Golf
Grass bunkers are replacing sand as hazards, reducing workloads while still providing a suitable challenge for golfers
“For just £14, they can play nine-holes in around two hours, which seems to suit a growing number of people”
View of the 9th/18th fairway seen from the tee. The Preseli Mountains make a magnificent backdrop for this par 5, 523 yard closing hole
maintain. For those reasons, almost half of our original sand bunkers have been partly filled-in and sown with grass seed to create excellent grass bunker hazards that only need mowing every few weeks. It’s saving us a great deal of time and effort on the maintenance side.” Although there were already a number of fine specimen trees within and surrounding the fields on which the new golf course was built, Phil and Joy were keen to plant more trees so that the development blended better with the heavily-wooded area a few hundred metres to the east of the first tee and farmhouse. Between 1994 and 1996, around 5,000 young trees and saplings were planted on the course, mainly in the semi rough between the fairways and behind greens. Comprising a mix of alder, oak, ash and
Stunning views at every turn ... and bridge!
rowan, plus some Corsican pine, the trees have now reached a size where active management is needed to help the best specimens grow and flourish without being over-crowded by their neighbours. “We want to encourage particularly the oak and ash that are native to this area,” explained Phil. “Thinning of our original plantings started a few winters ago, and will continue for the foreseeable future. The results are already having a beneficial effect that is appreciated by golfers, giving the course a mature appearance that belies its youthful age.”
Although the golf course can be played
happily as two rounds of nine holes to produce a 5,900 yard, par 70 18 holes, every green has to be played from the same tee during both nine-hole rounds. Phil pointed out that he is currently looking at building a number of additional tees. “We have found that societies prefer to play 18 hole courses and hope that creating more tees on the course will attract more corporate and society golfers,” he said. “However, this is not the case with the majority of our guest accommodation visitors or pay-and-play golfers, many of whom do not have the available time to play an 18-hole round of golf in a day. For just £14, they can play nine-holes in around two hours, which seems to suit a growing number of people, especially if they are visiting the area primarily to enjoy the coastal scenery.”
Guest accommodation packages are available with or without golf, whilst membership is open to all, attracting sufficient regular local players for the club to support teams playing competitive matches through the season in both the Dyfed and Three Counties Leagues. There is also a Seniors team which plays friendlies regularly against other local clubs.
“Increased levels of play over the past ten years has prompted a move to 100 percent sand topdressing of greens in an effort to maintain an open, free-draining
20 PC OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013
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