The Kempton Chronicle- Aug 14

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The Kempton Park Chronicle nr4
From the desk of the Director of Golf
GOOD DAY, GOEIE DAG, SAWUBONA,
Isn’t the weather great this time of the year. The fairways are dry there is no rough and the greens fast and true. It won’t be long
before the real rains come and the course is transformed into a green haven with long tough rough and soft slow greens.
We are hollow tining in 2weeks time. I know it seems unreal that we have to “mess up” the great greens we have at the
moment, however it is a necessary evil which shows its benefits year in and out when our greens return to being enjoyable to
play on.
Development Clinic
Our Saturday morning group pictured below has increased to an average of 15 kids and I would personally like to thank Nick
Oliver who is the Son in Law of Oom Thys van Dijk for his generous financial contribution to the helping of these kids.
Nic, myself, the 3 apprentices, Sam, Frans and the kids.
Two of these kids are now representing our Junior handicap side, well done to Gontse and Tankiso on their selection.
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Course News
The re sodding of the 15th green went really well and all indications are that it was a great success. The slight change in design
would also give us a whole batch of additional pin positions to choose from.
The new areas are cut
The foreign grass being removed
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HOLLOW TINING
As we are hollow tining soon (26th, 27th and 28th of August 2013), I have inserted a short little explanation as to why?
Aerate or Die
Well here goes.
A strong vigorous growth of any grass needs a healthy environment where there are sufficient nutrients in the
soil, sufficient moisture, sun light and air movement. The grass roots need to go deep so that they are not subject
to sharp variations in moisture content as the weather changes. Our greens were built on a 150mm layer of sand
about 28 years ago, very carefully graded so that rainfall or water quickly drains away but sufficient nutrients are
retained by the soil for growing healthy grass and at the same time provide a firm even surface that allows a well
struck ball to pitch and stop and a well struck putt to run true.
Once a green is in play the two major problems of a green keeper are compaction and thatch build-up. Compaction
is caused by traffic, primarily foot traffic in the case of greens, but also equipment and especially rollers that are
applied prior to and during tournaments and special events to get the greens smooth. Rolling a green has far more
impact on the stimpmeter reading that lowering the cutting height. An average hole has about 500m² of green,
1000 m² of tees and 7 500 m² of fairway. It stands to reason that the greens are going to become compacted.
Even a green that is regularly cut short will show significant thatch development and, on sand based greens, the
formation of a thin layer of modified soil at the surface which is often relatively impervious.
Aeration is the most effective defence against compaction and thatch build-up. There are various ways to aerate
but the most effective is hollow tining whereby a core of soil is removed from the green and replaced with new
sand. The core must be long enough to penetrate any layer development and to extend nearly to the limits of root
growth. There are other methods of aerating such as verti-draining, verticutting, water injection, spiking and the
like. Unfortunately, whilst hollow tining is the most effective, it is also the most disruptive as far as the playing
surface is concerned. Hollow tining itself can use different sizes and spacing and lengths of tines. The current
practice is to hollow tine twice a year but this is reviewed from time to time. The most effective time to hollow
tine is autumn and spring when the bent grass/poa annua is strong, healthy and recovers quickly. The top dressing
that follows the hollow tining and removal of cores also has an immediate positive effect on the entire grass
surface.
Greens that are not aerated will slowly deteriorate, the roots will become shallower, the grass becomes susceptible
to disease and infestation by foreign grasses, bare patches appear and the surface becomes uneven so that
eventually “to save the greens” the mowing height has to be raised.
I ask all our members and their golfing mates to be patient while the greens are recovering from the treatment.
Should my rain dance work and we are a bit fortunate it will rain on the 29th and the healing process can begin.
MOLES
We have also had our fair share of mole trouble over the past year or so. They are important in that they do help aerate the
ground, however when they get into the greens they cause havoc. Below is a picture of a mole that has been caught in one of
our traps supplied by one of our members Lee Ashford who owns Supa-Kill in Isando.
