COURSES COURSES
The Barwon Heads short game chipping and putting practice facility
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
A Just shy of one hectare in total area, the facility is one of the largest in Australia
long with the ongoing improvement works to greens and bunkers, one of the major projects undertaken at Barwon Heads in recent times was the 2010-2011 development of the club’s short game practice facility. Course superintendent Adam Lamb and Crafter + Mogford Golf Strategies were responsible for the transformation of the practice facilities, tennis court precinct and car parking at the club. The genesis of the project was conceived by former Barwon Heads superintendent Peter Frewin who together with Paul Mogford prepared a longterm plan for the redevelopment of the tennis court and car park area which badly needed attention. Along with rationalising the number of tennis courts and increasing car parking capacity, another goal was to create a sizable area to be dedicated to the creation of Australia’s best and largest short game chipping and putting practice facility. By way of preparation a review was undertaken of Victoria and Sydney’s best clubs boasting similar facilities to better understand the elements which would combine to make up a successful facility. Armed with this first-hand knowledge the brief for the Barwon Heads facility was refined and the following features recommended;
Proximity to practice fairway and other facilities such as the par three course; l Maximise retention of natural contours of the precinct; l Provision of a variety of shot making experiences of varying length; l Greenside bunker(s) to closely mimic course conditions, including a long sand bunker to play to green (i.e.: 10m-20m); l Large green with distinct sections to allow multiple users of facility. Green area approx. 1500m2 minimum; l Fairway bunker (orientated to practice fairway); l ‘Broken ground’ incorporated into rough, as found on the championship course; l Grassy hollows - both tightly mown and at rough cut height; l
The large two-tired green was seeded with Mackenzie bentgrass and the fairway solid turfed with Santa Ana couchgrass
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AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 18.3
Areas of variable and sloping lie, including a ‘Valley of Sin’ with tightly mown surface. l Provision of an attractive marshalling area; l Plentiful yardage markers and signage. Just shy of one hectare in total area, the facility is one of the largest in Australia and offers all manner of shot variety to be found out on the 18-hole championship course. While there are two greens separated but linked via fairway ‘pathways’ by a large ‘broken’ dune, there are importantly three main areas of green to play too. The small green (about 450m2) was initially l
grassed with Manor browntop bentgrass and the large two-tired green (1200m2) seeded with Mackenzie creeping bentgrass. Since then three quarters of the smaller green has been converted to Arrowtown, while 12 months ago the large green was reseeded with Pure Distinction. Fairways were solid turfed with Santa Ana and the tee Wintergreen. Bunker faces were seeded with a fescue mix. While the area was constructed with site sands including spoils from the excavation of the redeveloped practice tee and car park, the green profile has a 400mm layer of medium/fine construction sand. The roughs were seeded with a mix of chewings, sheeps and hard fescue as well as some native bentgrass. Indigenous plantings include Moonah trees (Melaleuca lanceolata), knobby club-rush (Ficinia nodosa), coast swordsedge (Lepidosperma gladiatum), coast spear-grass (Austrostipa flavescens) and coast tussock-grass (Poa poiformis). With construction taking around eight weeks, local shaper Steve Speechley cut around 2023m3 and filled 2180m2 with a net fill requirement of 157m2 in order to sculpt the end product. Along with the invaluable contribution made by Speechley to bring the project to life, much kudos was given to the club’s ground staff who worked tirelessly to install the irrigation system, grassing and the hundred and one small tasks which combine to bring about a successful outcome. – Paul Mogford and Adam Lamb