Head Greenkeepers Blog

As predicted in my last blog the weather that was forecasted came last week with some very cold days, Thursday morning we were -6c & Friday we were -9c!! Many of us would have had a 'dry January' and the course certainly did too. We only had a total of 24mm of rainfall for the whole month, and that was the same amount that fell on Monday night alone, leading to a delay on Tuesday morning. We are delighted with how the course coped with this downpour, we were open again Tuesday at noon, and we are back on 13 main greens this morning.

In a previous blog I touched on Leatherjackets which are the larvae of the Crane fly/Daddy long legs and how new legislation has wiped out any chemical treatment of this pest. This is still a hot topic within Greenkeeping and attracted a lot of attention during BTME at Harrogate the other week as Course managers become increasingly nervous at how they will cope without the active ingredient Chlorpyrifos. 

I have spoken with fellow greenkeepers and seen various posts recently about the concerns, and it's something I feel we must make members aware of. We have always controlled the larvae in the way of a chemical treatment, but since it's gone what will the impact be to playing surfaces?? 

The simple answer is we won't know until spring when any damage becomes apparent. The fact that there is no longer any treatment means there will be more hatching, more mating and more laying eggs for the larvae to eat away at the roots. It's a concern and we hope that there will be an affordable solution around the corner or we could see a lot of damage occurring like the picture below.

The last 2 weeks we have continued with our tree management plan where we have been focusing on strategic tree removal on front 9 holes. This was on the back of a course walk and various discussions where a full plan was put in place. Our focus in previous years has been tackling the broom, and thinning some of the vast woodland areas on the course, along with removal of any trees which were causing problems with turf quality, shade or wind movement. We are now at a stage where we can focus on playability and the difficulty factor, taking all standards of golfer into consideration. We will be working our way through the course when possible removing, thinning or lopping trees that have been identified during the course walk. At this stage we have almost completed the front 9 with a plan already in place for the back 9 which will be ongoing.

You may have seen some of the work already completed, notably the removal of around a dozen trees from the congested corner at the right of 7 (see image). These were identified to be encroaching into our mowing patters as well as creating difficulties with play. This area is now more open, is fairer if you land there and we can adjust our mowing and thin out the sward in the process. We understand some of the changes we make may not affect every golfer, however it is our continued intention is to present a fair test to golfers of all abilities, on a course that is aesthetically attractive, ecologically sensitive, and continues to improve.

David Gray 
Head Greenkeeper


 

Get Your Driver MOT'd - Saturday, 4 March

- Is your Driver still performing or do you just need it checked to see if it suits you?

- Can we recommend something better?

- 20 minute slots available to get it M.O.T`d on our FlightScope Launch Monitor

- Book your slot today in the Pro Shop between 1pm & 3.30pm

Click here to book.


 

Ladies Coffee, Cakes and Glenmuir/Sunderland Fashion afternoon Thursday, 20 April from 1.30pm-3.30pm.


Winter Course Status

Many of you will know by now, but for those not quite up to speed you can get an update on course conditions via www.ladybankgolf.co.uk and go into 'course status' half way down the page on the right hand side. The winter line number is also still operational as before.


 

Club fittings are becoming increasingly popular with our members it seems. This week I was out fitting a member for the new Titleist 917 driver and fairway woods. Although the said member was very accurate from the tee it was apparent that the ball was flying too low which essentially gave the wrong mix of carry and roll combination. 

Due largely to a heavy and stiff shaft (65 grams) and too little loft (9.5 degrees) the driver spin rate was averaging under 2000 rpms. This with a low launch angle of around 11 degrees at an impressive 90 mph swing speed meant that he was losing around 10 yards of carry due to the shaft and loft combination.

This was easily rectified on the FlightScope launch monitor by offering a lighter weight 50 gram Diamana red stiff shaft and 10.5 degree head nudged up to 11.25 degrees. All of a sudden that extra carry was there and a slightly longer total distance achieved.

We await some feedback on how the club is performing on the course. However by buying from us you can guarantee an after sales service and internet beating prices and FREE fitting. Surely that has to be a better offering giving you peace of mind over an internet purchase? 

Please be sure to get in touch if you'd like to organise a specialised fitting with any Titleist, PING, Callaway, Scotty Cameron or Vokey products.

Click here to contact us for a fitting.

Please note: 

-WE WILL BEAT INTERNET PRICES ON CURRENT PRODUCTS 
-WE DO FIT FREE OF CHARGE 
-WE DO OFFER AN AFTER SALES SERVICE


 

Members hire trolley season tickets are now available for only £25. 

See staff for details.


 

Ladybank Ladies- Winter Merit 

M Robertson (18) 28points, L McDonald (07 ) 27 points, I Morrow (15) 26 points


Men's February Medal

Division 1
1st - J.S Kidd - 79 (08) 71, 2nd - G. G. Muir - 79 (07) 72, 3rd - K. Watson - 83 (12) 72

Division 2
1st - A. Wyllie - 86 (14) 72, 2nd - R. E. Drummond - 89 (14) 75, 3rd - J. A. Duncan - 88 (13) 75  

2s - Division 1
£5.71 each

2s Division 2 
£27