32


THE EARLY YEARS


forty years. Te areas purchased and the costs are listed in Chapter 4 (Long Ashton Golf Club Limited). Talks started as early as 1962 with Mr Withers, a local farmer, about the 14


acre field between the seventh and eighth holes. Tese discussions have dragged on for nearly thirty years and have only recently been successfully concluded. Te integration of this valley into the golf course will improve and lengthen the layout of the first nine holes considerably. It may also reduced the long walk between the 2nd and 3rd holes and the steep climb up to the eighth hole. Te 13 acre practice field adjacent to the Clubhouse was bought from J.


Atherton in 1967. Tis is probably the best and most convenient practice area in the county, maybe even in the country. It is well used by members and by the Professional staff for teaching. An extra putting green and practice hole were constructed in 1980 to increase the facilities on the practice area. Since 1989 the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) have rented part of the field annually for a one-day Westurf Exhibition of Golf Course Machinery and Sundries. Te Exhibition has been well attended by greenkeepers and groundsmen from all over the South West. Before we bought this field, the practice area was a narrow strip between the 10th fairway and the Clevedon Road and it included the new car park extension. Use of this limited area proved particularly hazardous for the green’s staff who were regularly bombarded with balls as they cut the 10th fairway. Other land purchased by Long Ashton Golf Club Limited included the wood


around the eighth and ninth holes in 1967 and the wood to the right of the fiſth and sixth holes in 1976. Tese acquisitions were made to safeguard our boundaries Te small triangle of land in front of the second tee which we play over has been rented from the University of Bristol since 1972. In return the Golf Club have rented the sloping field to the south of the 16th fairway to Long Ashton Research Station since 1984.


RECENT CHANGES ON THE COURSE In 1951 we bought our first “Weedmaster” spraying machine for £90. Tis


represented a big change in the control of weeds and pests on the Course. Previously weeds were controlled on the greens by hand-weeding or by applying lawn sand containing sulphate of iron. Te new hormone selective weedkillers removed the daisy and dandelion problems from both the greens and fairways overnight. Dangerous weedkillers and pesticides such as lead arsenate, DDT and mercury compounds used widely in the 1950’s are now banned and greenkeepers have to find safe alternatives to control leatherjackets, worms and other pests and diseases on the Golf Course.


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