The incredible eco story that is Loch Lomond Golf Club

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir January 15, 2012 19:11

Loch Lomond Golf Club in Scotland may be one of the most exclusive golf facilities in Britain, but it is also one of the most eco-friendly havens on this planet. Thanks to the golf club, both the location that hosts the course and even the surrounding area are ecologically rich due to the extraordinary efforts of the course management team.

Last year the club won the ‘Overall Achievement Award’ at the STRI’s Golf Environment Awards. The club achieved exemplary results in the key performance areas of nature conservation, waste management, water management and turfgrass management.

David Cole, the golf course and estate manager at Loch Lomond, commented at the time: “The team at Loch Lomond Golf Club is thrilled. It’s great to be recognised for our efforts in achieving best practice in the environment. The club aspires to be at the forefront of environment management and this award is testament to the sheer commitment and passion shown by the entire team towards achieving this goal.”

We caught up with David to find out more about the environmental work his club does, and how this fits into his course management strategy.

What does Loch Lomond Golf Club, which sits within the beautiful surrounds of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, do in terms of ecological management? 

David Cole: The club sits within historic land as the estate is the seat of the Colquhoun clan. It includes the ancient family home, Rossdhu House and over a dozen listed monuments and buildings.

The status of Loch Lomond’s landscape and its visual qualities are undisputed – the environment around the loch is regarded as a valuable national asset. The qualities of the terrain, together with the variety in natural history to be found around the loch, has resulted in the area being subject to a number of international and regional environmental designations. The status of the area relies on sustaining and furthering the visual and ecological qualities of its particular landscape. We work closely with all the authorities and incorporate the vision and aims of the National Park to protect, preserve, enhance and maximise biodiversity.

There is history and a legacy of management on the estate dating back over 600 years. Prior to the course construction in the late 1980s, the estate was in major decline. Since the planning process for the course construction began, extensive consultation has taken place between the golf course architects, arboriculturalists, landscape consultants and outside bodies such as Scottish Natural Heritage. This has intensified since Loch Lomond gained National Park status in the 1990s.

Several surveys have been undertaken, and remain ongoing, and the information identified, including priorities, has been captured and extracted to form a five-year management plan. This plan has evolved and acts as a working document, identifying, reviewing and recording all work to ensure the legacy continues to grow.

The golf club and estate is abundant with wildlife and habitats. We have always been, and continue to be, committed to preserving and enhancing these and are proud to be situated in Scotland’s first National Park. We work closely with Scottish Natural Heritage and the National Park authorities to manage the estate effectively.

The club works to develop habitats of optimum biodiversity and aesthetics, and incorporates the aims and objectives of the National Park management.

The inventory of our site residents includes botanical, birds, mammals, invertebrates, amphibians, fungi, owls and many more.

The estimated areas of habitats at Loch Lomond Golf Club are as follows:

• Rough ‘ecological’ grassland: 200 ha

• Scrub and shrub vegetation: 50 ha

• Native woodland: 20 ha

• Wetlands: 5 ha

• Open water features: 3 ha

• Heather and other dwarf shrub communities: 20 ha.

Loch Lomond Golf Club has undertaken the following activities to protect and enhance wildlife:

• Left deadwood in non-playing areas

• Stacked logs in non-playing areas

• Monitored bird feeding

• Implemented water conservation

• Engaged and educated staff and golfers about wildlife conservation

• Worked closely with the Scottish Forestry Commission to increase the habitat for barn owls and bats with boxes installed for both. This had been successful with barn owl breeding pairs hatching their own chicks

• Worked with STRI on a bee study

• Installed over 100 bat boxes to increase numbers which help to reduce the midge population

• Continued to increase naturalised areas, where possible, to reduce both fertiliser / pesticide applications and fuel / labour consumption. These areas are transitioned to indigenous fine, wispy grasses and wild flowers, for example bluebells

• Encouraged heather and gorse populations by new planting and management

• Introduced beekeeping through a project driven by a staff member

• Worked with the Scottish Wildlife Trust – our current scheme is to reintroduce red squirrels.

Can you outline your turfgrass programmes with regards to environmental protection? 

David Cole: Drainage and sound cultural practices are essential in this unique climatic location, as it improves playability and the long-term cost-effective management of the golf course. Also, the ability to remove the excess water quickly ensures good turfgrass health, prevents prolonged course closure and reduces chemical usage. This creates a conducive growing environment allowing desirable sustainable grasses to survive and adapt, while fertiliser and pesticide inputs are reduced because waterlogged conditions are resolved and pesticide efficacy is more responsive with greater accuracy, and improved drainage performance reduces the possibility of water surface run-off reaching waterways. Pesticides are degraded in good healthy diluted thatch and soil, reducing pesticide leaching.

