Ballybunion

[Adam Lawrence]

I have been at Ballybunion today. Big news is that, starting it October, they are going to dig up and regrass all 18 greens on the Old course. All greens have been digitally surveyed and course manager John Bambury has been growing in two huge turf nurseries on either side of the range. 100 per cent fescue, these will provide the turf for the new surfaces. So the course will be moving basically from pure poa to pure fescue just like that. Very bold project.

[Jason Thurman]

[Mark Bourgeois]

Adam


Were the greens a problem? Or was the problem a club with too much money and too many busloads full of "once in a lifetime" experience seekers?


Mark

[Adam Lawrence]

I am told there is organic matter so far down in the profile they can't aerate through it. And that transitioning to fine grasses via overseeding and cultural practices would have taken many, many years. And, as I say, the current greens are basically straight poa.

[Pete Lavallee]

Adam,
 
That leads to the next question, How will they keep the Poa out in the future? Do they have a plan or will they just allow the inevitable invasion to proceed in 10 years time?

[Mark Bourgeois]

Was it "round pressure" a la TOC then? How did they putt? The grass is an annual poa, perhaps unique to the course, yes?


Sorry for all the questions, I'm just curious when a course of that reputation and with huge outside play makes such a decision. I guess that sounds skeptical, not sure I am but I would guess the "organic matter" would reveal itself in poor green performance. This was the problem at The Addington. There actually weren't any "greens," it was all organic matter / spongy, I was told.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Graeme Webster still supervising this, Adam?

[Adam Lawrence]

Yes, he is

[Martin Lehmann]

I assume the main problem is organic matter, thatch, layering, compaction, et cetera. This can be solved by intensified maintenance, scarifying, deep aeration and so on. But the most radical and quick solution is a complete core-out. Re-turfing is a logical part of that proces. After that, poa invasion is almost inevitable, but having a healthy root zone is the most important thing.

[Thomas Dai]

Out of curiosity, to what extent, if left to it's own devices with no intervention by man, is poa comfortable living in dune land and sandy areas within a few hundred yards of the seashore, say a seashore where the prevailing wind is from offshore and sometimes brings sea-spray and salty mist and the like with it? Just asking.
Atb

[Rory Connaughton]

We spent 7 years attempting to unwind the accumulation of an organic layer that grew thick and dense due to cultural neglect.
In the end, we made significant improvements but we were still far from where we wanted to be in terms of drainage and performance.
regrassing was the best thing we ever did.  If Ballybunion's turf nursery is healthy, this sounds like a good plan to address what ails the greens.