Conservation & Ecology
Trees will encroach if left unmanaged
“If we are to maintain what we have grown to love, then management is essential to ensure sustainability”
golf, as it encouraged the fine grasses which the golfer desired. This, combined with its free draining nature, encouraged the architects of the golden age, such as Harry Colt, to concentrate on the establishment of courses on the Surrey and Berkshire heaths, which were to become the role models for inland golf.
Unfortunately, the
ecosystem of common and heathland has no place for trees, as the grasses are not shade tolerant, as they have never been required to evolve the need, and will, therefore, be lost to the undesirable broadleaf meadow grass and Yorkshire fog as woodland cover increases. A loss to both the ecology and golfing quality of the site.
Heather will suffer a similar fate as trees shade it out, however the long term effect which is most devastating is the leaf litter and the nitrogen fixing qualities of the
interlopers that will enrich the soil and create a whole new environment hostile to those precious qualities which attracted the game in the first instance.
It is often forgotten, by those who so object to management, that all they hold dear will be lost forever and they do not appreciate that preservation is not conservation. Nature is a living entity and the pressure
we unintentionally put upon it has to be redressed. Furthermore, the effects of
ingress is over such a relatively long period that it often goes unnoticed, and tees can be effectively reduced in size as branches encroach, forcing players to use only part of a tee, often resulting in them being extended into areas which spoil the line of play or effect the strategy. It is an expensive reaction that does not solve the fundamental problem, but is seen to be politically correct! In conclusion, perhaps the best way to illustrate to the ‘Doubting Thomas’s’ of the club is to take them to an area of heather or fine rough where a tree is situated, and ask them to look what is beneath and say ‘do you really want to play your golf off that?’ Finally, a moment of light
relief from a club I recently visited, was a notice reading: “The committee, taking account the view of the members, has decided for economy not to advertise the post of course manager nationally, as the club has, within its ranks, at least 450 highly qualified expert agronomists. All applications to be in writing to the secretary.”
John Nicholson Associates Tel: 01913 842556
www.johnnicholsonassociates.co.uk
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