Golf Course Superintendent Newsletter January

GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENT

NEWS LETTER

JANUARY 2020

Dear Member / Property Owner,

Following on from the Golf Course Superintendent’s News Letter sent to you in December, which was designed to keep you up to date with all of the important maintenance procedures which were scheduled to take place on The Indiana Course, we are pleased to be able to give you an update on the works carried out and to inform you of the schedule of works which shall take place in January 2020.

DECEMBER COURSE MAINTENANCE UPDATE

14th Hole Landscaping

The golf maintenance teams have been working on clearing and tidying the landscape areas of the 14th hole. The first area behind the tee complex has been cleaned. The cleaning of the overgrown areas will both improve the aesthetics of the hole and help to reduce the amount of rabbits that have caused damage to the playing surfaces.

Hollow Coring Collars

Due to the extensive landscaping projects taking place on the golf course, the hollow coring of the collars has been deferred to the New Year.

Verti Draining Fairways

Due to machine reliability issues, the program of verti-draining the fairways has been delayed.

 

JANUARY COURSE MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME

Bunker Face Renovation

Many of the bunker faces/slopes on the golf course need to be renovated to improve grass density. Over time sand is deposited on the bunker faces from windy weather conditions and bunker shots. This continuous topdressing of sand creates a deep sand profile where grass cannot thrive during the summer months due to the accelerated drainage rate within the sand profile.  The excess sand will be removed, the bunker faces reshaped back to the original soil profile and turfed. The work will take place from January to May before the summer heat prevents successful turf establishment.

Hollow Coring Collars

The golf course collars will be hollow cored, sand topdressed and seeded to improve the turf grass density.

14th Hole Landscaping

The golf maintenance teams will continue to clear and prune the overgrown landscaping areas of the 14th hole. The area to the side of the tee complex as well as the area behind the green will be cleared.

Scarifying Tees

The Professional Tees will be scarified, overseeded and sand topdressed to improve the divot recovery after the professional tournaments held in October & November 2019.

Verti Draining Fairways

The aeration of the fairways by verti-draining will continue in January. This particular aspect of golf course maintenance is both extremely necessary and time consuming, so we ask you to please bear with us until it’s completion. Disruption to play, as always, will be kept to an absolute minimum.

2020 Greens Hollow Coring Dates

In the knowledge that all Property Owners and Members need to have as much notice as possible concerning particular aspects of the golf course maintenance schedule that may temporarily affect the playing conditions of the green’s surface, thus enabling them to plan particular holidays accordingly, please see below the hollow coring dates in 2020.

  • Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd April
  • Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd June
  • Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th September

You will be able to keep up to date with the full tournament and social calendar, format and any additions, information of how to enter, and much more, by visiting either our official website www.desertspringsresort.es or by contacting the golf reception at Desert Springs.

We and the staff at Desert Springs are looking forward to seeing you on The Indiana course in the near future.

 

Kind regards,                                                                                            Kind regards,

Malcolm Lacey                                                                                         Anthony Brooks

Golf Operations Manager                                                                   Golf Course Superintendent