Golf is an easy target for the media. They perceive it as an elitist sport for fat men in large cars, with money to burn
Brocket Hall is home to pricless antiques and paintings. Above: The Prince Regent Suite. Right: The Ballroom where the infamous Lady Caroline Lamb introduced the waltz to England.
(through their 1970s eyes) and they see the large tracts of land as being scars on the landscape without seeing the bigger picture or, more importantly, knowing the facts.
As a golfer myself I know that walking five miles each round I play is doing me more good than harm. I delight at seeing the return of buzzards to my course, the deer running across the fairway. The bluebells in the surrounding woods in May are a wondeful sight to behold and autumn brings such stunning colours that is is impossible not be inspired by Mother Nature. I am happy in the company of my friends and can feel the pressures of the working week lighten with every step I take on the manicured turf (okay, the rough!).
The Head Greenkeeper and his staff
are always welcoming. Their working regimes are reducing chemical inputs and the use of water on the course. New machinery facilities ensure that each machine is working to its optimum performance and washdown areas recycle waste water.
My home course is a twelve year old parkland course. The estate that own the land were once heavily reliant on farming and forestry but, with the decline in agriculture in the 1980s and
1990s, they sought ways to raise extra income to ensure their own survival and those of the estate workers. And so, the golf course was born as part of their overall business plan. They took a tired, overgrown, ancient parkland and created a course that sits in perfect harmony with its environment. All woodland areas are now managed as part of the overall working programme, hundreds of new trees have been planted and the diversity of flora and fauna is increasing. The work was carried out under the watchful eye of English Heritage who still have a say in all developments on the course. If I play golf just twice a week each
round costs me £5.96. No more expensive than hiring a squash or tennis court for an hour, or paying subs to play cricket or football. So it’s hardly elitist. And, quite frankly, is there a better alternative? Do the media offer any solutions? Would they wish to see Stately Homes fall into disrepair, to see ancient
parkland become overgrown and unmanageable, with no public access to view them in all their glory? How do they expect landowners to pay for their upkeep? Would they prefer to see Stately Homes go the way of Alton Towers, Longleat or Beaulieu? Do they really want another LegoLand? Surely golf courses represent a more environmentally friendly way to manage the landscape than a safari park, motor museum of adventure playground? And, no, that’s not a criticism of these types of attractions. Their respective owners found their own solutions to raise income to maintain their own little piece of our heritage. Just as an aside, I happen to think that Longleat would make a superb venue for a golf course. There would certainly be some interesting hazards!
Of course, the doubters will always view golf courses as scarring valuable tracts of land, spreading chemicals far and wide and generally ruining the environment. And golfers will continue to dress up in lurid clothes, at least in the minds of the media. Did English Heritage really say that golf is ruining our green and pleasant land? Of course not. Five years ago they even cited Rudding Park in a case study of “Good golf course design in historic landscapes”. They do suggest that “poorly designed golf courses that do not try enough to blend into the existing historic features are a problem” and, I doubt that many of us would argue with that comment. Sadly, it just wouldn’t be a sensationalist enough headline for the media and, as the old adage goes, never let the truth get in the way of a good story!
The writer of the Telegraph article, Patrick Sawyer, also details other sites in
The River Lea runs through the grounds of Brocket Hall
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The ferry across Broadwater to the 18th on the Melbourne
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