Renewal development in Rotherham

Express Park Development – who have built a number of large of developments within city centres have now turned their attention to the former colliery site at Wath upon Dearne, some 6 miles north of Rotherham.

The total site extends to some 115 hectares and is centred on the large Wath Lake in the centre of the site. When finished the development will include residential housing around the lake, pedestrian squares, leisure and retail facilities showrooms and a filling station.

The site for the golf course is located on the former opencast coalmine but was reshaped to a predetermined golfing landscape about 10 years ago. However, modifications to the overall proposals of the site meant that the original 18 hole short course was altered and the concept now includes for a full length 9 hole course with academy and driving range practice facilities with potential, at a later date, for a further 9 hole par 3 course.

As a former open cast coal mining area the site brings its own constructional and design problems not the least of which is the inability to carry out any “cut” section on the course for fear of igniting the coal spoil waste below the subsoil layer. Fortunately the RSPB are proposing the construction of a new lake as a large bird sanctuary nearby and topsoil and subsoil will be taken from this lake to form the greens/tees and any fairway mounding. It is hoped to start work on the project in late July finishing off seeding works in 2006.

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There’s money in muck!

Despite the inevitable slow down in the construction of new courses the company still has a number of interesting major projects many of which include development based around the importation of inert landfill material. These projects vary in scope from the complete renewal of an existing course – the Hart Common golf course nr Bolton, the new 18 hole courses at Potters Crouch, Hertfordshire, the redevelopment of the Stafford Castle golf course from 9 to 18 holes and a new 9 hole course at Stonebridge golf centre, Coventry.

Of the four projects, the courses at Hart Common and Stonebridge are the most advanced. The Hart Common golf course began renovation works in 2004 after the company obtained planning permission from the Bolton Metro District Council in late 2003.

The original course was built in 1996 to a fairly basic specification and design which the owner, Mr. P Roberts, was keen to improve upon. As the course had a thriving membership and solid green fee base it was essential that the 18-hole course be retained throughout the remodelling phase. To achieve this, three new holes were developed on additional land so that each year a new set of three holes can be reconstructed and an 18-hole facility maintained. Whilst the course will take some 6 years to complete nevertheless when the project is finished the result will be a course with a considerable future built, as it is, using the latest specifications and to modern design criteria.

The other project under construction is the new 9 holes at Stonebridge golf centre. The Course already possesses a well established 18 hole course but the opportunity to a develop a further 9 hole course and to make three loops of 9 holes attracted the interest of Luddington Investments Ltd. who now, not only manage the main course but are also constructing the new 9 holes. The results have been spectacular and the opportunity to import inert landfill material has helped to create some very dramatic and challenging holes on what was once fairly uninspired agricultural land.

Some further exciting projects are anticipated at Potters Crouch, St Albans and at Stafford Castle G.C. just off the M 6. The site at Potters Crouch had already been the subject of major landfill but the 18-hole golf course (a requirement of the original application) had not been developed. The company submitted a revised planning application in September 2004 - approved in February 2005 - to reshape the fairways and to include for practice ground facilities.

The course is to be developed as a high quality members facility and the attractive woodland surrounds and dramatic topography will form the basis of an outstanding and very original golf course. The works will take place in 3 phases with the course being completely seeded down by autumn 2006.

A similar project is anticipated at Stafford Castle where the existing 9-hole course is to be extended over an additional 100 acres to develop an almost entirely new 18-hole course. Water features, streams, areas of wild seed grassland and woodland are proposed. The new clubhouse will be designed by Izod Designs.

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Chewton Glen to develop new 9 hole course

Mr and Mrs Skan, the owners of Chewton Glen Hotel - once voted the best small hotel in the world by Gourmet magazine - are proposing a new 9 hole course on some 70/80 acres that surround this magnificent hotel. The hotel already supports a short par 3 course, for the hotel’s guests, though this will be removed to make way for the new layout. The course will play around the hotel and will measure nearly 6800 yards when the course is played twice. Large greens and a variety of tees will allow some holes to be played as par 4’s on one nine and par 5’s on the second nine. The fairways, greens and tees will be irrigated entirely by the use of “grey water” from the hotel that currently provides some 100m3 of grey water each day. Once treated this water will be pumped up to a man made reservoir before being distributed around the course.

