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Tee To Green April

20th April 2026

Find out the latest from our Greenkeepers in this month's Tee to Green.

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The Downs course

April has been a big month for us on The Downs course and it’s been great to finally see a number of key projects come together.

The headline news is that our irrigation installation is now complete. This is a major step forward for the course and one the team has put a huge amount of effort into over the past months. We’ve now moved into the testing phase, working through the sprinkler arcs to ensure we’re getting consistent and accurate coverage across all playing surfaces. It’s always satisfying to see a project like this come to life and it will play a huge role in maintaining surface quality through the drier periods ahead.

On the maintenance front, we’ve had a really productive window. Greens were scarified to a depth of around 2 inches, which has removed a significant amount of thatch from the profile. This is a key part of improving firmness, drainage and overall playability. Following this, we applied approximately 40 tonnes of sand across the surfaces to help continue building a firmer, truer playing surface.

Unfortunately, we did encounter an issue with machinery during the process, which meant we weren’t able to carry out hollow coring on this occasion. While that’s not ideal, the work we have completed still delivers strong benefits and we’ll look to reintroduce coring at the next available opportunity.

Around the course, you’ll hopefully have noticed we’re starting to get some really nice definition between playing surfaces. This is something we’ve been focusing on and it’s beginning to show. The tees in particular are looking especially smart since we’ve introduced hand cutting, which gives a much cleaner, sharper finish.

We’ve also carried out verti-cutting on the aprons. This helps to stand the grass up and remove lateral growth that can cause a “puffy” surface. It’s a process we’ll continue little and often throughout the season, gradually refining these areas to get them performing exactly how we want.

Finally, I’d just like to say thank you for all the positive feedback we’ve received recently, it genuinely means a lot to the whole team. If you do see me out on the course and have any questions, please don’t hesitate to stop me for a chat.

See you on the course.

Dan Cornish, Head Greenkeeper, The Downs course

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The Park course

As we approach the end of April, the weather is taking a similar pattern from 2025. Last year we effectively had no Spring and very little rain. So far from March to April this year with had 21mm in rain. Last year it was 23mm. Quite a lot down from 2024, which was 226mm! Think April showers are disappearing. As turf professionals, we are constantly changing our way of working and thinking with the changing climate and seasons.

The greens, as mentioned in the last blog, are still struggling for consistent growth. The granular fertiliser and foliar sprays applications are having little effect. The bents, rye are thriving at different rates and the POA is not like it at all. Even though we are seeing good day time temperatures, the nights are still cold with even some frosts. Add into that a bitterly cold wind, it's not ideal for growing conditions.

We recently completed our greens maintenance. Unfortunately, the verti-drain broke on the first hole so we couldn’t complete that task, but we did manage to do a 10mm tine to a depth of 5 inches. We followed this with roughly 1 ton of dressing per green which was then dragged in. Due to some irrigation issues, we haven’t been able to wash the sand in as much as we would like after the maintenance. Now issues resolved, we have now seen the sand washed in better. After maintenance we use our older cutting units to cut greens with. These go of cut very quickly with the sand going through them. This also doesn’t help with trueness and gives an uneven cut. Once we use our modern machinery, we will see a much better cut and finish and improve trueness and speeds.

The new bunkers are bedding in nicely. The team has been watering these areas 7 days a week in these tough conditions to keep the turf alive. The plan is to cut and strim them, get sand into the bunkers in the first week of May and have them open by mid-May, if all goes to plan. As well as watering the new turf, we have also been watering the newly planted trees. This is taking 2 days to complete at the moment using a bowser. Pleasing to see that all are budding and have taken well.

The Copse

The Copse had greens maintenance as well. The same process as mains greens. The whole area, excluding greens, has been sprayed with a foliar to help with growth and colour. As with a newly built site, the ground is naturally lacking in nutrients. We have been building this up with fertiliser granulars and foliar sprays over the last few years. Over the half term it was exceptionally busy, with Junior Camps and families using the facilities as well as been booked out for exclusive days.

Look forward to seeing you on the course

Scott Peterson, Head Greenkeeper, The Park and Copse courses

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