Pyecombe Golf Club Wins Environment Award

Pyecombe Golf Club scoops Environmental Golf Club of the Year 2016 at the STRI National Golf Club of the Year awards

Pyecombe Golf Club Wins Environment Award

The Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) has awarded Pyecombe Golf Club for its outstanding work for golf and the environment.

Pyecombe Golf Club has been awarded Environmental Golf Club of the Year 2016

The award ceremony took place in Harrogate, where Pyecombe Golf Club beat many affluent clubs to this acclaimed title.

Some golf clubs have been encouraged to make their courses more sustainable, and Pyecombe provides an excellent example of preserving its golfing heritage as well as making its club environmental.

This is summed up fantastically well by the STRI, who have said that:

"Pyecombe is not just a golf course, but a nature reserve too, managed to the highest of standards."

The course is located about 6 miles to the north of Brighton on the South Downs and is part of the South Downs National Park.

Pyecombe Golf Club do a fantastic job of preserving and maintaining the natural habitat of the surrounding area that includes mature, semi mature woodlands, scrub and grasslands, managed wild meadow grasslands and managed amenity turf.

There is also a protected conservation area - Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) - consisting of some heather and extremely rare dwarf gorse.

Some other notable environmental works Pyecombe have undertaken are:

• Installing a bore hole and solar panels
• Sourcing energy for the Clubhouse from a ground source heat pump, which lowers carbon emissions and supplies the heating for 40% of normal prices
• Installing bee hives: producing their own Pyecombe Golf Club honey

They have also managed the course in a manner that is considerate to the needs of an array of wildlife:

• The greens are managed using minimal pesticide inputs, using and brewing on site Compost teas
• This helps to keep thatch levels low, with good aeration practices, and encourage fine leaved grasses
• 3 holes are built on old farmland about 40 years ago and the grasses are much different
• The wild flowers have naturally expanded year on year with many different types of Downland flowers that give the grass meadows a constant succession of blooms throughout the growing season
• There are masses of Cowslips in spring, followed by Yellow Rattle, Sweet Meadow and Hair Bells. Many Orchids are now spreading around the course
• In the last couple of years these grass areas have started to change, with Yellow Rattle colonising and now Orchids are establishing as well.

This is a brilliant example of a golf club managing its course with environmental management programmes to not only create a harmonious and sustainable area, but a superb golfing experience that is enhanced by its surrounding natural land.

Carnoustie Golf Links Wins Operation Pollinator Award

The award was given in recognition of the work undertaken by Championship Course Head Greenkeeper, Craig Boath (below with award) and his dedicated team who have developed habitats around the course that are suitable for bees and other pollinating insects.

The team was applauded for their approach to the project, which involved outreach events with local primary school children.

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Craig Boath and his team for all the hard work they done in helping to curb the decline of our important pollinators,” said an STRI spokesperson.