The architects for the new clubhouse, which will also have facilities for conferences, wedding parties and a specialised catering school are the Bournemouth based O’Rourke Architects who are also designing some 6 - 8 top class lodges. These will be located around the course with views onto the new golf holes and will help provide family accommodation for the hotel.

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Safety first issues

Sadly, safety is an issue which the company have been involved with at a number of golf clubs. Solutions to such issues are rarely straightforward and more often than not a change to one hole, to make it safe, has repercussions elsewhere on the course. However the priority is invariably to improve the safety of those on the boundary of the course rather than those actually playing the course. The Northop Golf Course, a championship layout in North Wales, has such problems and a number of houses around the border of the course have suffered from wayward shots being played into their gardens or worse onto the roofs of the houses. Because there is little space within the course itself, additional land further to the south is proposed to be incorporated into the layout. Fortunately the changes only affect some holes on the outer 9 holes and with four new holes on the extension land, disruption to the course should be kept to a minimum.

Ashford Manor G.C. and Burford G.C. are two further examples of golf courses where the company have instigated minor adjustment to golf holes to improve safety. Nobody can ever argue that a golf hole is ever entirely “safe” but there are certain safety margins which can or perhaps should be incorporated into the laying out of golf holes which, when incorporated, greatly reduce the risk of conflict with nearby properties or roads.

 

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Ecological issues to the fore

Simon Gidman is also working closely with W. S. Atkins Consultants on the golf course at Southwood G.C., Farnborough. Four of the existing holes – two of which are set within floodplain – are to be given up and replaced with a floodlit driving range (set on two of the higher holes) and a further 4 holes included on land further to the west of the course. The site for these new holes is a former army training ground characterised by a multitude of small ditches criss-crossing the site, concrete roads and “bunkers”. Despite not being within the flood plain area the site is generally low lying and parts of each fairway will have to be raised to ensure that the fairways are playable throughout the year. On the advice of the ecologists, areas on the course will be re planted with heather (the ph of the soil is very low) and this will act as a natural habitat for reptiles and invertebrates. New wetland areas – also an important BAP habitat – will be created partly to assist with the raising of the fairways but also more specifically to improve the ecology of the site.

The site will also be developed for public use with footpath, trim trails and possible cycle ways carefully interwoven into the site to encourage wider use of the site by the public.

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Renovation works – the list grows longer

These days many golf clubs are seeking to upgrade their existing facilities partly so that they can look forward positively to the next 50 or so years but also to fend off local competition. Whether this be in the form of completely upgrading the existing greens, as at Northenden, Harewood Downs and Hart Common golf courses or merely a reassessment of the of the existing hazards on the course and the desire to gain a little additional length, such as Knole Park G.C., Hockley G.C. Brancepeth Castle G.C., Mid Yorkshire G.C., Highwoods G.C., and Highgate G.C.

Making changes to existing courses is never easy and requires the support of the relevant committees and the membership if things are to go smoothly. Unfortunately there are always those within a golf club who do not want change but most members appreciate the need to move the course forward, particularly in the light of technological advances in golf equipment and vast improvements to specifications. Changes to golf courses, however, take on many forms. In some cases it is a matter of increasing the difficulty of a particular hole (Brickhampton G.C.) or re-evaluating the bunkering in order bring the course and its hazards to positions for which they were first designed – in other words for the low handicap golfer ( Brancepeth Castle G.C. and Kenilworth G.C). At some courses a careful evaluation of trees needs to be undertaken. Often trees have outgrown their original space and have affected the playing of a particular golf hole (Royal Automobile Club, Burford G.C. and Highwoods G.C.) The choice is often between the retention of the trees or the removal of the hazard – and that decision depends a lot on the quality and type of tree and/or the importance of the hazard. At some courses where large planting programmes were undertaken in the 1960’s and 70’s the result has been the creation of pine/larch cupressus and poplar woodland. Many of these trees are now coming to the end of their natural life and regrettably will all begin to die off at about the same time leaving open “scars” that the original planting was designed to overcome. Woodland creation is about planting the right species for long term and ecological diversity combining indigenous canopy species such as beech, oak and ash, often including pine and larch as nurse species, with shrub planting as sub-canopy edge planting.

At many courses a complete reappraisal of the planting needs to be undertaken so that the mistakes of the 60’s and 70’s is not repeated.

Simon Gidman
International Golf Course Architects

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Copyright © 2005 Simon Gidman IGCA All Rights Reserved.