Serious problems for Canty bowling clubs

Press, 29 September 1979, Page 60

Serious problems for Canty bowling clubs

In spite of a comparatively kind winter, bowl- • ing clubs in Canterbury are having more worries than j ■ usual in getting their greens ready for the new season. Some clubs have serious problems, the two hardest ' hit being Hornbv and Beck- ! enham. The Hornby green ■ has deteriorated dramatically ■ over the last few weeks and there is little chance of its •| being used at all this sum . mer. •1 The club is negotiating

with the Templeton Hospital authorities for permission to : play its domestic champion-' ships on a green in the hospi-! tai’s grounds. The Beckenham No. 1 i green is in no better condi-j tton, but there are hopes! that it may recover later in: the season. Beckenham's; problem is compounded byi the fact that its No. 2 green, which was laid three years! ago. is also threatened. Edgeware. Hornby W.M.C.i tnd Christchurch are among other clubs whose greens

are giving cause for concern,! although all are expected to: be playable. In Christchurch’s case, however, it may be some weeks. .I In Christchurch this week' • [has been Mr Percy Beggs, ; who is employed by the (Turf Research Institute (a ; Manawatu-based organisaition which assists a number J of sports) as greens con-. ! suitant for the top half of’ the South Island. Mr Beggs said yesterday ythat while it was true that’! bowling clubs in Canterbury'

I did seem to be having more! (problems than usual this; year there were some very' good greens in the centre. | I It was possible, he said, that there was a central -factor, but it was too early to! be sure of this. The damage’ at Hornby and Beckenham did seem to be similar. Mr Beggs said sail sam-j iples had been taken and: until these were tested and ( mop time given the affected greens any conclusions could only be speculation. ' “There is a problem to be 1

■! sorted out and I hope we . (the institute) can help. But r in the meantime there is not |much that can be done. ..There could be any number ■ of reasons why a green slips > back,” he said. si Mr Beggs said he was i aware that some greenkeepers were worried about ■j nematodes, microscopic 11 worms that feed on root forI! mations. They make their I presence felt in the warmer I.weather by killing off patches of cotula in a green. )* Nematodes were nothing;

■ new and were a well known , threat to potato crops, said : Mr Beggs. He was optimistic . that a nematode danger, if • there was one, could be ; countered. Recently, the greenkeeper ' :of a large Christchurch 1 ■ bowling club discovered: : nematodes in his soil and he : was amazed at their number ■ when he had a soil sample ' ■ analysed. Since then other ■ clubs have sought tests, but ’ so far too few results have been received to determine. . I the extent of the threat j