SOME FURTHER SUGGESTIONS
It cannot be too frequently emphasised that in starting a new course
or reconstructing an old one it is of the utmost importance that the
committee should have a scheme before them of a definite and final
nature. It would be sound finance for the majority of golf clubs to pay
the expenses of the Green Committee for the purpose of visiting good
examples of construction work on other courses.
They should not of necessity visit courses where the leading open
competitions are held, as many of the very best clubs rarely offer their
courses for competitions.
They should be guided in their choice of architect by a course
constructed out of indifferent material, and not by one constructed out
of magnificent natural golfing land.
They should take into consideration the cost, the popularity with all
classes of players, and the finality and permanency of the work.
Having decided on the architect and having passed the plan, it is as well
to take steps to ensure that the construction work is done according to
the ideas of the designer.
Experience of advising a hundred golf clubs has convinced the writer
that the work can never be done properly except under occasional expert
supervision. Work done without expert supervision is invariably bad.
The designer should not be tied down too closely to his original plan.
Mature consideration and unexpected changes in the subsoil, etc., may
make a modification in the plan necessary to save expense and get better
results.
In a small book of this kind, it is impossible to go into the thousand
and one details which make for economy in course construction, but some
of these may be enumerated.
The chief items in the construction of a golf course are the following:
1. Carting.
2. Labour.
3. Drainage.
4. Seeding.
5. Turfing.
6. Manures.
7. Sand.
CARTING
The cost of carting can often be reduced to a minimum by using a little
thought in the work. The stone from stone walls, rocks, the turf from
turf walls, or soil taken out of excavations should never be carted away:
they can always be used for raising a neighbouring green in the form of
a plateau, or in making hummocks or large undulations indistinguishable
from the natural ones which are so delightful on seaside courses. It is
rarely necessary to cart soil from a distance for the purpose of making
a hummock or a green. It is much more economical to remove a sufficient
area of turf from and around the site of an intended hummock or green,
and utilise the soil removed from the area around the hummock for this
purpose. This is a double advantage. The surrounding ground is lowered as
the hummock is raised, and makes the hummock appear higher, and at the
same time it is made to merge imperceptibly into the surrounding hollow
or hollows, and has a much more natural appearance. A hollow removed from
the front of the green has the effect of making the green appear as if it
were raised upon a plateau, and this is still further accentuated if the
soil removed is also used to build up the green.
Similarly the green and the bunkers guarding it should all be made at the
same time; the soil moved in making the bunkers can then be utilised in
the formation of the green. It was in former years considered imprudent
to construct bunkers until the experience of playing revealed the proper
position, but since those days our knowledge of green-keeping has
advanced. An expert can judge by the character of the grasses and the
nature of the undulations the amount of run which the ball is likely
to get, and this knowledge, combined with actual measurements, gives
more information than it is possible to gain by playing. Perhaps the
most important reason why the architect’s scheme should be completed
in the first instance is that bunkers are hardly ever placed in the
right position afterwards. It is difficult to find a member of a Green
Committee who is not subconsciously prejudiced against placing a bunker
where he is likely to get trapped himself.
After carting there is usually a considerable amount of labour necessary
to obliterate the tracks. Carting should, when possible, be done when
the ground is hard, in dry weather or during frost. Carts should not be
allowed to wander about all over the place, but should be made to keep in
one track. It is often advisable to remove the turf previous to carting
and relay it after the carting is finished. Carts can sometimes be
replaced with advantage by sledges with flat-bottomed runners.
LABOUR AT LESS THAN PRE-WAR COST
By introducing labour-saving machinery we have recently been getting
better results at less than pre-war cost. If work on a large scale is
being done, the steam navvy or grab might be tried for excavating and
making hummocks, etc.; traction engines are useful in uprooting small
trees, and larger ones can with advantage be blown up by dynamite. I
recently used blasting charges for the purpose of assisting to make
bunkers. An article in one of the Sheffield papers somewhat humorously
stated that this was not the first occasion Dr. Mackenzie’s bunkers had
been “blasted.”
[Illustration: THE “SCRAPER” AT WORK ON WHEATLEY PARK COURSE, DONCASTER.]
Trolleys on rails are frequently used to save carting or wheeling barrows.
