23/04/2026
SPRING COURSE UPDATE - High elms
Hi all,
April has been a highly productive and important month for course conditioning, with a clear focus on strengthening turf health, improving playing surfaces, and setting a solid foundation for the season ahead.
Extensive work has been carried out on the greens, including air injection and solid tine aeration. These processes are essential for relieving compaction, increasing oxygen exchange within the rootzone, and promoting deeper, healthier root growth. Following this, the greens have been top dressed and overseeded with bent grass, a key step in improving sward density, surface consistency, and long-term resilience. Early signs are encouraging, with improved surface uniformity already visible and strong germination expected as soil temperatures continue to rise.
Tees and approaches have also undergone significant renovation. These areas have been scarified to remove thatch and organic matter, followed by top dressing and overseeding. This work will enhance surface firmness, improve ball striking areas, and encourage finer turf species to establish, leading to more consistent playing conditions across all key areas of the course.
Fairways have been mechanically raked to clean the surface, stand the grass upright, and remove debris. This preparation work sets them up for the next phase, where a targeted nutrition programme will be applied in the coming weeks to drive growth, improve colour, and enhance overall presentation.
As we move into the main growing season, the focus will shift towards a robust and consistent nutritional programme. This will be supported by fortnightly verti-cutting on the greens to control lateral growth and thatch, each followed by light top dressing. Over the course of the season, we plan to apply approximately 120 tonnes of sand to the greens. This ongoing input is critical in maintaining surface firmness, improving drainage, and ensuring the greens remain true and consistent under play.
These combined efforts are designed to deliver noticeable improvements in ball roll, surface smoothness, and overall turf health. Members should expect firmer, more consistent greens that perform reliably throughout the season, along with cleaner, more defined tees, approaches, and fairways.
We would also like to acknowledge the presence of grubs within the greens, which has led to some disruption from bird activity. While this can affect surface presentation, we are actively managing the issue through a monthly treatment programme to keep populations under control. In addition, we will be applying a targeted chemical treatment following the crane fly larvae hatch and lay period in the autumn. This timing is critical to effectively break the lifecycle and significantly reduce the problem moving forward. In the meantime, we will continue to repair affected areas promptly and minimise disruption wherever possible.
Overall, the work completed in April represents a major step forward in course conditioning. With continued favourable weather and the planned maintenance programme in place, surfaces will continue to strengthen and improve as we progress through the season.
Best regards
Craig Simms
Regional Grounds manager
