COURSE MANAGEMENT

A view of the Links from the 6th Medal hole.

On the whole April has been a very dry month with many warm sunny days. Grass growth is still slow and patchy but in the coming weeks this should improve. 

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 A few of the tasks that have been carried out this month together with some other pieces of information can be viewed below.

Because of a lack of growth we have only been cutting and rolling the greens when deemed necessary. Greens can be a bit uneven at this time of year due to the variable growth between the different grass species. The use of the greens iron at this time helps to smooth out the putting surface. On days when cutting and rolling hasn't been carried out any due is removed from the greens with the use of a switch.

Liam cutting the 11th Medal green.

Paul rolling the 6th Medal green.

Gary removing the dew from the 9th Medal green.

In addition to the ride on mowers, hand held machines have also been out. We have pedestrian rotary mowers for maintaining mounds and use a strimmer for around tee stones, fences and along the bottom of the burn.

Liam using the strimmer in the burn.

The fairways have recently been treated with an organic fertiliser. Hopefully this will encourage growth and help divot damage that occurred during the winter months to grow in and recover.

Fertilising the 5th Medal fairway.

Rabbits continue to be a problem out on the courses. Shooting is carried out weekly to try and keep numbers down, while staff have spent a lot of time patching the worst of the holes and scrapes.

Ricky patching rabbit holes. 

We have also been carrying out remedial work to our wash bay and associated reed bed.  We have now relocated the pump inside the old shed and are in the process of burying the pipework that carries the waste water to the reed beds.

Jamie carrying out work at the new pipework between the wash bay and reed bed.

The  fence that protects the house at the 13th Medal hole has also been replaced. The old fence was badly damaged during high winds however the new fence was constructed and erected in time for the start of the season.

The new fence at the 13th Medal hole.

Coastal erosion over the winter months has been quite minimal with little ground lost to the sea. Angus council together with their contractors have recently reinstated the fence along the bottom of the dunes at the 2nd and 3rd holes. It is hoped that sand will build up behind this fence and vegetation will get a hold which in turn will help to stabilise the dune edge.

 New posts in place .

 Fencing in place ready to be erected.

 The finished fence.

Finally I would like to remind anyone playing the Broomfield course that as from today ( Friday 24th April ) the new hole configuration is in operation. We have fenced off old routes and white lined areas so as to avoid any confusion. The changes were made to allow the the 9th green and 10th tee to be located close to the clubhouses. This will allow 9 holes competitions to be played over the Course in the future.

The route to the new 4th tee.

Les Rae,

First Assistant, 

Montrose Golf Links Limited.

A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE - MARCH

A frequent sight during the month of March was the striking colour of the early morning sun as it broke out over the horizon. This photo was taken from the 18th Medal tee as the sun climbed above the gorse bushes. 

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The last few weeks have still been quite cold with strong winds not helping. However on days when the wind has died down and the sun has been shining there is a definite warmth in the air. With the lengthening daylight the first signs of Spring are slowly appearing.

 Snowdrops.

One of the first flowers to emerge.This clump was found in the shelter of the gully at the 3rd hole on the Medal course.

Crocus.

This small clump of Crocus could be seen to the left of the 17th Broomfield fairway.

 Daffodils.

There are a few clumps of these well known flowers around the 2 courses. They only started to come into full flower towards the end of the month.

Goat Willow.

The catkins on the willow trees are only now starting to show. We have a few Willow trees around the Links, the largest grouping being to the right of the 14th Medal green, where this photo was taken.

Common Toads.

March is mating season for both Toads and Frogs, these 2 toads were seen close to the 15th Medal tees. There are good populations of both species on the links and good places to spot them are around the Curlie pond and the burn that crosses the Broomfield course.

Frog spawn.

A few clumps of frog spawn can be seen in the burn, where this photo was taken. As in the photo, frog spawn is found in clumps while Toad spawn is laid in long single lines. I have not seen any Toad spawn either in the burn or the Curlie this year yet.. 

Carrion Crow.

A carrion crow has been guarding this nest site for a couple of months now. Probably because of a lack of trees on the links the crow has decided to get in early and lay claim to last years nest.  This nest can be seen to the right of the 15th Medal fairway and a pair of Carrion Crows have nested here for as long as I can remember.

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I have taken a few other photographs this month which for different reasons are quite interesting.

 Roe Deer.

Roe Deer can still be seen almost on a daily basis on the courses. As you can see in the photo above this one has started to grow a set of antlers. Male Roe deer normally start to grow antlers around November, shedding the velvet from them in Spring. You can quite clearly see the velvet on this set.

Magpie.

This is a first for me. In the 25 years that I have lived in Montrose this is the first time that I have seen Magpies around the vicinity of the town, let alone the golf course. I first spotted a pair a few months ago near the 13th hole on the Medal course. Since then I have occasionally seen them in the same area and eventually managed to get a photo of one. I have yet to see any others close to Montrose and I'm not sure if they are here to stay..

