The Beast On The East

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The Beast On The East: Scott MacCallum takes his life in his hands and heads to Carnoustie ahead of this year’s Open Championship.

Carnoustie has always been one of the iconic Open venues… IT IS revered within the game. For one thing it has a role of honour which contains the name Ben Hogan – the only Open venue to do so. Hogan played in one Open, at Carnoustie in 1953, and won. His austere manner  matched that of the town to a t and the locals took the Wee Ice Man to their hearts.

Driving to Carnoustie to meet Head Greenkeeper, Craig Boath, I noticed something that was a little strange. The east coast of Scotland is not known for its balmy temperatures but I was coming out in a bit of a cold sweat.

Carnoustie – Championship Course

Now it may be that a few world famous golfers will experience exactly the same when they arrive for this July’s Open Championship. Last year’s Masters Champion, Sergio Garcia, could certainly be forgiven for doing so. As the rising superstar in the game in 1999 he managed to negotiate the 18 holes of the first round in 89 – out in 44 back in 45. Admittedly that was five shots better than I scored the last time I played the course, but I know that would have been of little consolation to Sergio.

He did redeem himself at the last Carnoustie Open in 2007, however, but, having led for three rounds dropped a shot on the 72nd hole and lost the play-off to Padraig Harrington. More memories he’d like to drop.

No, the reason for my cold sweat was nothing to do with my prowess or lack of it on the course but two incidents, one at each of the aforementioned Opens, which might have seriously scarred a lesser man.

In 1999 I was in the privileged position of being inside the ropes on the 18th hole as Jean Van de Velde was heading for a well deserved, and fairly, uneventful victory. His meltdown has been well documented and the footage of Jean, with rolled up trousers standing in the burn short of the green, is one of the most memorable in sport.

Jean’s chances had gone up in smoke when his approach to the green ricocheted off a bracket on a stand which was sitting at 45 degrees to the rest of the structure and bounced all the way back over the burn and into deep rough. From there he had hacked it into the burn.

Well, that second shot missed my head by a matter of inches. Had it struck me I would have had a very sore head, my picture in the papers and Jean would have been Open Champion and not local hero, Paul Lawrie. Indeed, had the ball not hit that little bracket flush and bounced 40 yards backwards Jean would have been over the water, able to get a free drop and had sufficient shots in hand to lift the Claret Jug.

My second piece of trauma occurred a couple of days before the 2007 Open. I was driving a minibus containing a group of greenkeepers, who were part of the Open Greenkeeping Support Team, to the golf course to familiarise themselves with what they would be doing that week.

I was delighted to see many of the spectators waving to us and thought it was a wonderfully friendly start to the Championship.

Smack!

The low bridge which gave conventionally sized vehicles access to the course wasn’t quite tall enough to take my minibus.  On the upside for the rest of the week it as always easy to spot our unintentionally modified mini bus amid the dozens of others, but on the downside it led to a very interesting conversation with the hire company when we got back home.

So, with things happening in threes, I am a tad concerned about what might happen at the 147th Open.

But I digress. Carnoustie has always been one of the iconic Open venues. The town itself isn’t much to look at but the name, Carnoustie, is revered within the game. For one thing it has a role of honour which contains the name Ben Hogan – the only Open venue to do so. Hogan played in one Open, at Carnoustie in 1953, and won. His austere manner, matched that of the town to a T and the locals took the Wee Ice Man to their hearts. A lasting tribute to him is the 6th hole, known as Hogan’s Alley because he threaded his tee shot between the bunkers and out-of-bounds on each of the four rounds.

Tom Watson won the first of his five Opens at Carnoustie – beating Australian Jack Newton in a play-off – and the honours’ board also includes Henry Cotton and Gary Player.

Carnoustie – Championship Course

But Craig Boath, along with the Links Superintendent Sandy Reid, and the rest of the 33 strong Carnoustie Links greenkeeping staff – they maintain three superb golf courses – are looking forward not back. And judging by the condition of the golf course they can look forward with confidence.

“We want to have the best golf course possible every day of the week and want the visitors who come to Carnoustie to experience the same conditions as the professional golfer gets,” explained Craig, who was on the team in ’99 Deputy Head Greenkeeper on the Championship course in ’07 and became Head Greenkeeper in 2012, when legendary greenkeeping man John Philp retired and Sandy moved up from Head Greenkeeper to Links Superintendent.

“We started thinking about this Open as soon as we’d finished in 2007, so in one way we’re always preparing for an Open. But as we get closer we’ve been working much more with the R&A – Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive; Grant Moir, Director of Rules, and Clive Brown, Chairman of the Championship Committee – and have a very good relationship with them.”

Fairway widths remain the same as from the last Open, while greens should be around the 10 mark on the stimp. The team has also been working on their rough for the past four or five years.

“We’ve been trying to eradicate the poorer grasses and encourage the finer grasses in the rough and feel that rather than having defined semi to main we can have a semi rough and feather it into the main rough,” explained Craig, who comes from a long tradition of Carnoustie men who strive for finer grasses and firmer surfaces.

Carnoustie does possess a fearsome reputation and I asked Craig that, if the sun shone and the wind didn’t make an appearance, whether he’d be disappointed if the winning score was 15 or 16 under.

“I would be a little bit. But I don’t think it will. I know people talk about Tommy Fleetwood shooting a course record 63 in the Dunhill Links last October, but the pin positions in the Dunhill are set up for the amateurs – same with the tees, while the rough is on the wane, and the course a little softer, when the Dunhill Links is played.

“Obviously if the wind blows and it would be nice to get a range of winds from different directions  – it might happen it might not – it will make it interesting, but Carnoustie is not so dependant on the wind for protection as other links courses.”

