AN UPDATE FROM...
Stephen Norton General Manager
The summer so far has been a tale of two halves. The first being a very wet period followed by a very dry period. Climate change does throw up some extreme variations for us to contend with.
Speaking with Dean, our Course Manager, this period has been a real challenge given the issues we have faced with machinery over the past few months. As you will read, the company has invested in the machinery and now Dean will be able to crack on with the work he has planned to further improve the golf course conditions.
We are busy planning for the winter projects and we have a variety of specialist contractors quoting for the bunker improvements. With each year we learn a little more and the intention this year is to use a contractor for the entirety of the work, to allow the greenkeepers to focus on the course maintenance and to improve the quality of the work further. I look forward to sharing more information in the next newsletter.
Thank you to everyone who has renewed their membership this year. Whilst we have the second smallest golf membership in the group, we are proud to have one of the best retention rates within the BGL group. Your renewal vouchers are currently going out in the post for you to enjoy very soon.
Waste Improvements
As part of our commitment to improving our sustainability, we have been making lots of changes. One of the more recent changes
is the changeover of the external waste bins around the clubhouse. We have made huge improvements in the amount of waste we are recycling, and this is the next push to improve this further. Please help us by making sure any cans, plastic, paper or cardboard is disposed of within these new bins. We are proud that none of our waste goes to landfill, but we still have ambitions to improve the amount we recycle, rather than sending it to create energy from waste.
The Gardens
Around the grounds you may have noticed our new gardener has been very busy, improving areas around the clubhouse with the flagpole area now containing roses, lillys and hydrangeas instead of overgrown dogwood. The Kelvedon entrance has also had a major rip-out and is being planted with a new hedge border, some more roses, and some dahlias. As well as popping some nice colour around the front of the clubhouse, the poolside window, and the new patio area.
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Ladies Pearson Trophy
Congratulations to our ladies section, who in June won the Pearson Trophy in the final at Cherry Lodge. They went on to represent the whole of Kent against Surrey, Middlesex and Herts on July 18th at Hindhead GC. Well done, ladies, a fantastic achievement.
COURSE UPDATE
Dean Wallace Course Manager
Hello, I hope everyone is enjoying the summer here at Birchwood Park.
With early July bringing us over 61 mm of rain it has meant the course has gone through something of a growth spurt! As a greenkeeper this isn’t something I’m complaining about, as like yourselves I’m sure you’d rather see nice green tees, fairways and roughs, as opposed to the years where it bakes off and looks like a desert.
The second half of July then brought a lot warmer and drier conditions with areas starting to brown off again.
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On the course, the rain helped bring the tees into better shape after we gave them a granular feed. We continue to carry out our divoting programme, and they seem to be in a far better place than previously although there is still more divoting and seeding to do. The volume of play at Birchwood always presents a challenge when trying to enable the seed to germinate and grow at a rate that matches the play.
The rough continues to be cut weekly and we have been opening other long rough areas to improve the pace of play and ease of finding your ball. These areas are between 1st and 2nd, 2nd and 3rd, the left of the 3rd, the left of the 5th, and the righthand side of the top of the 11th. We have also been cutting away at the very long rough around our newly planted trees on the 12th and 13th, to stop them from being choked by weeds and give them the best possible chance of establishing themselves.
On the greens, we have been very busy with four verti cut operations in the last month to improve roll and decrease the number of Poa Annua seed heads. This in conjunction with cutting every day and rolling at least twice a week (three times where possible) has seen the speed pick up again. The next steps will be to incorporate some light topdressings regularly. We have sprayed Essential Plus which is a natural product derived from plants and vegetation to provide a source of organic matter and help improve soil conditions.
With the warmer weather coming there has also been an application of a wetting agent to help hold the moisture from the overnight irrigation programmes.
Unfortunately, we have also had to apply a fungicide containing Azoxystrobin which will target the disease called ‘take all patch’ that has begun to show on the 13th green. We applied another of these two weeks after the first application and a granular feed to encourage new healthy growth and this is now showing good recovery.
The blindered bunkers on the course have recently started to be topped up again with 10 tonnes of sand being put in them so far to help improve playability. All bunkers are currently being raked twice a week with greenside bunkers being raked three times. This is unfortunately where the rain does not help us and I understand it can be frustrating but bunkers are always a priority, and after rain we are always looking for the first chance to get back in them to provide a better lie.
This year we have had some problems cutting fairways due to machinery. At the start of 2024, we placed an order for a new fairway mower, knowing the lead time on this kit is around a year. Unfortunately for us, we experienced a large failure on our existing machine just before spring and so, since then, we have relied on an old unit from Burhill GC to see us through the year. Although we have been out there at least four days a week cutting the fairways, the machine has been unable to cope and is not producing the quality of cut we would like. At significant expense, we have hired a fairway mower for a few weeks. This should speed up our cutting time and improve the fairways whilst we carry out further work on the mower from Burhill GC to improve its performance.
