St. Andrews Links Course updates

March 28, 2008

I found these course updates in the April 2008 St. Andrews Links newsletter.

Old Course
Fairway mats are no longer in operation on the Old Course and their use through the winter has been significant in helping present the course in such good condition for the new season. All fairways were sprayed with wetting agent and seaweed to help protect against early season drought. Gorse removal is continuing in preparation for The Open in 2010. We appreciate that this work can be disruptive and appears unsightly at first, but it is essential in order to allow either the regeneration of new, young gorse or the finer links grasses. A light application of fertiliser will be put on greens and immediate surrounds during April to encourage early spring growth. All aeration work was completed in March and now regular, light applications of top dressing will be applied to true and firm surfaces on greens. Overseeding work to selected areas of greens and fairways will be implemented towards the end of April while attention to presentation is uppermost in our thoughts as we near the start of the main playing season and we continue to prepare the surfaces.

New Course
All bunkers are back in play, with fresh sand added to those that were rebuilt and the remaining ones being topped up. The high winds of February and March added considerably to the workload because sand had to be constantly repositioned within bunkers. An application of liquid fertiliser has been given to greens and aprons to stimulate growth and tees will be overseeded and top dressed to aid recovery after winter play. A new astroturf path has been installed to take golfers from the tenth tee. This completes all the pathways on the New and Jubilee being converted to astroturf which is less noisy and messy than shell. New Course maintenance mornings will again be on Tuesdays, unless there is a competition scheduled for that day. Normal work schedules on maintenance mornings include top dressing, rolling, aerating or brushing the greens and surrounds, all with minimal disturbance to golf, to produce smooth, firm putting surfaces.

Jubilee Course
Course cutting and definition will increase during April, with greens getting cut at least five times per week and rolled twice. We will also use brushing to stand up any lateral growth prior to mowing. All areas are set to be sprayed with wetting agent to aid water infiltration. Herbicide application is likely to be given to fairways for weed control and some fertiliser applications may also occur later in the month if temperatures are suitable.

Eden Course
With the majority of our winter projects completed, work in April will concentrate on course preparation and presentation. Our mowing programme will be dictated by the weather: as temperatures rise, mowing frequency will increase. We will begin our top dressing programme on greens, aprons, tees and selected fairway areas to keep playing surfaces firm and true. Greens and aprons will be sprayed with seaweed and wetting agent along with some tees and other areas which are prone to drying out. Aeration work on high traffic areas will continue but with minimum disturbance to surfaces. All bunkers were topped up with sand and back in play for 1 April and our final winter project, re-routing the road that runs between the thirteenth and sixteenth holes should be complete, with the strip where the old road ran having been landscaped and turfed.

Strathtyrum Course
An iron based fertiliser has been applied to greens and tees to treat moss and suppress weeds. Bunkers have been filled with sand and the trimming of gorse is now complete. All the main tees are back in play, and so are all the bunkers. The fourth/eleventh green is also being used again. The cutting programme will be increased in April. Greens and tees will receive a main spring feed as well as aeration work.

Golf Practice Centre
A spring fertiliser will be applied to practice greens and tees. The worn astroturf to the south side of the building has been replaced. Play from mats at the short game area ceased on 1 April.

http://www.standrews.org.uk/news/newsletter/2008/LinksNewsApr08.pdf