Hi All,
I hope this update finds you well.
Weather
February 2023 was, if not the driest February on record
with only 9mm recorded and something we could have really done with this year
but as the low rainfall figures in February only happen every 90 years or so we
might have to wait a while for that to happen again!
We experienced a fantastic few days at the end of January,
the course had dried out enough for us to be able to cut all areas and in some
of the afternoon sun we felt like spring was just around the corner. That
bubble has burst (literally) with 55mm of rain already registered this month following
another 87mm in January.
It’s really important we remember that this winter is
record breaking for all the wrong reasons and we will need a significant dry
period with high evaporation rates (days of high winds or high temperatures) to
bring the water table down. When driving around you will see the local fields
are full of water, the rivers are bursting and the roads are flooded. The knock on effect of this weather with crop yield being down for the farmers could be quite an issue come spring.
On a positive note, the weather bloggers I follow are all saying the same thing. When the rain stops this year, that could be it and they are expecting a very, very hot one!
Out on the course it only taking a few millimetres of rain
to push the water table up and make areas unplayable and unsafe. The 41mm of
rain from the 8th February to the 10th set us back. The
greens performance was actually pretty good during this period but the walkways
and roughs were awful and a real highlight we need to do some more work in the
areas with drainage and aeration.
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| 2nd Green 2015 |
In 2015 we started working the green surfaces hard and we
added the drainage in the last three years, the same level of aeration works
was then taken out onto the aprons to see these areas improve, then we started
doing more to the tee surfaces, then we moved the same process out on to the
fairways and due to the 2018 drought we had to be even more aggressive on the
fairways and all this work has been paying off.
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| Fairways after the 2018 drought |
This year following the EGM we had to make cut backs on the
budget and some of the works on fairways had to be postponed let alone moving
some of these works into the roughs but our long term goal has to be improving
with both drainage and aeration these pinch points and rough that are closing
the course due to the ground being saturated. We will get there but for now we
have to deal with hand we are being given by Mother Nature.
That’s enough of the weather I wanted to share a brief
overview of the progress on the Reservoir Project and with what else has been
happening on the course.
Reservoir Project
Heartwood Tree Surgeons Ltd were appointed our site clearance
contractors following years of work with our Arboriculturalist, planning
permissions from Test Valley and England Forestry and Natural England. You
would have probably seen the size and scale of the equipment on site. Heartwood
have just come off the HS2 project and are specialists in site clearance.
Heartwood have been working closely with up to four
Ecologists daily who are working on behalf of Natural England to minimise any
impacts to wildlife with particular attention
focusing on finding any Dormouse nests, with hand searches of all the
ground areas ahead of the machinery. As you can imagine this is back breaking
work but worth it to minimise the impact.
As a greenstaff we have had two to four members of the team
working within the site at any one time trying to help the Ecologists by brush
cutting and clearing areas for inspection with the aim to speed up the process
and to keep the Heartwood team moving to aid finishing on the end date.
The works are around 50% complete with the recent weather
causing us some issues with extraction. All the timber has been sold as part of
the project costs with most being sold for Biomass and most of the remaining
for logs due to then low value wood and scrub of Silver birch and
Rhododendrons. Our aim is that stage of the process will finish around
mid-March with all the clearing works completed by the end of February and the
final extraction done by mid-March subject to weather.
The Natural England license is for a two stage cut meaning
we will revisit the site in May to remove the stumps with other works taking
place in April for infrastructure.
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| Site surveys have been fun since the rain started again |
Although this make look alarming we have a very healthy
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) from the project, meaning when the project is
complete the benefits of the works will out way the impact we are making now
with thousands of native trees to be planted back around the reservoir and some
planting to offset around the course too. We are expecting a huge rise in
wildlife and a natural, sustainable water source for the clubs future using
recycled materials to engineer the reservoir banks.
We will be putting up various wildlife aids too with Bird
boxes, Dormouse Boxes, Bat Boxes are all part of the plans.
We will also end up with a pathway ‘Memory walk’ which lead
down to the 10th tee without having to go down the 18th.
This will allow staff to access the hut all year round, services like, cesspit
emptying, defibrillator servicing and easier access for the cleaner along with
a member route when finishing on the 9th. This will also include
benches for members to come and sit and overlook the Reservoir, allowing them
to watch some golf and to see the wildlife.
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| Potential Car Park layout throughout the project |
Car Park
As a large part of the project will be movement of lorries
to help build the retaining banks of the Reservoir we will lose the roadway
through the main car park and adjustments will need to be made to allow access
to the car park for cars and delivery lorries.
We've appointed Authorn who carried out the tarmac work on
the course to help us mark parking spaces within the overflow car park by
concreting in blocks into the surface. They will also be making modifications
to the main car park to allow the roadway to be built. Please start to park within the block worked T- shapes once they have been installed and opened. This will allow for more cars to get parked in the overflow car park.
We will also be removing the old lines which you may have
noticed the works have started but what we didn’t expect was the years and
years of paint over the previous lines making a tougher job than previously
thought. Once the car park is all cleared we will be relining with a new
layout. The Committee bays will be greatly reduced with two
disabled bays remaining. The lining works will be undertaken at night to minimise
disruptions as much as possible to you the members.
The Nets
Finally the new nets are Open. This was task we hadn't planned in undertaking this year but due to storm damage on the old ones we had no choice. This work had to fit in within the other works in the reservoir due to the restraints we had with the Natural England License, the bunker refurbishment program as we need to turf down and rooted by the end of February to allow for it to take ahead of the season and our staff being away at the greenkeepers conference for training.
We had a couple of issues during the build as trying to use the existing foot print along with bigger, tougher timbers and because I wanted to use the same mats as we have on the range for consistency but these are bigger in size compared to the last ones gave us some challenges but we finally have overcome them. With other local clubs spending between 20-30k on new nets we felt that we could provide something just as good for nowhere near that price.
Looking back I should have just started again in that area and built the entire area from scratch and not tried tying into the existing levels. I can only apologise for the delay, however I do think what we have now is far better than what we had and along with all the other things going on the team done a good job. We will give the frame and new screen another paint in the spring when the temperatures are warmer.
Conclusion
As you can see a lot of work is going in and around the club. All this work is essential to keep improving the club and to make us more sustainable. Water resources are going to be one of the biggest issues going forward and the work done by the club in the background to this is huge. For the club to be here in another 100 years we need to carry out the works today. If we lose a few parking spaces and have some inconvenience for a few months, its totally worth it.
This is a great golf club and we should be proud we are investing in these sustainable projects and in the courses future.
Next blog I will have a catch up on the on course activities and I will keep you updated on the Reservoir project but that's enough from me.
Keep the waterproofs out for now and I will see you all soon.
Matt
