Stocksfield Golf Club - Greens Work. Information Page....An exciting and challeging course for the club golfer, providing both accurate play (front nine) and superb parkland views in the back nine.

Stocksfield Golf Club Members Page - General Information on Work in Progress...

The work detailed at the last greens forum is now well under way. I will be reporting/updating the progress over the coming months so you can all keep abreast of the situation on the course.

15th October 2001
I interviewed, sorry interrupted Guy Dinning during work on the second green, Guy is the one with the rake, that's dedication for you. He tells me that apart from one or two problems the work is going more or less to plan. One problem that is causing some difficulties is the layout diagrams supplied under a previous contract. The accuracy of these is a little wayward which causes a number of cables etc., to be cut by the trenching activity. This aside the only other issue will be the weather and of course the availability of manpower. The staff are performing admirably say's Guy and one only hopes they can sustain the pace as the work is quite strenuous.

23rd October 2001
After 72 hours of almost continuous rain I have been back on the course. This time I listened in to discussions between Guy and Bill Curry. The general opinion of work so far with respect to its impact on draining the course was very encouraging, a point I followed up myself. But first a comment from Bill on the way the water is being removed from the course. If you take a look at the depth of the plastic drainage on the greens then you may ask, why so deep? Well Bill says at this depth and with the fall from the greens we will get an excellent drawing effect, literally pulling the water out of the green. After examining the first green I must admit it looks as though this appears to be working with the green barely soft unlike the spongy effect we had just prior to the work being carried out and after the 2.5 inches of rain we have just experienced. Following a greens meeting tonight I may be in a position to give more information on course development after eavesdropping the discussion between Bill and Guy.

6th November 2001
Following the last report I hinted at some work that will make play a little different, well take a look at the photo of the 9th fairway trench which is being developed to take water from the greens and fairways above the 9th green. This open trench will be a feature of the 9th making the summer run in to the green a little more tricky. Any Views???

Another pic., to look at is that showing the log which came out of the middle of the 4th green. I wonder what else we will find as the digging goes on.

17th November 2001
After yet another week of fine weather the activity on the course continues unabated. This week I report on yet another major development and yes its the 9th fairway again, well maybe its not! Take a look at the photo's for this week and you will see what I am talking about. What a bunker! What with the open ditches on both the 2nd and 9th fairways this will surely stop the deliberate drive over the 9th green from the 2nd tee box. A big gamble if you do take this line, not that I wish to see this taken on as the safety implications for those on the 9th green have been a concern of mine for some time. Back to the bunker, what a beauty, it will pick up stray balls from both directions and is surely at least one drop shot for those tackling the 2nd green. The extremely deep drainage ditch from the bunker should also help prevent water reaching the back of the 9th green.

22nd November 2001
Today I met up with Guy Dinning working on the 5th green. Progress this last week has again been good with most of the work on the 9th green completed there is just the tidy up work left and some back filling of drains. Anyway back to the 5th green. Working alongside our regular team I found Chris Macdonnell our club champion. I had a few words with him regarding the changes so far and his view was very positive commenting on the new features such as the open ditching (2nd & 9th fairways) and the new bunker on the 9th green. He considered the added features gave more interest and difficulty to the two holes affected. Having spoke to other members, mainly male, sorry ladies, they also view the changes in a positive light.
Back to my talk with Guy. I asked him what was next on the schedule (it changes to suit the weather etc.,) and he said they would be tackling the 8th green next one the finishing touches to the 5th was completed. One thing that did come out of the discussion was the need to document (create an accurate diagram) of the work carried out and if their is anyone out there that has both the time and the ability to carry this out then please get in touch with Guy.

8th December 2001
It's now a fortnight since my last update and the work has moved on to the last green of the front nine. The drainage on the 8th was completed in the last week of November before moving on to the 7th, although I should mention that another bunker at the left back side of the 4th green was also installed. This is just a shallow bunker designed to catch any water running from the bank reaching the green. The drainage channel from the bunker remains to be installed.
Now the 7th green. Some fifteen inch or so has been removed from the front half of the green creating a two tier green. The spoil is creating a wider front left area making the final green slightly larger. I will speak to Guy in the coming days to review his ideas on the final layout and will report next week.

On a final note for this week I can report that the greens on the front nine have dealt extremely well with the heavy downpour of this week and all looks positive for the future.

