these Open Championship Clubs choose to relief grind - Pitchcare

As editor of Pitchcare, I am
fortunate to interview many
greenkeepers and groundsmen at
all levels. The one uniting factor
is their dedication and
commitment to producing the best
quality playing surfaces they can, with
the resources they have available.
Quite often, I am amazed at what is
being achieved at the lower levels, often
with the bare minimum of equipment
and staff.
So, when I got asked to visit Aqualate
Golf Club in Newport, Shropshire, just
down the road from ‘Pitchcare Towers’,
by their Head Greenkeeper, Dan
Groome, it was another opportunity to
see how a facility on a shoestring budget
was coping. [and it kept the travel
expenses down!]
Dan has been at the club for fourteen
years. The layout is somewhat unusual in
that it has ten greens and eighteen tees,
providing a 5,659 yard, par 69 course,
made up of two par 5s, five par 3s and
eleven par 4s. A scattering of bunkers
and water hazards, plus new tree
planting, has increased the difficulty of
the course. The team are currently
building a new 2nd green. There is also a
driving range on the site.
Aqualate occupies a fairly flat area of
land to the east of the town, on the
junction of the two main road arteries,
the A41 and A518.
The course was created without a lot of
fuss, simple self build greens laid down
on the natural local soils, ranging from
free draining sandy soils to local deposits
of clay, and anything in between.
Therefore, the performance of the
greens is dictated by the underlying soil
types, with some drying out quickly,
whilst others retain water.
Dan knows every inch of the course,
and is well aware of the differing
maintenance needs of each hole in terms
of watering and fertiliser requirements.
For the first eleven years, Dan had the
assistance of Mike Thomas and, although
now way past retirement age, Mike still
helps out in the summer; “I’m such a
good boss he just doesn't want to leave,”
jokes Dan.
Three years ago Dan was joined by
Sam Mullinder, who had been taking
Media Studies at a local college, but
fancied a change of direction. “I’m glad
he did,” says Dan, “as his help and
willingness to learn has been invaluable.”
With the addition of Joe Daws six
months ago, Dan now feels he has the
staff to continue to improve the course.
Greens maintenance is the big issue
here,” explains Dan. “With each one
requiring something slightly different
from the other, we have to have a degree
of flexibility. I have set up a liquid
feeding programme utilising a variety of
products, with some finely tuned tank
mixing. We mainly tend to use Headland
products, but are not averse to using
other branded products, if they are right
for the job. That includes different forms
of nitrogen, seaweed, tonics, humic acids
Golf
etc., all applied on a weekly basis.”
“On average, we apply between 50 and
80 kg/ha of N and double that of K.
Headland do leaf tissue samples to help
us monitor nitrogen levels and other
macro nutrients.”
“A ‘typical’ summer feed will consist of
40kg/ha N46 urea, 15lts/ha Seamac
Proturf and 10lts/ha Seamac Ultra Plus.
This gives a consistent clipping yield for
the week, enough growth to recover from
wear and exceptional colour. Other
products we use include Turf Complex,
N46 urea soluble and 15:0:25.”
“We aerate in the spring and autumn,
using our Wiedenmann G160, utilising a
combination of 8mm, 12mm and three
quarter inch tines.”
Greens are mown at 4mm in the winter
and 3mm in the summer. Tees are kept
at 14mm in winter and 10mm in the
summer. Fairways are mown at 17mm in
the summer and raised to 20mm in the
winter. Approaches are kept at 10mm,
whilst the semi rough is maintained at
50mm all year round.
Dan has built up a reasonable shed of
equipment, over time, that includes a
John Deere 2500E Hybrid electric
cylinder mower, John Deere 2653 tees
mower, John Deere 3235C fairway
mower, a John Deere 1600 turbo rough
mower, a Propass topdresser, and the
aforementioned Wiedenmann G160 deep
aerator.
Machinery maintenance is undertaken
by Dan. “We do all our machinery
servicing in-house. It’s more of a case of
necessity than anything else. I’m very
much ‘self taught, picking up things as I
go along. I always say that, if you
approach problems with the right
attitude, there is nothing you cannot
learn or, indeed, fix yourself!”
“I am fortunate that, four years ago,
the club agreed to buy me a set of
Bernhard's cylinder and bottom blade
grinders, after looking at how much we
spent on having our grinding
oursourced. This decision was based on a
return of investment in five to six years,
but I believe we have already broken
even, as we did not consider the fact that
we can get the full working life from a
bottom blade, against when we sent the
“I always say that, if you
approach problems with
the right attitude, there is
nothing you cannot learn
or, indeed, fix yourself!”
Dan Groome, Head Greenkeeper, Aqualate Golf Club
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 PC 33