Our practices include:

• Daily scouting for pests and diseases

• Soil and tissue analysis to monitor plant nutrition

• Spraying undertaken only in favourable weather conditions

• Frequent water testing to ensure there is no chemical leaching into waterways

• Organic matter measuring and management

• Over-seeding with sustainable grasses

• Reducing stress – adjusting height of cut

• Ensuring mower reels are sharp, daily

• Trials to define more precise pest tolerance thresholds

• Good in-house training to ensure that staff identify pests early

• Traffic management measures – pin placements moved daily.

What are the annual rainfall figures for the area and how is water resourcing and management dealt with at Loch Lomond?

David Cole: In 2011, over 2,600mm (100 inches) fell over 240 days, making it the highest annual rainfall recorded in Loch Lomond Golf Club’s history. The annual mean for this area is 2,000mm.

Drainage is paramount and irrigating the golf course, as you might imagine, is infrequent. However, we still employ best environmental water practices and have minimised our irrigation requirements by:

• Installing adjustable arc sprinklers to all greens, tees and approaches to reduce water wastage and increase efficiency of operation;

• Removing unnecessary sprinklers in the rough;

• Increasing naturalised areas, which require no irrigation, to four acres in total;

• Introducing more desirable finer grasses into the sward, reducing irrigation requirements;

• Maintaining healthy plants and roots as uptake of water is more efficient, thus reducing run-off and ensuring accuracy of targeted areas;

• Performing sound, sensible proactive cultural practices to maintain good turf health and efficacy of water penetration;

• Installing water meters to particular zones to monitor closely any leaks and water usage;

• Carrying out hand watering more frequently than wide-scale irrigation and applying to targeted areas to reduce water wastage and unnecessary irrigation to turf;

• Monitoring good soil moisture to measure and determine irrigation requirements;

• Irrigating at correct times, primarily when temperatures are cooler;

• Utilising wetting agents to reduce stress, improve water infiltration and reduce water requirements;

• Training and mentoring staff to identify the first signs of drought stress and hand watering techniques / good water conservation methodologies.

We use 150,000 cubic metres of water annually, the majority of which is for pond and waterway recycle management with only circa 15 per cent used for irrigating turf.

• We carry out biannual water quality testing to all of our waterways to monitor the quality of water as it enters and exits the property;

• We have a mechanical waste-to-water recycle wash bay and all contaminated water from vehicle washing is filtered, cleaned and re-used;

• We have increased and managed vegetative buffer zones to all our water courses;

• We follow Local Environment Risk Assessment for Pesticides regulations for all spraying activities;

• We are pursuing an erosion control grant from the National Park authorities to protect the loch shore from high water levels.

You have a good number of trees throughout the course. What species are they and what tree management programme do you run?

David Cole: We have over 50 varieties of trees and shrubs within the estate, ageing from one to 600 years, mainly oak, beech, Scots pine, larch, ash, lime and yew.

Programmes include:

• Removal of dense sections of undesirable and invasive plants, for example rhododendron ponticum, dense sections of bracken and rosebay willow herb. The aim is to eradicate invasive species on the woodland floor to promote young indigenous trees, shrubs and wild flowers. Rhododendron ponticum is also a carrier for the disease sudden oak death (phytophthora).

• Tree surgery work.

• Removal of commercial spruce woodland and replanting with indigenous broad leaf species.

• Planting indigenous broad leaf species to ensure a mix of species and ages.

• Ongoing tree survey of all species on site to adhere to owners’ liability legislation and to monitor tree health – all trees are labelled and numbered and any work carried out on a particular tree is recorded.

• Collections of acorns on woodland floor which are planted in the glasshouse to form a future tree nursery.

• Protection of natural self-seeding trees.

What does Loch Lomond do with regards to general waste management and energy resource optimisation?

David Cole: Staff continually strive to minimise the amount of waste produced and purchased. All departments work toward eliminating waste, where possible, and reducing the amount produced on site. We work closely with a local waste management company (the CEO is a member of the club), and all waste that can be reused / recycled is separated and collected by this company, including food which is composted.

