Why do we always seem to put down our own in favour of what is on the other side of the fence? The unfortunate consequence of these imported styles has been the overwhelming tendency for golfers to demand that their courses be managed to mimic these foreign conditions and designs. Why has this happened? Because, over the last forty years, the majority of people coming into golf have watched the sport being played on TV, on courses from all around the world that are managed and presented in the same way, in order for the TV spectacle to be as exciting as possible. This then has become the “norm” for most golfers and, therefore, what they expect to play on everyday - green, lush, soft and receptive courses. The only championship in the
world that comes close to being presented in its natural state is The Open. If it is dry, it is firm and fast, if it is a ‘normal’ British summer, it is softer and more receptive. The US Open is often depicted as extreme because its greens become very, very firm and difficult for the best players to control their balls on. If the courses in warm climate areas did not have irrigation systems and could only irrigate by hand from a bowser, this would be the norm, and they would have to promote grasses that are
happier in drier conditions and provide firmer less forgiving greens.
This then asks the question,
why are we designing and managing our courses to mirror those in the US, Spain, Portugal and the Far East? Why don’t we give our golfers a British experience instead? Why don’t we utilise and promote our natural grass species that thrive in our temperate climate? Why don’t we all see the beauty in a natural golf environment where some areas away from the main playing surfaces are managed under a very minimal regime? Why can’t golfers appreciate that the course should live hand in hand with the ecology and wildlife that are on the site, and even promote it to increase the diversity? Surely, a healthy and more natural course will have a more diverse wildlife and will be more cost effective to manage. This will also have the advantage of making it better able to cope with future climate and regulatory influences. So, come on, let’s support our
greenkeepers and trust they know what is best. That is why we pay them. Let us all embrace natural UK golf and not the manufactured “garden style” high maintenance golf.
“We have to trust our head greenkeepers to know better than we do, as this is their profession and job”
Ian Quirk, Chairman of the Greens, Lymm Golf Club
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