Dunnikier golf course information

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Dunnikier golf course information

A page for giving information on ongoing improvements and also changes at Dunnikier Park Golf Course.
(6)

31/08/2024

Greens Maintenance - Week Beginning Monday 9th September

It's that time of year again when we need to carry out vital maintenance to the greens. The reason for carrying out the work now instead of later in the year is that the greens will recover quicker and the surfaces will be better going into winter and spring.
Having monitored the greens performance throughout the year and using the data from the recent greens performance testing (the report will be published once we have a digital copy) we are going to carry out a targeted approach to the greens.

The work being carried out is:
Greens 1,4,12,18 - double verticut, dyancore with 6mm tines to a depth of 30mm and top dress.

Greens 2,5,6,7,8,9,11,13,14,15,16,17 - double verticut, hollowcore with 13mm tines to a depth of 40mm, overseed and top dress.

Greens 3&10 - double verticut, dynacore with 6mm tines to depth of 30mm and Graden sand inject (deep scarify) to a depth of 25mm

To carry out this work safely and efficiently we will close 9 holes at a time, with the plan being:
Monday and Tuesday - Front 9 open - back 9 closed
Wednesday and Thursday - Front 9 closed - back 9 open
Please note that the planned work is subject to weather conditions and delays or changes to the closures may be made at short notice.

Please find attached links to some of the work we will be carrying out:
https://www.fine-turf.co.uk/plant-machinery/graden-contour-sand-injector

https://www.greentek.uk.com/products/dyna-corer/

https://www.greentek.uk.com/products/thatch-away-supa-system/

https://www.usga.org/content/dam/usga/images/course-care/infographics/ins-and-outs-aeration.pdf

Regards
Greenstaff

31/07/2024

We have a working irrigation system again and just in time for the warm weather 😎
With the new controller also fittted, we can run irrigation thru the night when needed and also target dry spots by hand watering with wetting agent tablets which help push water thru the dry areas.

30/07/2024

I’m guessing raking the bunker after play was too much of an ask for someone!
Unfortunately this is becoming more and more common on a daily basis just now.

28/07/2024

2nd Green Repairs

With staff on annual leave and various competitions taking place we have been unable to carry out any repairs to the damage caused by the hydraulic hose leak on the 2nd green.
We are now back to a full team of staff and will therefore be carrying out the following work to the affected areas ONLY:
1) Using one dynacore aeration unit to mini core the damaged area and remove cores.
2) Apply a mix of Rye, Fescue and Bent grass seed and brush into the core holes.
3) Top dress with Rootzone, allow to dry then brush into core holes.
4) Roll the cored surface with our Tru Turf.

We plan to carry out this work tomorrow afternoon (Monday 29th July).
To carry out this work safely and efficiently, we will put a temporary hole position on the approach short of the main green, as soon as the work is completed the main green will be back in play.

Thanks in advance for your understanding.

Regards
Greenstaff.

16/07/2024

We’ve had a few questions regarding sand on the greens.
As mentioned in the course update posted on July 6th - we planned to aerate and apply fertiliser to the greens WB 8th July and top dress with sand at somepoint during July.

Having checked three weather forecasts and all forecasting heavy rain Tuesday thru to Wednesday night, it was decided to carry out the top dressing with the aeration, brush and roll the greens before applying the granular fertiliser with the rain washing in the sand to the soil profile and breaking down the fertiliser.
Unfortunately the heavy rain did not materialise as hoped and with our irrigation system being out of action, some sand is till noticeable on the greens.
There have been some heavy down pours today that will help wash the sand in and as the fertiliser continues to kicks in, the grass with grow through the sand much quicker.

Regards
Greenstaff

11/07/2024

Out with the old and in with the new at the 12th
One of the valves was faulty so took the opportunity with the pump being down to replace both valves, hose point and isolation valve.
Area around the valve box will be marked as GUR until the turf has recovered.

06/07/2024

Course Update

They say things happen in three's and unfortunately for us that was the case this week! At the beginning of this week, bearings collapsed on the front axle of our tractor taking it out of use, mid week seals on our irrigation pump failed due to faulty float switch taking the whole irrigation system out of use and then we unfortunately experienced a hydraulic hose burst on our greens mower, taking that out of use for a few days.
The heat from the hydraulic oil will have killed off the turf that the oil contacted, once the full extent of the damage has been assessed we will put a plan in place to repair the damage.

