Another club bites the dust

stefanovic said:
What about the thickness of the grass these days.
More rain means thicker grass means less roll for the ball.
Okay for the long straight hitters who get more carry.
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We’re not getting more rain ‘these days’ around here. 2023 looks bang average after a relatively dry 2022 and a normal 2021.
 
My course has stood up pretty well to the very wet spell, sure we've had a few days of closure, but tbh, I wouldn't have played anyway in those conditions.
We have about 6 area's that do get very boggy though & not in an obvious place (like the bottom of a hill) so I think these area's do need to be looked at in the future to minimise the saturation
 
We have 2/3 holes that are particularly bad when it rains, one member has donated around £200K to have better drainage put in, however, that wont bee enough to do the job and there is some dispute as to whether it will even solve the problem.
 
Even though our course is largely built on the Surrey sand belt we are experiencing flooding issues recent winters and now into this one.

Water comes off adjacent quite steeply sloping farmland - currently crop free which doesn’t help - flows onto and across the course and out towards and onto an adjacent minor road - but when it reaches the road it has nowhere to go as there is a roadside embankment to it that acts as a dam. The road floods and water simply backs up and floods the low point of the course.

We have spent a lot of money on a rainwater and fields runoff management and containment scheme. However the amount of rain we have had these last many months has highlighted deficiencies in the scheme - but these can be rectified. Ultimately we need the council to help us by removing the roadside ‘dam‘ so that water can flow off the course into wasteland and then onto the bottom of our driving range. And we are in discussions with the farmer on him digging one or more rain runoff holding ponds in his fields.

Fortunately the work we have done means that 18 holes are in play, when previous significant flood events could reduce us to 15. And we are never closed due to saturated fairways as, in the main, our fairways, bunkers and greens drain splendidly.
 
My son studied geology, then hydro geology and is now employed by an engineering company as a 'flood risk management consultant '. The title is a bit pompous but it gets the gist across. Most of his job is sorting out problems as being discussed on here. What to do with water, whether on new build projects or existing sites where flooding has become a problem. It's really interesting talking to him about his work, we can all understand the problem, we can all see it. He hasn't had any golf club jobs yet, it will be interesting to see if that changes over time. He's the only golfer in his dept so if a job does come in I'm sure he will get it.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
My son studied geology, then hydro geology and is now employed by an engineering company as a 'flood risk management consultant '. The title is a bit pompous but it gets the gist across. Most of his job is sorting out problems as being discussed on here. What to do with water, whether on new build projects or existing sites where flooding has become a problem. It's really interesting talking to him about his work, we can all understand the problem, we can all see it. He hasn't had any golf club jobs yet, it will be interesting to see if that changes over time. He's the only golfer in his dept so if a job does come in I'm sure he will get it.
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Be interesting to hear his general view as to what’s going wrong.
My guess is underinvestment in the waste water systems.
 
clubchamp98 said:
Be interesting to hear his general view as to what’s going wrong.
My guess is underinvestment in the waste water systems.
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Certainly my understanding is that councils have had to (or chosen to) severely cut back on keeping drainage ditches clear, especially those roadside, so water can flow - and when it can’t flow it floods and floods back up.
 
clubchamp98 said:
Be interesting to hear his general view as to what’s going wrong.
My guess is underinvestment in the waste water systems.
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It's rarely one thing, usually a combination of decisions, often ones with unintended consequences. Neglect and ignorance of actions sadly. The two of you could probably have a good chat on the subject 👍

The good news is that whilst a lot of damage has already been done on this front the new rules on building projects has water management very much at the forefront of things. It has to be managed and dealt with now. So he tells me .............
 
Lord Tyrion said:
It's rarely one thing, usually a combination of decisions, often ones with unintended consequences. Neglect and ignorance of actions sadly. The two of you could probably have a good chat on the subject 👍

The good news is that whilst a lot of damage has already been done on this front the new rules on building projects has water management very much at the forefront of things. It has to be managed and dealt with now. So he tells me .............
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I am of the opinion you can’t control water! Especially lots of it in a short space of time.

You have to respect its power and build around it not over it.

Local course to me put a stream into an unsuitable pipe when they built houses over it.
Any rain and the course is under water it’s a disaster.
We need better planning in this country.
 
Temporary tees and temporary greens starting from October to May could be the answer.
Eliminate bunkers, create bigger drainage ditches.
Only kidding but the sort of thing that has 'driven' golfers away.
 
Sad to hear about Renishaw. Played it once in an open last year and was fully intending to return this year, it was an enjoyably quirky layout, especially the front nine. The article mentions the chance that someone else might buy it and keep it open. I'm sure that's a slim chance but let's hope that some white knight can save the staff from losing the jobs and the members from losing their club.
 
Excellent read. Our club has a river running through the middle and the last few years has seen quite a bit of erosion damage. Certain parts you have to play over it, an ox bow lake that gets bigger and bigger. I've often thought that the club should get a team in and make the ox bow lake happen, ie straighten the river out before it takes away too much of the course.
 
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