Conservation & Ecology O


James Hutchinson was recently appointed Environmental Officer at The St Andrews Links Trust where his role is to manage the on-site wildlife, conservation and any environmental issues which may arise.


He previously worked at Fairhaven Golf Club as their ecology manager and was instrumental in winning many awards and titles for his outstanding knowledge of rural issues and his dedication towards wildlife practices.


He holds an FdSc and a BSc (Hons) in turf science and is a proud recipient of an R&A Gold scholar’s badge, which was presented to him at BTME 2014 for outstanding career progression and his work towards the R&A Scholarship.


James has kindly agreed to write a selection of articles based around recycling, flora and fauna, ecology and conservation and, in this issue, James offers us his advice on the use of recycled materials and their subsequent usage on a golf course


112 I PC APRIL/MAY 2015


Recycling the Golf Course


kay, let’s start with the term ‘recycled’ - put simply, it is something that is secondhand, has been used before or is being reprocessed into something else.


Your mower, for instance, has been recycled and was probably once a part of an old car or a metallic object, as were many of your computer components and household appliances. However, these are hard materials and ones that do not really concern us in this industry, so I will concentrate on something a little more biological for now; grass clippings and recycled golf course organic materials to be precise!


Why Compost?


All golf courses and sports grounds create grass clippings and the problem often arises of what to do with them all. Most local councils will remove them for you, as will organic waste companies, but these come with a cost attached, so why not reuse them


to your advantage? All that is required to create good quality compost are grass clippings, brown waste (potato peelings and woodchip), shredded paper or cardboard and a spare half an hour a fortnight (a front loading tractor or digger may be required depending on how much reusable material you have). In years past, and historically I’m as guilty


as anyone when it comes to emptying my grass bins, the majority of greenkeepers simply discarded their grass clippings into the woods out of sight, scattered in the eco rough or over the fence where it is no longer their problem. We’ve all done it, and I suspect that some are still doing it because that’s how it’s always been done - which is a phrase I personal have grown to dislike. There are certain circumstances where this


behaviour is totally unacceptable and potentially law breaking, such as tipping your grass near, or in, water courses. There are countries (Germany springs to mind) which


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