Greens
We have been pushing the greens recently with regular mowing, verticutting and rolling to improve green speeds and help produce smoother surfaces.
To help reduce surface compaction and improve air movement within the soil, we will be solid tining the greens on Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th July, we will mow the greens after this work to minimise any surface disruption.
A granular fertiliser will be applied after the aeration is completed.
We will also be applying a light top dressing during July, this will be carried out as and when weather and the golf calendar allows.

Irrigation System
The electrical issue we have been experiencing with our irrigation system has been traced back to the irrigation controller which we use to set and run irrigation programmes.
The controller is over twenty five years old and circuit boards are beginning to fail so the decision has been made to install a new controller, which will be carried out by our irrigation contractor on 22nd July.

Nature Restoration Fund (NRF)
As part of the NRF, the trust courses are committed to adding areas of meadows/long grass to encourage wildlife, fauna etc.
We have added or extended these areas on various parts of the course.
Taking into account FGT's ethos of golf for everyone - we have tried to create meadows in areas that are on the side of par 3's and around tee areas while limiting the main in play areas.
These meadow areas will be cut down and collected at the end of each summer and raked with our Terrarake, over time this will reduce the density of the grass and promote thinner, whisper grass.
The other benefit of growing these meadow areas is that we are mowing less semi rough and the time we are saving is being used to cut quick growing/thicker areas of semi rough twice a week instead of just once a week.

Course Set Up
Over the past few weeks we've had some questions, queries, moans and groans regarding course set up in terms of tee marker and hole positions. We set the course up for play as below:
Tees - the markers are positioned at the front of every tee at the beginning of the season and moved towards the back of the tee where the distance marker is, once the tee markers reach this point they are then moved back to the front of the tee and repeated throughout the season, this along with divoting allows the tee to recover.
The frequency at which the tee markers move from front to back will be dictated by the size of tee and the level of ware/play.

Hole positions - we generally try to move the hole positions in a clockwise direction throughout the year, weather and ground conditions will sometimes restrict this - that and some of the guys forgetting which direction clockwise is!
This allows us to spread the wear around the green and by the time the hole position had rotated around the green there will have been adequate recovery and the holes plugs should have fully healed/knitted together with the turf.

Robotic Mower
You may have seen the Kress robotic mower working on the 10th hole, the mower works by following an area marked out by GPS and is set up and controlled through an app on a phone or tablet.
The two week trial was successful and while the robotic mowers are not designed to reduce staff numbers, they are being introduced as a tool to help greenkeepers.
These robotic mowers are becoming more common on golf courses around the UK and Europe.

Regards
Greenstaff

05/07/2024

🚨Notice🚨

Unfortunately our greens mower has experienced a significant hydraulic hose burst on the 2nd green this morning, the area affected has been top dressed with sand and the hole positioned away from the area.
Please do not stand in the sand as this will carry the oil across areas of the green.
There will be an update on how we repair this in the next 7 days.

22/06/2024

On Monday morning we are beginning a demonstration of a robotic mower at the 10th hole.
Please do not interfere with any of the equipment.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=a_XnnoWvgSIuBDQn&v=gUNUNJCui5A&feature=youtu.be

20/06/2024

Our greens cutting units have been to the workshop for a sharpen this week, set at 4mm and with a verticut yesterday we are out cutting and rolling today and will cut & roll Friday and Saturday also, this will help improve the trueness and green speed.

19/06/2024

🚨 NOTICE 🚨
Regardless if you have a tee booking or not, there is strictly NO golf before the first bookable tee time which is currently 7.06am.
Over the past few weeks we’ve seen more and more golfers teeing off much earlier than 7.06am with the first group today putting out on the 1st at 6.58am.
This allows the greenstaff to carry out our morning duties both safely and efficiently.

Thank you

31/05/2024

Course is open.

Having reviewed the course again, rental and personal buggies are now permitted - please take care as some areas of rough are still wet, the fairways are generally drier.

