CONSERVATION DRIVE

Sleaford Golf Club recently brought home the UK Conservation Greenkeeper of the Year award for 2023 at the 29th GEA Annual Awards.

Nick Lawson, Chairman of the Management Committee, has been a member at Sleaford Golf Club for over thirty years, and was persuaded to join the management committee in order to bring his financial and accountancy experience to bear.

Nick outlined what had been done at the course to boost conservation: “The biggest project is the dry-stone walling around the course which has been five years in the making. Initially, we had a handful of volunteers coming to help with the wall and then that number grew to twenty. Last year, I obtained a grant from the Woodland Trust and we got 1500 new trees and over 500 metres of hedgerow.”

Director of Golf, Nigel Pearce, has been at Sleaford for twenty-three years and was the club professional. He highlighted how the work has helped rejuvenate the course: “It is important to note the old wall was in a serious state of disrepair and it was almost a health hazard. It was something that we wanted to make a feature of the club again. So, Nick and his team have rebuilt all of the wall, which is roughly 750 metres around the course.”

Nick expressed the team effort that has gone into the conservation, wildlife and environmental projects: “Course Manager Brian Sharp and the team have done an excellent job to undertake the recent projects. The members have been great because they feel like they are part of the club and they are proud of the work that they are undertaking.”

Nigel added: “Every Monday, the members turned up to take part in rebuilding the course. The same team of volunteers that did the construction of the wall are now looking at the overflow car park project. We are getting busier as a club, so clearing another parking area will be beneficial.”

When asked about the project cost or challenges Nick said: “It didn’t cost us anything, as we recycled every stone from the old wall.

The value of the volunteers is amazing as it means very few labour costs. Combine that with the materials we already have and we are saving and developing thanks to the volunteers and recycling.”

The Golf Environment Awards 2023 STRI Group launched the Golf Environment Awards (GEAs) to recognise, reward and promote outstanding individuals and golf courses, for the time and effort they put into protecting and preserving their unique surroundings.

With the ever-increasing spotlight on environmental matters, it is fundamentally important for golf courses worldwide to assess what they can do to achieve environmental sustainability while continuing to maximise the enjoyment of golf.

Nick was crowned the UK Conservation Greenkeeper of the Year award for 2023 at the 29th GEA Annual Awards in Harrogate back in January and there was a vast amount of work undertaken to make a fundamental positive impact on the surrounding landscape and biodiversity.

Nick outlined the projects: “Along with the dry-stone wall project, we planted over 1,500 native trees and 500 metres of new hedgerows, carried out wildlife work in the management of bird nesting boxes, hedgehog boxes and the construction of a brick-built barn owl towerwe also provided feeding and watering holes for them. We built log piles, bug hotels and a pond for mammals and insects - providing protection for bees and bats. Re-wilding areas that were previously mown, thus saving labour and energy costs and well as providing more wildlife habitat. We now harvest rainwater from buildings which is then used for water use on the course. Newly installed solar panels on the machinery shed roof provide electricity to run the Clubhouse and, finally, we now recycle materials where possible, eg wood chips from fallen trees are used for