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Course Blog | March 2022 | Portsmouth Golf Course

Course Blog

March 2022

Welcome to our latest blog ! Since we last updated you in January we’ve been busy out on the course working through our planned winter projects.  After a dry January, the rain certainly made a return in February not to forget the weekend of storms that recently hit.       

We are still currently operating on a reduced course but there is light at the end of the tunnel as historically March is the month where we return to 18 holes.  Let’s hope we see some better weather over the coming weeks.   

This month we will continue to be extremely busy as we plan to reopen the full course and continue to work through our projects.  Please continue to read on where we will update you on the various areas of the golf course.      

Greens 

This month will see all greens both verti-drained and deep scarified as part of our Spring maintenance.  Both processes will assist the health of all putting surfaces as we go into the busy golfing season.

Verti-Draining is an aeration procedure that involves inserting large solid tines into the surface of the greens.  These tines are generally 8 – 12 inches in length and will break up compaction underneath the surface to encourage free draining soil profiles.  This spiking process was conducted on Tuesday of this week.    

Scarification will then follow this process towards the end of the month.  This is much more rigorous where we remove thatch, moss and dead organic matter from the putting surface.  Removing the above will then encourage a healthier and stronger grass sward to grow through.

Following scarification we will top dress the greens with sand.  Please note the greens will be a little bumpy in the short term after this maintenance, but it’s vital that this work is done for the longer term benefits.       

The dates for these works can be seen on our Intelligent Golf booking sheet via the notes at the top of the page.   

Fairways / Rough

We continue to cut fairways and rough when windows of better weather allow.  Soon we will look to reintroduce the striping of fairways as the cutting frequency increases.  We mentioned in our last blog that our rough cutting deck was being sent back for additional decks to be fitted, this work has been done and it’s made a huge difference to us.  We will now get a much wider cut saving time that can be utilised towards other jobs and tasks. 

Tees

In our last blog we mentioned that we would look to hollow core grass teeing areas in need and re-level the tee areas on holes 7 and 8.  We have made excellent progress with this albeit in tough conditions.  

The tee areas that were hollow cored were also heavily top dressed with soil and grass seed.  The coring process will decompact the surface and encourage recovery when the milder weather arrives.  

The tee areas on holes 7 and 8 have had the existing turf lifted and have been rotavated and raked to make the areas level again.  The wet weather has set us back a little with these jobs but we are now in a position to take delivery and lay the fresh turf over the coming weeks.  

The fresh turf will need to knit in and settle so we will look to put a mat in play on both of these holes until the tee areas are ready for use.  We appreciate your patience here as we don’t want to ruin the areas for the sake of waiting for a short period of time.  These mats will be in play when we return to 18 holes.  

Bunkers

We have taken our first delivery of sand and have put this 20 tonne out into the bunkers most in need.  We will look to take our second delivery over the coming weeks and continue with this project.  We also still plan to repair the bunker edging to the bunker left of the 11th green and to the right of the 13th.  The work will likely spill into April and possibly May as we prioritise our works accordingly.       

Projects 

In addition to the work above, the team will also visit some smaller projects around their day to day duties.  This time of year provides the perfect opportunity to complete these. 

  • 6th pond – This has been cleared around the edge with all tall reeds and rushes reduced to ground level.  This will grow back throughout the season and will be kept at a level where it won’t impede on any tee shots. 
  • Bank in front of 6th tee – This bank has been cleared and reduced to ground level. 
  • Tree Works – We are in a position now where all of the high priority works are now pretty much complete.  The team will carry on tidying areas where works have taken place, this will continue for some time.  Many of you would have seen a few trees down following Storm Eunice on the golf course.  Our plan here is to engage with an arborist team to clear this damage for us over the coming weeks.    
  • Signage – We have now taken delivery of the signage and will look to put it out on the course over the coming weeks.  These signs will assist with navigation around the 18 hole layout.  
  • 7th hole ditch – The sleepers have been removed and we have utilised turf lifted from the 8th tee to grass this section over.  This will be ready for when the hole reopens.  We have also made good use of the lifted turf to repair an area to the left of the 6th green which you can see pictured below.

Thanks for taking the time to read our latest blog.  Let’s hope that Spring is just around the corner bringing with it some much needed sunshine.  To keep up to date with our progress out on the golf course please follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Facebook – @PortsmouthGolf

Instagram  – @portsmouthgolfcourse 

Twitter – @portsmouth_gc 

Team Portsmouth

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