Hear from Craig Haldane, Golf Courses Manager
As turf managers you will seldom hear any of us be absolutely delighted with the weather or current conditions, it’s just one of those things where it could always be better! That said, we also need to remind ourselves potentially of where we have come from and very importantly, what the journey is we are on as this provides some clarity and understanding not only for us and our teams, but to the wider membership when communicated the right way.
Moving forward this season, expect to see a lot more video content from the team as we share with you some of the daily practices we do, to get the courses set up and ready ahead of play. Our aim always, is to create great playing surfaces with minimal disruption to you and without being around you during your round. At times, we do need to get on with certain activities and the team work hard to ensure we are not interrupting your round.
Rough management has been a key pillar for us. I speak of the journey we are all on and when I say we, I mean you as a membership as well. No one likes to be in the thick stuff searching for balls when you are only just off the maintained semi rough and to this extent, we do a lot of work to thin out these areas.
A key practice happens in the late Autumn when we mow and collect the rough using a tractor drawn unit called the Super 500. It cuts and collects in one operation, and we do this to collect the seed that would usually just be spread again through the rough, and also to remove any surplus nutrition that is in the plant. If we cut and left the rough, it would create a lot of issues. By minimising the nutritional input, it discourages the wrong grasses from wanting to survive and encourages our finer grasses to prosper, ones that need a lot less input and are therefor thinner overall. It also encourages our natural wildflowers to blossom creating a beautiful contrast to the manicured fairways. It takes time and consistency in our practices to get the results we desire.
We are three years into the process on The Queen’s and are just starting the practices on The King’s in an aggressive manner to get ahead of the curve and ensure we are consistent across all our courses.
Amanda Dorans joined the team recently. Amanda is our Sustainability Coordinator and has a wealth of knowledge and experience in her field. She has a passion for our environment and for nature, with a key focus on ensuring we are doing everything we can on site, to protect the environment and be stewards in all that we do.
This includes our social responsibility, and we are really excited to build on the solid foundation that has been created over the years. Amanda will be leading our course walks where, along with some of our colleagues, she will share with you some of the wonderful stories, nuances, and experiences you should be looking out for when you play our beautiful courses. Keep an eye out for more details as we would love to welcome you on these inclusive walks to learn and enjoy all that our estate has to offer!
We have had an incredibly dry start to the year. July in particular reminds me of the summer of 2018 when I started at Gleneagles. I was told it was unlikely I would experience a summer like that again yet here we are at the glorious playground enjoying glorious sunshine day in and day out!
It’s not often we get to dry our courses out so I am grateful for the opportunity. Yes, it creates certain stresses to the plant however, the King’s and Queen’s were designed to be played firm and fast and that is exactly what we are experiencing. We will need to go back and overseed some of the weaker areas that have really struggled, but this is done with minimal disruption and we will rope off any areas that do need protecting, so thank you in advance for supporting the recovery when we do go ahead with these works in August.
Finally, our 13th Heather Project on The Queen’s! Patience is key when it comes to heather establishment, it simply takes a lot of time. We need to be more proactive in pushing things along as well and we recognise that at times the area has not looked as tidy as it should. We have now made a collective decision to keep the areas mown down and will be topping off this area monthly. We will also be introducing some more sand throughout the area to help with drying it all out and will be overseeding with some fescue in and around the bed and continue to spray out the unwanted grasses coming through.
The next time you tee off the 4th of The Queen’s, look to the right as you start on the fairway. There is a healthy area of heather there that has come on significantly over the past three years. This is due to the rough management practices in place. Our aim is to get the 13th to this level in the next two seasons. Our ask is simply this, to minimize any traffic from entering the 13th heather area. We will rope this off neatly and request that you refrain from walking through this area at all times. It will be a great help to us all!
Enjoy the remainder of summer and we look forward to seeing you out on the golf courses. As always, expect a friendly wave from our team and our sincere thanks and appreciation for being part of our journey during the years ahead. Collectively we can and will communicate more often but as always, you are welcome to visit us at The Bothy or drop me an email with any concerns or feedback.
Craig
