Bright and early I arrived at the course to start day 2 of the Irish Open. Just when it seemed like Pat and I had been left off the work assignments, we learned that one greens route was not taken. We got to mow the 1st, 2nd, 8th, and 14th greens. Today greens were cut on a 11-5 and 1-7 clock pattern. Not a bad morning to mow. The greens had plenty of dew on them, but got tricky when cutting over Pat's lines for the double cut. Following the greens mow, I was sent out with another worker to fill in a ditch in front of 8 fairway that had been opened for some wires and pipe to be laid. A pretty easy job to do, but one that will make the course look much better and keep the people safe from the ditch. 

After a mid-morning brunch, I was allowed to leave and go to The Old Head of Kinsale with two guys from England. They were going to play the course and Simon recommended for me to tag along and see one of the most unique courses in the world. I got in contact with Neil Deasy, the head greenskeeper, and would meet him for a brief visit at 2:30. 

Neil has a unique situation to take care of. The Old Head is located on an island, but has a land bridge to allow for easy travel. Since the course is an island water around can cause problems. The biggest one is the salt spray from the winter storms hitting the cliff edges makes it hard for the grass to get clean water. The surrounding salt water also makes it impossible to get fresh water from a large water source, therefore Neil has no irrigation on the course. Everything has to be hand watered. Some areas are put on with a large spray tank. His greens are Seaside 2 Bentgrass, recently re-sodded, and the fairways are a mixture of ryegrass and fescue. Neil is introducing more fescue into the fairways, but used rye for the quick green up. 

With a crew of 13 greens are walk mowed around 5 times per weeks and tri-plex mowed 2 times. This allows the rest of the course to get attention on busy days. He has mostly John Deere equipment, but is introducing more Toro into the fleet. To combat the salt problem, greens are flushed regularly, but this creates other problems such as not allowing oxygen to roots. So the greens are hollow cored two times a year, once in March and the other in November. Greens are also solid tine aerated every 3 to 4 weeks and verticut every other week. Neil also uses a soil reliever two times a year. 

Neil Cutting a Cup

After my meeting with Neil, I met up with the two English guys and spent the rest of the day walking the beautiful course of The Old Head. The views were unbelievable. I know why someone wanted a course built there. The layout makes for a great course with hard holes that carry over the cliff edge! Definitely not for a beginner, but one of the most challenging courses there is. I am back at it tomorrow for day 3 of the Irish Open and the Pro-Am as well.

Some of the views from The Old Head