Terrain Aeration has recently helped improve the drainage of a selection of the greens on the course Newport Golf Club in Wales, UK.

Four of the course’s greens were put out of use during or following wet weather, and a team from Terrain Aeration was brought in to help alleviate the problem. 

The Newport course lies on ancient oak and birch woodland, and the greens are believed to be of the original profile, with clay cup construction.

When the Terrain Aeration team arrived, they noticed evidence of plugging due to retained water within the four greens.

Terrain Aeration used its Terralift aeration machine with a spacing of two metres to a depth of one metre. Dense red clay was encountered at about 700mm. This was penetrated after a short period of hammering and was then dried. Milled seaweed was then injected to maintain aeration.

The project team found that the surfaces of the greens were very tender. This led to the decision to use an eight bar pressure, which produced a ripple of movement but left the green undamaged.

The probe holes were then backfilled to within 75mm of the top using Lytag aggregate.

Following a quick clean up to remove any debris and a pass with the greens iron, the four greens were back in play. The whole process took just two hours per green, with an immediately noticeable improvement to the firmness of the greens.

Following the success of the recent project, Terrain Aeration are set to return to Newport Golf Club later this year to help treat the rest of the course’s greens.