Blimy - as many of you regular followers have told me recently - I have not put any information up of our progress on the web. This is not because we have not done very much but actually the oppoosite. Work the greens department has been so busy I have not had time to sit down and report on it all.

We are just about to enter the major winter works, which start on the 24th October. I thought this would be a great time to write an overview of where we are today and what we have been up to. I will try to do it in some sort of chronological order if I can.

Clubhouse

The view from the clubhouse today is very different. The long grass has been cut and the hard and soft landscaping in the middle of the clubhouse has been removed to make way for a fantastic water feature. We understand that this will cause quite a bit of disruption around the first tee, the balcony and the changing area but we feel it will be well worth the wait. We have also employed a new gardener after the departure of Dave Walls, who has been at the club since 2004. Hopefully you will see Martin around the club over the next few weeks. We have now made the role of gardener a full time position as the club continues to try to improve the quality of provision for the members.

Course changes 

As we move round the course, the bunkers one the first have settled in really well. The use of rough long grass from the range has proved a great choice and the bunker look as though they have been there for many years. The sand is still soft and will probably take till next season to bed in, although we are experimenting with new rakes to try to reduce ball plugging in the face, as well as using a new sand for all the new bunkers.

The 2nd bunker has also settled in well and creates a real additional challenge. We put in a drain along the side of this hole to enable us to update drainage on the top part of this hole in the future.

The work on the 5th has also added a new dimension to the course. The hole plays so much better with the new bunker. We have undertaken some small tree work on the right of this hole with a further shaping of the juvenile pines on the right of the hole to be completed this winter. This is stage one of this hole with an additional bunker and some fairway shaping to occur at a later date. We have also taken out the the poplar trees on the left of this hole.

Poplar trees are not native to this site and look out of place against the majestic pine line on the left hand side of the 5th hole. In addition, the extensive root system is not good for maintaining the drainage and turf quality.


10th hole changes

The 10th hole is currently in the throes of a total makeover., although it will take more than 60 minutes!  We have dug out the remains of the old hedge and are in the midst of replacing it with a a heathland drift,  as the architect calls it. It will look stunning in a few years but already it looks very good. After looking at some soil maps which  we aquired for the construction of the lakes on 9 and 10 we could see there was a gravelly drift of soil up by the 15th hole. Looking closely the area to the right of the 15th fairway is a HUMUS-IRON PODZOL soil which is perfect for heather growth due to the low ph and the sandy soil. We have stripped the topsoil from the area about 15 years ago and now we have been able to take the sandy soil, which will contain lots of heather seeds and transplant the soil and what heather we can into this area by the ladies tees on 10. We have seeded around it with a fine fescue grass and will then place seeds and heather brash on top at a later date . Hopefully over time this will develop in to an acid grassland with heather popping up in sporadic locations, as can be see to stunning effect under the trees on the right hand side of the 8th green. It will take a while for the new heather to come through but patience is a virtue.

The other end of the tenth fairway is just a exciting. Many of you have seen the new plans for the 10th hole, which can be seen on my website if you havent - http://www.wix.com/daniellightfoot/daniellightfoot.com

The construction of middle lake will be started on Monday 24th October and we anticipate this being finished before December. As many of you have noticed we have undertaken the prliminary clearance work and I have included some pictures below to show how much it has changed already.

11th hole 

The 11th hole has also seen some impressive changes. We have extended the fairway, joining the two tiers which has proved a massive success. It will take a while for the turf to mature but the extra fairway to the left of the bunkers give the player many more options to negotiiate the hole and allows for a little risk taking even if you are not able to get to the green in two.

Talking of getting to the green in two, this is one of the main reasons for the placement of the new fairway bunkers. Many golfers have asked why they are so far away from the tee. They are placed at this yardage for several reasons;

1. Those wanting to get on in two have to be very accurate and hit between the two bunkers. The penalty is to not to be able to make that elusive eagle. Those wanting to get on in three are not penalised too much. One of the aims of the renovation was not to make the golf course harder for the higher handicapper.
2. The bunker on the left is a good target and something to aim at from the tee. Nestling the ball up behind it with a draw is perfect to attack the pins, possibly with a slight fade. To get on in two you are asked the ultimate question. Two long hits, one draw and one fade.
3. It will also make the yellow tees much more usable and the make the bunkers more in play from this tee. Unfortunately, there is a stigma to using the yellows and it will be great to get more usage of these tees by our members to help spread the wear and improve the quality of the turf.

Above are some pictures of the work on 11 so far. There has been some murmerings about the choice of heather on the bunkers. We have not done it on any of the other bunkers on the course so far, but where there is a little natural heather, as is the case on this hole, we have tried to just accentuate it a little and continue to encourage it to grow. We hope you will like it.

I wont write too much about the ninth hole yet as this is possibly the most exciting peice of work to date. We will attack it after the first lake on ten is done and with a fair and following wind, this wont be too far away.

I hope you have enjoyed my little catch up and I promise to make the updates a little more regular from now on. The bunkers on 11 will recieve some sand soon so ill put some pictures up of them when they are finished. The course has been in great condition over the last few months and lets hope our Indian Summer continues for a little longer.

Regards

Daniel