With this weeks weather and the seniors open on Tuesday we’ve lost a lot of mowing time and have been limited in what we have been able to cut.
We’ve also had a hydraulic motor fail on our rough mower which has left uncut patches, a new motor is due in from the states this weekend and will be fitted as soon as we have it.

Greens have been verticut, cut and rolled today but remain very soft.

Please repair pitchmarks.

Have a great weekend ⛳️ ☀️

Greenstaff

30/05/2024

The course will remain closed today, the 35mm of rain that fell yesterday has taken its toll on the course.
The wind is picking up as is the temperature so hopefully we’ll be open in the morning.

29/05/2024

COURSE UPDATE

Yet another afternoon of heavy rain, this time with thunder and lightning closing the course for remainder of the day - there will be an update in the morning.

Some weather stats:
Rain total May 2023 = 26mm - May 2024 = 135.8mm (so far)
Last seven days 119mm

I realise that the weather is mentioned quite a bit in these updates, however it has a significant impact on what work we do on the course but also on the playability of the course - dry firm greens will produce a quicker putting surface with wet soft greens being considerable slower even if the height of cut and maintenance practices are the same.
The course is very soft at the moment with water lying in several areas. The warm soil temperatures are creating considerable grass growth which brings the challenge of dispersing wet grass clippings and we are doing all we can with the blowing equipment we have.

Hopefully the month of June is kinder to us weather wise and we will continue with our frequent verti-cutting to the greens with a light top dressing also planned.
Dry cutting conditions will also allow us to present the course to a much higher standard than we've been able to do recently.

We will also be replacing faulty irrigation components within the valve boxes on the 2nd and 12th holes as faults and leaks have been identified, an electrical issue which is affecting certain greens is also being investigated by our irrigation contractor and should hopefully be repaired soon.

Please continue to repair pitchmarks especially during this time when the greens are soft.

Many thanks
Greenstaff

29/05/2024

The course is open but it’s very wet due to the continuous heavy rain showers.
For safety reasons there is no rental or personal buggies permitted today.

24/05/2024

Course is now open.

There’s standing water in several areas of fairway and rough with most bunkers flooded however the greens are dry.

For safety reasons and due to the wet ground conditions there is no rental or personal buggies allowed out today.

24/05/2024

After last nights rain the course is currently closed.
There will be an update at 11am to see if we can re open then.

16/05/2024

Having caught up with the mowing, strimming and spraying etc, we had an opportunity to get the course furniture washed and roll the greens after cutting to help increase green speed.
Greens will be cut and rolled tomorrow also with a verticut planned for next week.

09/05/2024

17th Bell
Due to wear and tear, the bell at the 17th green has broken and needs repaired.
Can anyone recommend a blacksmith or fabricators that could repair this for us? 🙏🏻

03/05/2024

12th Gold tee is in play from the back tee and not the forward Silver tee.

All bunkers are now in play, please rake them after play, thank you.

02/05/2024

Astroturf installed to practice mats area on the 2019 course.

30/04/2024

Greens are getting a light dressing of sand this morning.

28/04/2024

Course Report - April
Two weeks ago, with only 9 holes open I was wondering if the swamp like conditions were ever going to go away, 6 months of very wet weather had made things very challenging indeed.
With 2 weeks of dry weather behind us, we have been able to get machinery out over most parts of the course and finish off the last of our delayed winter work.

Greens
The greens have come through the winter fairly well considering the volumes of rain. We managed to stick to our planned spray programme which helped reduce the normal disease outbreaks and subsequent scarring.
The greens have been due a granular fertiliser for a few weeks now, at the beginning of the month it was too wet and not wanting to risk disease we held off, it then went cold and dry with cold nights and early morning frosts so again we held off - thankfully this week looks to be have more favourable conditions to apply the fertiliser.
The greens will also be top dressed with around 8 tons of sand either this week or next.
We are cutting (at 4.5mm) every other day and rolling one to two times per week at the moment.

Tees & Approaches
We have divoted most of the tees in the past week and have put out the divot bins on the par 3's.
The new Gold tee at the 18th will be in play within the next 7 to 14 days.
Tees are mown at 12mm and Approaches at 9mm, they will be sprayed with an Iron/Nitrogen mix in the coming weeks to add some colour and promote growth.

