General update

Topdressing/aeration

The topdressing/aeration was completed on Tuesday 20th August and went to plan, we applied a little more than previous applications with the intention of catching up due to the pond drain down. At this point I would like to mention the lads, we had a difficult week because of holiday entitlements and topdressing however the team gave a valiant effort and completed all the maintenance tasks on time ready for the weekend, well done team.

Rabbits

We have a gentleman that is controlling the vermin, to date he has dispatched around 200+ rabbits

Phoenix has epidemic proportions of rabbits mainly due to It being a Green Island in a sea of industry, this is good for wildlife and biodiversity, not so good for the bunkers and greens though. When the foliage has dropped in the Autumn he will be able to clear the burrows, hopefully this will control the adults and lower spring breeding for 2014 

Winter planning

I have started putting together the Autumn/Winter program, this includes all the usual stuff and a couple of Major improvements. Once the program has been agreed and clarified I will post the details here on the blog. 

Tonight my wife and I are looking forward to the joint Captains bash and race night, I hope the golf went well and the rain held off, it didn't here in Pontefract!

The roundabout at Brinsworth

Top dressing

Top dressing is planned for Monday the 19th August weather permitting of course, the irrigation ponds have now been re-filled and are available for irrigation water if the summer make a return.

We have a disease on several greens that is not usually seen in the UK not to worry I have had the offending pathogen identified by Dr Kate Entwistle of the turf disease centre and now we can deal with it in the correct manner.

fungus Bipolaris, most likely B. sorokiniana

This disease lives within the thatch layer which we are aiming to reduce by aeration and top dressing. Bipolaris leaf spot is caused by high daytime temperatures above 20c which is what we have just experienced now the temps have come down and the general weather forecast is dry the disease should "grow out" without any detrimental effects, but rest assured we are keeping an eye on things.

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