short cut...
fact, there is no drainage on the course anywhere as the natural soils are very free draining, hence parts of the course being quarried for gravel. With the course prone to drying out, the club has invested in a fully automatic irrigation system to water greens, tees and fairways. A Toro system draws water from two boreholes with an extraction licence for 6,000,000 cubic metres, an
amount not fully used to date. The club employ five greenkeeping staff. Head Greenkeeper is Howard Middlebrook, who came to the club in 2003 having previously working at Bloxwich Golf Club for seven years and, before that, a number of other clubs, including Sinsheim Golf Club in Germany and The Warwickshire, where he was specifically employed to grow in and set up the course.
His first assistant is Sean McDade.
Paul Snelson, Phil Morris and Chris Carvell make up the team. All are very experienced and qualified. Howard likes to ensure they take responsibility for the equipment and machinery, so they are assigned specific tasks and
pieces of machinery to manage and maintain.
The team have over 100 years of
greenkeeping experience between them, so they are well accustomed to the expectations and work ethos required to manage a busy members club.
Stratford upon Avon is a parkland course which has retained many original features; none of the greens have been modified and most of the bunkers are in their original position, as are the tees, but these have been made bigger to accommodate the increase in golf traffic.
The course is open 365 days of the year, playing off grass tees all year
“People often take for granted the sheer amount of work that has to be done in any one week to keep the course operational and, more importantly, to perform to a standard that attracts and pleases players”
Howard Middlebrook, Head Greenkeeper, Stratford upon Avon Golf Club 17
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