Marshalling his troops - Pitchcare

Aberdovey Golf Club has
undergone a dramatic
rebirth in the past three
years, thanks to the
efforts of the
greenkeeping staff.
Deputy Head
Greenkeeper, Rhys
Butler goes ...
Back to nature!
Aberdovey Golf Club, winner of the
Welsh regional section at the 2009
Golf Environment Awards, has
undergone a dramatic rebirth in the last
three years, returning to its traditional
links landscape and preserving
important habitats. The challenge was to
achieve this on a Site of Specific
Scientific Interest to the satisfaction of
the Countryside Council for Wales, whilst
retaining the attraction of the course for
members and to the holidaymakers that
flock to the area in summer.
The renovation began in January
2009, with the main changes being to
reshape the bunkers to provide a natural,
rugged, rustic links-like appearance that
seamlessly integrated into the
surrounding landforms.
Another task was to break up some of
the runway-style tees which were alien to
the surrounding natural environment.
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“These were broken up into individual
tees and the land around shaped to
blend into the surrounding
environment,” explains Deputy Head
Greenkeeper, Rhys Butler.
Architect John Kemp, of Islander Golf,
was appointed, producing the drawings
and reports that were presented to the
‘green’ sub-committee and the course
management staff.
“The work was carried out in-house,
with John Kemp on site,” explains Rhys.
“The greenkeeping staff were split into
two teams - one to carry on with the
general course maintenance and the
other team to proceed with the course
changes.”
In the first phase, from January to
March 2009, seven new bunkers were
constructed and forty-three reshaped.
Out of date bunkers were filled and
sympathetically shaped, and the
positioning of others was altered. Work
continued in the winter of 2009-10 with
the construction of a further newly
positioned bunker and nineteen others
reshaped, the work being carried out inhouse
by the greenkeeping staff.
The club’s membership had been
highly vocal on course design in the past,
even rejecting alterations to
championship standard made by James
Braid, so getting them on side was vital,
as Rhys explains: “The decisions were
made by the greens sub-committee and
all proposed changes were available for
members to see, either by being posted
on the club website or by drawings that
were available for all to view in the
clubhouse. John Kemp also hosted a
walk/talk around the course for members,
so that they could see and understand
any change or redesign of the golf
course.”