INSIDE
West of Ireland 2015 Winner Dermot McElroy (Ballymena)
REVITALISATION PROJECT UPDATE MANAGER’S REPORT WHAT DO GOLFERS WANT?
The County Sligo Golf Club Issue 5 – April 2015
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Course Revitalisation Progress Report Anton Murphy
Members will be well aware of the progress made over the winter in implementing the changes to our course approved at the SGM in October. We were able to introduce some of those changes over the recent West of Ireland Championship and see the impact at first hand. The response from the Championship players has been uniformly very positive and welcoming. Equally the many comments from you, our members and the many visitors in seeing the changes in play, have been very welcoming. Phase 1 – Completion of Work Program The Project Team, at its meeting of the 19th March approved a work plan prepared by the Course Manager, which will see the implementation of the 2
remaining work of Phase 1 in 2015. The detail of the plan has been reviewed with the Course Architect, Pat Ruddy, when he visited over the Easter weekend to observe the changes in play. In drawing up the Plan the Course ANTON MURPHY Manager had regard to the key golfing events in our Calendar to ensure that we can fully enjoy our golf programme this year. We remain on budget within the funding made available to us for the work and the generous work ethic brought to bear
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on the project by our Architect and our staff to date. It will be a challenge to us all to complete the remaining works of Phase 1 within budget. However, the challenge can be met with everybody’s cooperation and support. The remaining work will be done in 2 main parts. The first part began on Monday 20th April and has as its key elements work in relation to holes 10, 11 and 12 and the reseeding of the area in front of the Clubhouse. These elements of the work will continue to the end of May. The second part of the work will begin in October and will comprise work in relation to holes 7,8,18, old 3rd green and surrounds and some remaining bunker work. Phase 2 Given that we will complete the work of Phase 1 by the end of the year, it would be desirable to be able to move seamlessly to Phase 2 of the Project in 2016. To enable that to occur we will need, in the first instance, the approval of you, the members, at another SGM to be held possibly in Nov/ Dec ‘15. That SGM will require, as before, a clear description of the work, the technical drawings and its associated costs and a
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COURSE ARCHITECT MR PAT RUDDY funding proposal. Based on our Phase 1 experience we would need to commence our planning process in the near future. While not committing unconditionally to an un-‐costed plan, our benefactor has provided sufficient funds to complete the planning element of a possible Phase 2. The Project Team has recently received the approval of Management Council to proceed now, with our Course Architect, to begin the planning and to bring back to Management Council firm proposals, plans, associated costs and a funding proposal for its consideration and allow it to consider whether to bring these for members’ consideration at a further SGM later in the year. 3
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Course Manager’s Report Mark Millar
My first West of Ireland is done and dusted and the feedback has been very encouraging as officials and players expressed their satisfaction with the condition of the course. The greens came good in the end with the bit of heat coming in the week before the Championship aiding recovery. They were running true, smooth and firm. Now that the West is over it’s time to get back to preparing a Golf Course that members and visitors will be happy with. Work has also started today (Monday 20th) on the revitalisation project and will be full on for the next week. We have started reshaping and extending the 10th Green. The new 11th and 12th tees will also be completed this week. Once Pat Ruddy has completed this work on shaping we will be seeding these areas 4
out. For the 10th green we will be hollow coring the Bomore greens and spreading the cores over the new green with seeding on top. This will give a better seed strike and will blend in better with the old part of the green. The new tees will be seeded as normal. Bomore has been slightly neglected for the past few months due to the volume of work with the new course improvements and preparing the Championship course for the West. It will receive more attention in the coming months. The fairways were sprayed last Wednesday with a ‘weed and feed’ which should see the daisies disappear. After we hollow core the greens for the new 10th green all Bomore holes will be seeded and topdressed.
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March/April Links Program Work completed
General • Divot bags are being filled and left in the boxes. The good support from members is appreciated. • Marram grass has been planted at the 1st & 5th Tees. • New tee marker stones (pic right) were put out after the West of Ireland. • Rubber mats have been installed on 5th & 17th holes to protect high traffic areas. • All bunkers were edged and tidied up. • 10 new ball retrievers were positioned at drains, old ones brought in for repairs (welding). • Greens continue to be top-‐dressed with sand. 5
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Work Pending in May Seed out putting Green. Seed around 3rd and 5th greens. Revitalisation Program. Cut back rough in Bomore. Seed pathways. Verti-‐drain, seed and fertilise turf nursery. Trim hedge around putting green. Continue to water newly seeded areas. Edge bunkers and tidy grass surrounds with flymo. Improve signage between 9th green and 10th tee. Move direction stone up to 18th fairway.
