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A Centre of Essex-cellence
Award-winning South Essex Golf Centre is at the forefront of sustainable golf course management. John Kelly investigates how the three courses at the Crown Golf complex maintain high standards – both for golfers and the environment.
There are many ways by which a golf course can differentiate itself. For some owners, the lure of being a signature design is of paramount importance and with increasing numbers of the world’s best golfers launching course design businesses, that fad seems certain to grow – especially in the developing world.
However, some would argue that the trend to use big names to endorse big projects is only underpinning many of the age-old criticisms that cling, limpet-like, to golf (most notably that it is elitist, expensive and environmentally unsound).
Thankfully, there are courses and companies that are determined to challenge those perceptions and prove beyond doubt that golf can contribute enormous social and environmental value to society – and South Essex Golf Centre, part of the Crown Golf group, is one such venue.
Situated just outside Brentwood, Essex, and just five minutes from junction 29 of the M25, South Essex GC provides the ideal location for a relaxing game of golf in tranquil surroundings – with the defined aim of creating an enjoyable environment for the whole family.
But the club’s attitude towards environment extends way beyond simply creating the right conditions and atmosphere.
South Essex GC takes its social responsibility very seriously and is at the forefront of demonstrating how to manage a golf course in a more natural and sustainable manner within its existing environment. Even beekeeping plays a role (but more of that later!).
South Essex GC was designed by Reg Plumridge in 1994 and presents 27 holes of golf on three nine-hole loops – the Hawk, Heron and Vixen courses – with superb panoramic views over the Thames Valley and into Kent.
Spaciousness and nature have deliberately been taken into account and blended into the established gently rolling landscape, so varying the mix of course can give some genuinely interesting combinations.
Take the first hole on the Heron course, for example. A 577 yard par 5 presents the opportunity to open one’s shoulders and the green can certainly be reached in two shots by big hitters - although three greenside bunkers provide plenty of protection (there are 75 bunkers in total on the 27-hole layout).
Attacking golfers also like the 6th, a 369-yard par 4 which can be targeted with a short-iron second shot following a good drive, but it is the par 3, 190-yard 8th hole that proves to be a firm favourite with many visitors to the course. With the prevailing wind usually into one’s face, the hole provides a real test of nerve.
The 4th on the Vixen course is also a great attacking hole. A par 4 measuring 296 yards, it can definitely be reached in one shot by bigger hitters – but a watery grave befalls anyone who ventures too far left.
One of the joys of playing golf at South Essex GC is that every hole offers its own individual beauty, interest and challenge and being mainly south-facing, it is often bathed in sunshine.
The facilities are excellent too, with a 14-bay floodlit driving range, fully stocked Pro shop, and a bar and restaurant serving hot and cold food all day taking pride of place in the converted barn clubhouse.
General manager Brad Chard oversees proceedings at the popular venue, which has a strong society fanbase, while teaching is undertaken by Kevin Merry, of the Merry Golf Fitness and Performance Institute, who has over 20 years’ teaching experience working with players from Europe, Asia Pacific and the USA.
As golf complexes go, South Essex GC is welcoming, accessible, well-equipped and well-kept, so it’s easy to see why it fits neatly into Crown Golf’s portfolio of 33 venues and more than 50 UK courses.
But while the quality of the experience on offer has been recognised by golfers now for more than a decade, it is a forward-thinking view of golf course sustainability that is earning the venue and its owners a more widespread reputation.
Environmental management plays a major role in the day-to-day running of South Essex Golf Centre, with the key objectives of enhancing and improving the existing courses without lowering the playing quality, and reducing the use of chemicals, fertilizer and water on the 200-acre site.
Course manager Peter Dawson first put together his SEEDS plan in 2003 and it was recognised by BIGGA in 2005 when the club was rewarded with the ‘Best Newcomer’ award in its Environmental Awards.
With ‘Highly Commended’ recognition in both 2006 and 2007 it is clear South Essex GC has a long-term strategy to reduce its carbon footprint and owners Crown Golf work closely with the R&A to make fertilizer, water and chemical use facts and figures available to aid the association’s drive to encourage sustainable golf course management.
Under the careful stewardship of Peter and his team, charcoal making, wildflower planting and beekeeping – not activities traditionally prevalent on most golf courses – form a significant part of the sustainability strategy here.
