Golf
The best things in life come in small packages, and that is certainly true of Highcliffe Castle Golf Club, an 18-hole parkland venue on the Dorset coast close to Christchurch. It offers glimpses of the sea at every turn, and often challenging weather patterns for Head Greenkeeper Mike Cartwright and his team. In this article, Mike details the upkeep of the little course with a big heart
A
s with many organisations in the small Dorset town of Highcliffe (correctly Highcliffe-on-Sea), the golf club has a close association with Highcliffe Castle, originally a
grand house built by former Prime Minister John Stuart, The Third Earl of Bute, to “command the fairest outlook in England”. When Sir Charles Stuart’s son returned
from his first appointment as Ambassador in Paris in 1824, he adapted the old High Cliff House, which had been virtually demolished, into what is now known as Highcliffe Castle. Having been impressed by the beauty of
French chateaux, he bought one - Les Andelys in Normandy - which had been built in the 16th Century for the Bourbon family. He then had it taken down, transferred in barges across the channel, hauled up the cliff and re-erected to adapt the existing building.
It is this structure that has been rewarded with Grade 1 status on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural and Historical Interest. That kind of endeavour can be recognised in Highcliffe Castle Golf Club’s greenkeeping team, whether repairing phallic symbols carved into the greens by drunken teenage holidaymakers or embarking on an ambitious tree management plan. The layout at Highcliffe Castle is rather unusual in that it comprises ten par 4s and eight par 3s, with a par of 64. Total length is just 4,836 yards and the total acreage is tiny, at around fifty acres. That said, the course record is 62 and its intriguing layout can catch out even the most experienced golfer. Mike Cartwright is the head greenkeeper,
who has been at the club for eight years. “I was head greenkeeper at the County Golf
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