What effect will the lockdown have on golf course conditioning?

Three experts give us their thoughts on course management through the crisis and how playing surfaces are being affected

- Fergus Bisset

This is a very strange time for all of us, but, for golfers, one of the oddest thoughts is of deserted courses, still maintained but totally unused. The R&A and BIGGA have released guidelines for essential maintenance of golf courses in this country and on how clubs should look to restructure working practices to follow government guidance for essential workers.

We spoke to three experts from across the country –Craig Gilholm, course manager at Royal Liverpool GC, Rob Surgey, senior course manager of the Burhill Group and Richard Mullen, course manager at Banchory GC in Aberdeenshire – to ask how lockdown is affecting their course maintenance and conditioning.

Craig Gilholm – course manager at Royal Liverpool

It’s a double-edged sword. We normally run a team of 12 men, and we’ve halved it. But with no golfers, there’s no pressure to keep ahead, allowing us to cut fairways over two or three days, cut the greens twice a week and cut the surrounds once a week.

It’s a breath of fresh air actually, like going back to how I learned my trade at Muirfield in 1990 – cutting fairways once a fortnight! Modern culture means expectations have changed, but it’s nice to revisit those days for this spell.

The last five weeks of weather has been beautiful, with only about six or seven millimetres of rain. Without traffic, it’s certainly the case that the grass is not as stressed as normal.