Turf Maintenance –Malaysian Golf Course Experience

By: Normas Yakin Md. Arifin

Who am I

• Assistant Golf Course Supt 1993 – 1996

• Golf Course Superintendent 1996 – 2003

• Club Manager 2003 – 2009

• Consultant 2009 onwards.

• Part-time Lecturer KDU university-college

• Member of GCSAA since 2001

• Member of GCSAM since inception

Turf Maintenance –Malaysian Golf Course Experience

Main points

• Myself

• Golf Course maintenance

• My experiences

Take away points

• As Pros/user of golf course

• As person; use of resources or pollutant.

• As part of management

Turf Maintenance works:

• Pest control

• Disease cure

• Drainage

• Irrigation

• Etc.

• Fertilising

• Mowing

• Vertical cutting

• Aeration

• Topdressing

• Etc.

• How much?• 1.75 kg/100 square meter• 1 bag per green• Spray and pray

• When?• Once a week? Twice?

• What?

1. Fertilising

• Slow release? Quick Release• Methylene Urea, PSCU, IBDU

Three ways

1. Follow old/previous/neighbour

2. Follow supplier

3. Do soil test

Which one you think Malaysians use?

Fertilising: in Malaysia

2. Cultural Practices

Definition: all mechanical work

done to improve turfgrass or soil

without the use of fertiliser or any

other chemicals

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Cultural Practices: Types

i. Mowing

ii. Top dressing

iii. Vertical cutting

iv. Aeration

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i. Mowing

• Defined – Long

grass cut short

• Cutting height

• Which is how high

grass from ground

level

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How often?

• Health

• Growth of grass

• Do not cut more than

one third

• Photosynthesis

• Greens 1x a day

• Fairways 2 – 3x a week

• Rough 1 – 2x a week

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Stripes

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Striping a fairway

• Caused by grass

leaning in 1 direction

• Light reflected by leaf

surface

• It’s the roller behind

the knife; not the knife

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Malaysians love stripes

Who doesn’t like stripes?

• Me. Because of tyre

marks

• Esp. during wet

weather

• Pros.

• Because long grass

bending away can

prevent good shot.

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ii.Topdressing

• The act of

distributing a thin

layer of sand, soil

or amendments to

reduce surface

deformities or to

give a firmer

surface.

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Application

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Distribution

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Topdressing – Other reasons

• To reduce or control ‘Thatch’

• To change soil structure

• To help in root development

• To add other amendments that will assist in:

1. Store water

2. Improve biological activity

3. Improve nutrient absorption

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IntroducingThatch

• Is an organic layer

• Consisting of stems,

leaves, roots whether

still living or dead.

• This layer is between

grass and soil.

• It may be already

decaying or in the

process.

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iii. Vertical cutting

• Normal cutting –

horizontal

• Vertical cutting –

vertical

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•

Vertical cutting - Why?

• Remove thatch

1. Thatch – fungi

2. Thatch – hydrophobic

• Other reasons

1. Add new grow points

2. Create new plants

3. For stolons

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Vertical cutting: Why?

1. Grooming

2. Dethatching

3. Scarifying

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• Raise the grass

• Better cut

• Done often

• Slightly deep

• Remove thatch

• Cutting rhizomes and stolons

• ‘initiate’ growth points

• Done irregularly

• Not so deep

• Remove mat

• Improve soil structure

• Space for new roots

• Quite deep and aggressive

• Rarely done

Vertical cutting: grooming

• No grooming

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• Yes grooming

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Vertical cutting : dethatch

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Scarify

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• Stolon is produced

this way

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Stolon (planting material)

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Cultural Practice iv. Aeration

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• Daily use – soil particle crush together.

• Push air out

• Micro organisme need oxygen

• Water needs pathway to follow

• Divided into:

1. Coring

2. Slicing/spiking

Pengudaraan (2)

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3. Pest Control; Insects

• English: Pest

• “Any creature that causes harm to humans or human belongings”

How or why pest harm

• Some are good and beneficial

• Some harm because they suck the juice from root or leaf.

• Some eat root or leaf

• Some live in the soil and destroy root.

• Some destroy quality of grass

• Some causes diseases.

Insects

Ants don’t harm grass but quality

Earth worm

Greens eaten by insect

Diseasesneeds three conditions

1. Host: Grass that can be infected (unhealthy, less fertiliser, not enough sun etc.)

2. An active pathogen

3. A suitable environment e.g. Low temperature or high moisture.

Signs of disease.

Symptoms of disease.

As compared to

dry Eaten by insects

The problem in Malaysia

• Most have condition 1 and 3. (poor health & condition)

• All it needs is a pathogen

• Cannot tell difference (insect, dry or disease)

• Don’t know what to do

• Worse; some continuously spray

4. Drainage & Irrigation

“There are three important

things on a golf course;

Drainage, Drainage and Drainage”

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What happens poor drainage

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1. can’t play golf

2. Can’t play golf

3. Can’t play golf

4. Can’t mow

5. Can’t fertilize

6. Cannot spray

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Weeds

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Algae

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Straight lines

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Irrigation

Problem in Malaysia

• Not enough drainage

• Whether subsoil or through soil

• Too much irrigation

• By schedule and not by needs

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Turf Maintenance; Recap

• Pest control

• Disease cure

• Drainage

• Irrigation

• Etc.

• Fertilising

• Mowing

• Vertical cutting

• Aeration

• Topdressing

• Etc.

Malaysian Golf Courses

• Some are very good

• Some should be closed

• And some are very average (being polite)

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Malaysian Golf Courses

• Some are professionally run

• Some are not run professionally

• Some … just run

• Don’t want advice even when free

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Being a consultant

• Is tough

• Talking to friends or about friends

• Don’t want to put people down

• Old habits are hard to break

• Some myths are too strong

• Some clubs prefer foreigner advice

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Normas Yakin Arifin

Call 012 511 3353

www.mynormas.com

www.slideshare.net/normas98