Dear Members,

The weather is changing and we’re now officially in winter. Therefore we must make changes to the way our courses are managed. Here’s what the changes are and why they’re needed:

Greens – The main change is to raise their cutting heights from summer to winter (2.5mm to 3mm). With much poorer light levels as the sun tracks lower in the sky, we must compensate by allowing more leaf area to grow so that they capture as much light as possible. The net effect of this is a slightly slower green speed. We’ll still be mowing and rolling greens regularly as conditions allow. We will also be applying fertilisers to control cushion moss on some of the greens. The moss will turn from green to black making it much more apparent. The grasses will grow though the moss slowly over time to repair; or in bad areas we’ll replace it via plugging. It won’t affect putting quality, but will be highly visual during the transition just to warn you.

Rope/Stake – Winter traffic management is all important to retain grass coverage in important, high traffic areas. If we didn’t use this, the direct lines through each hole would wear out from trolley and foot traffic leading to bare soil. Not acceptable if you’re chipping in and around the greens especially. This doesn’t apply to players carrying of course so why not take a pencil bag with a half set of clubs, accept the challenge of not always having the right club but adapting others, and enjoy the VIP routes!

Frost Pins – As you probably already know, we don’t allow play on frozen greens but instead install hole cups in the fine turf approaches close to the greens. There are not set “winter greens” for good reason because we found using the whole approach area gives a greater scope to move the pin as wear and conditions dictate. It’s really only meant as a target to aim at rather than a green to put on.

Grassed Driving Range Tee – The grassed tee is now closed until spring and play moved onto the mats instead. We renovated it this week with just enough time between now and when growth stops altogether in a few weeks. Leave it too late to close and it won’t repair in time for next spring.

Aeration – There will be holes from time to time in all areas of the courses through the winter months. A key operation to safeguard grass health, drainage performance, and prevent adverse wear damage. There is of course a local rule that allows relief should your ball be affected by aeration holes.

Tee Marker Positions – We’ll need to move the tee markers over a greater range to help manage wear. The 100 yard rule, which limits shortening or lengthening the measured course by this much, will still apply but you will find markers moved more forward/backwards per hole than usual. Particularly on the Par 3’s that sustain the greatest amount of damage so as an example the Par 5’s and short Par 4’s would play full length to compensate if the short holes’ markers are moved forward.

Summary – All of the above changes are geared towards keeping the golf courses accessible, of a good winter quality, but also to protect them over the dormant season so they can emerge into next year’s spring season in a strong position.

Finally, a quick note on how we make the decision when a course must close due to bad weather. To make the decision on closing, two main criteria are considered:

• The playing conditions on the day e.g. significant standing water, widespread saturated conditions
• The damage likely to be caused and associated recovery for the following days

A senior manager within the greenkeeping team performs a course inspection at 6am, seven days a week. We look specifically at whether the courses are playable or not, e.g. is there standing water on fairways, tees, approaches, and greens that prevents a golfer from taking relief? If the answer is yes and these saturated conditions are widespread, then we close the course(s). I call this a closure for “drain down time” so that the upper surface can dry to give playable lies. The length of closure depends upon the rate of drying, which is controlled by many factors. Another factor is with regards to the recovery time if play is permitted, i.e. what impact is placed upon the course and how quickly do playing conditions return to acceptable Wisley standards. Playing impact should be minimal and recovery should not impact the following day’s play.

A push notification communicating closures will be sent by 7am on the day via The Wisley app*.

*If you wish to be notified and stay informed about the most up-to-date, daily course information, but you do not have access to the app, please do so by contacting Reception (reception@thewisley.com) who will be able to remind you of your login details. The app can be downloaded on both Apple & Android.

John Lockyer
Director of Greens