Discussion
fourstardan said:
Isn't ESN an ex quarry so clay base and obviously rather low in places?
I played it a few times on a Sussex County card 10 years odd back and it was really a nice treat to play.
Yes it does struggle when wet with its clay base - Comes alive in the summer, both 18s there are amazing courses and both a real challenge of golfI played it a few times on a Sussex County card 10 years odd back and it was really a nice treat to play.
Rosscow said:
Yep - had a good afternoon. Was 1 over par through 12 but then dropped shots coming back into the wind on the way home! Some awful 3 putts (greens so slow compared to Rye!). Course wasn’t too bad, but very wet in places for a links course.
Anyhow, signed for a 80 which has dropped my HI to 8.7 so a good start to the season. Should really have been a 78 but I’ll take it considering I’ve not practiced at all.
Felt good though, I think the break has done me a favour (I’ve been doing a lot of running over winter and have a half marathon this weekend).
One of our members is Dave Bridger - he’s the pro shop manager at ESN. So yes, pretty local!
Very small world indeed! Dave is top drawAnyhow, signed for a 80 which has dropped my HI to 8.7 so a good start to the season. Should really have been a 78 but I’ll take it considering I’ve not practiced at all.
Felt good though, I think the break has done me a favour (I’ve been doing a lot of running over winter and have a half marathon this weekend).
One of our members is Dave Bridger - he’s the pro shop manager at ESN. So yes, pretty local!
Hammersia said:
If it's a sign of things to come (warmer, wetter winters and dryer summers) then golf courses CAN adapt. Not saying they will, if they're anything like mine they will just waste money on amateurish badly designed course "improvements".
What they should be doing, certainly inland, is water management, build up a sand base on the fairways, with drainage into useful reservoirs (I know one or two local clubs doing this) etc.
Plenty of much wetter countries (Miami has far more rain than London) cope pretty well.
My ex-club (just changed to a new one) seemed more interested in the state of the greenery around the course rather than the course itself. As a result it's been closed more than it's been open for the last several months. New club, admittedly higher up on mountain turf, has hardly ever closed. What they should be doing, certainly inland, is water management, build up a sand base on the fairways, with drainage into useful reservoirs (I know one or two local clubs doing this) etc.
Plenty of much wetter countries (Miami has far more rain than London) cope pretty well.
Rosscow said:
Does Miami have a general base layer of thick clay, though?!
Nope, limestone, specifically oolitic grainstone:"The part of the Miami Limestone forming the Atlantic Coastal Ridge and the lower Florida Keys is an oolitic grainstone which includes fossils of corals, echinoids, mollusks, and algae. The oolitic formation in the lower Florida Keys has less quartz sand and fewer fossils than does the oolitic formation on the mainland. Based on those differences, Mitchel-Tapping divided the Miami Limestone into the Fort Dallas oolite on the mainland and under northern Florida Bay, and the Key West oolite, under southern Florida Bay and the lower Florida Keys. The fossils in the formation underlying the Everglades, which does not include any ooids, consists primarily of a single bryozoan species, Schizoporella floridana.
The Miami Limestone was deposited during the Sangamon interglacial, when southern Florida was under a shallow sea. Falling sea levels during the Wisconsin glaciation exposed the formation to air and rain, and rainwater percolating through the deposits replaced aragonite with calcite and formed an indurated rock."
Has anyone any recent experience of golfing in Japan, around Tokyo?
I like to knock off countries just to say I've played there, I will be there in late October. I'm aware you have to dress properly for the clubhouse, no problem, and I would be joined up as a single, but would I be limited to Westerner resort courses or is something more authentic realistic? Cheers
I like to knock off countries just to say I've played there, I will be there in late October. I'm aware you have to dress properly for the clubhouse, no problem, and I would be joined up as a single, but would I be limited to Westerner resort courses or is something more authentic realistic? Cheers
Hammersia said:
Has anyone any recent experience of golfing in Japan, around Tokyo?
I like to knock off countries just to say I've played there, I will be there in late October. I'm aware you have to dress properly for the clubhouse, no problem, and I would be joined up as a single, but would I be limited to Westerner resort courses or is something more authentic realistic? Cheers
I haven't sadly - but whenever we have our usual Sales get together at work I always get a game in with my Japanese colleague who loves the game. Sadly the language barrier prevented me getting too much info from him on golf in Japan - but he did mention it is customary to play 9 holes, then have a 3 course meal, then go back out again. I like to knock off countries just to say I've played there, I will be there in late October. I'm aware you have to dress properly for the clubhouse, no problem, and I would be joined up as a single, but would I be limited to Westerner resort courses or is something more authentic realistic? Cheers
Might be worth asking of GolfWRX - I know there are a few on the Blades thread in Equipment that play in Japan, and the regional threads should have some info.
Something I would love to do one day but doubt I'll be travelling that far for a while now. I've played in Bali, Fiji and Thailand (all excellent) never Japan sadly.
fourstardan said:
Blue62 said:
The very dry summer (seems a lifetime ago) started the problem, one of the fairways actually caught fire, but they had a leather jacket problem two years ago, difficult to treat and they messed up. Some great courses in your part of the world, where are you?
Ferndown member.We have had leatherjackets on the greens, horrible things, the only way to stop them seemed to be covering greens overnight with tarpaulins!
Nematodes is the only treatment beyond tarpaulin, but it’s expensive and a bit hit and miss, Burnham and Saunton have experienced them on fairways where tarpaulin is not so practical. The two biggest threats to golf courses are water (who’d have thought it?) and leather jackets.
bodhi said:
Hammersia said:
Has anyone any recent experience of golfing in Japan, around Tokyo?
