This year has been a bumper year for fruits and nuts country wide and Shirley Golf Course is blessed with a huge number of apple trees throughout the course. The trees were absolutely laden with apples of all varieties.
Five years ago our club, Hawarden GC, in North East Wales, lacked members and was precariously underfunded. In 2025 the Club won the prestigious “Welsh Golf Club of the Year”, awarded by Wales Golf. Many ingredients contributed to this turnaround in fortunes but one essential feature has been the Club’s environmental record.
Shirley GC in Warwickshire have started a new project on their path to sustainability and the ladies have started building their own Warré Beehives. “The hives are really expensive to buy, as it’s a more unusual hive type – not as readily available as some of the conventional hives. So we thought, perhaps we could build our own and save some money,” Wenke Gold explains.
After one of our bi-yearly tree audits, several trees were identified as dangerous and therefore needed to be felled. This, and the collection of several old pallets, had left us with wood in need of re-purposing. As a result, the Redbourn Golf Club’s maintenance crew set out to find the best way to utilize the remaining wood.
After one of our bi-yearly tree audits, several trees were identified as dangerous and therefore needed to be felled. This, and the collection of several old pallets, had left us with wood in need of re-purposing. As a result, the Redbourn Golf Club’s maintenance crew set out to find the best way to utilize the remaining wood.
Nevill Golf Club in Tunbridge Wells is an example of a club taking sustainability seriously and doing it in innovative ways. The Woodland Cup is a new trophy competition there, now in its second year. The competition is organised by the Nevill’s Sustainability Sub-Committee and is aimed at promoting sustainability to members.
Nevill Golf Club in Tunbridge Wells is an example of a club taking sustainability seriously and doing it in innovative ways. As part of an ongoing relationship between the golf club and the rescue centre, five gorgeous baby tawny owls were released on the golf course in September this year (2024).
Common frog and common toad populations have been reported as being in decline since the 1970s.
Common toad populations have declined across the UK by 68% over the past 30 years, which approximates to a 2.26 % decline per year.
Pleased to report 11 Chavenage bat boxes have been kindly erected by Steve Parker & Nigel Tranter in an ‘out of play area’ on the course to supplement natural roosting places which are becoming rarer.
So, what is a Dead Hedge? “A dead hedge is a barrier constructed from cut branches, saplings, and foliage. The material can be gathered from activities such as pruning or clearing, and in traditional forms of woodland management, such as coppicing. Its ecological succession can be a beetle bank or hedge.”