United Kingdom
June 14, 2016
Formed in 1923, Ballyclare Golf Club is a beautifully matured, 18 hole course—set in parkland—with tree lined fairways and natural water hazards; including the meandering Ilsekelly river.
After a six year hiatus without one, the club recently added a dedicated Head Greenkeeper to steer its ship, as part of an overall improvement programme. Gavin White joined in February, to lead a busy team of five.
From a farming family originally, Gavin had always been interested in grass. After a horticulture diploma at agricultural college and some work experience at Royal Portrush, he entered his first green keeping job in 1999—at the tender age of 18.
Today, Gavin is currently half way through a foundation degree in sports turf management. So his new role was an opportunity to get his teeth stuck into some real practical problem solving; and a chance to bolster his research paper—albeit using his own research methods! We caught up with Gavin to learn about his conscientious approach.
Gavin says: “Having worked at Portstewart Golf Club for 14 and a half years and Royal Portrush for 2 and a half years—clubs with solid, regular investment—it was a bit of a culture shock coming to Ballyclare, but an exciting challenge at the same time.”
Aeration challenge
“One of my biggest challenges, is aeration. Or should I say, lack of. In fact, aeration hasn’t taken place in 10 years—at least not on fairways. Things could be worse, but whenever it rains the clay surface can hold water quite badly, leading to the course being closed a lot more than it should be.
“However, once it gets down into the profile, it does drain away. So my objective right now, is getting plenty of sand in to it, to dilute the thatch and get more oxygen in. The ground was totally anaerobic before.”
On the region’s wet and windy weather, Gavin says: “I think this year it rained from 1st November and didn’t stop until Easter. The course was too wet and electric buggies were cutting the place up. So as well as more aeration, the grass needs plenty of top dressing and over sowing.
“We’re using Barenbrug BAR EXTREME. The cultivars are highly rated on STRI’s performance chart, and it’s value for money. It does exactly what it’s supposed to, with fantastic germination rates and good colour, good wear, good recovery and it’s not too hard to keep. It’s easily maintained… ideal for producing better quality tee boxes and grass paths.”
Replacing annual meadow grass
“We also have a fair bit of unsightly Poa annua. It’s very nutrient dependent and doesn’t cope with stress. It’s not as bad as some and we have a foundation of browntop bent already, so it’s just a matter of over seeding and raising the height of cut. For that we’re using Barenbrug BAR ALL BENT, to help us produce a firm, smooth, dry surface.
“While there are other brands with higher ratings, nothing comes close to its winter greenness. The top variety has weak colour at 3.9 in the STRI ratings; BAR ALL BENT has an average of 6.4 winter greenness. It’s extremely fine leafed and gives us the winter colour and all round presentation of the greens we’re looking for.”
Next steps?
“My priority is overseeding, top dressing and aeration… on the fairways. We’re also investing in the machinery side of things as well. This month (June) we’re Verti-Draining fairways and again in mid-October: weather dependent obviously. Our plan, budget wise, is to put on a 1000 tonnes of top dressing over 18 fairways. And hopefully over sow, with 25 to 35 grams per square metre. We’re not sure what with yet—possibly BAR PLATINUM.”
Tell us about your research degree?
“I'm just finishing up a research paper on low temp germination of Lolium species BAR 50 SOS vs A999 Rescue and a control mix. You'll be pleased to hear that the SOS had the best results even though our methods could have been improved, according to Barenbrug’s Research and Development Manager, Dr David Greenshields, and Dr David Johnson of the AFBI Loughgall!
“However, I’m still convinced. I’ve been using Barenbrug for almost 20 years and it is consistently better, and streets ahead of anything else for germination.”
Final comments?
“Dr Greenshields, is a real source of support. He’s always on hand and answers questions via email very quickly. Great if you take a more research-based approach to problem-solving, like me. Thanks also to Kyle Irwin from Greentech Sportsturf who continually goes out of his way to assist myself and the team in any way possible.”
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