• Due to the complexities of the green’s construction and poor early summer establishment weather, it is not possible to forecast an opening date at this time so the “Save the Date” has been released from the calendar
• Establishment progress is ongoing, daily and weekly tasks are undertaken to ensure that healthy, strong grass is maturing
• The green is responding well to maintenance treatments, but is still some way off the expected quality needed to open
• When asked about a date or timeline for this, the green will open when its performance matches the greens on the courses and when we are sure that traffic will not cause any damage to the long-term health

We’re now well into the early maintenance phase of production. Regular mowing with a descending height of cut adjusted weekly, fertilisation to push growth, overseeding any thin areas to complete full grass coverage, and this week brings the first topdressing with Poa-annua seed. Poa-annua has seeded much further than normal into the summer; a great result for us here! We’ve harvested and stored the seed in a seed/sand mix and will distribute this week across the entire surface via topdressing. We have enough to overseed the green with Poa twice, so we will apply a second dressing a week after the first.

The green was not an easy one to build for the architect, shaper, and wider contractor team. The sheer size at 1,700m2 (600m2 an average green size) meant additional time was needed to work the soils to form the desired elaborate design. The location of green is set it in a highly sensitive area that impacts flooding behaviour for the whole site. So, the size, design, and flood impact constraints of it required a forensic approach to its construction. A total of four weeks were spent in this stage whereas a normal 600m2 green is expected to take seven to ten days to build.

Finally, there will be works to the Driving Range access tarmac path adjacent to the new green this winter related to ground levels adjustment. A key part of the planning permission for the new green was that the design allowed floodwater to move from the lake on Garden’s 9th hole, through to the ditch on Garden’s 1st hole, overland. This change forms part of the overall strategy for the new short game area too so that both projects are flooding compliant.