predominantly be the 9 hole course for the remainder of the season and C4 & C5 will be closed again if the greens health starts to struggle. The green is being mowed at 7mm at the moment, so it will play considerably slower than our other greens, I am unsure how low we will get this season or how long it will take us to lower the height next season. As discussed, many times before, if you stress nature too much it will be detrimental to the health of the grass plant, so patience is essential.

This growing season has seen the course at its best. The greens have rolled beautifully, and the fairways have reached an impressive new level. Once again, we used a granular fertiliser, supported by our full robot system, with fairway mowers operating twice daily to keep pace. We are delighted with the outcome and sincerely appreciate the positive feedback many of you have shared over the summer.

We have a very busy calendar for the coming weeks and with the holiday period finally coming to an end we are in a great position to bring the season to a close. We have the Club Championships this weekend followed by the DM stroke play from 4^th to 6^th September, the KM match play on the 19^th & 20^th September followed by fairways, greens, tees and fore greens aeration.

A quick reminder that our team repairs every pitch mark each morning before we mow the greens. With a mowing height of 2.5 mm, unrepaired marks can easily be scalped, and we frequently find twenty or more on a single green. Your support really matters, please fix your pitch mark, and if time allows, one additional. Together we can keep the greens performing at their best.

Kind regards,

Reamonn O’Neill
Golf Course Superintendent