During
the winter of 2016/17 we scheduled a renovation project to enlarge the
men's 12th tee complex. Being a par 3 the original tee was too small to
sustain excess wear and over time had become uneven and bumpy. In
addition to this the tee complex was still on the old irrigation set up
of 360 degree heads. These heads had over many years been watering the
surrounding areas of the tee complex which in turn led to the open dune
land becoming over vegetated with thick rank grasses and scrub.
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| View from the 12th tee complex |
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| Over vegetated grass and scrub |
With
plans in place to enlarge the tee and install an irrigation set up to
just water the tees surface a decision was made to revert the scrub to
the front and side of the tee back to its natural state. This concept
derived from annual visits from Bob Taylor and Sophie Vukelic
who are ecology consultants for the Sports Turf Research Institution.
They advised that to knock back succession in many over vegetated areas
of the course we could adopt a practice of removing scrub completely,
scraping back to bare sand thus restoring many areas of our sand based
course back to their natural state.
Through
their advise and support we had already successfully carried out a
number of small trial areas along the 8th carry, these were met with
such positive feed back from members that we had no hesitation in
deciding to carry out the ecological reversals required around the 12th
tee complex.
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| Open vista over natural dune land |
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| Returned to natural dune land |
It wasn't until the project had been completed that our intentions turned to entering the Golf Environment Awards. This is something that the club has been involved in for a number of years with our aim being to improve the ecological value of the course.
The greenkeeping team had done such a fantastic job of not only rebuilding the entire tee complex but successfully and sympathetically returning the area back to it's native dune environment. Even though everything we do is a team effort a special mention must go to Deputy Head Greenkeeper Richard Le Moignan and Mechanic/Greenkeeper Gary Denton who led the entire project from start to finish, thier dedication and enthusiasm in poor weather conditions is to be applauded.
Their hard work and commitment over the winter months was rewarded when news came through from the Golf Environment Awards that we had made the long list in the category Outstanding Environmental Project of the Year. Following the judging process which is carried out by industry leading professionals, we were informed we had made the short list and were finalists invited to attend the awards ceremony held in Harrogate during the British Turf Managers Exhibition.
Unfortunately we were not bestowed the honor of outright winners but the fact we were one of four finalists in a nationally recognized award, and is attended by the industry's leading professionals and supported by the R&A has to be a feather in the cap for La Moye Golf Club.
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| The Golf Environment Awards Finalist Trophy |
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| Receiving the trophy on behalf of the club, Phil Bowler DHG, Andrew Ricketts HG and Richard Cutler GM |
