Shaping 72 bunkers in six weeks over the course of two winters may seem like a ridiculous project to take on, but, in fairness to everyone involved in the renovation of Castletown Golf Links on the Isle of Man, it wasn’t originally supposed to work out like that. I suppose I only have myself to blame - after all, nobody seemed the slightest bit concerned about the condition of the traps until I first started visiting the course around four years ago.
SIMON FREEMAN reports
I
was initially invited to spend a couple of days at this magnificent old links by its owner, Graham Ferguson Lacey, after he had completed the takeover of the Machrie Golf Links, where I have been employed for ten years. A change of Head Greenkeeper soon after my first visit (this had nothing to do with me, honest!) resulted in me making further visits to the Isle of Man, during which it was suggested that I take on a role where I would use my knowledge of the game to suggest subtle changes that might enhance a golf course that had remained relatively unaltered for almost 50 years. It certainly didn’t look like any of the rather ineffective and unattractive bunkering had been altered during that time, and a recommendation to Mr Lacey that something might be done about the situation resulted in an architect being employed to give the place the once over. The resulting plans were poured over by one and all, but it didn’t appear to any of us that what was being suggested actually made much of an improvement. Time passed on without much
progress being made, until a disappointing drop in the 2006 rankings of the Golf World top 100 clubs, despite a noticeable improvement in turf conditions since Mark Kitching had taken charge of the greenkeeping, prompted crisis talks. Mr Lacey wanted to know once and for all what Mark and
I thought should be done about the bunkering. So we told him; “rebuild and subtly alter all the existing traps, and evaluate where a selection of new ones should be added in order to improve the strategy of the golf course and to ensure that the integrity and inherent difficulty of the original design was retained, even with Castletown’s members using the best of today’s technologically advanced golf equipment”. That must have sounded pretty good, because we were basically told that he wanted it done, and that he wanted it done before Golf World returned to evaluate the course in 2008. Now, I would think that, under normal
circumstances (especially considering that Castletown is a free-draining links), it is entirely feasible to rebuild 50 bunkers and add 22 new ones over the course of two winters. The problem we were facing was that, although Mark was extremely confident that he could turf and finish off the bunkers, he felt that he did not have the knowledge of the game and its strategy required to project manage such a huge architectural change. We felt we were confident enough to do it together, but that meant me coming down to the Isle of Man for long periods of time - a scenario my wife wasn’t entirely over the moon about! Still, we figured it was on, and having
promised Catherine that I wasn’t planning to be away for more than two
ISLAND
HOPPING Taken to extremes!
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