Bardwell Valley Golf Club have enlisted the Golf NSW Club Support Service and Consultant Agronomist Martyn Black to assist them with their ongoing course management program.
Black visited the course in late January to get an idea of the problems faced first-hand before completing a comprehensive report for the club’s Board.
Like many smaller Golf clubs, Bardwell Valley gets by with a solitary greenskeeper and a hearty band of volunteers. The Course has it’s problems, in particular with invasive grasses in the greens and poor bunker drainage.
“The Club’s greens have issues with couch invasion, and I’ll be liaising with them to implement a program which will improve the quality of their putting surfaces going forward, possibly getting some turf from a Buddy Club in the future,” Mr Black said.
“Also, Sean (Ford) the Superintendent works by himself. He needs help with hand watering on the hot summer afternoons,
“The membership here seem very passionate about the place, so it will also be about ensuring he (Sean) gets the help from volunteers when he needs it,” Mr Black added.
Club Superintendant Sean Ford was pleased with Black’s suggestion of a coordinated volunteer program to assist with his day-to-day duties.
“I need the help as I am a one man band. One man on a golf course of 18 holes, its a lot of work. Driving the volunteer number is the key exactly,” Ford said.
Greg Hoare, Club General Manager stated that the initiatives proposed would benefit the club and provide some clear direction in the future. The efforts would need a well-coordinated band of volunteers to be successful.
“Martyn’s advice will help clarify the direction the club needs to go, my word, and if it weren't for the volunteers, we wouldn’t be here today,
“We have an excellent troupe of about 50 volunteers or so that work at different times and different tasks already, so if we are going to renovate a green and replace the turf, were going to need a group of 20 or so at one time to get that job done. We can organise that, we’ve got great members," he added.
Club President Dan Williams was the man behind the decision to call the Club Support service, and he was pleased with Black’s initial on-site assessment.
“We have needed to improve the condition of our greens for a while now, so I thought the free Club Support Service might have been able to assist us. I phoned Stuart Fraser ( Golf NSW CEO), and he put us in contact with Martyn, who will report back to us,
“I’m sure the Board will agree with his recommendations, provided they’re not too expensive,” Mr Williams smiled.