This week whilst cutting the 16th green, the mower picked up a stone which severely bent the cutting blades, this halted progress for the day and the week.
A nice early present for Peter on his return from holiday, as you can see above from the picture the cutting blades needed grinding off and sharpening ready for cutting.

This is just one of the many interruptions that can effect the day to day runnings of the preparations of the golf course.

This Sunday, 4th June we have a carvery starting from 13:00. Book early as it is filling up quickly

Pitch Mark Repairing

If you repair a pitch mark badly it can actually do a lot more harm than if you had left it alone, so it's essential you know how to do it correctly

Make sure you can repair a pitch mark correctly

If you repair a pitch mark badly it can actually do a lot more harm than if you had left it alone, so it’s essential you know how to do it correctly.

It’s not just for the sake of the greens either, there is nothing more infuriating for a golfer than to see a perfect putt knocked off line, especially through no fault of their own.

But it is alarming how many golfers seemingly neglect to repair a pitch mark, don’t know how to repair a pitch mark in the correct way, or perhaps think they are not allowed to because of the Rules of Golf.

As you can see below, the end product of a badly repaired pitch mark is an ugly brown scar left on the green that not only looks awful, but that also affects the roll of yours and other peoples’ putts.

A badly repaired pitch mark

Successfully repaired pitch marks however, can heal within twice the time it takes for a half-hearted attempt, and look more like the images below.

A correctly repaired pitch mark

A nice picture of the flowers behind the 15th green. Amazing what increased feed and rainfall does to a area.

15th hole looking fantastic, thankfully we have had some rain recently which has seen major growth. The long lasting fertiliser is kicking in and the whole surroundings of the greens are thickening up, this fertiliser has a five month span which will see through the summer.

After a recent problem with the irrigation, a outside contractor had damaged a leading pipe and it was 1 week without any water on the whole course, thankfully plenty rainfall did not effect the course condition.

 The greenstaff are top dressing and over seeding the greens.

We have laid over 600 meter square of turf from the work over the winter, due to very dry conditions we have had to water these in on a daily basis otherwise the grass would curl and die off. within a week or so this will have been knitted in nicely and cutt.

The new starters hut looks fantastic, landscaped by our very own Chris Hunter from the green staff. A lot of hard work, well done and thanks Chris.

These pictures are areas on the course which we feel have become a bit tatty over time, paths are a big problem on many course that have the footfall of Pike Hills. We have been able to acquire some astro turf a which will dramatically improve these areas from a visual point of view.

There is still plenty of work required to complete these areas but it gives a idea of how they will look. the sides need filling and leveling off and they will be flush with the surrounding area. Then we will order turf and level it up to the edges, all this will be completed before the start of the season along with other path areas of concern which will bring a more consistent look to the paths.

The 8th hedge has now been removed, the fairway will be re shaped as soon as we get grass growth, The pathway will be removed and turfed, which by removing the path it will spread the wear through out the year.

This may also increase speed of play. :)

The boundary to the right of the 8th tee will be planted with a new hawthorn hedge to account for the removal of the original hedge, this will define the boundary of the golf course better and match the right hand side all the way down the hole.

Saturday 18^th February 7pm for 7:30

(A)Thai flavoured smoked salmon, prawn & chive fishcakes, salad greek yoghurt & cucumber dip & paprika 

Or        

                                                                                                                

(B)Brown onion soup with a pastry lid baked with fresh herbs  & red wine                                                                         =================                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 Champagne & Elderflower flavoured water ice                                                       =================                                                                                                                                                         

(C)Rack of English Lamb topped with crust of fresh mint minced chicken served with red current sauce                                                                                                           Or                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

(D)Pan roasted Mahi Mahi on roasted Mediterranean  vegetables, béarnaise sauce                                                                                                                     Or                                                                                 

(E)Vegetable nut and dried fruit roast with tomato Provençale                                                                                          

Market fresh vegetable and potato                                                                     ==================                                                                                                                                                     

Individual mango strawberry orange and kiwi fruit tarte, crème analgise and chocolate sauce

Burns night is coming to Pike Hills Golf Club, Friday 27th January from 7pm. All members and visitors are welcome, the menu looks great.

Come and join us for this fantastic evening of fun and fine dining, we have a piper booked to celebrate the arrival of the haggis, after the meal you can dance the night away to "sound out" disco..

The menu is below:

(A)Traditional Scotch Lamb Broth with Crusty Bread. 

(B)(Vegetable Broth available for Vegetarians.)

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Haggis Neeps & Tatties light Whiskey Cream Sauce(vegetarian available)

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(C)Steak & Ale pie with onion Yorkshire pudding 

 (or) (D)Baked Salmon Escalope Mussels and Prawns Fresh Herbs (or) (E)Stir Fried Vegetables & Halloumi, Chinese Soya and Hoi Sin sauces All served with market fresh vegetables & potatoes

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(F)Cranachan, Traditional Scotch Dessert with Toasted Oats, Malt Whiskey Fresh Raspberries Whipped Cream and Shortbread Biscuits. 

(or) (G)Biscuits and Cheese Grapes Celery and Biscuits

The table plan is up, for anyone attending please could you add your name to the plan and make payment in the office.

Some of the work the greenstaff have been undertaking in the last fortnight. Atypical time of year to do these much needed works.

This the willow to the right of the 7th tee near the front of the tee which will open up the area. some of the overhanging Canopies have been removed in line with the recommendations of the "Yorkshire Wildlife Trust"

Below Peter is removing the 10th hedge which for many years was OOB, thanks to advice from Yorkshire Union Of Golf Clubs, the OOB was removed and opened up.

The trees in the pond have also been removed to open up the pond which enables you to see it from both the 10th and 11th holes.

