Greenkeepers Update – May 2026
We have had an abnormally dry autumn, which has been beneficial for the course. Growth has been stronger than usual for this time of year, resulting in consistent mowing schedules, although we remain cautious with fuel usage due to ongoing cost and supply issues.
We have started some of our winter projects, including refacing and reshaping some of our poorer-performing bunkers. As mentioned previously, bunkers change shape and size dramatically over time — most are now around 10–12 years old — and it is important for both playability and aesthetics that we continue with this work.
We have also shortened some cart paths. This work is being done not only to ensure cart traffic does not continue damaging the turf at the ends of these paths, but also to visually remove them from the eye line of the hole.
(Attached is a photo of the damage on the 13th fairway caused by limestone contamination and cart traffic).
Winter Course Setup & Wear Management
This time of year, the course may at times be set up slightly differently compared to our warmer summer months. This is simply to help us manage wear throughout winter.
The course may occasionally play longer or shorter depending on tee and pin placements. This is deliberate and helps ensure wear patterns are spread around the course rather than concentrated in the same areas all winter.
You may also notice tees being moved forward or back onto different teeing areas. We see a huge decline in the condition of par 3 tees through winter, but also on par 4 and 5 tees where two coloured markers are often played from the same tee area (for example, Hole 1 blue and white tees).
The same applies to pin placements. We rotate hole locations into areas with less wear, which may sometimes result in a longer setup or pins being used in similar parts of the green more often than usual.
Please be assured this is not the greenkeeping staff trying to make the course harder. It is simply part of spreading wear and protecting surfaces during the slower winter growing period.
To put winter wear into perspective here are some stats based on an average of 120 golfers per day (we generally get more).
Foot Traffic
- 120 golfers per day equals 240 feet walking the course.
- A golfer typically takes between 10,000–12,000 steps during a round.
That means the course receives around 1.2–1.4 million footsteps every single day. Over a month, that can exceed 35 million footsteps.
Most of this wear is concentrated around:
- Greens and collars
- Tees
- Fairway entrances
- Cart exits
Greens & Pitch Marks
A golf green is one of the most intensely managed turf surfaces in sport. With 120 players per day: 120 pitch marks per green.
That equates to:
- More than 2,000 pitch marks per day
- Over 60,000 pitch marks per month
Even a small unrepaired pitch mark can take:
- 2–3 weeks to recover in summer
- Much longer in winter
Divots
With 120 golfers per day:
- Even if only half the players take one fairway divot per hole, that’s still around 1,080 divots every day.
During winter, recovery from this damage slows dramatically due to reduced grass growth and cooler soil temperatures.
With approximately 120 players using the course daily, the turf experiences well over a million footsteps, thousands of pitch marks, and significant concentrated wear every week. Managing traffic and repairing damage quickly plays a huge role in maintaining course quality throughout winter.
Please help us keep the course in the best condition possible by:
- Repairing all pitch marks
- Replacing divots
- Avoiding unnecessary traffic concentration where possible
- Spreading wear around tees and course entry and exit points
Small actions from every golfer makes a massive difference over the course of a winter season. We try our very best to always keep the course in top condition, but please keep in mind these are the issues we must deal with every day.
Happy golfing.
Ben Simons
Course Superintendent
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