We are bringing back the „Greenkeeper’s Corner“, a series of articles featuring the head greenkeeper Ben Lovett, an insight into what is going on behind the scenes at Albatross.
The course is in great shape after winter
Season 2019 at Albatross has started on the second to last week of March. Not only that is exceptionally early, it is an earliest opening in the club history. And what an opening it is when it comes to quality of the course. Ben Lovett the head greenskeeper is more than satisfied with the condition of the course, his team has done a lot of good work over the winter. He refers to the overall condition as very good, with little to no disease on the turf. Special mention is the greens, which were already running 10 on the stimp-meter during the opening weekend. If you decide to become a regular reader of the Greenkeeper’s Corner, you will learn what stimping is and how it is actually measured. What is even more interesting, than the speed of the greens, is the firmness. Thanks to deep aeration in autumn 2018 Ben can already roll the greens this early in the year and therefore the putting surface is immaculate.
Spring aeration is necessary
Those of you who already got the chance to enjoy the course at Albatross might ask themselves: what is to come? And yes you are right, the greens need to get the aeration treatment in order to further increase the quality. Ben and his team will do this process in the upcoming month. If you were worried that there will be holes in the greens that are centimeter in diameter, you would be wrong. Ben will drill the greens with cross tines and afterwards roll the greens and apply gentle top-dress. This will ensure the surface is still running true and will not ruin your game of golf. This process is not planned firmly yet, because Ben needs to respond to the increase in temperature, so the greens will recover quickly. With higher temperature the regular fertilizing process will begin as well. Ben will start fertilizing with seaweed, which helps root growth and overall health of the plant. He will also apply wet agent, which helps to keep water in the soil. This reduces the amount of water used for irrigation by 30%. Leas but not least the team will seed the tees and approaches with the same grass that already works well in the fairways.
Finalizing the winter projects
In the first episode of the Greenkeeper’s Corner, last month, we have told you about some major projects that were taking place. Two of these, ones that are almost finished, are the new short game practice facility and the water reservoir. The reservoir, which will help to keep the course in the best possible shape even during dry summer months, is almost finished, and Ben Lovett is happily overseeing it being filled with water. For two weeks already water is being punped into the aertificial lake and already the water level is in the past maximum, at 65000 cubic meters of water. It will take 4 to 6 more weeks to fill the reservoir to the brim, which will mean over 100 000 cubic meters of water at disposal. The new short game area has been already been completely turfed and Ben compliments the team on a job well done. In the upcoming weeks landscaping is planned to improve the looks of the facility and ensure safety. Ben is confident in opening the area for players next month.
If you find the behind the scenes information interesting, make sure to keep an eye on the news section on our webpage. We will keep posting fresh content on regular basis. You can enjoy new stories from Ben every month as well as other interesting information.