Along with its location, the green's size and lack of fair pin placings is the reason that we've had to rest it for a number of months each winter over the past five years.
Eden 5th green renovations – update
A good start has been made to the project in the first week despite some heavy periods of rain. Before stripping the turf we pegged the area of the original green along with recording the levels at various points for reference.
The new size and shape of the green was then marked out and the rootzone from those areas removed. This is then bulked up with sand, screened and mixed to be reused back on-site later.
There are two principal reasons for making changes to the green. Firstly, there was a layer of ash between the rootzone and the sand underneath, which was affecting the drainage of the green. This was common practice in greens construction in days gone by as a way of retaining moisture prior to the advent of irrigation systems. In the past we would’ve been able to regularly punch holes through this layer and connect the rootzone with the sand below, but years of constantly topdressing the green, as we try to retain firm surfaces and keep organic matter levels low has resulted in that layer being deeper than we are able to deep-tine aerate.
Secondly, with constant competition play from the nine local golf clubs here in St Andrews, we were finding it increasingly difficult to provide a variety of suitable pin placings on what is probably the smallest green on the Links. There was always a risk that the ‘safe place’ on the green (back left) was going to flood resulting in competitions being cancelled and having to be rescheduled.
Along with its location, the green’s size and lack of fair pin placings is the reason that we’ve had to rest it for a number of months each winter over the past five years.
With the rootzone cleared, we then mined sand from a nearby area to re-grade levels on selected areas as per the plan.
The bunker located at the front right, 30 yards short of the green has been moved closer to the green. The mound which was in that area has been pushed to the right to allow for better traffic management of the 45,000 golfers who play the course each year. The irrigation sprinklers and pipework has been re-routed to fit the new layout.
With new sand added to the subgrade and firmed, levels have been checked and we’re almost ready to begin replacing the rootzone.
Words by Kevin Muir, Course Manager – Eden, Strathtyrum and Balgove Courses
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