In what is probably a first in modern Open history the course facing the 156 players this year will be shorter than the 2007 version. Generally speaking every last inch is squeezed out of the Open rota courses to combat the modern day superfit athletes who can power a golf ball well over 300 yards but, while it’s only 20 yards, Carnoustie has given up some distance.

“The 1st is shorter to enable a stand to go in behind the tee and the 3rd is a little shorter too, with more options available for the players. Carnoustie has always lived up to the test of time, so there is no need to lengthen it. Going back to when James Braid designed it in the 1920s it was 7200 yards.”

Hence its reputation for being a monster and one of the toughest golf courses in the world.

What has been noticeable in recent years has been the sheer scale of the Open circus when it comes to town with more and more television companies covering the Championship and all the ancillary paraphernalia which accompanies it. Indeed Carnoustie is benefiting from the installation of permanent fibre optic cabling for the last Open.

“I can’t remember too much about 1999 but I know it was much bigger in 2007, with the need for a much bigger contractors area. But now it has doubled from 2007. I really have noticed the difference in scale,” said Craig, whose passion for the links is shared with Sandy – who sadly was tied up in a meeting during my visit – ensures that no stone is left unturned in creating a magnificently maintained golf course.

With a number of tournaments under his belt Craig also knows what it takes to prepare a course on a daily basis and cutting will start around 4.30am each morning.

“With the R&A and the STRI out doing testing on the greens we may have to do a bit of leap frogging at times but I’m not too worried about that.”

And not worrying is a quality which will carry Craig through the next few months. When we spoke, growth was around three weeks behind but a bit of heat in the air and it will kick on. And let’s face it  you can’t worry about something you have no control over!

Asked about whether the week itself will offer trepidation or excitement Craig’s laid back spirit comes to the fore again.

“Once we get to the week before, and I know everything has been done, I know we’ll be ok. We’re just waiting for that wee bit of growth.”

So while I will be approaching this year’s Open waiting to see what fate is in store for me Craig, Sandy and the guys will have everything under control.

Exploring The Lakes

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Exploring The Lakes: A recent family trip to Sydney to see my daughter, afforded me the opportunity to visit some local sporting venues, I was particularly interested in visiting the Lakes GC , knowing that Simon Blagg, a British Greenkeeper, was working there.

After a few phone calls I managed to contact Simon who is now the Assistant Superintendent at the Lakes Golf club. We arranged a date for me to visit the course and duly met up some days later. Upon arrival at the club I was introduced to the Courses Superintendent and head mechanic, followed by a whistle stop tour of the course and facilities.

Exploring The Lakes

I was fascinated to find out more about the course and how Simon had adapted his skills to work in a quite challenging climate.  I would like to thank him for his time and taking the time to put pen to paper to produce this fascinating in depth article.

Growing Turf Down Under – Simon Blagg

From growing up in my home town of Madeley, Cheshire in the UK, to working at The Lakes Golf club in Sydney, Australia; the past fourteen years of my turf career have been an amazing experience to date.

I completed my turf qualifications at Reaseheath College. While there, I worked at Keele golf course which has now unfortunately closed down, before working two great summers under John Turner at Leek Golf Club, who taught me a significant amount about sustainability in the turf industry. At the same time I working as groundsman of Maer Cricket Club.

In 2008 I set my sights on the Ohio state Turfgrass internship program where I worked at Whistling Straits, in Wisconsin, and then onto the Doral Golf Resort, in Florida. Working on the Blue Monster course, I got to experience my first golf tournament when Doral hosted the annual World Golf Championship event.

After I returned to the UK I worked two seasons at Loch Lomond Golf Club. The club hosted the Scottish Open a week before The Open. In between the first and second season at Loch Lomond I secured a summer casual position for six months at New South Wales Golf club in Sydney. This was when I got my first taste of life in Australia. I met my now wife, within the first week of being in Australia.

New South Wales hosted the 2009 Australian Open. I had gained valuable experience from my from my time at New South that summer. I returned to Loch Lomond in 2010 to assist with the preparation for what would be the club’s final Scottish Open. I can’t thank Dave Cole, at Loch Lomond, enough for what he taught me during that time, including his attention to detail and how to keep incredibly high standards.

After the home summer of 2010, I was lucky enough to secure a sponsorship at Roseville Golf Club in Sydney, Australia. I worked my way up the rank and eventually became Mark O’Sullivan’s assistant in 2013. I remained at the club for another two years and after a total of five years, and an Australian citizenship achieved, I decided to apply for the Assistant Superintendent position at the Lakes Golf club in Sydney.  After a successful interview, I started at the Lakes in early January 2016.

The Lakes is on the southern side of the city, roughly around 15 minutes from Sydney’s central business district. The area is a popular golfing destination, with the Lakes backing on to both Eastlakes and Bonnie Doon Golf Club and The Australian within a 5km radius.  The golf club is situated within the Botany Wetlands  a series of interconnected ponds forming an open space wetland corridor stretching to 226 hectares.

Exploring The Lakes

Over the years the course design has been altered, in particular in 1950s when the state government put plans together to build a six lane express-way right through the middle of the course. This road is the current Southern Cross Drive.

The club then employed American Robert Von Hagge who agreed to redesign the course. Von Hagge’s redesign was constructed and completed by June 1970. During the 70s and 80s, the Lakes was renowned for its fast true greens. However, by 1994 the greens were begging to show their age and the winter grass population was too much. The club then decided to resurface all of the greens with SR1020 Bent grass.

By 2006 the greens were again over populated with Poa Annua and did not meet specifications.  The board approached Mike Clayton to conduct a course master plan.