The two machines which are found of the greatest value in saving labour
are the turf-cutting machine and the American scraper or scoop—the
former made from designs by the writer. It will cut an acre of sods in
an afternoon, and, moreover, cuts them of a more even thickness than by
hand. This machine is worked by two horses like a plough. One or two
clubs have condemned it without a fair trial, and on inquiry I have
usually found that the weather was too dry, the grass too long, the
blades had not been set properly, or that it had been used by a man
who had had no previous experience in working one. It has been used by
scores of clubs with a great deal of success. At Moortown we sodded over
twenty acres of sour heath land with it. The cost of this amounted to
little compared with sowing, as we were able to remove the sods from a
neighbouring field. Sowing would have cost at least twice as much, as
there were no signs of even a blade of grass on most of the land, and no
sowing was likely to be successful without lime and manuring, and carting
a tremendous quantity of soil so as to form a seed bed. The results have
been infinitely better and quicker than sowing at the rate of even twelve
bushels of the best grass seeds to the acre.
[Illustration: GRANGE-OVER-SANDS: the turf-cutting machine at work. The
photograph shows the dead, flat, featureless character of the country
before the work began.]
[Illustration: GRANGE-OVER-SANDS: sandhills constructed by means of the
scraper on terrain originally perfectly flat.]
The scraper is worked by a horse or two horses, and is particularly
useful for excavating light soil, but can even be used on heavy land if
each layer is ploughed before the scraper is used. The scraper is shaped
like a large shovel, the handles are raised, and the horse pulls and it
digs into the ground until it is full; the handles are then depressed and
the horse pulls it along to the required situation; it is then tipped
up, and the horse returns for another load. One horse and two men by
this means can do the work of a score of men working in the ordinary way
with wheelbarrows. In making hollows and hummocks it has an additional
advantage in that it gives them automatically a natural appearance,
and at the same time the horse in climbing up to the top of the hump
compresses the soil, and it does not sink so much afterwards.
The scraper has been used with considerable success at Castletown (Isle
of Man), Wheatley Park (Doncaster), and Grange-over-Sands, among other
courses.
It is important in constructing a new or altering an old course to get
the work done as quickly as possible: if the work is done gradually the
sods lie about for some time and are sometimes ruined. Most of the work
should be done during October and November, before the frosts commence:
good methods of organisation should prevent men being unemployed during
frost. If the greens, drains, and sites of bunkers are previously pared,
and the sods allowed to lie, then even though frost sets in, the sods
may be removed and a certain amount of excavation can still be proceeded
with. Sand, soil, and manures may be carted, hedges stubbed up, and trees
removed during frost.
DRAINAGE
It is advisable to drain golfing land much more thoroughly and
efficiently than ordinary farm land, but, on the other hand, by
exercising a little thought it can be done much more cheaply. For the
purpose of golf it is not only unnecessary to drain as deeply as is
customary for agricultural purposes, but it is much cheaper and more
satisfactory to adopt a system of shallow drains.
On a golf course, there is never any necessity to make allowance for
the possibility of subsoil ploughing; the drains can therefore be kept
near the surface. The great thing to bear in mind in draining is that
the water stratum must be tapped. On heavy clay land, it is absurd to
put drains in the middle of the clay, unless the whole of the trench is
filled with clinkers or other porous material, and this is needlessly
expensive. Drains may at times be placed in a groove on the surface of
the clay. On land of this description drains may often be placed with
advantage at as shallow a depth as from 6 to 12 inches. It should be
unnecessary to state that no effort should be spared to see that there
is sufficient fall, and for the purpose of ensuring this it is often
necessary to take the levels. Sufficient thought is rarely given to
drainage. The site of the main drains and the whole scheme of drainage
should be very carefully studied, and it is of special importance to take
into consideration the nature of the subsoil and position of the water
level. In peat, on the other hand, it is frequently advisable to drain
below the peat, even if this extends to a depth of 6 feet or more. If
this is impossible owing to lack of sufficient fall, wooden boards should
be placed below the drains.
The cheapest method of draining is by a system of mole drainage. I
have frequently used a mole drain worked by horses which was made from
suggestions by Franks, the Moortown green-keeper, and myself. It is
used as an attachment to the turf-cutting machine. By this method golf
courses on clay land could be drained, previous to the war, at less than
a pound per acre.