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Greens • Greens were top-‐dressed with around 10 ton of sand the week prior to the West of Ireland. • Sprayed with a wetting agent and fungicide to combat fairy rings. • Hand cutting the week before the West to give a cleaner cut. • Solid tine with a 10mm tines and seeded with straight fescue seed. Seed was swithed and dragged in with a mat followed with a light topdressing of sand. This is part of the program we will be doing on the greens for the next few years to get a fescue dominated sward which will result in better greens long term. I will also have to find a balance to make sure the greens stay consistent throughout the year. • Greens were rested after the West to help recovery from stress damage.
Tees
• Tees were hollow-‐cored and seeded with cores and seed dragged in with a top-‐dressing afterwards.
LINKS TEAM 2015 Mark Millar William Acheson -‐ Sean Melly -‐ Michael Gillen -‐ Colm Hargadon -‐ Donal Egan -‐ Peter Connolly -‐ Ben McGarry
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Work Pending in May Greens Granular fertiliser will be applied to give the greens a good start to the season. Fertiliser will help the new seed to germinate. Wetting Agent will be applied when needed. Tees Apply a granular fertiliser to get grass to fill out and achieve a good sward. Fairways Continue to apply fertiliser (Spray). Staff to divot six fairways once a week -‐ Mondays. Spray herbicide when necessary for weed control.
New C’ship course Flag
Top-‐dressing the 1st green with sand
Spreading grass seed with a mat.
Verti-‐tining the 1st tee box 7
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What do golfers want? Check out the results of this UK survey
2014 UK Golf Player Survey -‐ ‘Enhancing the playing experience’. Enhancing the playing experience is crucial to attracting and retaining players at golf courses, to assure the financial sustainability of the club. Understanding what attracts players to a course is essential for greenkeepers and club managers to prioritise their efforts on enhancing the playing experience.
Overall course and club facilities In this survey the golf course itself rated of higher importance than the clubhouse, pro shop or any of its facilities. • Green condition was the number one factor in judging a golf club. • The design of the course was also highly important, particularly for lower handicap golfers. • Slow play was described as ‘very frustrating’. • The club website should be modern, easy to navigate and updated regularly for members and visitors. 8
‘Course condition is everything’
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Greens – importance/satisfaction/condition Smooth ball roll was the most important factor, followed by free of weeds and disease scars. • Greatest dissatisfaction was with the presence of bare or brown patches. • Fast ball roll was the least important factor, only 7% of players were dissatisfied with green speed. • Generally player satisfaction level was very high for green condition.
‘7% dissatisfied with green speed’
Fairways – importance/satisfaction/condition A good lie with even and consistent turf were the key factors. • Brown areas and divots were of greatest concern for players. • Players were less satisfied with fairway condition compared to greens. • Fairway condition was the fourth most important factor with regard to the club.
Tees – importance/satisfaction/condition Tee condition was of lower satisfaction amongst players than either green or fairway condition. • Free of thin or bare patches was the most important consideration. • Greater emphasis should be placed on tee condition and maintenance. 9
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(Continued)
In-play Rough – importance/satisfaction/condition Approximately half of golfers are not satisfied with the rough.
• Players want it managed so they can find their ball easily. • Management to achieve finer grass species would enhance satisfaction levels.
Out of play Rough – importance/satisfaction/condition There is a high desire for a natural looking course. • Clear and well maintained signage and paths are extremely important. • Biodiversity, environmental initiatives and the presence of flowers were rated of lower importance than playability and course presentation factors. • Biodiversity and environmental initiatives are still of significant importance and satisfaction levels among golfers are generally low.
Overall conclusions Turf quality and playability are the overriding factors driving player satisfaction. • Clubs must ensure the course and course ‘Areas for presentation are given sufficient priority and are properly resourced. biodiversity • Greater emphasis could be placed on management and of the tees, fairways and rough, relative to greens. The study highlights the importance of biodiversity aesthetics’ but in harmony with course presentation and playability. • Manage the ‘in play’ areas for playability and ‘out of play’ areas for biodiversity and aesthetics. • Communication to players should form a key part of introducing new environmental schemes. The benefits to course, environment and wildlife should be explained fully. 10
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What does ‘Mr Average Golfer’ think?