The club decided to rebuild both the 1st and 18th greens first. After the members’ approval of the two new greens, Clayton was commissioned to rebuild the remaining 16 greens and two lady’s greens. The redesign included rebuilding the whole golf course as well as upgrading the Irrigation system. The greens were seeded with A4 bent grass. Tees Santa Ana couch and the fairways that were altered were returfed with common Kikuyu.  Roughs and dunes were over seeded with Fescue. The course was re-opened in July 2009. The current course measures 6286 metres and is a par 72. In 2010 the club hosted The Australian Open, which was the first tournament since the 2002 ANZ Championship. The club was asked again to host the tournament for both the 2011 and 2012 Australian Opens.  The 2011 tournament was a successful event, hosting pros to the likes of Tiger Woods. It was seen as good preparation for the 2011 Presidents cup. In November 2018 the club will host its’ seventh Australian Open. The club has around 1200 members and for the first time in 15 years there is now a waiting list for new members. The golf course averages around 45,000 rounds of golf per year.

Anthony Mills has been Superintendent of the Lakes golf club since 2012. Myself and Aaron Taylor have been Anthony’s assistants since January 2016. We currently operate with a full team of 19 that includes two casuals and mechanic. An additional four casuals will be added to the team to assist with preparation for the Australian Open. I’m a strong believer in getting overseas talent to come over and work for six months. We try and take the casuals on from September through to the end of February. For those coming from the UK, this often works well with the end of the UK summer and then heading into our summer period. On a working holiday visa, it allows you to work with two employers for two six month blocks. It gives young greenkeepers a fantastic opportunity to come and work in Australia and learn about managing warm season grasses in different climates.

Bunkers – 72

Sandy Waste

Total Area 10 Hectares

A unique feature of the Lakes is its Sandy Waste areas. Where some course has thick rough to edges of fairways the lakes has large areas of exposed sandy waste. These are carved into the landscape to make them look like they have been there for hundreds of years. These areas are raked twice a week with two sand pros. The sandy waste requires a lot of maintenance. Mainly weed control. We ap Turf grass Species

Greens –A4 Bent grass/ (Cool Season) HOC- 3mm

Total Area- Two Hectares

Over the past three summers we have operated a poa eradication program on greens. This is a selective herbicide program which I will talk more about later in the article. During autumn and winter we apply separate applications of Paclobutrazol and Epethon. This is designed to supress the Poa annua grass and stop it from establishing a seed head. We renovate the greens twice a year. In spring we scarify the greens at a depth of 10mm and follow this up with hollow tine aeration with 5/8 tines. In autumn we only use 1/2inch tines. After both practices we use a USGA construction sand to fill back in the holes. During summer we use a combination of 8mm and 5mm pencil tines to relive surface tension and aid oxygen flow. We mainly use Toro Triplex mowers to cut the greens. We try and cut the greens with walk mowers once a week to improve presentation. Moving forward and increasing staff numbers we will look to using walk behind greens more often.

Exploring The Lakes

We have recently commenced using a growing degree day program on our greens. After an application of growth regulator, I record the growing degree day figure. This is worked out by adding the average high temperature with the average low temperature and dividing it by 2. With the daily GDD figure obtained you add it up every day and when the number equals 200 you are due to apply the growth regulator again. This program is a great way of avoiding bounce out before the growth regulator runs out.

Tees- Santa Anna Couch (Warm Season) HOC 10mm

Total Area- Two Hectares

Santa Anna couch is a warm season grass that requires a very aggressive renovation in spring. This is because Santa Anna spreads through stolons. These stolon break down over time and add to the thatch layer. We scarify the tees to depth of around 25mm to remove large amounts of organic matter. The tees are then shaved down at 8mm to remove excessive grain. Grain forms when the turf is cut in the same direction all the time. Grain creates an uneven surface and often scalps when cut. By shaving back the couch, we are removing the grain and chopping through surface stolons and encouraging it to produce new shoots. Couch is a very hungry turf species and requires plenty of nitrogen to keep it in good condition. With it being a warm season grass it requires 30-degree air temperatures to get it moving out of winter dormancy. A hot summer is great for couch, but a cold spring and cooler summer can result in a poor quality surface. Regular applications of growth regulator are essential to ensure the grass doesn’t get to elongated and thatchy

Fairways– Common Kikuyu (Warm Season) 10mm

Total Area 25 Hectares

Common Kikuyu is another warm season grass. It is very course grass that has a larger leaf blade than that of couch grass. Like couch, Kikuyu requires aggressive renovation practices in spring with deep scarification and hollow tine aeration. Again due to its stoloniferas growing pattern, organic matter can build up quickly if not managed properly. Primo is the most important resource we use of the kikuyu during the summer season. Without growth regulation the heat and humidity the kikuyu is exposed to causes it to literally grow in front of your eyes. If you don’t have any regulation in the plant the quality of cut is massively affected as too much grass is being cut by the mower. We apply primo every three weeks during summer. Starting off with low rates of 1 litre a Hecate in spring and leading up to sometimes 2.5L/ Hectare in the heart of summer. We apply a 15% Nitrogen + Iron and Manganese fertiliser with the primo to assist with turf health and improve colour.

Rough– Common Kikuyu 50mm

Deep Rough and Bunker Surrounds- Red Fescue HOC 150mm

Fescue and Australian climate are not a great combination. The blend of Chewings, Red, and Hard fescues in the deep rough are cut at 150mm a couple of times a year. We would normally like to leave these areas to grow up however to many balls were being lost and slowing up play so it was decided to keep it managble at the 150mm height. The fescue around bunker surround is cut with strimmer’s every three weeks, apart from control weeds in these areas, they receive a small amount of fertiliser in spring if required. Other than that we keep it well irrigated.

ply pre-emergent herbicide to the edges of the waste land and islands. We have had better results by doing this, but it doesn’t stop all of the weeds. Often we have to get additional labour hire in to help pull out weeds.

