Conservation & Ecology
“I’m in the fortunate position of being able to do something positive which reaches significant numbers of people”
Paul Worster, Golf Course Manager, Minchinhampton Golf Club
So, broad communication is good for our business and it is essential to put out a positive message. I speak to our members regularly but, equally importantly, I try to carry the club’s message out to other interested local groups, such as garden clubs and so on. Managing energy is a key factor and MGC had an audit carried out in 2009. The audit told us exactly where we were spending the most money on energy in the company and helped us decide where the maximum return on investment would be. Taking electricity as an example - the audit found that 90% of the electricity consumed by my club was used in the clubhouse. So, if there was a choice between insulating the greenshed or insulating the clubhouse, we’d get a far
better return from our money by focusing on the latter. And, since taking the decision to invest in low energy lights, motion sensors, a new boiler and better insulation, we have reduced the energy bill by some £6,000 annually. So, a quantifiable, justifiable expense with a clear and measurable return.
Many of the same principles apply to
the recycling of materials from the course. The difficulty of dealing with large amounts of grass clippings, tree branches, cores, bunker edgings and so on is well-known. These will accumulate at a staggering rate and, whilst dumping around the course is one option, eventually limited space and negative opinion will halt this. Even a simple approach of shredding, mixing, and turning occasionally can
reap benefits in delivering a usable material. By taking it a little further - mixing in the right proportions, turning regularly and sieving, it is possible to produce a material suitable for filling divots and topdressing tees. Annually, we produce at least 200 tonnes of material. The investment in this is a leased
SEKO shredding machine, which costs us £3,000 a year, and the once yearly hire of a screen at a further £1,000. Now, compare this to the purchase of 200 tonnes of dressing costing at least £30 a tonne (and the double-whammy of still having the unwanted materials to deal with on the course). Pretty impressive, but here’s the rub - you can not only point to local material which required minimal energy input to produce, but also prove that the figures stack up. You can “sell” OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013 PC 115
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