How Tewkesbury Golf Club dealt with a weed problem

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Tewkesbury Park Golf Club in the Gloucestershire countryside offers a challenging 18 hole, par 72 course for both professional and amateur golfers alike. When course manager Chris Bromley joined the club in April 2015 he turned to Headland Amenity for the help he needed to sort out the weed problem on the greens, tees, approaches and fairways to bring the general course presentation back up to the standard it once enjoyed.

As a parkland course it boasts some classic natural features; wooded areas, water hazards and testing yet true greens, all based in the grounds of the impressive Tewkesbury Park Hotel. With his comprehensive greenkeeping background, including work at The Belfry and Robin Hood Golf Club, Chris had become well versed with Headland products over the years. “When I joined here at Tewkesbury, they had a completely different programme in place, a lot of which I wasn’t familiar with. As soon as we’d used up that stock I couldn’t wait to get back to what I know! You get used to products, their active ingredients and how they work.”

Adi Masters of Headland conducted some soil samples and together with Chris worked out a plan to eradicate weeds and boost overall plant health. For weed control, Adi recommended Redeem, tank mixed with Elevate Fe and Xtend Soluble 46-0-0 which was applied to the tees and approaches in April. For the fairways, a mix of Redeem and Elevate was applied in May.

A full Headland greens programme has been in place since September 2015 which includes Seamac ProTurf, Protec Hi-K, Turfite, Seamac Ultra and Clipless. “This has given the greens a great colour, helps control plant stress and disease while also controlling the growth thanks to the Clipless growth regulator.” There currently isn’t the budget available for a fairway feeding programme but as Chris describes Tewkesbury as a “grass factory”, he doesn’t have the need for one at the moment.

Final word from Chris: “We’ve made great strides with the health and overall condition of the greens and have received some great feedback from both the players and the committee, they’re all noticing the progress. Now they’re not infested with weeds, the greens are true and quick. One player commented they were too quick – I didn’t know there was such a thing!”