I’m sure you’ve all seen the tree work that has been carried out across the course. This is a project were all very pleased with both from a visual and a safety perspective.
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New Equipment
We have recently received two new bits of kit which have cost over £70,000 with a further fairway mower costing £85,000 awaiting delivery.
In July we took delivery of a new sprayer, and it is a wonderful piece of kit that will help us improve the greens, tees, and all areas of the course. This year, I am working with David Bull, an agronomist who has taken soil samples that all suggest we are in a very healthy position. He even said they were the second best results he’s seen this year, so alongside him we will be creating a fertiliser programme to improve them further.
In August we received our new tractor. This will allow us to complete more work to further improve the greens. We will be focussed initially on increasing the amount of aeration and top dressing.
HEAD PRO UPDATE
Stephen Lee Head Pro
This month’s Pro Shop news focuses on one of our favourite suppliers in the shop as well as the recent BMW cup winners.
BMW worked with Birchwood Park to kindly sponsor Archie’s Day on the 28th of June this year. Part of that sponsorship was that four of the winning participants from that day went into a draw to play in the annual BMW Cup.
On Tuesday 30th July our members, Alf Perez, Sonny Carey, and Danraj Chana got to play in the BMW Cup at Walton Heath with all expenses paid.
Having spoken to Alf, the course was playing tough, Alf had the highest score in the group with 24 points, it was an amazing day, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
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I have passed on my thanks to BMW for their hospitality and we will look to continue with this partnership in future events.
Motocaddy
Motocaddy are renowned for offering topquality products packed with technology, and has just launched its latest 2024 product line-up, including a revolutionary new entry-level electric trolley retailing for under £500!
The brand-new SE electric trolley offers customary Motocaddy styling, performance, quality, and reliability with a great range of features including:
• Nine-speed settings to match your perfect walking pace
• QUIKFOLD mechanism allows assembly in seconds
• USB charging port to charge your tech while you play
• Quick-release wheels with new tyre tread
• Whisper-quiet 200W motor offering plenty of power
• Extended lithium and 18-hole lead-acid battery options
The best part is that the trolley is available from the shop for only £499.99, making it easier for more golfers to #GOELECTRIC this season!
This trolley is causing quite a stir, so pop into the shop or drop us a message if you want to learn more or place your order today!
OUR SUMMER GOLF SALE IS NOW ON!
Get yourself in the Pro Shop to see all the deals that we have available right now!
According to a study carried out by a firm named ‘Sports and Leisure Research Group’, as many as 90% of golfers may be playing with golf clubs that don’t fit them properly. This study was carried out several years ago, and there does seem to have been a slight shift in golfers recognising the importance of fittings in recent years, meaning this percentage would hopefully be on its way down.
However, with all of us pro’s seeing golfers daily, we see firsthand that a huge number of our pupils are making the game even harder for themselves by having clubs that are too long, have incorrect lie angles, incorrect shaft flex or weight, and grip sizes that are too big or small. This starts the process of us having to make adjustments around the equipment straight
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away, adding extra difficulty and potential time to the process of the golfer improving. Here are a couple more findings from that same study that may interest you:
• 92% of the golfers fitted saw immediate benefits with the newer equipment in the session.
• 8 out of 10 hit it more accurately and consistently.
• Custom-fitted golfers were 22% more likely to see a score reduction of 2 shots or more.
• 56% of those fitted saw a 5+ shot reduction in their score!
We hear the sentence, “I don’t think I’m good enough for custom fit clubs yet,” quite a lot. But as you can see from the findings above, it’s giving you the chance to potentially improve your game without us even changing your golf swing! We would urge you to look for yourself and simply book a free custom fitting session at Birchwood Park with our experienced custom fitter Paul Humphrey. With no cost for the session, it’s worth the 45 minutes to see what difference it could make to your game.
Finally, it is perfectly understandable if one of the main barriers to you taking a custom fitting is due to the potentially high costs of a new set of golf clubs. If that is you, feel free to spend an hour with one of us so we can still guide you towards a more reasonably priced package set that will work for you. For those of you interested in reading the full article regarding custom fitting, the link is attached below.
https://www.galvingreen.com/en-gb/blogs/ theseriousgolfer/the-importance-of-acustom-golf-club-fitting
Please don’t hesitate to approach any of us for help!
Stephen Lee, Paul Humphrey, Tom Holland, Jackson Massey
