Dale Hill Pro Newsletter - 4th March 2010
After yet another week of terrible weather and both our courses being closed, I was posed a question by one of our members on Saturday:
Are the courses at Dale Hill closed too often and why were they this past Saturday when some other local courses were open. Could we explain why this was the case?
It is extremely important to us to keep the courses open, not only to ensure that our members are able to play when they want to, but also for our business to be successful. We need the additional revenue generated by members and guests, both dining, using our facilities and paying a casual green fee and above all, as funny as it may seem, we do enjoy seeing you up at the club.
The reasons that our courses have been closed so much recently are twofold:
1. They are and have been, in our opinion, unplayable; damage could have occurred if we’d allow golfers to play.
2. The courses are / have been unsafe for golfers to play on and as an organisation we have a duty of care to our members and guests and to our staff. Within all practical reason, we strive to keep our golf courses as safe and as enjoyable as possible, but if ground and weather conditions are totally unsuitable for “safe” play, we have no alternative but to close.
Over the last few years, both the Greenkeeping team and the Management have worked hard to continually improve both the courses at Dale Hill and I believe that we have been largely successful in this aim. We want everyone who goes out to play the courses at Dale Hill to enjoy the experience but with current conditions, (rivers running down fairways, bunkers washed out and greens water logged), this certainly would not be the case. As many of you know, over the last few years we have invested a lot of money and time on improving the drainage on both of the courses and we are continuing this year with additional Lytag banding and drainage projects. However, even with good drainage, water-logging and flooding will still occur in prolonged and extreme conditions. (See rainfall figures below).
We are very lucky to have an excellent team of Greenkeepers here at Dale Hill and they work hard to keep the courses in great condition all year around, however, this winter has been exceptional and prolonged and has obviously taken its toll.
On Saturday morning after the question was asked about the courses being closed, I decided that I’d go and have a look for myself and see exactly what state the courses were in.
1. Areas on the first of the Ian Woosnam course had puddles spanning 30 yards wide.
2. Bunkers were either totally washed out or flooded after such a large amount of rain.
3. The rain had created streams of water in areas on the course that I had never seen water before.
4. Some of the old course greens were so soft that your shoes sank in around ½ inch.
I went out again out on Sunday and conditions had got worse; rivers of water, ponds over flowing and greens totally covered - the courses were absolutely saturated.
The question asked was why we were closed when other clubs in the area were not. On the day in question, Lamberhurst was only just open, though on some temporary greens with a trolley ban and Hawkhurst was open but in their current financial position, this is understandable. I would point out that we were not the only course closed in the area; Chart Hills and the Nevill were also closed.
On a finishing note, I would stress that we only close when we have to, our members are very important to us and we need the courses to be open as much as is practically possible for our business to be viable and to succeed. We have had a terrible winter and let’s all hope that things will improve soon.
Recent rainfall figures taken over the winter period and those for the same period last winter:
| October 2009: 84mm (3.4”) November 2009: 272mm (11”) December 2009: 196mm (7.75”) January 2010: 60mm (2.4”) + snow, approx 75mm (3”) February 2010: 122mm (4.9”) Totals: 809mm (32.45”) |
October 2008: 85mm (3.4”) |
So, this winter, 326mm or 13” more rain fell than for the same time period last year.
Here's hoping to see you this weekend,
John
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