Magazine - VGA Turf Trial Rosamond Bowing Club

By Dyson Appleyard in Bowls on 21st Jan 2010 8:20

In December 2009 the VGA started work on turf trial at Rosamond Bowling Club in Melbourne’s west.

Rosamond had a disused 3 rink green that was full of weeds and was perfect for a trial as it has a good irrigation system and an excellent soil profile.

After speaking to the clubs greenkeeper Dave Zitter, along with President Pat Clark we all decided that the project was a good idea.

With a bit of research and a lot of phone calls the grass of choice for this trial was going to be a seeded couch called Sovereign. Sovereign Couch is used a lot in the cooler states of America on golf courses and is meant to be the finest of all the seeded varieties. It has never before be trialed on a bowling green or been cut at the height a green requires, so the results should be interesting.

The green was cut down and poisoned then VGA committeemen Dave Gudgeon sod cut the surface. We now had the sods removed by bobcat and spread some fertilizer out, supplied by Oasis. Now the green was rotary hoed and finally laser leveled ready for seeding.

On new years day 2010 the green was raked over to create a seed bed then the seed added along with some lawn started.

From all reports the seeded variety of couch should be up and playable a lot sooner than a sprig, we will soon see.

This project is managed by VGA committeemen Adrian Marston and Warren Maynard along with a lot of help from VGA members Dave Zitter and Donald Whitehead.

Regular updates will be posted on this website along with pictures head to www.victga.com

Read more articles in Bowls, by Dyson Appleyard or from January 2010.