This mole drain works at the shallow depth of 6 inches, and is not
applicable to agricultural land, as even horses galloping over the
ground are sufficient to block the channel. It is, moreover, wonderfully
satisfactory on golfing land, especially as supplementary to ordinary
tile draining. Whenever the ground is sticky, or any casual water
appears, the mole is run through and it becomes absolutely dry at once.
This mole drain has a big advantage over the larger one, in that the cut
made by the mole is so small that it does not interfere with the lie of
the ball.
We have recently used a tractor instead of horses to pull the mole, and
have found it a great advantage to do so. The use of the mole provides
a solution for the problem of converting the muddiest of clay London
courses into good winter links. Experience has proved that the effect
lasts for fully ten years.
One of the most remarkable results of its use is that it gets rid of
worms. This is probably owing to the fact that it makes the ground so dry
that the worms can’t work in it.
It also prevents the ground becoming baked during dry summer weather.
This is a well-known effect of good drainage, although possibly an
unexpected one to the uninitiated. It is largely due to the drainage
preventing the ground becoming caked, and also to the encouragement of
turf with a good bottom to it.
TURFING
The cheapest and best method of removing turf is by means of a
turf-cutting machine. The thickness of the turf should vary according
to the nature of the grasses and the character of the subsoil. As a
general rule, turf for greens should be cut as thin as 1½ inches. This is
particularly important if the turf contains many tap-rooted weeds; the
roots of the weeds and many of the coarser grasses are then left behind
in the cutting.
In the experience of the writer, it is frequently not a difficult matter
to get excellent turf in the immediate neighbourhood of a golf course at
an extremely cheap rate—a halfpenny a yard or under—and turf obtained
from the immediate neighbourhood of the course is much more likely to be
suitable than turf obtained elsewhere. The writer has known a golf club
going to the expense of getting Silloth turf at 9_d._ a yard, the grasses
of which would inevitably disappear and be replaced by those of its
environment within a year or two, when much more suitable turf could be
obtained from the next field at a cost of a farthing a yard. It should
be borne in mind that the most useless turf from a farming point of view
is frequently the most valuable for golf. There are many other details
which help to lessen the cost of turfing. In an old-established course,
turf for new greens or for renovating old ones can frequently be obtained
from the sides of a neighbouring fairway, the sods from which may be
replaced by those removed from the site of the green.
There is usually a well-trodden path extending from every tee to the
nearest fairway. There is no turf so useful for renovating an old or
making a new tee as that obtained from a firm path of this kind. The sods
removed should be replaced by others, and they in turn get hard and firm.
An important question is the use of manures in turfing. Stable or
farmyard manure should almost invariably be placed under the sods: the
amount should vary according to the turf and soil. Five loads per green
is an average, and on undulating greens the manure should be placed
under the raised portions only. The hollows will look after themselves.
Manure does more harm than good if dug deeply in: it should be forked in
immediately under the sods, and the roots of the finer grasses feed on
it at once. If dug in deeply, the coarser grasses are encouraged at the
expense of the finer.
On wormy inland courses considerable expense in worm-killers can
frequently be saved by placing a few loads of coke breeze under the sods.
Although the best time to turf is in the late autumn and winter months,
sods can, if necessity arises, be laid in certain localities as late as
June.
If hot dry weather arrives, the newly laid sods should be covered with
cut grass during the day, and in the evening the grass should be removed
so that the dews help to keep the ground moist.
SEEDING
The writer has known of several instances where ground has been sown, and
the result has been so unsatisfactory that after a year or two the land
had to be ploughed up and resown.
It is much more economical in the long run to do the thing thoroughly.
Mistakes are most frequently made in sowing with the wrong seeds—in not
preparing the ground thoroughly beforehand, and in sowing at the wrong
time of year.
It is most important that a mixture should be chosen containing a goodly
proportion of seeds corresponding to the prevailing grasses of the
immediate neighbourhood, and seeds should always be obtained from a seeds
merchant who is not afraid of telling you the exact composition of his
mixture. Some seeds merchants sell mixtures which are not so valuable
for golfing turf as they appear—it is not the best kind of grass which
germinates too quickly. Finer turf usually results from a mixture which
comes up more slowly but is of a more permanent character. If seeding is
necessary, it is frequently advisable to sow with much larger quantity of
seed than is customary.
