Greenkeeper Newsletter

Dear members,

What a fantastic month we have had, awesome golfing weather and the course has been in tip-top condition. It was a pleasure to host the SEGAF Open last week and great to receive such praise for the course, especially regarding the speed and trueness of the roll on the greens, not only from our own members but also the guests visiting from other courses in Denmark and abroad.

It has been another challenging month with regards to minimal rainfall, this is a contributing factor to the algae in the lake and I will continue to evaluate the problem once we receive substantial rainfall.

 Thankfully after 12 months of detailed discussions and negotiations between Simons Golf A/S and the Council (Kommune) we have been granted an increased allowance of water extraction allowance from our two boreholes on A1 and C5. This is great news and will guarantee we have enough water for greens, tees and fore greens even in the driest years.

We are probably at the halfway point of the season, and I am sure you are all enjoying the summer holidays, my team are also taking time to be with their families and recharging their batteries. This is very important as we can see from the calendar that August and September are going to be two very busy months of golf at the Club.

We are just completing our mid-summer aeration. As previously mentioned, we have invested in the VGR Topchanger, this machine is produced in Holland and last Monday their Technical Engineer flew over to train us on the operation of the machine. After two weeks of long working days and learning the machine, it has proven to be a fantastic addition to the fleet. Firstly, there are only really two models of this type of machine in the world. I was first aware of this machine approximately five years ago and have followed its progress closely. Two years ago, I was able to see it in person on my trip to the BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME). After a long discussion it was arranged that the guys at VGR would bring the machine to Simon’s to demonstrate it. This took place last August, many of you may remember seeing it in action on the putting green at the Driving Range. As it stands today we are the first club in the country to purchase this machine.

The benefits are incredible, and the process only requires 2 members of staff for operation with myself and our mechanic regularly overseeing and evaluating the result. The machine uses the water from our own irrigation system to pressure inject the sand directly into the green and on an average 500m² green we will inject 3m³ of sand. We chose the setup of injecting sand at 8cm spacing 12cm depth and at 14mm diameter in one pass, we then allow the sand to dry, get brushed and rolled, change the hole, water and its ready for play. You can see the whole process by following this link: https://vimeo.com/579297913 By injecting sand directly into the green in this manner we will help to dilute the thatch in the surface of the greens, improve the firmness of the greens, improve the drainage of the greens, and improve the health of the grass plant encouraging cation exchange, which basically makes nutrients in the soil available to the grass plant, as the grass plant is a living thing it will also help provide oxygen to the plant. This operation will accompany our thatch removal/hollow tining which takes place in spring and autumn.

You will notice some additional ropes, stakes, and hoops on the course, this is to help alleviate excessive wear, predominantly from trolleys, in particular on A6 tee – Please refrain from dragging trolleys onto tees and between the greens and green-side bunkers as if over 100 trolleys a day walk the same single path, the ground will become compacted and deteriorate through stress. I do not wish to have ropes and stakes all over the course as they are unsightly and time consuming to move for mowing.

Please note, the high rough will be mown for a third time, this week.

I would like to thank you all for the obvious extra effort in repairing your own and others pitch marks, I ask you all to keep this up, it has a very positive effect on the course and my team. Regarding my team, we have managed to recruit 3 fantastic guys who have really fitted in well. We continue to search for additional members to join the team.

Lastly it is fantastic to see members using the Pétanque Courts, the turf is growing in really well and we will soon be able to remove all ropes and mow the turf.

As an additional service we will have a “Todays Course” sign on the ball machine at the Driving Range, please note this will be changed at 06:15 each morning. For any members playing morning golf, please check the Starter House as usual.

I wish you all a good summer.

Kind regards

Reamonn O’Neill
Golf Course Superintendent