All Open images ©Bob Taylor
PLANNING THE OPEN
Rare toads and lizards do not live happily alongside 200,000 specators. The STRI’s Bob Taylor explains how sensitive ecological issues were addressed for the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale
T
he Open Championship, held this year at Royal Birkdale, is without doubt the most prestigious world golfing event, attracting over 200,000 spectators. Padraig Harrington again lifted the Claret Jug, following what was a superb climax, with both Ian Poulter and Greg Norman also in the running. Padraig Harrington, speaking at the
awards ceremony, congratulated Chris Whittle, Course Manager, and his team for the excellent condition of the course, and thanked The R&A for hosting and organising an extremely well run and highly successful event. I could not help but wonder if any of the players’ or indeed anyone watching The Open, appreciated the level of organisation and effort that went into the event to ensure smooth running from set up through to the breakdown.
The R&A Championship Committee will, by the time this article is in print, be finalising details for next year’s event at Turnberry. They will learn from Royal Birkdale, with post-Open review meetings that will analyse the successes and failures. Stuart Ormondroyd and Bob Taylor (official agronomist and ecologist to The R&A Championship Committee) involved in advising on course set up etc., will be
reporting on the course restoration requirements. From an ecological perspective a massive amount of work went into ensuring that important and sensitive ecological issues at Royal Birkdale were addressed and appropriately mitigated. Working on behalf of The R&A Championship Committee, I have been visiting Royal Birkdale annually to identify key areas of sensitivity and to recommend ongoing ecological course management work.
This year an early season ecological visit was undertaken (early March) to consider spectator routings to protect ground nesting birds, infrastructure placement and set up, and appropriate methods of working. The key sensitive zones were identified (skylark in particular will start to congregate and settle during early March, commencing nest building from mid to late March onwards). Once cut out, the maintenance routes were mown on an ongoing three weekly basis to discourage settlement later in the season. Royal Birkdale lies within a much larger Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a designation administered through Natural England under national legislation. Moreover, the site forms part of a wider Special Area of Conservation (SAC), which
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140