We have cleaned the entire run of ditches on the course, this is essential to allow the water to flow freely away from the course. Hopefully it enables the course to open more during the long winter months.

We have finished the bridge and now hand rails on the bridge over the 7th hole. This was becoming very weak and has been culverted. This will become the style of hand railings for any future bridges constructed. In Spring the area will be astro turfed, at the moment the weather will not allow this but it is expected in Spring.

Aeration - Compaction Relieve 

Soil compaction is one of the most common problems found on the golf course. This is mainly due to the fact that golf is played 365 days of the year in both dry and wet conditions. When the soil is wet, compaction problems are exacerbated. 
Compaction is also greatly influenced by the type of indigenous soil present; for example a clay-based soil is normally more prone to compaction than a sandy soil due to the nature of the soil particles (texture). If regular aeration work is not carried out, soil compaction will build up throughout the season. If this occurs the large pores within the soil structure (which influence the movement of water through the soil) are reduced or lost. If water cannot move through the soil, water logging of the surface will occur during rainfall. Other growth factors will also be affected such as beneficial bacterial activity, available oxygen and the uptake of nutrients. In this situation the grass sward will deteriorate quickly. 

Type of Aeration 

The most important principle is to make sure that the whole of the soil profile is aerated. This will allow water to move from the surface, through the soil profile and into the drainage system (once field capacity is reached) or to naturally filter away. However one of the biggest problems on fairways is deep compaction. 

Over the last 15 years the most significant innovation in deep compaction relieve has been the introduction of the Verti Drain type machine. On golf course fairways (and most other turf areas on the course) this type of machine is widely used as part of the overall program to relieve compaction. Verti drain treatment is normally restricted to once a year or every two years, although some clubs use it more regularly (normally the ones that own their own machine). 

There are no set guidelines for frequency or 'tine type' although turf managers normally prefer to use larger diameter tines in the autumn and the smaller tines in the spring, although number of treatments and timing depend on individual circumstances. It is also worth noting that the larger tine will cause more surface disruption, which might not be acceptable

We still have a few places available for New Years Eve Party Night.

New Years Eve
Time:7pm for 7:30pm
Cost :£27.50 (Including Entertainment)

please enquire for availability.

The conifer trees have been removed from the left hand side of the 14th Hole, this is to try and improve the fairways on the 10th and 14th holes, particularly around the green and bunker area. They take massive amounts of goodness out of the soil and also take natural sunlight.

We wait to see how it improves...........

 We have been working hard over the start of the winter, on recommendation of England Golf we have removed some of the tress around the pond which have come into play from the 10th tee. Along with removing the hedge this has opened up the whole area.
This will encourage growth of the other trees around the pond area with more natural light, as we have seen between the fifth and sixth holes. Along with the longer grass that we have grown up during summer it will still be very penal should you be in it.

The message is still keep straight and on the fairway!.

Men's November medal

Div1

1st  L Bond                      nett  70

2nd M Smith                    nett  71

3rd G Butcher                  nett  75

Div2

1st G Atkinson                 nett  69

2nd C Murray                  nett  73

3rd D Steel                      nett  73

Div3

1st K Stamp                     nett 72

2nd C McDaid                  nett  72

3rd B Dennis                    nett  76

HELP!

We need your help! We have made substantial investment and improvements to the golf course in the past 24 months, in particular the greens. Along with the STRI on board we have been able to improve the greens which you will see the benefits of during the winter months aswell with reduced thatch it makes them playable all year round. I hope you all agree?........... Unfortunately we are seeing in this early part of winter a large amount of un repaired pitchmarks which will cause long term damage to the greens. A successfully repaired pitch marks however, can heal within twice the time it takes for a half-hearted attempt, let alone a unrepaired pitch mark. At this time of year the players are mainly members so we know where they are coming from, lets protect our great course and help to make it even better. “Pitchmarks cause more damage than ANY disease or weather condition. Left unrepaired, pitch marks not only make a green look bad, they also interfere with putts. A properly repaired ball mark takes only a few days to heal. An unrepaired or improperly repaired mark can take three/four weeks! Please put a pitch fork in your pocket and repair any marks you see” Please please please could all players take some time to have a look for their pitchmark, and in doing so repair any others that are on the green which will lead to a quicker recovery. Thank you in advance David Bell Greens Chairman

On Friday night the 7th October Pike Hills welcomed Alex Stepney to the club, for a "evening with..."

It was a fabulous night and Alex was a great speaker.

Our thanks also go to Graham Bradbury for his help on the evening as host.


Pictured below from left to right are , Graham Bradbury, Alex Stepney, 2016 Club Captain Bill Hopcutt and House Chairman Martin Robinson.

Thanks to everyone for their support.

Work has started this week to Graden, which is essentially thatch removal from the putting surface. Below is some information on what Graden work:

Graden Contour:

Some golf courses have out of control organic matter, as bad as 12%. At that level they have no option than to mechanically remove it and put sand in instead to get the greens back to a healthier state – enter the Graden Sand Injector. Even if they have an acceptable level of organic matter a Graden fits into the maintenance scheme as prevention is always better than cure.

The Graden Contour Sand Injection machine is a scarifier/aerator with the ability to scarify to any depth from 1mm to 40mm, whilst simultaneously backfilling the grooves with either sand or a combination of sand and seed to improve drainage and rooting.

It works to remove thatch and organic matter that might impede water movement.  It sinks it into the ground incredibly deeply compared to a conventional scarifier using 2mm wide or 3mm wide blades spaced at 25mm centres to remove such matter and offer stability to the surface of the green.

The result is a lovely, true level surface with very little sign of any damage with only the parallel grooves visible. The green is playable virtually immediately, certainly playable within an hour or two. 18 greens would take between about 2 days to treat.

Full recovery can take upto 10 days dependant upon the climate and/or weather condition