Yelverton Golf Club

Greens Department

Autumn Newsletter 2011

Course:
Another very indifferent year weather wise for us here at Yelverton. We have been receiving high numbers of positive comments from Members and Visitors, and I hope that you have all enjoyed your golf here. From a maintenance point of view, we have been very pleased with how the course has been presented and how well it has played this season. We continue to work hard towards producing firm, fast and consistent Greens here at Yelverton. A recent Agronomy Report has highlighted how much progress is being made, but there is still plenty of work ahead of us. On the whole the Greens are performing extremely well, but there are still issues with some of the wetter Greens, e.g. 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 12th. A programme of drainage works, along with continuing the process of improving the surface profile and surface drainage qualities through tining and coring, will see an increase in desirable grass species in these areas and therefore an improvement in the year round performance of the Greens.

Projects:
We have completed some recent projects including the improvement of the path network leading off the 13th and 18th Greens. This was carried out to improve traffic wear issues and the aesthetics of the area. The Chipping Green has been reconstructed and reshaped. The main objectives were to extend the size of the Green to allow multiple users of the area and also to replicate the same characteristics we have on the Greens around the course. A new practice bunker will also be installed alongside the Green.

Bunkers: Pending projects include the redevelopment of 12th RHS greenside bunker. At present this bunker is very deep which brings both access and playability issues. This bunker will be raised with the face reconstructed to remove the overhang and encourage the golf ball to roll back to the middle of the bunker for a more acceptable bunker shot to the Green. The face will be constructed in a revetted style using synthetic turf. This is a relatively new process that has now been used on many courses including St Andrews and Turnberry. If successful, we intend to replicate it on other bunkers, where we feel that it will eliminate the overhang issues and help reduce erosion and animal damage. The new practice bunker will be constructed in the same way.

Practice Ground: As well as the redevelopment of the Chipping Green area, there are plans for the continuing improvement of the other areas of the practice facilities. Winter practice mats will be installed on both practice tees to alleviate winter divot damage. A safe practice swing area is to be installed behind the 1st tee. These are all due to be installed this year. In the early spring of next year, all nine target Greens will be redeveloped to improve size and visibility. Nine winter tee mats will also be installed on the practice range so that the nine Greens can be played as a short course. A timetable will be drawn up so that the area can be used either as a short course or as a practice range, but never the two together, for safety reasons.

Winter Projects: The winter programme this year will include some small path upgrades to improve traffic wear issues, some selected gorse and scrub tree removal throughout the course to improve access and reduce the age of the gorse. There will also be some small drainage tasks to complete in and around some of the wetter Greens, e.g. 1st, 5th and 8th, to improve flow rate of water away from the surfaces.
You will notice again this year that the Commoners Association will be swailing some areas of gorse behind our in-play areas of the course. In conjunction with the Commoners, we have placed some firebreaks on the perimeters of the holes to ensure the safety of the Users and to avoid losing gorse alongside the holes. We will endeavour to make all Members and Users aware of when any swailing will be taking place. You may also have noticed that work to clear and expose the old Devonport leat has been taking place near the golf course. This work is being carried out by volunteers, under the supervision of the Dartmoor Preservation Association (DPA). The DPA have kept the land users, including the Golf Club, very well informed of any works that have been or are to be carried out.

Finally, to receive many very positive comments about the condition of the course from both Members and visitors is much appreciated; it is all down to the efforts of the Green keeping team. I would like to say thank you to the team - Adam, Mike, Neville and Mark for all their hard work.

George Pitts
Course Manager