Injecting Magic Into Our Greens 22 March 2021

As our golf course gets ready to welcome back its guests, customers will be forgiven for being unaware of the ‘magic’ that has been happening beneath their feet while they’ve been away. As part of an extensive range of course maintenance initiatives through the winter, our team of expert greenkeepers have been busily preparing the putting surfaces for the rest of the golfing season with the help of a process called DryJect.

High-powered bursts of air are injected into each green to create tiny chambers, which are then almost instantaneously filled with a special sand-based mix (70% sand/30% soil amendment). Once the mix goes to work, the greens not only hold onto their nutrients for longer but the soil amendment sucks moisture from the green, making it drier and firmer to play on – two important attributes in creating great all-year-round putting surfaces.

Compared to the more traditional method of removing thin cores of soil from across a green, a process called hollow-coring, DryJect is much more efficient and less invasive. There’s no recovery time and no impact from an ‘enjoyment of play’ perspective. So, after the works have been completed, golfers can play on our greens immediately. The benefit of this work can also be felt during wet weather games too. Storm water can filter through much more efficiently, so golfers will be able to continue playing in the worst of downpours, without fear of the greens getting waterlogged.

Basically, we’ve been able to invest in the quality of our greens without disrupting the playing experience. In fact, because of the work, the greens will now be even better, making a round of golf even more enjoyable at The Grove. We’re already so happy with the result, that we’ve scheduled in a repeat DryJect process in October…under the cover of darkness! We plan to bring in floodlights, and undertake the work when the course is closed whilst golfers are at home dreaming of the next day’s play. A greenkeeper’s job is never done…