Greenkeepers praised for extensive winter work

By Alistair April 1, 2019 13:19 Updated

The outstanding Adare Manor in Ireland has reopened its fairways for the new season after an extensive and thorough maintenance programme throughout the winter months. The work was to ensure the course continues to play in first-class condition to members, guests and hotel residents throughout the season.

A year since the course was opened following its redesign, the greenkeepers at Adare Manor have left no stone unturned in the first round of maintenance.

The putting surfaces have been shown special attention. Carefully scrutinised to identify and handpick any poa annua has helped achieve the desired pureness of putting surfaces. While to further ensure greens are in pristine condition, the staff having been plugging, by hand, old pitch marks and imperfections to then replace them with plugs from the turf nursery.

The greenkeeping team have also been carefully adjusting the sand depths of the 42 bunkers to achieve the desired level of three inches on the faces and four inches on the bases, that will produce consistent and uniform lies in bunkers across the golf course.

Alan McDonnell, superintendent at Adare Manor, commented: “There has been a huge commitment by the whole greenkeeping team this winter to ensure the course is in great shape for the season ahead.

“We are exceptionally proud of the conditioning we are able to maintain here at Adare Manor; the Irish winter is not always kind and it can make for a challenging time during maintenance to keep the standards we have become used to, but the hours of hard work and dedication of the team has really allowed the quality of the course to shine through.”