A waste energy committee, set up in 2007, initially consisted of a few staff from the golf course management department but today all senior management and heads of department act as waste marshalls and attend monthly meetings to ensure best practice is followed throughout the club. Each department head is responsible for waste and energy management / training within their area and they ensure that staff eliminate, reduce, reuse or recycle waste correctly, save on energy by switching off unnecessary lighting / heating and advise on best practice for waste recycling and energy efficiency.

New employees receive a formal induction at the start of their employment with the club and part of the induction includes a presentation from the golf course superintendent and club maintenance manager on environmental issues and waste and energy management.

Loch Lomond is also responsible for the preservation management of the historic buildings on the site. What are these and what does the management involve?

David Cole: Our listed buildings and ancient monuments are legally protected under the Ancient Monuments & Archaeological Areas Act (1979). Historic Scotland send a monument warden to inspect the site every few years and any work to be carried out on a scheduled ancient monument must be done in accordance with Historic Scotland.

Club maintenance staff carry out routine maintenance to buildings and, together with greens’ staff, report any concerns or problems to the authorities All renovated and new-build accommodation has been developed in accordance with Historic Scotland’s requirements using authentic materials.

The Golf Environment Awards run by the STRI give significant emphasis to communication and in particular to highlighting the positive side of golf to members and visitors to the general public, to media and to the local community. What communication initiatives do you employ at Loch Lomond? 

The club is active in educating staff, golfers and the general public on environmental issues related to golf courses.

This is achieved in various ways, that is new employees receive a formal induction at the start of their employment and this includes a presentation from the golf course superintendent / estates manager on all environmental issues, including wildlife and nature conservation.

Specific employees (greens’ staff / gardeners) receive more formal and informal training as their roles are more in touch with the natural surroundings.

The club’s intranet is an effective means of constant communication. This has our members’ website which is updated frequently and highlights environmental / ecology work on the golf course and estate.

The club has continued its momentum to actively communicate to staff, golfers, guests, the local community and the golfing world the environmental issues related to the golf course.

Environmental and ecology management has become a regular and important part of golf course maintenance. This message is vital for all sections of our business to appreciate and enjoy.

Initiatives include:

• Updates on our members’ website highlighting work, including environmental / ecology issues, on the golf course and estate

• PowerPoint presentations on the club’s environmental management at many venues in both the UK and abroad

• Our success in the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America as international winners of the Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards awards in 2010, demonstrated our environmental achievements to the global golf community

• Articles in the golf trade press such as ‘How green is your course?’, an article on Loch Lomond Golf Club, was published in Greenkeeping and Golf Club Management in 2010

• Local newspaper articles highlighting Loch Lomond Golf Club’s environmental commitments

• During the Barclays Scottish Open, a three-year environmental plan was formed, promoting wider environmental awareness to the golfing fraternity. The final year of the plan saw the club and organisers reducing the amount of waste produced and consumed for the event and by working closely with contractors and suppliers encouraging them to adhere to new environmental rules and regulations for the event

• Through an environmental section within the Barclays Scottish Open website, coverage by local radio newspapers and transport groups, we communicated to the public how to reduce the carbon footprint through car sharing, turning off idling engines and utilising public transport to attend the event. This information was also included on tee draw sheets, signage and in the Barclays Scottish Open’s official programme.

The STRI is keen to bring ever increasing numbers of golf clubs into the Golf Environment Awards programme. What would be your advice to any club considering entering but perhaps feeling they may not be doing enough? 

David Cole: I would advise to review (and perhaps complete) the application as this may show that you are already adopting best practice, consciously or unconsciously, and the process will help identify areas of improvement and awareness. We can only speak from experience.

How do you feel the golf environment awards will benefit Loch Lomond going forward through 2012?

David Cole: Recognition for our efforts in achieving best practice in the environment has made all staff and members at Loch Lomond Golf Club very proud. It has been invaluable in educating, informing and motivating staff and helps support current practices and the need for continuous review to improve further.

It helps to increase positive and reduce negative perceptions related to golf course management within golfing communities locally, nationally and globally.

How and from where do you select grass cultivars for the course and what do you use for the greens, tees, fairways and rough?

David Cole: The selection and preservation of fine sustainable grasses is vital. The overall management aim is to manage the turf to the highest quality, based on sensible agronomic techniques with the greatest emphasis placed on integrated pest management. Drainage and sound cultural practices are essential in this unique climatic location to ensure this approach is achievable and the finer grasses can survive and adapt.

The club has invested heavily in drainage over the years to ensure improved playability and long-term cost effective management of the golf course.

