Golf
some of Berkshire’s finest woodland and heathland. “With seven golf clubs fighting for business in the area, competition is always going to be high,” explains Alec. “I was mindful that the club needed to invest in their major asset - the golf course - with the emphasis being on improving the quality of the playing surfaces, enhancing the golfing landscape and investing in machinery.”
“One of my first priorities when I
arrived was to get to grips with the greens, making sure they would remain playable all year round. This involved a lot of cultural work to control thatch levels and improve porosity on soil push up greens, using up to 150 tonne of sand p/a.” “To help achieve this, I put my case to the committee for new machinery and a new irrigation system for the greens, tees and fairways. I also recommended undertaking some localised drainage work. To complement this work, I also instigated the refurbishment of all the bunkers out on the course (forty-six in total). This involved reshaping, revetting, draining and re-sanding.”
“In truth, it’s been a quiet evolution rather than a revolution. I’m mindful that golfers still want to play the course, even when there is work going on,” says Alec. With a healthy and growing membership, now nearing five hundred, Alec says that the club are now reaping the benefits, and he was keen to show me around to see the hard work he and his staff have put in and the results of their labours.
The club employs five full-time staff. Michael Cox is Alec’s assistant head greenkeeper, with Jeff Drake, David Bartholomew and Jack Andrew completing the team. Mechanic Brian Levington is employed on a part-time basis, two days a week.
Alex MacIndoe - new buggy paths and consistent greens
“It’s been a quiet evolution rather than a revolution. I’m mindful that golfers still want to play the course”
My first port of call was to see one of the latest projects currently being undertaken, the reconstruction of the tees on the first, for which Alec had employed the services of Speedcut Contractors to work alongside his staff. “My team have helped to prepare the site by stripping off the old turf, which we’ll reuse on other parts of the course, repairing bunkers, returfing worn areas and the like.”
Work was well underway, with Speedcut’s Andy Tidy and Martin Franks undertaking the primary soil modelling, power harrowing and setting the finished levels using their laser guided Blec grader. “We purchased 800m2
of big roll turf
which we laid ourselves, with the aim of getting all the work completed in four days. We were lucky with the change to drier weather, which was certainly a bonus, and enabled us to transport the sand and materials to the course without too much damage.”
Alec and I then began our course walk so that I could see, at first hand, the layout and views of the course. What immediately struck me was the consistent colour of the greens and approaches. Alec explained that they had recently received a good dose of iron to control some moss, and to set them up for the spring renovation programme. I could also see the benefits of some previous deep aeration work, with new grass growing in the tine holes.
I was surprised to see how much winter work had been achieved considering the poor weather and ground conditions Alec and his team had faced throughout the winter. They had been busy clearing ditches, felling large trees and clearing out rough scrub areas to help regenerate the heather and gorse plantations. “This work will certainly make a significant difference to the course,” enthuses Alec. “The felling of a number of trees to enhance sight lines will have the biggest impact, but will also help to encourage and develop the natural environmental balance of the course. We are working closely with local wildlife and environmental agencies, and also looking at entering a partnership with The Conservation Volunteers [formerly the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers] to achieve this.” “We’ve also been refurbishing and
rerouting paths and buggy tracks, using a range of materials including reinforced mesh systems, rubber crumb, redgra clay and clean stone. When I took over, there were winter trolley bans in place, however this is not the case anymore. It was simply a case of rerouting and diverting the paths to better areas of the course and then encouraging golfers to use them. It’s certainly helped speed up play and also
Presentation is key according to Alec APRIL/MAY 2013 PC 25
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