Equestrian
A panoramic view of Wincanton Racecourse and the nine-hole golf course at its centre
The Golf Course
Wincanton Golf Club was established in 1994 and offers nine holes in a links-type environment.
“We can’t have any trees etc. to produce a challenge for the golfers because of the need for visibility across the racecourse, so we use the roughs, which are allowed to grow tall in the summer months,” explains Matt Clements.
He has also begun a programme of reshaping the bunkers.
“They were mainly large, flat and open, but I have dug two out below ground level, which makes them more
challenging, yet easier to maintain.”
The course is open year round, except on racedays, and Matt comments:
“Greens are built to USGA specification and are the best feature of the course; most of the land is soil and brash with some clay pockets that don’t drain well, and we do get some wet spots on the fairway.”
He adds that as the wet areas were ‘Shockwaved’ last year without success, he is now looking to budget for drainage work to improve playing conditions.
Improvements to the course have been duly noted by the local community, with six new members being signed up in the first two weeks of January.
104 I PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015
Features on the links-type golf course include roughs which are allowed to grow tall in the summer months
all of our hurdles in-house. In 2015, we purchased twenty-five new hurdle sections, and I aim to keep ninety sections available for use.” Budgeting and machinery supply is an area
that James and Matt are studying closely. “We have powerful tractors available through Jockey Club Racecourses’ agreement with John Deere, so it makes sense to use tractor-drawn equipment such as the Progressive mower, even though, in an ideal world, I would prefer a large ride-on rough mower to share with the golf club,” says James. “However, the lease agreement for the
tractors gives us fixed costs and a planned replacement programme, so I believe that it is the way forward. The 950R ride-on mower that we have from John Deere is one of the most useful pieces of kit on the racecourse - it is used to cut the take-off and landings, works on the golf course, mows the caravan park and stripes up the parade ring and lawns.”
“We would love our own verti-drain,” adds
Matt, “as we could then use it more regularly, and this might be a suitable candidate for a lease package.” James feels strongly that a ‘fine turf’
approach is the way forward in racecourse groundsmanship, and that larger racecourses, such as York and Sandown, are making great strides by using the latest turf renovation equipment. He says: “There’s still a decidedly agricultural approach on racecourses, but it is improving. And, even on a small course, you can make progress in areas such as take-off and landing preparation. It gets noticed - we have a trainers’ lunch here before the start of the season and, on walking the course, one trainer questioned why I had returfed the take-offs and landings as they looked so good!”
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