It is of the utmost importance to prepare the land thoroughly before
sowing. The ground should be well drained, the land well limed when
necessary, and fifteen loads to the acre of well-rotted stable manure
incorporated with the soil or a mixture of artificial manure in its stead.
After sowing see that the birds are scared away by one of the numerous
devices suggested for the purpose.
MANURES
It is surprising how much money can be saved in manures by the help of
science and a sufficient knowledge of chemistry to enable you to judge
which are the cheapest and most valuable manures suitable for the soil of
the locality with which you have to deal.
It is often advisable to make a point of studying the by-products of the
different industries in the district, as it is obvious that if a suitable
manure for the soil can be obtained on the spot, it is obtained cheaper
than by rail or cart from a distance. Fish or meat guano, basic slag,
malt dust, sulphate of ammonia, chalk, the refuse from leather, cloth,
and shoddy factories, seed crushing mills, seaweed, manure extracted
from town sewage works, peat moss litter, etc., are all of value under
different circumstances.
Basic slag can sometimes be obtained from a neighbouring steel works,
sulphate of ammonia from a gas works, chalk from a neighbouring
chalk pit, or seaweed from the seashore. Manures should be used with
a considerable amount of discretion and only in small quantities
at a time. I have known a considerable amount of damage done by the
unintelligent use of artificials. For example, artificials are of the
greatest possible value for golfing turf, but they should always be used
in small quantities but frequently, and should be well diluted with soil
or sand, and only used during moist weather. A mixture, consisting of
superphosphate of lime, sulphate of ammonia, and sulphate of potash,
supplies most of the feeding material that is necessary for golf, and
the experiments at Rothamstead conclusively prove that the character of
the grasses can be completely altered by varying the proportion of the
different constituents of this mixture.
Sulphate of ammonia is the most valuable of the constituents of this
mixture, but I have known of several greens (including even St. Andrews)
temporarily ruined by using sulphate of ammonia injudiciously. It should
never be put on a green undiluted, as, like most artificials, it has a
great affinity for water, and in dry weather absorbs the water from the
grasses and burns them up. It also should never be used if the land is
the least bit sour, as it simply increases this sourness.
A green-keeper should attempt to get a sufficient knowledge of botany
and chemistry to know by the character of the herbage of his greens the
kind and the amount of manure that is required. Green-keepers sometimes
think that if they use twice the usual quantity of a manure, it will have
double the effect; the exact contrary is the case, as the green may be
ruined entirely.
The most important manure of all is cut grass. If the cut grass is always
left on the greens and fairways, very little manuring is necessary. On
the other hand, if the grass is constantly removed year after year
(unless a considerable amount of manure is added to take its place),
the turf becomes impoverished and full of weeds. One of the unexpected
results of leaving the grass on is that less mowing is necessary. This is
probably due to the fact that the growth goes into the roots and not into
the leaves. Mowing without the box on is of special importance on sandy
or seaside courses.
SAND
Sand is often an expensive item on an inland course. It is surprising how
frequently a good class of sand is found in pockets on a course or in the
immediate neighbourhood. A knowledge of geology and botany will enable
you to foretell where sand is likely to be found.
On several occasions on visiting a course I have been told that there
was no sand in the district, and have been able to find some by noting
the character of the trees, grasses, etc. Sand may be economised by the
method in which bunkers are made. It will be noticed in the photographs
reproduced that most of the hollows have been turfed, but have been
formed in such a way that a ball gravitates towards the sand, which is
thrown up against the face. Bunkers of this description have a much more
natural appearance, and the amount of sand needed is also considerably
less than usual.
[Illustration: A BUNKER ON THE FULFORD COURSE, ARTIFICIALLY CONSTRUCTED
ON FLAT LAND AT A COST OF £3.]
By far the most important of all the foregoing suggestions is the
ultimate economy of making it as reasonably certain as possible that any
work done is of a permanent character and has not ultimately to be done
over again. There are few committees of golf clubs who attach sufficient
importance to expert advice. I suppose this is partly due to the fact
that they themselves would sooner have the work done badly and have the
fun of doing it than see any one else do it for them. In the nature of
things a course can only be constructed by an individual: “Too many cooks
spoil the broth” is a proverb which is more applicable in the case of
golf courses than in anything else.
I personally am a strong believer in encouraging the individuality of
the green-keeper, and not interfering with, but rather encouraging,
his original ideas, unless they are in opposition to sound fundamental
principles.