Challenges of the site

Poa Eradication Program

In 2015 the board made the decision to eradicate winter grass from the greens. At the time, rebuilding the greens was not an option the board wanted to take, so therefore chemical treatment was decided to both eradicate and stop the poa from completely taking over from the original bent grass greens. The past three summers we have been on an aggressive Nominee herbicide program. Nominee is selective herbicide that contains Bispyribac-sodium. The chemical applications start in November and usually finish up in early January. We have trialled the product at different rates every season. Anything from half rates at 500mls/H every three weeks to quarter rates every fortnight. We aim to try and apply around 2L of Nominee in around a three-month period.  The night before a nominee application we increase our irrigation on greens as we can’t water them for 24 hours after the nominee has been applied. Cutting of the greens is avoided on application days. The dew is removed with dew brooms and additional hand watering is undertaken depending on the weather forecast. The herbicide is then sprayed and no water is to be applied until the following morning after the greens have been cut.  Once all applications were finished, we started a two week plugging program where we plugged the winter grass scars out of the greens. The overall herbicide program has reduced the poa in the greens by around 30% in the three years. They say you can get around four years use out of the chemical before resistency builds up within the plant. Options going forward look like rebuilding all of the greens after the Australian open.

Exploring The Lakes

Climate/ disease pressures

Sydney is not the hottest city in Australia, but it certainly can turn the heat up at times. Last year we had the hottest summer in 150 years with the average temp being around 33 for around 40 days in a row. This was coupled with extreme humidity and night time temperatures that were not decreasing. This put the Pythium stress potential through the roof. Both Pythium blight and root rot can cause a severe amount of damage to greens. Prolonged leaf wetness through nigh time irrigation and high humidity are a recipe for disaster.

Pythium Preventative

During summer we spray every three weeks for both Pythium root rot and Pythium blight. An application of Propamocarb for root rot is sprayed at 6.5L/Hectare and is irrigated with six minutes of Irrigation.

Fosetyle aluminium and thiram are applied the following week to control Pythium blight and brown patch. These products are left on the leaf. Sometimes we will include another contact fungicide to prevent dollar spot.

During the winter months in Sydney we are rather fortunate that its doesn’t really get that cold. Out in western Sydney they do get frosts and all warm season turf goes dormant. Being so close to the ocean at the Lakes we very rarely get any frosts at all. Our average rainfall in Sydney is around 1200mm per year, however this last year has been below average with very little rainfall.

Nematodes

One of our biggest challenges at the Lakes golf club is managing nematodes. We have a very high population of sting nematodes throughout all of the playing surfaces. A standard threshold for sting nematode is 20 per 200g of soil. We have numbers up at around the 700 per 200g of soil in greens. To put it lightly the roots are being eaten alive. On greens we operate a strong nematicide program that involves applications of abamectin (Agador) and (Thumper) when necessary. The label restricts how many applications you can apply per year. With the nematicide we also apply a product called turf clear. This is penertrant wetting agent that contains SiQuat molecules that when come into contact with the nematode its ruptures the cells of the nematode resulting in immediate death. We have had some better results in recent times when using turf clear. We don’t treat nematodes in the fairways and tees purely because of the size of the property. However, we apply wetting agents every four weeks to the tees and fairways and fertilise more in the specific weaker areas.

Sandy soil profile and Irrigation

The entire course is built on a sand dune. This certainly has its advantages with very free draining soil after heavy rain and no drainage required in bunkers and greens. However, it also has its disadvantages as the sand has very little water holding capacity and it leaches nutrients. Coupled with the nematode issues this make retaining moisture in the fairways a big challenge. Every four weeks during summer we apply a retaining wetting agent to aid moisture retention. We also have to ensure that we top op hot spots on fairways using the irrigation system in the morning and afternoon as well as running a specific hot spot program in the night time irrigation program.  The Lakes is a very exposed sight this means that the course is very susceptible to high winds. High winds results in turf surfaces drying out. All of this is taken into consideration and extras water is applied to the specific hot spots to ensure that they don’t dry out. Our average total of water applied to the course per year is 350 Mega litres of water per year. We are very fortunate as we are allowed to use as much water as we like as we pump out of one the large Lakes on site. During summer we have a hand watering program that works very well to ensure the greens remain healthy and drought free during extreme heat. We use the TDR moisture sensors to measure moisture percentage to ensure that greens don’t dry out.

Projects leading into Australian Open 2018

In November this year the club will host its seventh Australian Open. Over the last 18 months we have been very busy with construction projects. These have included rebuilding tees and resurfacing cart paths and extending sandy waste areas. In April 2017, we commenced our biggest project of all; the upgrade of the practice precinct area.  The old practice facilities were beginning to look a little fatigued. The greens had a large percentage of Poa Annua and did not compliment the greens out on the course with very little undulations. Safety was also a big factor in the redesign. We were seeing a small percentage of golf balls leave the driving range and land on the 10th and 11th holes. The upgrade of the practice facility involved the following:

  • Rebuilding both practice putting and chipping greens.
  • Rebuilding and lowering the height of the range tee by 500mm.
  • Installing a Tee line driving range mat for use in winter.
  • Installing target greens on the range fairway to replicate shots played out on course.
  • Installing further mounding on both sides of the range to protect golfers on the 10th and 11th
  • Installing mounding around the teaching facility.
  • Rebuilding a new chipping green with suitable practice bunkers.
  • Rebuilding the 10th Championship men’s and lady’s tees.
  • Rebuilding the 1st gold tee.
  • Installing a new concrete pathway to both the 1st and 10th

The new putting green was seeded back in May 2017 and was opened in late September. All of the major earth works and turfing was completed by November 2017. The new turf driving tee was recently re opened and we are hoping to have the chipping green re opened by the end of March.

