 |
Up
for the cup
Stretching over more than 1,400 acres, and boasting
courses designed by Robert Trent Jones (both senior
and junior) and European Golf Design, more than
£4 million is being spent on the improvements.
MJ Abbott is responsible for the irrigation, drainage,
course construction work, the profile of the greens,
tees, together with seedbed preparation and seeding
on the new development.
The course for the Ryder Cup, as yet to be named,
will create a new 18-hole facility – nine
holes are being built on new land and nine by utilizing
part of the existing Wentwood Hills golf holes. |
|
“The
Ryder Cup is growing to such an extent that the more level
course, which this creates, allows us to cater for the 50,000
plus visitors expected,” says Jim McKenzie, Director
of Estates Management and Ryder Cup Courses Development.
“Most of the players and caddies play 36 holes a day
and the course as it stood previously was very physically
testing,” he says.
“Fine for a stroke player but the course would not
be manageable for a match play event.
“With 150 players, a large crowd and four games in
the first two days there would be logistical problems.” |
Water-wise
To meet the high expectations of players, and the demands
of the TV camera, golf courses have to be in A1 condition.
Serious and expensive damage can occur very quickly to the
sward during dry periods - if grass roots are unable to
obtain sufficient water to make up for transpiration losses
and the grass becomes stressed.
To address this, the Celtic Manor Resort has taken advantage
of the fact that they are situated in an area renowned for
its wet weather – they use water drained during wetter
periods for irrigation during drier spells.
Dramatic developments to irrigation systems means water
can be more effectively applied to the golf course. Irrigation
and drainage specialist MJ Abbott has been involved in fitting
more than 2,400 sprinklers at the resort – and counting.
Irrigation covers the Coldra Woods course, Roman Road course,
driving range, turf nursery, the nine remaining holes of
the old Wentwood Hills and the 13 holes of the new course
– with five holes in the process of being completed.
On the original Wentwood Hills course a Rain Bird system
is in place and the mainframe of this is being retained,
“Toro heads will be fitted across the whole new course
but the original Rain Bird infrastructure and controller
will remain,” says Jim.
“The system is supplied by water collected from our
drainage which is fed into holding lakes.
“Permanently re-cycling our water works well and we
are also careful in selecting grass species which are fairly
drought tolerant.
“Up on top of the hills we hand-water areas, rather
than indiscriminately applying irrigation.
“I think in recent years the biggest advance in irrigation
systems has been the introduction of valve and head sprinklers,”
he says.
“Rather than irrigating the whole area you can specifically
target a small area.
“This makes a vital difference in helping to maintain
our water storage capacity.”
Water
management
Managing the systems is irrigation engineer Neil Shephard,
who has been at the resort for 11 years, and his assistant
Noel O’Connell.
A weather station is located on the Roman Road and Coldra
Woods courses and accurately picks up every drop of rain.
“This station enables us to know the exact amount
of water being received,” says Neil.
“Regular readings are recorded and charted every day,
month and season of the year.
“Even for Wales this has been a really wet March,”
he says.
“The wettest for a very long time, following one of
the driest winters.”
Currently being installed, the new sprinklers will be booted
up in April.
Greens and fairways are being fitted with Toro 800 and 850
series sprinklers, the fairways 835 and the tees include
some 720G series sprinklers.
“I have worked with Toro and Rain Bird and at the
end of the day there is not much difference between them,”
says Neil.
“The 800 series sprinklers are the latest ones so
there are many new features.
“You can alter the spray and lower it if it is windy.
“Everything is much more controllable these days with
irrigation systems,” he says.
“You can use part or full circle, raise the head,
change the nozzles.”
Work is still on-going on the new holes and bunkers being
shaped but Neil says it will only take a short time to get
that fully operational as well.
On the current 13 holes of the new course there are 243
sprinklers on the tees, 76 on the greens, 372 on the fairways
and 42 on the approaches.
The Roman Road course, which is being used to host the Wales
Open while the work is being carried out, has 327 sprinklers
on the tees, 71 on the greens, 304 on the fairways and 38
on the approaches.
“These days we only drain down for about two to three
months of the year,” says Neil.
“We drain down late, as towards the end of the year
there are a lot of fertilizers on the course so we need
to water these areas in.”
Three lakes, which form part of the new course, take drainage
water off all the courses. There is a pump house down the
bottom of the course, together with two large transfer pumps.
“Our licence restricts the volume of water we can
use so these can only be used to pump a certain amount,”
he says.
“This could make our quota tight this year, as we
are growing in the new holes.”
The transfer pumps send water to the top reservoir to help
irrigate the Coldra Woods and Roman Road courses.
These courses are fully Toro and run by a Site Pro.
Keeping an eye on the pH of the water, the Celtic Manor
is looking at introducing pond water features to keep them
clean and as an added attraction to the courses.
“My biggest challenge is the greenkeepers,”
says Neil.
“They think it strange that there I am in the pouring
rain in winter identifying problems with the system.
“But with the more frequent use of aerators and spikes
more damage can occur, so it is vital to combat leaks.
“This helps us to ensure we are irrigating with the
greatest efficiency to conserve our valuable water resources.”
- MJ
Abbott, specialist in golf course construction, irrigation
and drainage.
- tel:
01722 716361
- email:
nigel.wyatt@mjabbott.co.uk
- website:
www.mjabbott.co.uk
|