The club maintains the following turfgrass species: greens – annual meadow-grass (poa annua), approximately 60 per cent, browntop bent (agrostis tenuis), approximately 40 per cent; surrounds and approaches – browntop bent / fescue, approximately 90 per cent, annual meadow-grass, approximately 10 per cent; tees – browntop bent, approximately 90 per cent, perennial ryegrass (lolium perenne), approximately five per cent, annual meadow-grass, approximately five per cent; fairways – browntop bent, approximately 80 per cent, fescue (festuca rubra), approximately 15 per cent, annual meadow-grass, approximately five per cent; semi-rough – perennial ryegrass (lolium perenne), approximately 60 per cent, fescue, approximately 30 per cent and annual meadow-grass, approximately 10 per cent.

What does your current team number, who are they and do they, have specific job functions, or do they cross fertilise on tasks?

David Cole: Our team numbers fluctuate with the seasons. On a full-time basis we have 15 full-time staff within the golf course and estate department. This includes an administrator / manager, an equipment manager and mechanic, arborists, gardeners and greenkeepers. During the season we recruit additional seasonal staff.

The team consists of a wide range of age, skills, experience and locations. The full-time team varies in age from 18 to 60, some with greenkeeping, arboriculture, ecology, horticulture education and some with no specific greenkeeping education but plenty of experience and skills in other areas.

Certain job functions are specific, for example mechanics, arboriculture, gardening and administration, but generally most of the team can cover almost all areas of the operation. The majority of seasonal staff, recruited during the main growing season, are turf-grass students who want to be exposed to as many areas of the operation as possible. An intensive training schedule is included as part of their work programme to fulfil their career aspirations and to fit into the operation.

What height of cut do you use across the course?  

David Cole: Greens, 3-4mm in summer and 5-6mm in winter; tees, 10-12mm in summer and 14mm in winter; fairways, 12mm in summer and 14mm in winter; and rough, 40 to 75mm in summer and winter.

How many bunkers do you have over the course, how have they been designed and what maintenance programme do you have for them? 

David Cole: We have 77 bunkers over the golf course and practice areas, all of which fit beautifully into the landscape. However, the design of the high flash faces, combined with excessive rainfall, results in frequent sand slip and contamination. As this creates intensive labour requirements after wet weather to push sand back up and remove any contamination, we are trialling new bunker base erosion materials to help eliminate this.

Routine maintenance includes weekly fly-mowing banks, trimming edges, stone and debris removal and, obviously, raking.

On resource usage, bunker maintenance ranks second behind greens’ management.

What do you see as the hot topics of the moment in greenkeeping? Do you see any specific trends developing, if so what and where do you think they might lead?

David Cole: The unpredictability and extremes of the weather in recent years has resulted in many challenges for greenkeepers. We seem to be ‘breaking records’ every month – the coldest, the warmest, the driest and the wettest. However, most hot topics at present are dominated by global economic problems and how this has affected golf. Discussions are about the balance of maintaining standards and keeping customers in this current financial climate. It is easy for golfers to shop around for a ‘good deal’ which means cutting back on running costs is inevitable.

If the golf course is the main asset at your facility, then ensure that the fundamentals are not compromised. A new tee / bunker or planting trees can be deferred, but postponing routine cultural practices or essential renovations to improve playing conditions will result only in slow deterioration of turf health.

Good conditioning drives business and we, as greenkeepers, need to work harder to communicate and convince golfers, committees and owners that to produce good, consistent playing conditions requires a lot more than just mowing the grass. Remember, the grass never takes a day off.

What changes do you think need to be made to benefit the industry and profession of the greenkeeper?

David Cole: We have to continue effective communication with our colleagues, committees, owners and our members to develop a better understanding of the complexities not just of turf management in a volatile climate, but also the grounds and ecology management necessary within our properties. We all want to achieve the same results and opening up discussions in any type of format, from an AGM, PowerPoint presentation, Q&A sessions, committee or board meeting to course tours will create opportunities to demonstrate that areas of poor playing conditions are a result of many factors, that is local climate, poor growing mediums, inadequate drainage, lack of irrigation, infrastructure and excessive traffic and shade.

There has been some good progress in recent years with education to improve the profession and the prospects of the greenkeeper. This development will continue and, as course managers, we need to mentor, encourage and expose our employees to all sides of golf course management, to develop their skill levels and knowledge base in the ever-changing management of turfgrass science as they are today’s up and coming course managers.

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir January 15, 2012 19:11
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