Fairways
Despite being in the workshop for three months, the gremlins continue to play havoc with the electrics and cabling on our fairway mower and until the issues are resolved we will continue to rely on other trust courses helping us out with a loan of their fairway mowers.

Rough
Most of the rough has now been cut, the odd wet area remains but in general we have managed to avoid getting bogged down and create any damage. Rough is being cut 1 & 3/4"

Bunkers
We have now managed to get sand into the bunkers on 3 and 13, the sand has been compacted and with a bit of rain this week, the sand will settle and firm up which will allow us to bring them into play toward the end of the week.

Course Furniture
New hole cups and flagsticks will be going out this week.
The tee signs, benches etc will get washed and wiped down over the next 7 days.

2019 Course
The area where the range mats and yardage boards is going through a revamp at the moment, the black rubber mats have been lifted and will be replaced with an astroturf carpet.
Once the carpet is installed we will then refit the yardage boards and place the range mats on top of the astroturf.

Regards
Greenstaff

26/04/2024

With the firmer ground conditions, we’ve been able to get sand into the new bunkers at the 3rd & 13th.
The sand was compacted where possible with a whacker plate and a tamping tool used on the steeper parts.
The bunkers will remain GUR for another week to allow the sand to settle fully.

25/04/2024

🚨 Temporary Local Rule 🚨

The mole plough pulling the cable has created a bit of heave and distribution to the turf in the rough on the 13th, which was expected.
We have compacted it with the tractor and it will settle down in a few weeks.

Until then a local rule has been put in place that if your ball comes to rest in the affected areas, a lift and drop not nearer the hole can be taken.

24/04/2024

AllGrass irrigation are installing a new cable from the 13th green thru the rough to the 12th green.
The mole plough they are using to pull the cable is very slow moving and very expensive, please DO NOT HIT OVER THE MACHINE, please lift your ball and play away from the machine and workman.
Thank you.

22/04/2024

Rental and personal buggies are permitted for use ⛳️

16/04/2024

COURSE UPDATE

Tomorrow (Wednesday 17th April) we will be putting all tee markers back onto the summer tee areas with mats being used on the par 3 tee's for another week or so.

We will also be bringing all summer greens back into play, with the new bunkers on 3rd and 13th remaining as GUR until further notice. (ground conditions have not allowed us to get materials out to them)

Most of the remaining rope, posts and black mats will be removed this week.
Areas of GUR will be marked out with white lines and/or signage.

The local rule of rake and place in the bunker is no longer in use.

We have begun mowing various parts of the course as the ground conditions allow, some areas are still saturated and rather than getting machinery stuck, we will have to wait until they dry out.
Our fairway mower remains in the workshop with electrical issues and we are borrowing Glenrothes mower for a few days, until our mower is back we will have to rely on other trust courses helping us out.

Please repair pitch marks and replace divots where possible and rake bunkers after play.

Many thanks
Greenstaff.

15/04/2024

Holes 1-18 open on a mix of main and winter greens.

Winter tees remain in use today.

No personal or rental buggies allowed today.

13/04/2024

Course open: 9 holes only.

FRONT 9 is open, however it is still very wet underfoot. 3,6&8 are on winter greens.
Forecast is looking ok for next week, so we will hopefully manage to start getting machines out and cutting some grass ⛳️

Address

Dunnikier Way
Kirkcaldy
KY13LP

Website

https://www.fifegolftrust.co.uk/

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Videos

Course remains closed - it’s unlikely to open anytime soon, the constant heavy rain is not allowing the course to dry out - due to the course being saturated we are struggling to get machinery out to begin the clear up of the storm damage. Edit - we had the grate and 30m of the ditch from it completely clear at the end of last week 😬

Course will remain closed today. Video taken at 2.30pm

As we head into the winter season we will be reducing our bunker raking to once a week so we can focus on our busy winter programme. Having spoken with the Match Committee, we have decided to implement a ‘Rake and Place’ policy for the bunkers for the winter period. The policy is as per the video below: 1) Place a marker or tee 6” from the ball 2) Lift the ball and rake the sand 3) Place the ball 6” from the marker or tee 4) Play your shot 5) Rake the bunker after play