Sandiway Golf Club has developed beyond all recognition from its early days back in the 1920s. The course has had three different designers involved in its journey, Colt, Hawtree and Ray, who all added their own hallmarks to create the stunning environment we see today. Nature has also played its part.
To prepare the course for the challenges of climate change, restrictions in the availability and of water and the use of chemicals, the club has started to undertake significant remedial and development work to ensure the course can be sustained in future to the highest standards.
Sandiway is better positioned than most to react to these coming changes due to its location on the Cheshire sand belt synonymous with heathland conditions. However, over the last 70 or so years the local environment has been allowed to slowly change with much of the open heath now encroached by unmanaged and dense woodland. This has had the effect of changing the playing surfaces from dry, fast running fine bent and fescue grasses to the broader leafed Poa Annua grasses.
Project 1946
The club has obtained an aerial view of the golf course from 1946 that was taken by the RAF. When blown up it gives clear insight into where all the original woodland areas were, areas of heathland that once existed, the true course layout and the location of all the original bunkers.
"we feel that the true spirit and heart of the course had faded and we were left with a course that did not really know what it is."
The team team ventured into the clubhouse loft to go through the club archives and minutes from past greens meetings, with some dating back to the early 1920s. These were critical to the project as they gave a breakdown about the work that had been carried out over the past 100 years. It helped the team understand the history and what the greenkeepers were up to back then – often facing the same challenges as today's team.
Refurbishment of existing features
The club has begun refurbishing bunkers based on photographs of the original layouts. Shape, banking, construction and positioning in relation to adjacent features was considered. Bunkers lines were replaced and, where appropriate, different sand used to better suit the 'heathland' style.
The size of tees was increased, ensuring they align with the original intentions. Measured points were repositioned to maximise the available space and a set of blue tees were introduced.
Woodland management and ecology improvement
The team has begun bringing all woodland areas, except within SSSI's, back into management. These areas require thinning, removal, pruning and crown raising in line with a Woodland Management Plan and licence obtained from the Forestry Commission.
The incrementation of dense woodland has meant a rapid decline in any heather that was a prominent feature of the site. Initial results have been positive and areas that had no evidence of heather are starting to show growth. There is clearly a plentiful stock of heather seed within the soil and with sunlight and organic reduction it will regenerate.
original features (colt, hawtree and ray)
Original features are intended to be reinstated in a way that they remain consistent with modern day maintenance and playing characteristics. A good blend of both will make the modern changes look as if they've been there for 100 years, while also enabling modern maintenance and golf to thrive.
Work for consideration in this awards nomination was broken down into three stages across three holes:
Hole 2
Reinstate the original playing line, recreating the original risk and reward tee shots. Thinning the dense woodland will display veteran trees.
- Reinstating closest right hand side fairway bunker
- Removal of left hand side fairway bunker
- Move and reshape furthest right hand side fairway bunker
- Reshaping approach and greens bunkers
- Woodland management
hole 5
Move the white and yellow tees to new, larger platforms on the original play lines, hitting more into the cross slope rather than down it. Lowering the horizon line will give a glimpse of where the hole goes.
- New white tee to the left of the current tee
- Extend winter tee
- Yellow/Red tees become Red/Blue tee
- Woodland management
- Mounding reduced
hole 8
Move the white and yellow tees to new larger platforms on the original lines. Reinstate the original bunkering and make visible the drama of the approach and green setting.
- New White/Yellow tees, Red extended
- Removal of trees in teeing area
- Reinstate right hand side fairway bunker, remove left hand side
- Revise greenside bunkering
- Woodland management
challenges
Winter 22/23 will be remembered for its record-breaking wet weather, freezing cold temperatures and a mast year - when some species of trees such as oak and beech produce a bumper crop of leaves and nuts.
"Keeping team morale high was a challenge at temperatures of -10C and wasn't helped when in some cases the team resorted to hand blowing entire holes to keep machinery off the course!"
Despite these climatic challenges, the team accomplished some fantastic things, creating a high quality golf course while carrying out routine greenkeeping jobs.