Conservation & Ecology
extend and extenuate the original Capabillity Brown-style grounds of Bowood House, and a visionary move when the course was constructed, twenty years ago, saw the rough areas sown with a wildflower and fine grass mixture. However, over the intervening years, the rough alongside the manicured fairways had become dominated by thick agricultural grasses, including Ryegrass and Yorkshire Fog. That severely penalises even slightly wayward shots and slows up play as golfers search for balls lost in the dense rough. Furthermore, the wildflowers were shaded out by the coarse grasses and failed to provide the intended visual attraction or fulfil their real value for insects. To resolve the situation, Bowood Head
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Greenkeeper, Jaey Goodchild, instigated a trials management programme for the rough, involving options for intensive cultural techniques and targeted treatments with the selective herbicide, Rescue, to remove and manage the invasive coarse grasses, allowing the desirable fine fescue species to flourish. At the same time, with the dense cover removed, the wildflowers have been given the chance to proliferate to provide a riot of colour and renewed insect activity. Bowood is one of the Operation Pollinator Champion Clubs; a series of golf clubs across the UK and Ireland that are provided with additional guidance from Syngenta and industry ecologists to pioneer and develop practical solutions for environmental initiatives designed to encourage bumblebees and pollinating insects.
Successful trials
Jaey’s most successful trials have been achieved from an autumn application of Rescue, followed by a deep scarification using an Amazone Groundkeeper to remove the years of accumulated thatch and dense matt of sward. Areas that have been sprayed, but not scarified, had successfully thinned out the sward, but had not seen the same level of wildflower recovery. Whilst it may be possible to reduce the thick grasses by repeated cutting and removal of material three or four times a year for successive seasons, Jaey believes it would prove too prohibitive in terms of cost of labour, machinery and the effect on course appearance and playability. “Although the initial deep scarification was time consuming and removed a lot of organic material, the resulting thin and fine grasses will be far easier to manage in the future - which will be faster, less costly and less intrusive on play.” “The trials areas suggest we may need to repeat the selective herbicide application in the early years to continue the removal of coarse grasses. Once it is in control, however, it may only be required intermittently in subsequent seasons, or where there is a specific problem area to be targeted,” he advised.
Environmental impact
Jaey Goodchild - thin and fine grasses will be far easier to manage - which will result in faster play
The aim is to initially use the new techniques alongside the fairways and play-lines that will introduce new challenges for golfers, and then continue to enhance the environmental and aesthetic value across wider areas in future years. “There are eight or nine holes where we see the techniques could have a real impact on improving
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013 PC 123
he shape and play of most holes around the undulating parkland course at Bowood Hotel, Spa and Golf Resort, near Calne in Wiltshire, are defined by swathes of long grass rough. It was specifically designed to
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