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Tee To Green November

19th November 2025

Find out the latest from our Greenkeepers in this month's Tee to Green.

The Downs course

It’s been quite the month here on The Downs course. The leaves are falling, the weather’s been keeping us on our toes and there’s plenty going on behind the scenes (and under the turf!).

As many of you will have noticed, our £1.75 million irrigation project is now well underway. This major upgrade will see brand-new sprinklers installed on the greens, tees, approaches and walk-offs, giving us far better control over moisture levels and turf quality throughout the course. While the machinery, trenches and works may cause a little disruption at times, we promise the end result will be well worth it. We really appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding while we carry out these essential improvements.

The recent heavy downpours haven’t made life easy either. A few of our bunkers have been hit with some downwash and the team as been hard at work repairing and raking to keep them in top shape. If you spot us dashing around with shovels and rakes, you’ll know we’re battling to keep the sand where it belongs! We’ve also been keeping a close eye on the high disease pressure that comes with this time of year. With the combination of damp conditions and cooler nights, it’s always a tense period for turf health but thankfully, we haven’t been hit too hard this autumn.

The greens are holding up well thanks to our ongoing preventative measures and the team’s attention to detail. This is also due to the work we have carried out throughout the year with our feed programme and the topdressing we have put on them, which currently stands at 180 tonnes. Not only does the sand help with the trueness and firmness of our greens but it also helps to dilute the thatch level which reduces the stress on the turf which is another factor on which disease thrives. 

Of course, autumn wouldn’t be autumn without endless leaves. Our blowers have been getting a serious workout this month, it sometimes feels like as soon as we clear one area, the trees have another go at us! But we’ll keep at it to make sure the playing surfaces are tidy and enjoyable. A large apple tree holds 50,000 to 100,000 leaves. A normal birch averages around 200,000 leaves. A old oak, for which we have several have 700,000 leaves. So, bear this in mind when you see them on the ground and spare a thought for us. We have billions to pick up.

As you may have seen, we have cleared the bank on the 2nd. This was carried out by the grounds team from the Motor Circuit, with their new remote controlled mower, making light work of the bank and had it all cut within two days. A huge thank you to all our members for your continued patience and support while we work through this busy period.

We’re committed to keeping The Downs course in fantastic condition, both now and for the future and we can’t wait to show you the improvements once the irrigation project is complete.

See you out on the course (hopefully between showers)!

Dan Cornish, Deputy Head Greenkeeper, The Downs course