Golf
Sweeping vistas greet visitors to Pitlochry “
During last winter’s floods we lost tee markers, rakes, signs and two heavy wooden benches. We even had two bunkers with trout in them!
most problems. “Blair Atholl flooded last winter when the River Garry, which flows alongside the course, burst its banks. This was due to large amounts of snow melt and heavy rain combining so, unfortunately, our course took the full brunt of it. We lost tee markers, rakes, signs and two heavy wooden benches. We even had two bunkers with trout in them! The clean up afterwards was hard due to the large amounts of silt and debris scattered around the course.” “In complete contrast, and being on high
ground, the greens at Pitlochry can dry out quite quickly but, since taking over, I have introduced a wetting agent programme so, over time, I’m hoping they will improve.” “In addition, three of the holes at Blair
Atholl are in almost constant shadow from November through to March due to the low winter sun being blocked by a large hill to the side of the course.”
Clearly, these are frustrations that Stuart and the team are used to; “we do, after all, live in the Highlands, so the weather can be seriously bad during winter and, consequently, end up playing a fair bit of golf on winter greens.” “Obviously, 2015 was extremely wet but,
where we are, the weather can be very bad in spring, summer and autumn as well as winter, so we just work with it; there isn’t anything we can do about it.” Greens are cut at 4mm during the summer
months on both courses and rolled with the Tru-Turf when required. They also get verti- cut every four weeks, with a light topdressing of Hugh King sand. They are sarrel rolled every two weeks and pencil tined when required. Stuart continues: “At the start of the
season, we scarify and solid tine then topdress after. After our last big completion,
*** STOP PRESS ***
In the run up to the 2nd December, Blair Atholl had been covered in 2-3 inches of snow. Stuart explains what happened next!
“Waking up on the 2nd, I opened my front door and all I could hear was the roar of the river. As I live near the river that runs through the Blair Atholl course, my immediate thought was that it would be flooded. This has only happened once in my previous five years, but I recognised that roar. Upon arriving at the course, all I could see was water, apart from the two top holes next to the clubhouse. With a night’s rain, combined with snow melt and mild conditions, the two rivers met and burst all over the course. I spent the day trying to save flags and course furniture. By the end of the day, the water levels had gone down, but it was still too early to see what damage had been caused and what had been washed away.”
“My drive to work the next day was with some trepidation!”
24 I PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2016
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