With all major projects complete we are now concentrating on fine tuning the golf course heading into the winter months. November will be here in no time at all. Planning and preparation is essential when preparing for a tournament of this size.

I would like to thank Laurence Gale from Turf matters magazine for allowing me to contribute this article. It was great to catch up with Laurence back in December when he was in Sydney visiting his daughter.

I am always on the lookout for keen, enthusiastic greenkeepers from the UK who are interested in travelling to Australia to work the summer season. Anyone interested in coming to work in Australia in 2019 I can be contacted at the below email address.

Simon Blagg

Asstsuper@thelakesgolfclub.com.au

Stars of The Big Top

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Stars of the big top: Laurence Gale pops into Edgbaston to see how marquees are providing additional preparation time for both grounds’ team and players.

A recent visit to Warwickshire CCC enabled me the opportunity to catch up with Head Groundsman Gary Barwell, who now starts his seventh season at the club. He like the rest of the county groundsmen are busy getting their practice net facilities ready for the onslaught of as new playing season, which year on year seems to be starting earlier.

Warwickshire, like many of the other county clubs, have invested in the use of outdoor tented/marquee structures in recent seasons to cover their net areas, with the aim of creating a natural grass wicket practice facility that allows the club the opportunity to practice four to six weeks earlier.

As the years have passed the sharing of knowledge and the development of these facilities has moved forward at such a pace we now have utilised a number of innovations to create the perfect indoor greenhouse environment using de-humidifiers, heaters and lighting rigs to control and manage both soil and air conditions in the marquee/tent thus allowing the staff to prepare and produce decent, natural grass wickets for practice in late February early March.

Gary was keen to show me their system, a huge 20metre by 18metre marquee that is able to cover nine, six foot wide wickets. These wickets where covered with flat sheets in December to protect them prior to the erection of the marquee on January 8. It took four days to erect and a day to set up the humidifiers, heaters and lighting rigs.

Some pre-season rolling, around five hours was done to the area using their blotter and auto roller, followed by a 14 day prep for the two first practice wickets. Everything is going well, however, they have had a couple of real cold nights -4 -6 degrees which has meant a lot more heat required to maintain their target of keeping an even 6 degrees inside the marquee at night. The de-humidifiers  are there to prevent any condensation forming and dripping onto the wickets and bowlers run ups.

Gary was able to maintain a comfortable 18 degrees during the day which is ideal for what he wanted to achieve. Everything was on schedule for when the team arrive for their first practice on the February 15 with the aim of providing six weeks of practice time for the team taking them through to April when they hope that their outdoor nets will then be ready for use.

I am sure like many of the other county groundsmen the provision of early training facilities brings with it many challenges and additional work loads, but like most they revel in learning new skills and testing their abilities to produce the best playing surfaces they can for their clubs.

balanced crank shaft on the XF that fires the tine into the ground so quickly that makes the difference. It does not seem to hang on to the tines when they come out so you don’t get ‘lift’. Everything is clean and precise and tidy. That’s what makes it fantastic.

“On the majority of quality cricket squares a 10mm tine with a 75mm x 50mm hole pattern is what we aim for. You can do a job with 8mm tines when the square is very hard and very tender layered because you won’t get disruption but 12mm is just too big.”

Indeed Wiedenmann UK credits Keith with pointing them towards introducing the 10 mm tine for cricket applications.

“Keith has been a long-time advocate of the 10mm tine. He was the first to suggest and indeed the most vocal, that we were missing a trick by not having it, said Chas Ayres, Wiedenmann UK’s Sales Manager.

During the cricketing aeration window usually Keith will in the main spike to a depth of 175mm or 200mm with 75 x 50 centres.

“I will speed up or slow down to make holes wider or narrower.

“If the square is a bit tender then we’ll go to a 75 x 75 pattern, giving fewer holes but less opportunity for disruption. This season many cricket squares have been very dry, and without the correct moisture levels cricket squares are more liable to ‘pluck out’ so it’s down to judgement on the day and the forward speed I think suits.”

With so many cricket grounds to get through in a relative short amount of time Keith has to plan ahead to serve his clients, tending to allocate a week to 10 days for each county and basing himself in the centre of a cricketing area.

“I work with the cricket groundsmen’s associations so if the club grounds are all within 10 miles of each other, six sites in a day is achievable but if they are a bit further apart then maybe just three or four.”

Keith Exton’s affinity for turf excellence transfers to other sporting codes throughout the year but he and Perfect Pitches are best known within the cricketing world.  “He’s the top authority,” said Chas.

“I call him ‘Mr Cricket Wicket’ because he’s absolutely intuitive about aeration. For him it’s like a sixth sense. His operator skills make him at one with his machine so he’s really an artisan craftsman.”

Feel The Power

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Feel the power: Laurence Gale takes a look at PowerGrass and chats with Graham Longdin, of Agripower, about its qualities

Within the last five years we have seen a dramatic increase in the installation of synthetic turf stabilisation systems, mainly driven from the success of the tried and tested stitched systems now being used in many stadium and training ground pitches around the world.

These Hybrid Grass systems come in all manner of guises, ranging from sown in filaments to insitu based synthetic carpets that are top dressed with rootzone materials and overseeded to produce an hybrid grass playing surface. One of the latest products on the market is PowerGrass.

And one of the first pitches to be constructed with this new Hybrid Turf system is one at Bisham Abbey installed by Agripower last May. A recent conversation with Philip Coxhill, Grounds Manager at Bisham Abbey, and Graham Longdin, MD of Agripower, gave me a greater insight into this new  PowerGrass  Hybrid grass pitch.