 Dead Blackbird.

Not nice to see but part of the cycle of life and death on the links. We picked up this Blackbird on the Broomfield course on the 5th March. The interesting thing is the ring on it's leg.

Bird ring.

This ring has the Museum of London stamped on it and has an unique identification number. I sent the details away to EURING who hold all the details regarding ringed birds. Their records showed that it was a juvenile male bird and it was ringed 248 days beforehand on the 30th June 2014. It was ringed by a member of the Tay ringing group in Wellington Park, Montrose. 

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I have now written a monthly 'A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE' report for a full year now and feel its a good time to stop, otherwise I would probably start repeating myself. I will continue to post anything of interest that I come across, under the same title, as and when I see it.

  I hope those of you who have taken the time to read my wildlife blog have enjoyed it, and it gives you an insight into to just how good a wildlife haven a golf course can be, and just how lucky we are to have such an abundance of wildlife on our Links Courses at Montrose.

Les Rae,

First Assistant,

Montrose Golf Links Limited.

WINTER WORK - UPDATE 2

We were quite lucky with the weather over the winter months and we managed to get on with a lot of construction work. 

BUNKERS

 In total we completely rebuilt 25 bunkers, all of which were in different states of disrepair. In addition we also repaired damaged areas on a number of other bunkers. 

                                  

One of the fairway bunkers under construction on the 14th Medal hole.

All that remains to be done is for fresh sand to be added.

RE- CONTOURING WORK

In my last winter work update, we had just started to remove the unnatural bank between the 13th and 14th on the medal and this has now been completed.

Removing the bank between the 13th and 14th.

Once the rough starts to grow up again  this area will look much more natural and be more player friendly.

We have also re-contoured an unnatural mound between the 10th and 11th holes on the Broomfield. This mound produced lush coarse grass and was not suitable to be cut with our rough cutting machine. The height has been reduced and countered to match the other small mounds nearby.

The mound prior to work being carried out.

 Work in progress.

The majority of the soil was transported back to the sheds which will be used for other jobs.

The completed project.

GORSE

In periods of hard frost we turned our attention to gorse management. Over a number of years gorse bushes can spread quite dramatically. Sight lines from tees to fairways on a number of holes had become an issue so we cut away areas of gorse to open them back up. The main areas that we addressed were at the 8th, 11th and 13th on the Medal. This will not only improve the look of the hole from the tee, but it should also speed up play.



 The improved view from the 8th Medal tee after cutting away gorse to the left of the path.

The 11th prior to work being carried out.

More of the fairway can now be seen from the 11th Medal tee.

                         

 The last remaining bushes being removed from in front of the 13th Medal tee.

The opened up view from the back of the 13th Medal tee. 

PATHS

We have extended the path at the 16th tee on the Medal right out to the road that crosses the hole. This area was rutted, uneven and unsightly. Hopefully by creating a path the surrounding ground will get a chance to recover.

The unsightly walkway at the 16th.

The extended path is now much tidier..

We have also installed two areas of rubber matting, one at the start of the path leading to the 6th tees and the other at the start of the path leading to the 16th tees. In the past we have re-turfed these areas, but due to high wear this has proved unsuccessful. These mats, which are full of holes, are sunk into ground level with turf already having been laid underneath. Hopefully over time the grass will grow through the mat which will then protect the crown of the plant.

The newly installed matting at the start of the path at the 16th.

The last major project of the winter was to create a new walkway from the the 3rd Broomfield green to what will be the new 4th tee (the present 16th tee ). The new layout that has been planned for the Broomfield will allow for those wanting to play 9 holes to finish at what is the present 7th hole and close to the clubhouses and car park.

 All the gorse cleared from the site of the new walkway.

 Preparing the area prior to turfing.

Turfing work complete.

THE NEW SEASON

As the start of the season draws near we have now turned our attention to getting some definition back on each hole. All the Medal fairways have been brushed, cut and divotted. The tees are in the process of getting the same treatment. Other areas around the courses will also be cut to tidy them up.

 The paths around the courses will also be edged and a fresh coating of quarry dust put down to freshen them up.

 All bunkers will  be tidied up, their faces will also be blown to remove sand build up. We are in the process of grading sand which will be used for topping up the bunkers around the 2 courses.

 I hope that this blog together with the previous 'winter work' and bunker construction blogs, give you an insight to what has been happening out on the courses over the last few months.

Les Rae,

First Assistant,

Montrose Golf Links Limited.



A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE - FEBRUARY









A photo of Scurdie Ness lighthouse, taken from the right

 of the 4th Medal fairway.