And while the environment benefits ecologically from all the activity, the visual aspect of the course is enhanced for the golfer through the use of wildflower sowing and planting, coppicing and pond construction and renovation.
This is most evident on the Hawk course, where the 5th, 6th and 8th holes now play home to attractive ponds which encourage wildlife diversity by providing a habitat for dragonfly, moorhens and other creatures – while attractive pond edge plants like dogwood add to the visual appearance.
The establishment of wildflower areas at South Essex is also playing a dual role, giving golfers an attractive backdrop to their shotmaking while encouraging insect-life to thrive. The 6th hole on the Hawk course was a pilot for a wildflower area two years ago, with three other areas introduced at the venue through 2007.
One of the cornerstones of Peter Dawson’s SEED initiative (South Essex Environmental Development Strategy) is grassland management. While greens, tee boxes and first-cut rough naturally need more intensive cutting, deeper grassland rough is only trimmed once or twice a year so it maintains its pure grassland appearance and encourages finer grasses to grow.
Without any trimming it would revert to its natural scrub and woodland appearance and impact the natural environment.
Meanwhile grass clippings (which are toxic but, conversely, high in nutrients) are boxed off in collection areas, ready to be taken to composting bays, and the compost is then used throughout the site.
Great attention has also been given to the courses’ boundary hedges – some of which are 400 years old – where gaps are filled in with tree planting to create wildlife corridors. And coppicing in the surrounding woodland encourages vigorous regrowth and a sustainable supply of timber for future generations.
As you’d expect at this forward thinking golf club, the trees and shrubs removed through the coppicing are re-used too. Willow has been recycled and used extensively to renovate streams on the course while other wood is put in special burners to create charcoal (which is then used at club barbecues) while larger logs have helped to create logwood piles by ponds – safe havens for insects, small mammals and reptiles.
The strong theme of creating habitats for wildlife has seen the construction of a hibernacula, by burying a network of small offcuts from drainage pipes under a mound of earth, which provides a welcome retreat for all sorts of wildlife – including snakes.
And less obvious, but nonetheless important recycling can be seen in the use of course accessories fashioned from wood and an old water-bowser made into an attractive planter.
Said Peter Dawson: “I believe it is hugely important for golf courses to find ways of reducing the impact they have on the environment. Reducing the inputs of fertilizer and chemicals is clearly better for the environment – and in our case it saves the company money too, which cannot be ignored.
“For example, adopting sustainable course management practices across the board has enabled us to halve the amount of nitrogen we use. Our aim is to get all our figures as low as we can while maintaining the quality of the playing turf on the course.”
Of course, it is one thing to adopt environmental practices and another to educate golfers on the need for their adoption, so communication with golfers and the public on the essential environmental work that has taken place at South Essex GC is also important.
An information leaflet is available on the public right of way, which describes the various aspects of the club’s ongoing projects, while information discs on recycled tree stumps make attractive signs for the golfers themselves and reveal where specific work has taken place.
So, what of the bees? It will come of no surprise to hear that the £500 reward that came with South Essex’s BIGGA ‘Best Newcomer’ award was reinvested back into the club – but interestingly, Peter and a colleague decided to use the money on a 10-week bee-keeping course.
And having learned the bee-keeping essentials, they put two hives and colonies of bees alongside the 8th hole on the Heron course with the aim of encouraging wildflower pollination - and even produced some honey which was sold to members.
Said Peter: “This is definitely something we enjoyed. It was fun selling honey to members, but it is the positive impact on the environment that bees have which is something that I am keen to continue.”
With sustainability, climate change and environmental education now featuring prominently in schools, a new generation of golfers will grow up looking for courses which understand how they fit in to the natural environment. South Essex GC and the Crown Golf group certainly appreciates this.
Chief operating Officer John Weir confirmed that the achievements at South Essex are being used as a template for the other 32 clubs in the group: “The work undertaken by Peter and his team underpin the groups approach to environmental issues and educates our ongoing efforts to make our 57 courses more environmentally friendly”
South Essex Golf Centre can be found on the A128 near Brentwood, Essex. Green fees are £27 weekend, £21 Mon-Fri, with a range of great value 9-hole, Early Bird and Twilight prices as well as discounts for SMART card holders. To contact telephone 01277 811 289 or visit www.southessexgolf.co.uk
April 8, 2008
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