Course Report

Course Report 2019/20

Over the past 12 months

It has been an interesting year weatherwise, but the course has handled the extreme conditions well. The winter has been kind to us, but the green keeping team have been hard at work and the result should be exciting this coming season.

The obvious starting point for this report is the bunkers. Firstly thank you to all members for your patience whilst the work was carried out last summer. I think we can all agree that the decision to sign off such a significant investment into the course has been a substantial success. The ‘China Clay’ sand has bedded in well and has performed as we hoped. Feedback from members and guests alike has been fantastic, let’s hope that the consistency continues over the coming years.

Before the winter programme started, the Kingswood Team sat down and discussed our main objectives. The two main priorities for the long term benefit of the course are:

To improve conditions and playablity of the golf course throughout the winter months

We know that the course is at its best during the summer months. Our parkland topography enables the green staff to consistently provide some of the best playing surfaces in the local area. However, the clay based soil needs some assistance in the winter months.

What have we done to improve this?

• Starting last year, we outsourced a contractor to Verti Drain the entire course – from teeing areas all the way to approaches.
• Extended pathways to the start of the fairways. o 12th/13th & 16th Holes
  • This helps with traffic flow around the course in wet conditions
• Drainage works on the 9th fairway & 1st hole approach.
• Tree management programme.
  • As you can see behind the 11th green, around the 12th tee and 13th green. The green staff have removed significant low level shrubbery and numerous Leylandii trees. This will drastically improve air flow around that part of the course, therefore improve drainage.
  • Additional trees have been removed on the 5th, 6th, 8th, 11th & 13th holes
• Lastly, in the past couple of weeks, we have increased the aeration and top dressing programme on the tees and approaches to greens.

With all of the above tasks, in addition to the standard maintenance works carried out by David and his team, we strongly believe the course will improve its playability throughout the winter months.

The winter programme for next winter is already taking place – again we will strive to continue the idea of improving the playability throughout the winter months!

Make the course a little more friendly to play

Just like most members, I love playing the course here at Kingswood. Unlike some other clubs, you can easily play Kingswood every week and it feels like a different course to the week before. The one consistent grumble is that it can be quite a difficult course to play. Obviously when you are a the top of your game – most courses seem ‘easy’, however, we don’t want Kingswood to be known as a chore to play.

What have we done to improve this?

• Last summer you will have noticed that a number of fairways were cut closer to the teeing grounds.
  • 2nd, 11th, 14th, 15th & 16th holes
• We also widened some fairways around fairway bunkers.
  • 8th & 9th holes

In the past month we have continued this trend!

• Last month we widened the fairways or approaches on 13 of the 18 holes.
  • The aim is to make it a little easier to find the short cut grass whether it is off the tee

or on your lay up on a par 4/5. What else can we do?

Over the past few months I have been discussing the option to introduce a 4th set of tees in 2020. With the introduction of the ‘World Handicap System’ next year our course requires an up to date assessment. Whilst they are here this summer, we have requested an official measurement for a shorter yellow tee course. The proposed 2020 score card is viewable here, however, the final version will be announced later on after the summer assessment.

The shorter yellow tees will make the course a little more ‘friendly’ to play for visiting golfers and members alike. For the hardy members that like to play off the ‘Back tips’, the amendment will not change anything – the new black tees just replace the current white tees!

To achieve the desired length course we will need to extend/build 3 teeing areas. These are:

• New ladies tee on the 3rd hole
  • 8 yards shorter, over the pathway
• Extend behind the ladies 13th tee
• Extend the front of the 17th tee

Some of the foundation works may take place in the summer months, however this will not affect your enjoyment of the course.

We will continue to update the members regarding the course in our weekly updates, and I hope to share our winter programme with you in the next couple of months.

Mark

Director of Golf