The system was developed in Italy with many trials ran to test it performance and ability to produce a robust reliable playing surface, the makers PowerGrass claim this hybrid turf has innovative features and offers better playing and growth conditions than any other system of reinforced natural grass or old type hybrid grass and at the same time is the only one that offers a sports field playable even without the natural grass. The synthetic turf is stable and the natural grass can be easily installed with simple seeding.

PowerGrass hybrid turf is not simply a product, it’s a complete system, this new system has been designed to take into account the many physical, chemical and mechanical inter-actions that take place when maintaining a natural turf playing surface. At present 95% of hybrid pitches are built purely on sand and some are in fact buried benneath the top, leading to very hard surface requiring aeration purely to soften the surface for the user. Powergrass is the first system to address the issue and seek to better the current trend.

To find out more, I contacted Graham, who had installed the new pitch at Bisham.

I believe this is the first Powergrass pitch in the UK to be installed?
Yes, we installed the Powergrass Pitch last June at Bisham Abbey working closely with their grounds manager Philip Coxhill.

Is this one of your own innovations?
Yes, we helped design the hybrid carpet and increased the amount of fibres avaliable for play, and enabling the system to cope with very heavy usage, rather than mimic the existing hybrids we sought to better them.

How long have you been perfecting this system?
The first fields were laid in Italy, and then followed up with two further fields in Holland, we then had our input, to make a more resilient surface for the UK market. The new carpet was first Laid in Grosetto in Italy which is the field TGMS (TurfTrax Ground Management Systems Limited) went to view prior to us being awarded the contract at Bisham, two further fields have been installed in the UK since then and we have strong enquires and looking forward to a busy season in 2018.

How does this pitch system work, what is its specification and how is it installed?
The pitch system can work either with a full construction  of a drained plateau with a shallow 80mm gravel raft , and 80mm of rootzone/sand, mixed with a combination of naturally occurring additives. The Powergrass carpet is laid and stiched together over the growth medium and then filled to a depth of 35mm leaving 25mm of free pile above the soil. A pre seeding fertiliser is then appliead  and then seed at a rate of 50g/ms.

All fields must have irrigation to promote controlled growth. Where the system differs from traditional ‘stitched-in’ hybrids is that it can be laid over existing pitches, subject to enhanced drainage if required, such as Bisham.Working in conjunction with a leading pitch consulatnt the existing field is accessed and tested to ensure that the Powergrass system works in harmony with the existing site conditions.  This innovative system can dramatically reduce on-site costs and reduce construction time in half.

What other systems are you up against?
Stitched in systems would be the target competitors as they are more recognised in the market place although far more expensive. Some other carpet systems rely on being biodegradeable and these has proven to have had some issues with establishing rootgrowth.

Powergrass allows the roots to penetrate the carpet backing from day one and is playable within four weeks from initial seeding as long as the maintenance regime is intensive and correct.

Other hybrid carpets are not stitched together and some are completely buried in sand and only stabilise the top sand layer or they replicate the traditional systems with fibre content around the 30000 fibres to 1 m2, Powergrass has nearly three times more fibre and combined with additives creates a softer surface and allows the fibres to be in play and protecting the crown of the grass plant.

Is this system suitable for both Rugby and football?
Testing is currently ongoing but initial results are very favourable with the pitch being used currently to 25hrs per week . Initial player feedback is very good with the resounding comment that it is a far softer and more comfortable pitch to play and train on.

What is the overall cost of supply and Installation of this product?

It varies depending on what is existing on site, it can be as little as £220,000 when installed on an existing well drained pitch or up to £440,000 for a full new construction with irrigation 

What is the recommended maintenance regime for this system?
We recommend that an overseeding of 5g/m2 every 6 weeks combined with a light scarification to keep the pitch in good condition and avoid any heavy end of season maintenance.

Other than that, treat as any high quality pitch, with cuttings being removed at all times, the surface is designed to be softer and doesn’t require regular vetidraining to relieve hardness only to aerate, at this stage we believe that aeration should only be required 1-2 times per season.

The failing of most existing Hybrids are hardness; historically the industry has been obsessed with drainage and this has led to pitches being built on straight sand which has excellent drainage properties but at the cost of the players premature fatigue and potential injuries. Powergrass has been developed by Agronomists, natural grass consultants and  carpet manufacturers and to this end it is all about the player and the grass and the system below and not about selling carpet volume.

When did you start the installation of the Bisham Abbey Pitch?
After some preliminary meetings with the clients (Bisham Abbey  represented by Phil Coxhill and their consultant partners  TGMS Limited.We, where able to start work last May effectively installing a Powergrass reinforced system into an existing fully drained pitch.

How was the Powergrass carpet installed?
We basically removed, koroed off the top 40mm of the existing turf and rootzone materials, power harrowed to open up the top 25mm and re-graded the levels. The pitch was then Vibra Sand mastered to reconnect the existing drainage bands, vertidrained to decompact the top 150mm and then top dressed with  cork, coco fibre and zeolite materials. This mix of organic matter was then incorporated into the existing rootzone to improve shock absorbancy and fertility.

The pitch was then final graded and  then rolled to firm the surface ready for the Powergrass system which was laid and stitched in place; after filling with a further 35mm of infill material the system was then fertilised and seeded with Barenbrug Bar RPR Stadium.

Having favourable soil and air temperatures in June, the seed was up in four days and we were cutting after ten days.  The pitch is now performing very well, with players commenting on how well it plays, especially noticing it is much softer than the previous playing surface. Also, the wear factor has been amazing, the pitch has been able to accommodate more fixtures, in fact it is now providing over 25 hours use a week compared to the 12 hours it could stand previously.

Phillip Coxill has been extremely pleased with the results and is now considering the installation of some more Powergrass carpet to increase the  training areas at Bisham Abbey.

Works complete, irrigation on for the first time.

