July and the first part of August are a relatively quiet time on our course. The greenkeepers will therefore be carrying out some long-term maintenance work, both to ensure that we have good surfaces for the rest of the season, but also so that we can continue to build on the positive development the course is experiencing.
Major maintenance work on the track in July:
Week 28: Greens are pricked, topdressed and reseeded. Expect a more sandy and uneven roll in the first part of the week.
Week 29: Tee sites are pricked, topdressed and reseeded. Expect minor disruption.
Week 30: Green surrounds and foregreens are scarified, topdressed and reseeded. Expect a sandier surface towards the weekend.
Reservations are made for weather, machine wear and tear and illness.
The first part of the season is over and I can evaluate how the track has performed.
The weather this season has definitely been on our side. It has been dry for a period of May and we had a few very warm days at the end of June, but otherwise it has been “grass weather” since April. Not too hot, cold, wet or dry. Just even temperatures and adequate rainfall. Grass is great. The course has benefited from it and all parts of the course have thrived, even the rough. It has become thick again and only a dry and hot July or August will set it back again.
It puts the focus on keeping the ball straight down the fairways and it's extra nice when they look as good as they do. The fairways are closer and give a much better lie than we've been used to for many years, so we're now starting to reap the results of the last 5-7 years of investment in raising the fairways.
May and June have been busy with lots of games and many events. We have also had quite a few visitors who were not supposed to play golf, but rather to look at the grass and grass care. Among them are: greenkeeper students from a scholarship program at Kristianstads GK in Sweden, 45 greenkeepers from Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, a group of English sellers of grass seeds, among others, and finally about 90 golf course architects who both played golf and enjoyed our hospitality in the club and restaurant. For everyone, it is important that they come here to experience our golf course in the magnificent Dyrehaven, but also to listen and learn about how a golf course can be cared for without the use of pesticides and with more than 2000 deer.
At the greenkeeper farm, we have had great pleasure for a number of years in having employed young golfers who spend their summer holidays in Denmark from their college stay in the USA. These are short-term contracts and the young golfers typically return for 3-4 years before they have other interests or their golf career takes off. Jacob Skov Olesen, who worked in the summer until 2 seasons ago, has just won the British Amateurs, which is a huge achievement. It was good to be able to lure Jacob out for a “winner-Othello layer cake” while he was playing the European Championship at the Scandinavian and celebrate him in the team with his triumph.
Happy summer
Martin Nilsson, Chief Greenkeeper