I like to knock off countries just to say I've played there, I will be there in late October. I'm aware you have to dress properly for the clubhouse, no problem, and I would be joined up as a single, but would I be limited to Westerner resort courses or is something more authentic realistic? Cheers
I haven't sadly - but whenever we have our usual Sales get together at work I always get a game in with my Japanese colleague who loves the game. Sadly the language barrier prevented me getting too much info from him on golf in Japan - but he did mention it is customary to play 9 holes, then have a 3 course meal, then go back out again. I like to knock off countries just to say I've played there, I will be there in late October. I'm aware you have to dress properly for the clubhouse, no problem, and I would be joined up as a single, but would I be limited to Westerner resort courses or is something more authentic realistic? Cheers
Might be worth asking of GolfWRX - I know there are a few on the Blades thread in Equipment that play in Japan, and the regional threads should have some info.
Something I would love to do one day but doubt I'll be travelling that far for a while now. I've played in Bali, Fiji and Thailand (all excellent) never Japan sadly.
Blue62 said:
Lucky boy, it’s a great course and club. I usually play in your open events and take in Broadstone and Parkstone to make the trip worthwhile, Ferndown is my favourite of the three.
Nematodes is the only treatment beyond tarpaulin, but it’s expensive and a bit hit and miss, Burnham and Saunton have experienced them on fairways where tarpaulin is not so practical. The two biggest threats to golf courses are water (who’d have thought it?) and leather jackets.
We have had issues with both of those - especially water, either too little or too much - however our latest issues are with badgers. The farmer next to us has started developing his field into a garden centre and has disturbed a set, which have moved onto our 4th hole, and from what I can tell the course are powerless to do anything about them. Nematodes is the only treatment beyond tarpaulin, but it’s expensive and a bit hit and miss, Burnham and Saunton have experienced them on fairways where tarpaulin is not so practical. The two biggest threats to golf courses are water (who’d have thought it?) and leather jackets.
Sad thing is he only started developing the field as it was going to be part of a compulsory purchase for HS2, and if it was used for commercial activities then the purchase price went up considerably.
As you can imagine, many tears were shed on our side when they cancelled HS2 north of Birmingham, meaning he didn't get his money....
Hammersia said:
bodhi said:
Hammersia said:
Has anyone any recent experience of golfing in Japan, around Tokyo?
I like to knock off countries just to say I've played there, I will be there in late October. I'm aware you have to dress properly for the clubhouse, no problem, and I would be joined up as a single, but would I be limited to Westerner resort courses or is something more authentic realistic? Cheers
I haven't sadly - but whenever we have our usual Sales get together at work I always get a game in with my Japanese colleague who loves the game. Sadly the language barrier prevented me getting too much info from him on golf in Japan - but he did mention it is customary to play 9 holes, then have a 3 course meal, then go back out again. I like to knock off countries just to say I've played there, I will be there in late October. I'm aware you have to dress properly for the clubhouse, no problem, and I would be joined up as a single, but would I be limited to Westerner resort courses or is something more authentic realistic? Cheers
Might be worth asking of GolfWRX - I know there are a few on the Blades thread in Equipment that play in Japan, and the regional threads should have some info.
Something I would love to do one day but doubt I'll be travelling that far for a while now. I've played in Bali, Fiji and Thailand (all excellent) never Japan sadly.
https://www.pacificgolf.co.jp/miho/price.asp
A lot have a similar price of about £120 and rental clubs available. Hmmmm. Intriguing.
"No tattoos and fashionable clothes must be in harmony with the clubhouse surroundings"
bodhi said:
We have had issues with both of those - especially water, either too little or too much - however our latest issues are with badgers. The farmer next to us has started developing his field into a garden centre and has disturbed a set, which have moved onto our 4th hole, and from what I can tell the course are powerless to do anything about them.
Sad thing is he only started developing the field as it was going to be part of a compulsory purchase for HS2, and if it was used for commercial activities then the purchase price went up considerably.
As you can imagine, many tears were shed on our side when they cancelled HS2 north of Birmingham, meaning he didn't get his money....
The water issue is about independence, hard to believe at the moment but long term concerns about droughts means that golf clubs have to develop their own source (if they can) and reserves, obviously in times of drought golf courses are low priority. Badger's are an odd one, but I'd have thought there would be a humane and sensible way to deter them, common ground courses I've played like like Sutton Coldfield and Royal North Devon use electrification, but I can imagine they do a lot of damage.Sad thing is he only started developing the field as it was going to be part of a compulsory purchase for HS2, and if it was used for commercial activities then the purchase price went up considerably.
As you can imagine, many tears were shed on our side when they cancelled HS2 north of Birmingham, meaning he didn't get his money....
Blue62 said:
Lucky boy, it’s a great course and club. I usually play in your open events and take in Broadstone and Parkstone to make the trip worthwhile, Ferndown is my favourite of the three.
Nematodes is the only treatment beyond tarpaulin, but it’s expensive and a bit hit and miss, Burnham and Saunton have experienced them on fairways where tarpaulin is not so practical. The two biggest threats to golf courses are water (who’d have thought it?) and leather jackets.
Funny as I noticed a daddy long leg in the garage tonight, I suspect they'll be rife with the warmer temps and no frosts.Nematodes is the only treatment beyond tarpaulin, but it’s expensive and a bit hit and miss, Burnham and Saunton have experienced them on fairways where tarpaulin is not so practical. The two biggest threats to golf courses are water (who’d have thought it?) and leather jackets.
Thanks for the kind words, I've never been fond of Parkstone based on layout/length and also by all accounts from people joining us it's bloody expensive in the clubhouse.
Saunton is another favourite of mine.
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