Golf
“
I doubt there can be many clubs left where the greenkeeper doesn’t run his own budget
New tees are larger and single tier to facilitate more tee positions and easy mowing
was the exception rather than rule for greenkeepers to manage their own department.” “At Weymouth, each head of department
is responsible for their own department. The course manager and his staff are the people who are best placed to make a difference to their own work environment.” “Whilst my budget for renovation work
and any ongoing projects is affected to a certain degree, the time available is probably the greatest factor these days. For example, mowing the course continues much longer into the autumn and winter than it used to, partly because members expect a much higher standard of course presentation than they used to. Improvements in machinery design over the past few decades, particularly fairway mowers, has helped make this possible. This year, with late autumn and early winter being so mild, the greenstaff have been too busy mowing to spend much time to tackle major renovation and projects.” Projects that have been undertaken in
“
recent years have been carried out to make significant improvements. “All our tees were rebuilt over a four year period with a full drainage carpet, fensoil and sand rootzone. Many of the old tees were a bit of a hotchpotch, where the original postage stamp tees had just been added to with more of the same. We designed all the new tees to be large, single tier level, with a winter mat included into the design. The end result was a set of tees with more tee positions and much easier maintenance for machinery and equipment access. The bulk of the work was put out to contract and John Pierson undertook the work.” “Following on from that, we embarked on
a programme of bunker renovation. Over a four year period, every bunker on the course was rebuilt by the greenstaff. We had received comments about sand quality in the bunkers, many of which were prone to contamination with silt following heavy rain. We sourced a material that fulfilled the USGA criteria for bunker sands and, after this proved acceptable to the majority, we
embarked on a programme of rebuilding the bunkers on the course. Removing the old sand, cleaning out the drains, reshaping and topping up with fresh sand. The opportunity was also taken to adjust the location of bunkers to bring them into play or improve the strategy of a hole.” Weymouth is a parkland course built on
heavy Oxford clay. At 6,044 yards, par 70 it is not long by modern standards and is dissected by a main road, with holes 10 to 13 on the west side. The total acreage is around 120. There is just the one 18-hole course. “One is enough,” interjects Rob. The Weymouth climate is mild and snow
in the town is very rare. “There’s a line of chalk hills to the north of us and cloudy weather will often pass us by and follow the hills to the north,” explains Rob. “Visitors frequently remark that they have driven through bad weather and, as they drive down the hill into Weymouth, find the sun is shining.” “On the rare occasions we get a frost, we bring in temporary greens to protect the
Visitors frequently remark that they have driven through bad weather and, as they drive down the hill into Weymouth, find the sun is shining
36 I PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016
Rough areas on urban golf courses are often the last vestiges of local grasses
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