Improving on a Masterpiece

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Improving on a masterpiece: An opportunity you would not let slip through your fingers! Scott MacCallum took the chance to visit the Machrie, a golf course very close to his home and his heart but which is not quite so easy for others to reach. He also manages to complete an entire article about Islay without once mentioning its most famous product – whisky.

Making changes to anything already regarding as excellent can be extremely risky and is often compared to adding a touch up to the Mona Lisa – best intentions may abound, but it rarely has the desired effect.

Now the Machrie golf course, on the beautiful Inner Hebridean island of Islay, wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to compare itself to that famous work by Leonardo da Vinci – leave that to the likes of the Old Course and Augusta National. However, it is still very near the top of the tree when it comes to outstanding British golf courses. So maybe the work that has been carried out over the last three years could better be compared to polishing the antlers on Edwin Landseer’s famous work, The Monarch of the Glen, particularly appropriate as deer do roam wild on the island. 

However, on this occasion, art or golf course critics would be hard pushed not to recognise that the original has been improved upon. The proud stag looking that little bit more majestic and those 18 holes, woven between the dunes at the Machrie, even more enjoyable to play.

The results of the golf course work, and the near completion of a stunning new hotel, are all the more remarkable given that just a few years ago it looked as though the Machrie, hotel, golf course and all would fade away leaving nothing but memories – not least the famous match in 1901 played out between golf’s great triumvirate, James Braid, JH Taylor and Harry Vardon, for £100, which was reputed to be the largest prize ever played for on the British Isles at the time.

In administration, hotel abandoned and golf course looking a little lost, it was bought by Gavyn Davies and his wife, Baroness Sue Nye, who fell in love with the place – at first sight – in 2011.

Since then that work on the Monarch of the Glen has been on-going and has probably even exceeded what Gavyn and Sue envisaged as they began the project.

Renowned golf course architect DJ Russell, himself a former Tour pro; golf course constructor Edinburgh Landscapes have seen short term contracts become long term as the work developed.

Also brought on board was Course Manager, Dean Muir, head hunted from Muirfield where he had been Deputy Head Greenkeeper, and Dean has been heavily involved in all the course work since his arrival three and a half years ago, not least in ensuring visitors and members of Islay Golf Club had opportunities to play while work was going on all around.

“DJ asked if we could have a chat about the prospect of coming over here and it sounded interesting,” recalled Dean.

“It was a good few months since previous Course Manager Simon Freeman had left and it had become very run down – the 9th green had thistles growing in it feet high. I came over again later and Gavyn and Sue flew up that day to meet me which was very flattering. I kept waiting for someone to jump out and say it was a big wind up,” said Dean, who was full of praise for the job that Simon and his team had done with limited budget.

But it was never going to be an opportunity he was likely to let slip through his fingers.

“I’d have hated to have turned it down and then, three or four years down the line, watched someone else take it on and think why did I not do that.”

That said it has not been plain sailing and has involved Dean embarking on a pretty steep learning curve, not least because of the move from the east of Scotland to 30 miles off the west coast of Scotland.

“I always knew that that the west coast was wet but you don’t really appreciate how wet until you are here. At Muirfield we averaged around 600mm of rain per annum; here we’re pretty much 1600mm. Someone told me that the Machrie was the wettest links course in the country and I think they are probably right.”

From an agronomic perspective it has seen Dean making changes to his thinking and making grass choices which he wouldn’t have made had the Machrie regular rain patterns.

“I came over with grand ideas of fescue but I soon realised that I had to change tack. I spoke with David Greenshields, Barenbrug, and he suggested that we introduce some dwarf rye. I’d used it on walkways at Muirfield and thought that it would work so we went 20% ryegrass on the fairways with the view that if it didn’t work we could kill it out and go back to fescue. It worked a treat so last year we increased it to 60% in our overseeding and then, this year, we’ve gone up to 75%.”

He sees full establishment taking up to six years with the newly shaped sand based contours not retaining the nutrients to speed root development particularly with the rain flushing through anything which has been introduced to strengthen and speed up development.

“The greens have come through the winter exceptionally well but I’m looking forward to the time when we have more establishment and we can see the course performing well for 12 months of the year.”

Island life is suiting both Dean and his wife but being surrounded by sea has meant his planning has had to go up a notch.

“I have to plan everything a month to six weeks in advance and I organise for supplies to come inclusive of carriage as it allows me to make a like-for-like judgment when placing orders. I’ve also learned to have delivers sent to Glasgow instead of Tarbet, which is a few miles from the ferry port. Reason being that lorries run from Glasgow every day and only stop at Tarbet if they’ve got space on board so I’m more likely to guarantee my deliver. Things like that you learn from experience.”

Dean has employed a mechanic to ensure breakdowns don’t mean the visit from a mainland based dealer and wherever possible they aim to be self sufficient.

While Dean was getting to grips with the agronomics he has also worked closely DJ Russell and Eric Samuels, of Edinburgh Landscapes, on the changes to the course and other additions including the fabulous six hole par-3 course which will be a huge attraction to those new to the game and a nice distraction for corporate groups pre or post dinner. Together with the new Golf Academy which features both covered and open bays it will offer practice facilities that would shame many other clubs or resorts.

The redesign has seen the removal of many of the blind shots which were a feature of many older golf courses and it now flows through the dunes opening up the holes and the wonderful views which the course boasts.

“There were around 17 or 18 blind shots before and visitors would struggle from not knowing the course. Even members now lose balls on the 17th which remains a blind shot.”

Never overly peppered with bunkers the original new design had none but currently five have been added, two to frame the par-3 3rd green and two in the 6th fairway to concentrate the mind on the tee shot. The other one is at the back of the 7th.

