Course Report The greens are in very good condition despite the hammering they have had over the last number of months. No further attacks of disease have been detected since November and while there are signs the greens are very slowly starting to recover from the damage caused by the Microdochium disease, full recovery will only happen when temperatures rise and growth takes off, hopefully within the next month. However a lot of the greens have moss on them and this needs to be addressed. This is more prevalent in the older greens and is due to the retention of moisture. The moss will be eliminated by first apply Iron Sulphate followed by linear aeration and top dressing (which is due to commence around now anyway). Finally when the greens have recovered from linear aeration they will be treated by air injection. A root zone analysis of the greens will be carried out by the end of March to determine the nutrients requirements and by April Colm and Michael Foxe will have a revised Course Management Programme in operation to maintain and improve the course further. Leaf tissue analysis will also be carried out every month from May to October. The fairways are in very good condition with plenty of grass and are firming up well. This is a result of the top dressing programme which is now running about 10 years. This can be seen if any of the fairways are compared with the practice ground which has had no top dressing. The tees are standing up well to their use throughout the winter so far. Up to now the only mats in use were the par 3’s and the 1st yellow and 7th Blue The winter programme is continuing with the work on the pathway along the ninth red hole completed. However it was pointed out that part of the workshop avenue is pot-holed and needs attention. Work on the ladies 8th red tee and the 6th blue/5th red tees have been completed. Two of the stone bridges have been finished and we are awaiting material to complete the other two. Over the next week or so the woodland between the 8th red green and ninth red tee will be tidied up and under-planting of new trees will take place. Already a number of multi-stem silver birch have been planted between the ninth tee and the workshop. Up to recently double and treble works were been carried on the bunkers as the sand was continually washed down from the sides with the rain and compacted. However no water logging was seen in the sport bond based bunkers. Finally I would like to congratulate all the members who normally use the sand bags and to everyone who responded to the request by management to repair divots and pitch marks. This will add greatly to the upkeep of the course. Well done and please keep up the good work. Michael Purcell Course Convenor
Malahide Golf Club FORE! Spring Edition 2016
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