Golf
“We wanted to create a golf course utilising the contours, undulations and natural fall of the land to provide variety, interest and a good challenge”
alternative form of income that would complement the hospitality side of the business, whilst utilising land that would no longer be needed for farming.” The decision to apply for planning permission to build a new nine-hole golf course on 25ha (60 acres) of former farmland was helped by the fact that the three golf courses closest to Priskilly Forest Farm are all located more than twelve miles away.
Engaging the services of locally-based course designer, Jim Walters, Phil and Joy oversaw the drawing-up of plans for a par 35, nine-hole layout comprising six par 4s, two par 3s and a par 5. Submitted to the local authority in 1990, the golf course project received planning approval without any conditions or changes to the initial design. “We wanted to create a golf course using a minimal amount of earth moving, utilising the contours, undulations and
natural fall of the land to provide variety, interest and a good challenge for golfers of all ages and standards,” explained Phil. “People playing the course include guests staying in the house on short or longer breaks, pay-and-play day visitors to the area, as well as a good mix of local people who are members of the club.” The five fields chosen for the course slope naturally downhill towards the farmhouse and the ancient woodland of Priskilly Forest, through which the Western Cleddau river meanders on its way to Milford Haven and the open sea. From the highest point on the course, some 100m above sea level, the Preseli Mountains can be clearly seen fifteen miles to the north-east, whilst the vast expanse of St Brides Bay sparkles in the sunshine a similar distance in the opposite direction. “The sloping nature of the land demanded the creation of a number of
level landing areas to prevent the ball running away,” commented Phil. “Other than that, the farm’s existing medium- loam soils were used to good effect in shaping and creating the greens and tees, all of which benefitted from the installation of new piped drainage systems.”
The uppermost 300mm profile of every
green was finished with a 70:30 sand-soil combination and sown with a fescue/bents grass seed mix. The tees were also topped with the same sand/soil mix and sown with finer ryegrasses.
While the earth-moving equipment was on-site, Phil oversaw the excavation of eighteen bunkers positioned strategically on fairways and close to greens. “I am not a big fan of sand bunkers on what I would describe as a parkland-style course which started off originally as farmland,” commented Phil. “They don’t look all that natural and are costly to
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