“DJ was never against bunkers. He felt that the contouring of the ground meant we didn’t need them and having seen the course develop he wants to make sure those he does put in are in the right place.”

With the new 47 room hotel due to open in May or June the “building site” first impressions of the Machrie will disappear and it will become the high quality Campbell Gray Hotels run hotel Gavyn and Sue had always dreamt it would be.

Without actively marketing the golf course it has already crept up several spots in some of the course rankings and the completed Machrie will no doubt see another boost. 

“We have been keeping it under the radar as we’re not finished yet and first impressions currently are not great.

“Mark Ganning, of Hunter Industries, brought three American clients over last summer having just been at Carnoustie. He drove up the potholed entrance road, sand blowing everywhere, into the car park and our temporary facilities. One of the guys asked why on earth Mark had taken them here. They teed up, got to the top of the hill and saw the course open up in front of them with the Bay in the background. It was a beautiful summer’s day and they all fell in love with the Machrie.”

Another group of Australians had been enjoying the golfing trip of a lifetime playing every top course in Scotland when they arrived on Islay.

“They’d just played the two Machrihanish courses and had been to Dornoch, Cruden Bay, Trump, Carnoustie, St Andrews, King’s Barns, Muirfield, North Berwick, Troon and Turnberry. Every top course in Scotland. They were asked by a podcaster which were their favourites and they mentioned here and Dornoch.”

It is magnificent company to be keeping and with Islay, and the Machrie, either a flight or a ferry ride away, the inaccessibility will add to the attraction for many.

Wind, rain and, in the summer, midgies apart, Islay is a trip not to be missed if only to see that Monarch of the Glen looking better than ever.

Edinburgh Landscapes

Eric Samuel, of Edinburgh Landscapes, arrived on Islay for what he thought was going to be a 16 week project – a few tweaks to and amendments to the course. Three years on he is virtually an honorary islander!

“The project just grew and grew and we were delighted to be a part of it,” said Eric.

“It’s fair to say that had Gavyn decided to close the course the work could have been done in half the time but he didn’t want to close the course for those islanders and visitors who wanted to play.”

Edinburgh Landscapes have worked on some extremely prestigious jobs including Renaissance, Archerfield and the changes to the PGA course at Gleneagles in advance of the Ryder Cup but according to Eric the Machrie doesn’t lose out by comparison to any of the others.

“I would say that this project is up there with those other projects. It’s a fantastic place. You just need to walk the course and see the wonderful contours and the way the light catches them.”

Many of the contours are natural but there are others which have been man made by Eric’s son Robert, who was the shaper and who has now moved on to work with top American golf course architect, Kyle Phillips.

“What we aim for is to look as though we’ve never been here and that people can’t see the difference between the natural contours and those which we’ve put in.”

Eric was heavily involved in the development of the six hole par-3 course.

“DJ wanted six holes where every hole could be played from every tee. Sounds great but not easy as you have to have every green able to accept a golf ball from all angles. As it is you can do it from every hole bar one but it has been designed for juniors to play driver and run the ball up or people to practice their short games. Basically it was the old 18th hole. We marked it off and pushed some dirt about,” said Eric with typical Scottish understatement.

DJ Russell

For DJ Russell, pictured, a long established and respected Tour golfer, now resident at the prestigious Archerfield Club, near Edinburgh, becoming involved with the Machrie was a case of fate.

“It was a case of owners in it for exactly the right reasons and a group of people coming together to achieve something special,” explained DJ.

“We had Edinburgh Landscapes, who are spectacularly good at what they do and who have built some of the greatest modern golf courses on the planet – Loch Lomond, Archerfield etc. It’s a hell of a CV; me who has had a lifetime in golf and understands what golfers want and Dean Muir, who has been involved in preparing for Open Championships and producing links golf courses to the highest possible standard. You could not imagine a better scenario.”

DJ arrived initially to look to tweak a few things, change some of the poor holes and replace them with much better but it was a delay in the sourcing of a water supply which created the opportunity to do something on a much grander scale.

“We thought we’d get the water issue resolved quickly and get on with building the hotel but in fact it took three and a half years to get permission for mains water to the site. That gave me two and a half years to wander around the site and see what would make a really nice hole and then work out how I could link together 18 extremely good holes. There is no point if having a couple of spectacular holes and linking them with holes that are not so good.

“It was then a question of getting the owners to buy into the concept and then, just as importantly, getting Islay Golf Club’s backing,” said DJ who added that it was the hope that the golf club would always be the beating heart of the Machrie.

That achieved the new course would remove many of the existing blind holes and shots and replace them with a well worked route weaving its way around the wonderful dunes.

“If you got hit by a featherie it wouldn’t hurt too much. Get hit by a Pro V1 on the back of the head and you know about it,” was DJ’s explanation for the need for fewer of the blind shots for which traditional links golf was so well known.

As to the lack of bunkers DJ’s philosophy is to make the course playable to all. “There were a few bunkers on the original course but they can be a problem on links courses. For example there was one on the 14th but it meant that, downwind, unless you were an extremely good player you couldn’t land the ball over the bunker and keep it on the green.

“The Machrie is one of the ultimate links golf courses and nine days out of 10 you should be keeping the ball out of sky and along the ground. The course has been designed so that anyone can play a shot into the green but it is all about controlling the speed of the ball and distance control.”

He sees the wonderful six hole par-3 course as key to the ambition to make golf so much more accessible to the youngsters of the island.

“Fraser Mann is coming in as Director of Golf and he has been in charge of the junior golf programme at Carnoustie and we really want to put a golf club in the hands of every kid on Islay and see if they like it.”

Speaking with DJ his pride and passion for the Machrie just pours out of him.

“I hope in my heart that this becomes one of the places where you arrive with an expectation level which is high but that it is surpassed when you play the course.”