Appropriate words for the keen football fan, who started his career in sportsturf as an apprentice at Manchester United.
A move closer to home took him to Macclesfield Golf Club, and seven years ago to Astbury Golf Club, an 18-hole parkland course near Congleton, where a programme of targeted overseeding has transformed the greens over the last five years.
“On the advice of agronomist George Shields, we are gradually increasing the proportion of bent grasses on the greens, combating less favourable meadow grasses, particularly poa. British Seed Houses suggested that we try AberRoyal, which has already produced excellent results,” he explains.
A bit of research revealed that AberRoyal had performed well in STRI trials, offering the excellent wear resistance needed at the busy club as well as good tolerance to dry weather.
Until this year, concerns about the cost of extra seed restricted the programme to once a year. But from studying other leading clubs, Scott was keen to try overseeding in the spring as well as the autumn, and this year gained the agreement of the committee for additional seed.
The club’s use of a Charterhouse Verti-seed also favoured spring operations, offering the opportunity to overseed effectively with minimal disruption to the golf programme.
“We looked at both of the common methods of overseeding, but rather than broadcasting seed into holes made by a spiked roller, the Verti-seed drills them into grooves created by a set of discs,” Scott explains. “This means that once the greens have been rolled I can be confident that the seed will stay in the ground and not be pecked away by birds.”
The 1.2m wide Verti-seed also offered a lightweight, convenient overseeding solution that was an ideal partner for the club’s existing compact tractor, offering good workrates without the risk of damaging sensitive turf.
After rolling and watering, the greens are topdressed lightly and then brushed; by planning the work for the early part of the week when there are fewer competitions, they are fully back in play by the time the course gets busy.
“We were lucky enough to choose the optimum time for overseeding this spring, when there was a short warm spell in May,” comments Scott. “With the good weather, the seeds were through in eight days and were soon ready for mowing. I’m very impressed with my first experience of spring overseeding.”
Rates of 4g/sqm (40kg/ha) were used this spring, and Scott uses 5g/sqm (50kg/ha) in the autumn, with the weaker greens getting two passes.
“Effectively some of the greens get four applications. There was a high proportion of meadow grass when we started; now the greens are 40-50 per cent bents.”
Scott recognises that improving greens can be a long process. “We are just aiming to upgrade the course little by little each year, seeing a 2-3 per cent improvement at a time.”
There are also other developments progressing at the club, including a move towards a more sustainable environment which attracts more wildlife, by paying attention to the condition of the roughs. The landscape offers challenging and enjoyable golf, with a number of mature trees and the Macclesfield Canal running through the centre of the course, which was built in 1922.
“We have a long term vision for the club, and we’re not afraid to take our time,” comments Scott. “But the advice and help we have received from British Seed Houses has been invaluable. Using AberRoyal, which is versatile enough to be successful in a spring overseeding campaign, we can accelerate the process and get even better results.”
The tremendous success enjoyed by Astbury and other golf clubs in improving greens with multiple overseeds is being watched with interest by British Seed Houses.
“We are getting increasing amounts of anecdotal evidence that AberRoyal germinates quickly at any time of year,” says the company’s Richard Brown. “This should not come as a surprise – the UK bred variety reacts quickly to the rising soil temperatures in the spring. Native grasses can also cope better with fluctuations in temperature, even in a difficult spring such as this year which saw a rapid drop from 26deg to 15deg in May.”
Historically autumn has been the optimum time for overseeding, offering the consistent temperature range needed by most bent grasses, but British Seed Houses’ customers report a consistent take when using AberRoyal in the spring.
“This gives greenkeepers the opportunity to overseed twice a year, reinvigorating favourable grasses and helping to win the fight against poa, which seeds virtually all the time.” comments Richard.
Overseeding twice, or even three times a year also provides ‘insurance’ against poor conditions in the conventional overseeding season, he points out. It also allows greenkeepers to make use of spring as a convenient time for rejuvenating the turf – to get two overseeds in the autumn risks running into bad weather, while in the summer there are increased demands on the playing surfaces.
Cost-conscious golf clubs could also get better value from lighter, multiple overseeds, Richard explains.
“Where 4-5g/sqm would be the usual rate for a single overseed, three applications of 3g can work well, or if the budget is tight, use half the usual rate in September and half in May.”
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