17th December 2001
Two developments to report on this week. The first is the new bunker to appear at the left back of the 4th green. The two shots taken show the bunker full of water after all the rain last week. Drainage has yet to be installed hence the amount of water standing. The bunker is placed to catch any run off the bank and will also make the shot off the bank impossible.
The second shots are of the nearing completion of the 7th green. It has not been lowered as far as I anticipated however, the changes look good and provide a number of variations on tee placement. There is slope from the front to the centre of the lower tier as well as slope running back from the main rise in the centre of the green.

I understand from Guy that work will move on to fairways next and will include much of the tidying up that needs to be done now the main movement of materials and machinery is coming to and end. All being well they will then move on to the 11th green and carry out drainage as per the front nine.

11th February 2002
Its now the second week of February and having walked the front nine the positive view to emerge is the draining abilities of the greens. There is a marked difference from a year ago and my reaction is they are playable although this must be tempered with the other issues which affect play at the moment. Firstly the fairways are still being worked on, just take a look at the bolders coming out of the 9th fairway. No wonder some funny bounces happen now and again. My personal view is mixed with optimism. There is undoubtedly a lot of work left and some patience required, the 9th for example still has some really soft spots whilst the area to the right just where it dips has dried up considerably, the same issues arise on the second which was being worked on when I visited. For those who can remember this was very bad last year.

I asked Guy what his plans were for the next 6 weeks or so, his reply centred on drain work on the 4th and 5th fairways then catching up with as much tidying up work as can be achieved. We also discussed the desease (Visairium {if this is the right spelling}) on the greens. This is to be dealt with along side the other work and hopefully will be cleared up before the season starts.

Drainage and Ditching


1st Fairway being backfilled with aggregate	1st Fairway
15th October 2001	15th October 2001

1st Fairway	1st Green drain to stream
15th October 2001	15th October 2001

2nd Fairway ditch near green	4th Green broken drainage pipe
15th October 2001	23rd October 2001

2nd Fairway ditch looking down from green	2nd Green before plastic pipe installed
15th October 2001	15th October 2001

2nd Green digger at work	2nd Green
15th October 2001	15th October 2001

2nd Green filling in the grass ditch	4th Green before the digger goes in
15th October 2001	15th October 2001

4th Green Steve and Bill discussing progress	4th Green another shot of broken drain
23rd October 2001	23rd October 2001

4th Green running water after heavy rain	2nd fairway new open ditch & drain from new 9th green bunker
23rd October 2001	17th November 2001

Back of 2nd green after back filling new drain	Duct at front of 3rd green going north into the woods
6th November 2001	6th November 2001

3rd green trenching	5th green proposed trench to lake
6th November 2001	6th November 2001

3rd green trenching	6th green trenching at the back
6th November 2001	6th November

6th green trenching	2nd fairway new larger duct
6th November 2001	6th November 2001

9th fairway open ditch in front of green	Log taken from the middle of the 4th green
6th November 2001	6th November 2001

New 9th green bunker	New 9th green bunker & drain
17th November 2001	17th November 2001

New 9th green bunker	9th green drain at back
17th November 2001	17th November 2001

9th fairway open ditch	9th fairway open ditch
17th November 2001	17th November 2001

This is where the soil/clay went
17th November 2001

Ducting going in at the back of the 5th green	Ducting going in across the middle of the 5th green
22nd November 2001	22nd November 2001

The drainage channel from the 5th green to the pond	The new bunker behind the 4th green
22nd November 2001	17th December 2001

Start of work on the 8th Green	Spoil from the 8th green being tipped over the roots next to the 9th tee
29th November 2001	29th November 2001

Taking off the top 15 inches or so of the front of the 7th green	Taking off the top 15 inches or so of the front of the 7th green
7th December 2001	7th December 2001

Another view of the bunker at the left side of the 4th green	Work nearing completion on the 7th green
17th December 2001	17th December 2001

Work nearing completion on the 7th green	7th green re-laid
17th December 2001	11th February 2002

Trimming of the trees on the 7th green	7th green re-laid
11th February 2002	11th February 2002

Some of the obstacles encountered on the 9th fairway	Some of the obstacles encountered on the 9th fairway
11th February 2002	11th February 2002