Golf
Course Manager, Andrew Mannion, with recently delivered pallets of recycled synthetic turf
Laid out on a massive limestone outcrop formed 360 million years ago, Southerndown Golf Club, located near Bridgend, South Wales, offers golfers part sandy links, part acid-heathland, a combination which makes the course one of the driest in Britain and a fine test of golf.
Southerndown provides a good test also of the greenkeeping skills of course manager, Andrew Mannion, and his six staff, as Mike Bird discovers
F
All to the common good...
ounded in 1905, Southerndown Golf Club is described as a hidden gem both by members and the many visitors who have admired its natural contours, fast greens, pot
bunkers, and gorse and bracken lined fairways over the years. Add to these features splendid views of the Bristol Channel and challenging, prevailing south-westerly winds and one has a golf course that is quite unlike any other in the country. The word “unique” needs to be used with caution but, in the case of Southerndown, it is unlikely that anyone will find reason to disagree.
Although climate, location and geology have a major influence on the care and maintenance of Southerndown’s eighteen holes, the course’s setting on common land offers an additional year-round challenge to the greenkeeping team. “Sheep have been grazing Southerndown’s native fescue and bent grasses long before golf arrived,” points out Course Manager, Andrew Mannion. “The commoners’ association has grazing rights stretching back to the Middle Ages. It is my job to manage the course in harmony with nature and the graziers, whose sheep numbers can double to 600- plus over the summer months following lambing. It’s a challenge, but I would not want to be anywhere else.” Andrew arrived at Southerndown Golf Club in February 1995, having previously been at Warrington Golf Club, a traditional parkland course located three miles south of the Cheshire town. “I joined Southerndown as deputy head greenkeeper to Gary Johnstone,” recalled Andrew. “I was keen to work on a links course and, although not true links- style throughout, Southerndown was being tended by Gary using management practices that he had learned working with John Philp at Carnoustie Links.”
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