WP Greens Care – February 2022

WP Greens Care Standing Committee

For lots more information about looking after your greens and details for contacting the Greens Care Standing Committee, please visit the dedicated Greens Care section of the WP Bowls website.

http://greenscare.wpbowls.co.za/

Condition of greens

With all the WP competitions up and running, we have unfortunately received more complaints about the condition of greens than usual. The high temperatures and strong winds may have contributed somewhat. But many of the complaints have to do with the speed of the green on the day. It would appear that some greens used over a weekend were last cut on the Friday morning. This may be barely acceptable for Saturday play but for Sunday events, with the grass still growing strongly, it is not fair to the players.
We are aware that bringing in staff over the weekend has cost implications, and many of our Clubs are struggling to contain expenditure. But we would ask GKPs and Club Presidents to do their best to offer well-prepared greens to those players, who in some instances, have to travel quite a distance to their venue.

Winter grass

If you believe in applying a pre-emergent product for the control of winter grass, then now is the time. When Kerb became available in 20L quantities only, a number of us changed to Lawntyl. If you were happy with the Lawntyl results, please stay with the product. However, if you wish to revert to Kerb, please get in touch with Vernon Dryden at vdryden@telkomsa.net He has offered to purchase in bulk and then distribute smaller quantities to Clubs as required.
Incidentally, an experienced GKP in the Boland has had great success in the treatment of winter grass with Simanex. If any of you have used the product, we would be grateful if you would share your experience via our Whatsapp group.

Footwear

With many Clubs trying to attract new members via Corporate and Fun days, it is difficult to prescribe the footwear to be worn. But there is overwhelming evidence that shows, and has been experienced by local clubs recently, that deep- grooved shoes can collect and redistribute fungi and other diseases very easily.

All Cape

As mentioned earlier, the weather has not been kind to many of our Clubs. At this stage, there are too many greens in the district which are not as good as one had hoped. To those Clubs who have offered to host the All Cape, we know you are working flat out to provide good greens for the players. If you do need any assistance, please give us a shout via WhatsApp.

The Merado

The aeration of ones’ green is not a once-a-year operation. Greens benefit from regular spiking or coring. The WPBA Merado has been repaired and is available once again to Clubs. Please contact Terry Drew (0837634007) or Bill McCarthy (0837117380) to arrange for its collection.

Mowing height

We continue to advise GKPs to avoid mowing below 4mm. There is a lot of evidence that shows that stressed areas, particularly in the prevailing weather conditions, can result from mowing too low.

Regular grooming with a 2mm cut into the canopy, followed by a brushing up, definitely enhances green speed and gives a desired smooth finish. We would also like to recommend a weekly brushing with a ROTARY MOWER before double cutting. This programme will give you speeds between 11.5 and 13.5 seconds which is in the BSA acceptable range.

Self-Evaluation Exercise

This exercise, which allows GKPs to assess their own greens and identify weaknesses or problems, proved most useful. One of its values is that it allows the GKP to take action prior to a visit from the Greenscare Committee. It also helps to focus on specific issues which can be discussed during a visit from either us or other turf consultants. Disappointingly, a number of Clubs did not respond. We will be asking those Clubs to submit their evaluations as soon as possible. It is not an arduous exercise and with the help of the greens staff, and maybe the Club member who always complains about the green (!), it is not too demanding.
If you did not receive the evaluation forms or guidance booklet, please let us know.