TURF MANAGEMENT
Tackling the issue of water management
ith the Jacobean-style mansion providing the
W backdrop to some of the courses 18 parkland holes , Warwickshire ’ s Welcombe Golf Club delivers undulations which are a challenge to player and greenkeeper alike . In charge of the maintenance is Golf Course & Estates Manager Richard Sheldon who , with a rather aged fleet of equipment at his disposal , has turned to a combination of TriCure AD™ and Terafirm™ from Headland Amenity to tackle the issue of water management .
Richard ’ s first task when he joined the club in January 2020 was to assess his inherited fleet of machinery and spotted the notable absence of a deep aerator . “ Our greens are constructed using rootzone and have the ability to drain well but due to the lack of deep aeration we were getting very shallow rooting caused by a pan layer , which also affected the distribution of moisture through the profile ” explains Richard , who is assisted by a team of three . In addition , when Richard decided to fire up the club ’ s irrigation system during the first national lockdown , he found that around 90 % of the tee sprinklers were broken ! Thankfully , his knowledge and experience of Headland ’ s TriCure AD™ saved the day .
“ It was a really hot period and we were seeing a loss of coverage on both the greens and the tees very quickly . We began using TriCure AD™ on the greens , which helped to retain any moisture near the surface , and in turn the roots , but this also penetrated through the pan layer and in just twelve months , the pan effect has gone . Our recent soil samples showed new deeper rooting through the profile . We also used
TriCure AD™ on the tees and , alongside getting the sprinklers replaced , this undoubtedly saved the tees .”
TriCure AD™ multi-molecular soil surfactant improves soil surface dry-down and prevents hydrophobic conditions . Its three different active surfactant chemistries mean that it can treat all types of rootzone particles and can be applied at much lower rates ( like for like ) than competitor surfactants . “ We are now applying TriCure AD™ on a monthly basis throughout the summer , on all greens , tees and approaches . In the winter we switch over to monthly applications of Terafirm™ advanced soil penetrant which has been really impressive .”
“ Because we try and keep inputs to a minimum as part of our organic matter control , you can just begin to tell when the Terafirm™ is reaching the end of its field longevity and then , after spraying , the difference is quickly noticeable - the greens are firm , dry and free-from puddling . We had some lovely feedback from local Course Managers on the condition of our greens , even following the heavy rainfall we saw in January of this year .”
Richard concludes , “ I used Headland products at my previous club and have always been impressed with the results . This is the first time I ’ ve been responsible for pricing up supplies and , having seen that the Headland products were competitive , we have converted our entire nutritional programme over to Headland over the last 15 months with fantastic results course-wide .” www . headlandamenity . com
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