NEW BEGINNINGS

My name is Graham Pickin and I have been appointed as head groundsman of the Phoenix complex on the 4th March 2013 I have inherited a staff of five, I am fortunate to have a broad skill pool within the staff whom are all eager to return Phoenix golf club back to former glory and beyond.It is our personal mission to present the Golf Course and other sporting facilities to the highest standards possible. Although we are all keen to get off the starting block our unseasonal weather just keeps on testing our ability to produce a golf course.
I am personally excited at the potential that Phoenix has, it is a beautiful golf course and has a testing nature. We are now cracking on with the tail end of the winter program and I am already planning for next winter.

Back to the Spring/Summer 

I intend to implement an intense aeration/renovation program to the greens but don't worry my methods are very gentle and don't cause much disruption to your enjoyment or the game of golf. The tees and aprons are to be cut at 10mm or thereabouts and the clippings removed, this will enhance the presentation of the tees and aprons. Because I intend to box off the clippings a fertilizer program has been agreed for the areas mentioned.

The dreaded aeration program

As all seasoned golfers will attest aeration is very important to the quality of turf, particularly on the greens. With this in mind I have posted a video that explains the reasons for aeration.

Ok so now we know what coring is all about the question is when? we have scheduled in coring for approximately 3 days from the 8th April, this is however weather dependent and I will try to only have 3 greens closed at a time.