GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENT
NEWS LETTER
JANUARY 2019
Dear Member / Property Owner,
Following on from the last edition of Golf Course Superintendent’s News Letter, 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 2019.
GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE UPDATE
Golf Course Maintenance
During the weeks leading up to the hosting of both the PGA EuroPro Tour Championships and the European Tour Qualifying Second Stage, the golf course maintenance team worked an additional 2,100 hours to prepare the course. These additional hours worked as well as the work completed enhanced the presentation of the course and will continue to have long-term positive consequences throughout the playing surfaces.
Greens Hollow Coring
Upon receipt of the final tournament schedule from both the PGA Europro Tour and European Tour for the autumn, and in consideration of the events scheduled within the Club Tournament Calendar the Hollow Coring of the greens for September were deferred.
Tees Hollow Coring
All tees were hollow cored and sand topdressed in November and have recovered very well. Additional aeration will take place in February to aide divot recovery.
Solid Tining Greens
The greens have been solid tined with 5mm pencil tines as per the monthly maintenance schedule.
Verti Cutting and Topdressing Greens
The greens were verticut and topdressed biweekly during 2018 to help control thatch levels that causes the greens to become soft during the growing season. The schedule of rolling the greens three to four times per week has also contributed to the improved smoothness and playability of the of the putting surfaces.
Landscaping Projects
The academy area was extensively cleared of old and dead landscape plant material. The pruning of plant material in front of the all of the Ladies, Men’s and Competition tees was also carried out to improve the visibility to all fairways or greens from tees.
Fairway Verti Draining and Spiking
The fourth process of spiking and verti-draining the fairways and rough was completed as per the maintenance schedule, improving aeration and water movement throughout the soil profile.
Hand Watering
The hand watering of greens and tees took place throughout the golf course when appropriate.
Sand Topdressing Fairways
Gypsum pellets have been applied to the fairways to help improve the soil structure and overall health of the rye grass fairways. Topdressing has been scheduled for next month.
Fairways Divots
The maintenance team have continued to sand and seed the divots created in October and November from the professional tournaments held on the Indiana Course. Due to the dry and cooler climate during the winter months, achieving both the adequate, as well as the required moisture levels needed for rye seed germination, re-establishment of these areas will be slow. Once the soil temperature increases with some natural rainfall after the winter months the seed will start to germinate and establish.
Driving Range Tee Turf Grass Conversion
The conversion and grow-in of the new driving range Bermuda grass has been a complete success. The tee opened for practice during the first week of October, closing for maintenance on 10th December. The tees have been overseeded with rye grass and will open at the end of the January for golfers to practice.
Please help the tee recovery process by asking other golfers not to use the grass, however inviting, on the top tier near the artificial mats. There are many divots there that shouldn’t be.
Hydro Jet Greens
The process of hydro jetting the greens and collars has been completed as per the monthly maintenance schedule during the summer months.
Annual Golf Course Verti-Cutting and Overseeding Program
The verti-cutting and overseeding of the fairways took place in September as per the maintenance schedule. The overseeding program helps recovery of the ryegrass fairways after the hot summer months. High traffic golf areas where germination would be affected was roped off to improve the germination rate of the new seed.
White Crosses.
The white crosses that indicate the best direction of play from the tee to the fairway on holes 1, 16, and 18 have been painted to improve their visibility from the tee.
JANUARY COURSE MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME
Verti Drain Fairways
The program of Spiking and Verti-draining (solid tine aerification) the fairways will start 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 its completion. Disruption to play, as always, will be kept to an absolute minimum.
Solid Tining Greens
The greens will be solid tined once per month, weather permitting, with 5mm pencil tines. These holes are only open (noticeable) for the first 2 days. There is no noticeable effect to the playing quality of the green’s surface.
Weather Station
A new fully automated weather station will be installed near to the Hacienda maintenance building. This machine will allow improved control of the irrigation system and conserve water consumption by calculating the daily watering requirements of the grass, by taking into account the changes in the weather using data collected from the station. A trench will be dug from the location of the weather station to the maintenance yard past the 9th tees. Crossings will be made available during this time.
Bunker Edging
The maintenance teams will be edging the bunkers on the course. This will continue to enhance and define the aesthetic appearance of the golf course. Any bunker being worked on will be deemed ground under repair.
Winter Landscaping Projects
The landscaping team will be working on the following projects in the next few months; the olive trees will be pruned extensively to promote new growth, the removal of Agave plants effected by Picudo Negro around the golf course. An outside contractor will be pruning over 300 washingtonia palm trees throughout the course.
2019 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 new hollow coring dates in 2019.
- Monday 18th March
- Tuesday 7th May
- Monday 23rd September
In addition the Putting Green, Chipping Green and Driving Range Facility will be closed for hollow coring on Wednesday 20th March, Wednesday 9th May & Wednesday 25th September 2019.
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 much more, by visiting either our official website www.desertspringsresort.es 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