This ‘Mr Average Golfer’ plays off a handicap of fourteen. In this article he explains what is important to him as a golfer, using Co Sligo Golf Club as his benchmark…an above average course for an average golfer… I consider myself to be an average golfer; very average my playing partners would most likely comment whilst in their usual complimentary mood. With a current playing handicap of 14 (14.2 and fluctuating!), my main aim is to reduce my handicap (like most golfers) by the end of the year! I consider an average course to be one that a golfer of my handicap can negotiate without being in too much trouble. A confident statement, I admit, when the reality is that average golfers are usually in trouble around the course
at some point or another. I play on a regular basis at County Sligo Golf Club which is situated in a beautiful seaside setting in Rosses Point as the apt description below states: "It all lies on a peninsula between the bays of Drumcliff and Sligo; to the north, Ben Bulben rises like the prow of a great ship heading for eternal seas and away to the south is Knocknarea, where the cruel Queen Maeve lies buried high above her Connacht kingdom." An average golfer's requirements of a golf course involves consideration of several factors, including; costs, setting, degree of difficulty, general condition, required fitness levels and the welcoming attitudes of club staff. Of course we must not forget the comfort of the clubhouse and the availability of 11
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good food and beverages to replenish the energy reserves of the tired and hungry golfer. The famous links at Rosses Point is certainly not a flat, predictable and uninteresting course. Some careful decisions about which choice of shot to undertake have to be made throughout the round. The golfer, whether average or not, understands the importance of the impression that the first holes give you as a visitor. They immediately set the tone of expectation, whether it's a positive or a negative one. The first hole, a par 4, looks straight forward enough from the tee…a wide fairway leading to a gentle rise towards the green. This false sense of security quickly disappears when even a well hit drive down the middle can somehow find its way into one of the strategically placed fairway bunkers! Course layout, particularly on links courses, is often debated by golfers far and wide. Discussions such as positioning of bunkers and various hazards, such as drains, abound. Usually, the complaints revolve around "it penalises a good shot". This response is inevitable when a player 12
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hits what they consider to be a good shot and then discovers that their shot wasn't as productive as they had previously thought. There has been many a conversation about the short uphill second hole, the highest point of the course. Hit a driver or iron off the tee? Mid iron or wedge for your second shot to the raised, firm green guarded by several bunkers? I have been with golfers, playing the course for the first time and the most frequent comment when arriving on the 2nd green is "stunning" as they take in the panoramic view of mountains and ocean on all sides. This is where our visitors really begin to appreciate the scenery and layout of this beautiful links.
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On to the third, a downhill par 5. At index 16. this is regarded as one of the easier holes on the links…unless of course the prevailing, often gale force wind, happens to be blowing into your face. This is when it really bares it’s teeth!
I am not going to describe the links hole by hole. I have merely used the first three holes to illustrate what the golfer can expect throughout the course. The state of bunkers and the quality of sand used is often a discussion point on courses. I have personally played courses where bunkers have had great clumps of weeds growing out of them! Not a great impression. Bunkers are there for a reason; none of us want to end up in the hazard, but do expect the sand in bunkers to be reasonably free of debris and of a quality that encourages good sand shots to be made. Our bunkers are well maintained, with plentiful rakes, giving us no excuses
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when unable to get out of them at the first attempt. Some golfers dread any holes that involve water of any description. Water hazards rear their ‘ugly heads’ on five holes between the 5th and the 14th. A half wedge over the burren to the waiting green can be a nightmare for us average golfers. Many a good round has foundered in the watery depths. The average golfer needs a course that makes him/her think about their golf a little more carefully, it needs to be a challenge without becoming so difficult that the enjoyment factor is removed. But most importantly it must have that X-‐Factor to ensure that the golfers get that first tee ‘buzz’ as they tee it up for every round. Does Co Sligo achieve this? I think so. We as members, must remember that a golf club isn't merely a collection of buildings, land, grass, fairways, water, bunkers and greens. It is a very complex brew of ingredients. It’s human nature to highlight the problems in the club or on the course, but sometimes I feel we need to take a step back and appreciate all the good work carried out on our behalf , maybe even give a word of encouragement to the staff and volunteers that give up their time to keep the show on the road. I certainly consider Co Sligo Golf Club to be very much "above average" for all the above reasons. 13
Revitalisation Project: Work continuing on the new extension to the 10th green.
Links News Editor: Vincent McGee Please contact me with any comments or Links issues.
The views expressed in contributed articles are not necessarily the views of the editor of this publication or Co Sligo Golf Club. Editorial content and photographs cannot be reproduced without prior permission from the editor.
The County Sligo Golf Club 2015 ©