This month I will focus on the burn that features on 5 of the Broomfield holes together with the Curlie pond which always has great deal to offer especially in regards to birdlife. A few other photos of birds taken around the courses this month can also be seen.

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The Burn

The small burn that crosses the Broomfield course is the only water course that we have on the 2 golf courses. It enters the courses from the behind the 5th Broomfield green and runs underground until it reaches the 10th green, from here the burn can be seen flowing eastwards before again disappearing underground on its way out to sea.

 The burn looking East to West.

 Looking West to East as it flows towards the sea. This photo also shows one of the unmanaged areas where the 2 banks have been allowed to grow into rough grassland.

A photo of  where the burn meets the sea. The old pipe, which can be seen in the centre of the picture, is cracked and broken  but still carries the water from the course out onto the beach. 

Although the burn may be small and look insignificant it does add to the bio diversity that we have on the courses. In the past, the whole length of burn banks were cut regularly and the grass kept short. We now leave the 'out of play' areas as unmanaged rough grassland which should further help different flora and fauna prosper.

Aquatic weed.

In order for golfers to spot their ball we try and keep the bottom of the burn clear of weed, however in more out of play areas we leave patches of aquatic weed in place.

Grey Heron.

More often seen at the Curlie, but from time to time Herons can be seen hunting for Minnows in the shallow water of the burn. In the spring Frog spawn together with Tadpoles can also be seen along the length of the burn which would also provide food for the Heron.

Greenshank.

Although not a great photo, this Greenshank was seen at the start of the month. It hopped in and out of the burn looking for food in amongst the mud.

The Curlie

The burn is fed from the Curlie pond. This man made pond is surrounded by the golf courses on 3 sides with the 14th medal tee on one side and the 6th Broomfield hole running along the opposite side.

 A curling pond was once located where the 1st fairway on the Broomfield is now, however this was filled in around 1910 when Traill drive was being constructed.  I believe that the current Curlie as we know it today was built sometime between 1864 and 1902. In days gone by it was used for curling, ice skating and ice hockey. During the summer months between the 1950's and 60's Arbuthnotts the boat builder hired out rowing boats to the public. Unfortunately none of these activities take place anymore but wildlife still visit or make it their home.

 Looking towards the Curlie from the 14th Medal tee area.

A photo of the Curlie taken from the right hand side of the 6th Broomfield hole.

Although not kept in its former glory it is a haven for a number of birds. About a third of the pond is now covered in tall reeds which are quite invasive however they do provide cover and nesting sites.

Tufted Duck.

2 pairs of Tufted Ducks have been seen on the Curlie for the last couple of weeks. This diving duck can often disappear under the water and then reappear a few seconds later.

                 

  Mute Swans.

 Mute Swan.

Mute Swan.

                                                 

Swans hadn't been seen on the Curlie for a number of months but a pair appeared during the middle of the month. A pair have nested and successfully raised a family for a number of years however last year they didn't nest at all with reports that one of the adult birds had died.

Moorhen.

This small water bird can be recognised by the red marking on its beak and front of its head. They make their nest within the reed bed. They usually have more than one clutch a year each consisting of around 8 eggs.

Coot.

Slightly bigger than the Moorhen, this bird has a distinctive white patch on the font of its head. Like the Moorhen they too nest within the reed bed usually laying between 6 and 9 speckled eggs, again they are likely to lay more than one clutch per year.

Mallard.

Mallard.

The most common bird on the Curlie. The top photo shows a male and female while in the bottom photo a male can be seen  sitting in the winter sun. I don't think the mallard will nest in the reed bed  but will look for nest sites on the ground in surrounding undergrowth.

Common Pochard.

                         

Common Pochard

This colourful duck was seen on the Curlie on the 19th February, the lone bid only seemed to stay for the one day. I don't think I have seen a Pochard on the Pond before so it was a particularly good bird to see.

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A few other birds that I have photographed this month can be seen below.

 Blackbird.

These well known birds can often be seen out on the links, The gorse bushes around the courses provide perfect nesting sites.

Goldcrest.

The smallest of all the British birds. This one was spotted feeding on the pine trees around the greenkeepers sheds.

Greenfinch.

 Greenfinch can often be seen on the Links, more often on the Broomfield course where there are numerous small trees amongst the gorse bushes that they like to perch on.

Carrion Crow.

This Carrion Crow was seen with what looks like a Gulls wing in its beak. These crows are well named as most of the time they will feed on carrion if they get the chance.

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Finally I would like to thank Anne Reoch for letting me use the photo below that she took on the 16th February of a Peregrine Falcon with a Black Headed Gull. It was taken on the Mid Links around 200 yards from the I4th Medal Tee. By all accounts the Peregrine was defiantly defending its prey and not willing to give it up easily.

Next Month I hope to be able to show photos of the first real signs of Spring from around the Links.

Les Rae,

First Assistant,

Montrose Golf Links Limited.