Full Plan

Key Elements

Our club is at a point where a confluence of issues, such as irrigation infrastructure, bunkers and the management of out of play areas are causing a drain on finances and it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the standard of the course that our members and visitors expect.

Following the design concept, the Course Enhancement Plan addresses the following key elements:

• Resurfacing of Greens
  • Existing greens to be resurfaced and contours slightly modified for agronomic reasons and additional pin placements
  • A new blend of Bentgrass more suitable to our climate and maintenance programs
  • Installations of new collars to prevent Couch grass encroachment
  • Construction of six new greens
  • Update soil profile

• Replacement of Ageing Irrigation Infrastructure
  • reduced repair and labour costs
  • reduced water use through targeted irrigation
  • reduced maintenance and weed control in rough areas

• Retaining the Revetted Bunker Character
  • a sustainable model of revetting
  • improved ingress and egress
  • a combination of mechanical and manual maintenance practices to improve efficiencies

• Increased Playability
  • increasing teeing options to assist with all levels of player ability
  • reduction of maintained rough and increase in fairway areas
  • sparsely vegetated, sandy areas with indigenous plantings will lead to quicker play as less time spent looking for golf balls

• Treescape and Vegetation
  • maintain the style of the course through tall pine trees (Stone Pine) and selected indigenous trees (Native Pine)
  • unsuitable tree species (Allocasaurina) which have been planted or have self-seeded in inappropriate areas will be replaced with local tree species that our suited to our setting and vegetation profile.
  • expand current tree canopy by 1.75 hectares at maturity.
  • the promotion and protection of our indigenous flora to conserve plants for future generations and provide habitat for local fauna

Greens Conditions

The greens surfaces at Glenelg vary in age and turf consistency, which in turn, makes the task of presenting our putting surfaces at a premium even more of a challenge. 

The percentages of Poa annua and Couch grass encroachment have gone beyond the levels where sustainable control options are viable without severely compromising the playability of the greens surfaces.  Management is now centred around the suppression of Poa annua and Couch, to give the Bentgrass a competitive advantage, and to provide a somewhat compromised putting surface. Depending on the level of infestation in the greens, the suppression of Poa annua and Couch grass can present a “bumpy” uneven surface which is to the detriment to putting conditions, and leads to inconsistency in presentation that we currently experience.

Couch grass, particularly in summer where its growth rate is at its highest, has over time invaded through the greens collars and into the putting surfaces.  Most greens at Glenelg do not have a defined collar with Couch now the dominant specie.  The collar of the green should act as a buffer against encroachment, however, with the level of infestation, the only control option available is to apply non-selective herbicide and physically dig the Couch roots out.

Existing Irrigation System

Irrigation is a pillar of golf course infrastructure and here at Glenelg, our course is suffering from the effects of an ageing system and obsolete technology. The age of the system ranges between 20 and 50 years old in places.

Due to this age, repairs to the system are a drain on the course maintenance budget. Each year, an average of $43,000 is spent in labour costs and $46,000 in materials and contractor costs. The hydraulic controlled satellite system is obsolete technology and needs to be updated to modern technology to ensure watering efficiencies. The current system leads to over watering and over spray issues which cause problems with weed control and rough management, as well as wasted water and pumping power costs.

Each year we use approximately 200 million litres of water, the equivalent of around 80 Olympic-sized swimming pools. We estimate that we can save approximately thirty percent of our water use with a new system, as well as reduce pumping costs and increase the longevity of our pumps and associated infrastructure.

Once our irrigation system is updated, course maintenance resources can be reallocated to course presentation and turf cultural activities that are planned, rather than carried out on an ad-hoc basis.

Course Design Concept

The new design aims to address the following:

• Retain the unique style of Glenelg and the revetted bunkers with the integration of synthetic revetting and hybrid style fairway bunkers that bleed into the native surrounding areas.
• Reduce maintenance and cost of naturally revetted bunkers
• Reallocate staff hours from maintenance to presentation of turf quality
• Develop a layout to test the scratch golfer and provide options that allow golfers of all abilities to enjoy the challenge of the course
• Maintain the style of the course through tall pines and selected indigenous trees, and in a practical sense, provide separation and a physical barrier on dog-legs
• Discourage players from using alternate playing lines from outside intended playing corridors
• Build on an existing feature which places a premium on accuracy off the tee and provides the opportunity for a selection of shots to and around the greens
• Updated irrigation system for absolute control of water coverage, 30% saving in water usage through minimising irrigated rough, reduction in power usage and reallocation of maintenance resources towards course presentation and turf quality
• Develop fast-rolling fairways and features which distinguish Glenelg from other championship courses.
• Create large tee areas for reduced wear — and less mowing time with larger equipment
• Develop wider access points to fairways, off greens and tee surrounds for reduced wear
• Slopes at tees, fairways & greens to be conducive for maintenance & pedestrian traffic

Course Enhancement Plan Focus Areas

Focus to be given to the following areas:

• Improve safety concerns on various holes
• Where possible, reduce amount of revetted bunkers
• Improve golfer traffic by provide a path surface & routing that will encourage use and be of natural appearance
• Address routing of proposed paths in line of sight from tee.
• Simplify mowing lines, turf species and height of maintained cut turf

<< COURSE HISTORY TIMELINE[COURSE ENHANCEMENT PLAN]   YEAR ONE: HOLE COMMENTARY >>