What a whopper this mole was, he is the one of a family of moles doing their bit on the 1st green. We plant the pipe in the
ground baited with pumpkin, potato or carrots, the mole crawls in eats itself into a coma and can’t get out as the ends of the
pipe have non return flaps on them. When we take them out they can hardly move, we relocate them to an area where they can
do their thing without harming the greens.
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This mole is alive
Dates to diarise in August and Mid September
Thursday 15th:
Effekto gof day
Friday 16th :
NG kerk Kempton Kruin
Thursday 22nd :
Gearlocks 2000 golf day
Friday 23rd :
Laerskool Bredell golf day
Saturday 24th :
Captains’ challenge
Sunday 25th :
EGGU U23 Open Course is closed the whole day
Monday 26th – Wednesday 28th : Hollow tining Course is closed however the Club is still open.
Thursday September 5th :
Trollope Mining golf day
Friday September 6th :
Transit golf day
Wednesday September 11th :
Wacky Wednesday
Thursday September 12th:
Edenglen Primary golf day
Friday September 13th :
Kempton Express/Jacks Paint/Liquor City/Sound Experience golf day
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Jack waiting for his breakfast outside the Halfway House
EQUIPMENT
This week I am discussing the differences in the various types of Wedges. I am sure that most of you have
at least 3 wedges in your bag. A Pitching wedge, Sand wedge and a Lob wedge. Some players might even
have a fourth wedge in the bag namely a Gap wedge.
What are the differences:
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Pitching wedge – Comes as part of the set of clubs usually with 48 or 49 degrees loft.
Gap wedge – 50-53 degrees of loft made to fill the gap between the Pitching and Sand wedge.
Sand wedge – 54-58 degrees of loft, meant to use in bunkers.
Lob wedge – 58 -64 degrees of loft, made to counter deep rough around the greens.
It can get rather complicated when discussing the various lie, loft and bounce angles. Experiment and work
out which wedge works best for you. One caution, REMEMBER THE SAND WEDGE IS MADE TO PLAY OUT
OF BUNKERS WITH, BE CAREFUL WHEN USING IT TO CHIP.
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Below is a small article from NIKE on their new wedges. Have a read and enjoy.
Nike Golf announces crafted Nike VR Pro Forged Dual-Sole wedge
Nike Golf is capitalizing on the success of its VR Pro forged wedges with the introduction of the highly crafted Nike VR Pro Forged Dual-Sole (DS)
wedge.
The Nike VR Pro Forged DS wedge is developed with a precise forging process, resulting in a wedge that offers accurate shot-shaping performance
and a greater propensity for low scoring. Built for Nike Golf Tour athletes, the VR Pro Forged DS wedge features a Dual-Sole grind, ensuring ideal
set-up from sand, fringe, fairway or deep rough. The Dual-Sole provides two distinct benefits:
· For normal square addressed shots, the sole has added leading edge bounce, but the trailing edge is relieved. This allows for utilization of the
bounce, which helps to eliminate digging but reduces the contact area so the club glides through the turf. The Dual-Sole also prevents bladed
shots.
· For open faced shots, a unique relieved heel design comes into play when the face is in an open position. This allows the leading edge to sit low to
the ball, especially on short flop shots.
The VR Pro Forged DS wedge features Nike’s high-frequency X3X grooves with a precision laser crosshatch pattern that is applied to the land area
between the grooves. This pattern adds three times the surface texture versus conventionally finished faces, creating more spin in all conditions.
With Nike’s X3X grooves, there are more grooves (20) that are closer together and deeper on the clubface, which provides more control and
consistency in all conditions off of the clubface, while conforming to the USGA and R&A rules.
Finish Options: Satin Chrome; Oxide (NEW); Platinum (NEW)
I trust you enjoyed. Have a wonderful month. See you on the greens.
Regards
Mike