Mytton Fold Golf Club

Course Management Terminology and Science

All procedures are carried out at certain times much dictated by weather conditions at a particular time of year. Many procedures in autumn need to be well in advance of any frost risk. I hope you will understand that we do not do these things to the course to get in anyone’s way or to annoy anyone. We are simply trying to create a golf course that is playable all year round.
Thank you, Patrick and the team.

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Verti-draining.
A process much like a pitchfork but on a massive scale. It is designed to punch holes deep into the soil profile. At the bottom of the each hole it produces a flex which fractures the subsoil. Which, in turn, creates air and water movement through to fractured ground. These spaces are then taken up by fresh root growth, giving a stronger grass sward and deeper roots to take nutrient and minerals from the soil profile.

Dressing the greens. 
Top dressing the greens is done to help dilute thatch build up within the greens surface, it is also done to improve surface evenness which in turn will help with more consistent ball roll.

Brushing greens.
Brushing greens is done to move the sand top dressing into the holes that the verti draining has left, it helps to improve the evenness of the turf surface.

Leather-jackets & Worms Treatment
In September Leather-jackets and Chafer grubs start to become active, eating the roots of grass plants. They are laid into the soil by Crane flies and Chafer beetles. Typically in autumn the soil profile becomes wetter and the worms come to the surface causing worm casts. These pests are all treated by spraying chemicals on the greens, please take note of the signs around the golf shop informing you when this is happening.

Fusarium Treatment. 
Fusarium patch (Fuzz), is a fungus, is very active in the autumn. It loves the warm wet conditions of heavy morning dew with the summer warmth still in the ground and can spread vigorously. The problem can be accentuated by the treatment for Leather-jackets, Chafer grubs and worms which tends to kill some of the biology of the soil profile making the grass more susceptible to diseases like Fusarium.

Dollar Spot.
Dollar spot lesions on leaves are a pale, bleached colour. They are bound at either end by a darker reddish-brown band separating the affected tissue from the healthy green tissue. Small (dollar size) spots of bleached turf occur on close mown grass. The spots may coalesce to form large areas of affected turf. White mycelium may be present on affected areas on dewy mornings, which disappear as the leaves dry.

Top Dressing.
We use 100% sand top dressing to top up the sand based greens. Sand helps the water and air movement through the soil depth using the pore spaces in the sand particles. It also helps to create a level surface for more even ball roll. We use a mixture of Bent and Fescue grass seed, to over seed the greens and this tends to be done in autumn before any risk of frost which would damage the seed.

Fertilizing the greens.
Over the last 24 months we have been working closely with Origin and they have put a 12 month plan in place for the care and fertilizing of the greens, please take note of the signs around the golf shop when this is being done.