The golf course at George Washington Golf & Country Club measures over 6600 yards and is a parkland course. Part of the Mercure hotel group, there is a 4* hotel with luxury spa on the same site, making it a great all round destination. The golf course holds regular tournaments for players of all ages.

Regular Season Applications

Indigrow products are key constituent in the regular season greens applications at George Washington Golf & Country Club. They also contribute to their programme for their tees and approaches too.

Whilst the base feed is a liquid supplied by another manufacturer, Mark Hornsby, head greenkeeper, utilises a range of products to supplement the other manufacturers product. Mark told us “we use a full range of the Solar foliar feed products from Indigrow to help maintain our greens. As we have very well-draining soils here, we like to use foliar feeds to that the nutrients are taken up by the plant leave and not leached into the soil”.

Over the course of the season, all additional nutrient inputs to the course are provided by products from the Solar range of foliar feeds. These products are applied at 20 lt/ha throughout the growing season and are used only as required. This takes careful management by Mark, however, he enjoys the challenge. “We take samples from the greens at the beginning of the season to determine any deficiencies before working out our plan for the season to ensure we’re only applying nutrients which the plant actually requires.

Tank Mix Supplements

Mark supplements his applications of Solar foliar feeds with a range of products from the OneShot range. The Compass Bio-Active OneShot, Solar Pro-Active OneShot and Humik NPK OneShot offer additional seaweed, phosphite and humic acid to all tank mixes. “Adding this combination of products to our tank mixes through the growing season has helped us reduce our disease pressure, as they have helped us improve our all-round plant health. This has helped us reduce our fungicide inputs, which has saved money and is reducing our impact on the environment”.

Throughout the winter, regular applications of Compass Bio-Complete are used. “The mix of seaweed, wetting agent and iron help to ensure plant health, continue our water management strategy and give us the colour we need all throughout the winter”, Mark told us.

Wetting Agents

Because of the naturally well-draining soil at Goerge Washington Golf and Country Club, an active wetting agent programme is required to ensure that appropriate levels or water are maintained in the soil profile. Magnum 357 Calibre, Magnum CO and Magnum Forty-Four are all used throughout the year by Mark to ensure that his greens don’t dry out. “By using these products in the Indigrow recommended programme, we have never had many issues with dry patch or with puddling or flooding. We take a little and often approach to our applications, applying the products at lower rates more frequently, which has really helped us ensure we maintain sufficient water in the soil profile.

Tournament Preparation

Tournament preparation is key for all greenkeepers and there’s no exception to this at George Washington Golf & Country club. They regularly host local and national tournaments and it’s key for Mark to have the course in excellent condition for all events.

“Solar Energy has been a game-changer for us”, Mark explained. “Applications can be made just before tournaments and we see results just 24 hours after application. Using Solar Energy at 10 lt/ha particularly helps on shaded greens – we’ve really noticed a difference in their look and performance since we’ve started using Solar Energy”.

In addition to Solar Energy, Solar Nano Si is also used at George Washington Golf & Country club as part of their tournament preparation. Applications are made monthly, usually pre-tournament, to lift the seed heads to allow the team to remove poa from their playing surfaces. “The removal of poa from the greens helps us to maintain an even and consistent playing surface, which is vital for us during tournaments to ensure a fair playing surface for competitors.”