Technical Notes
Practical notes on drainage, machinery, and the problems clubs deal with, drawn from drainage design experience and years as a committee member, convenor, and treasurer.
Originally published on LinkedIn, collected here for reference.
Lessons from a Very Wet Winter
Part 1 of 5: practical steps golf clubs can take in the months after a wet winter to improve playability and plan drainage work for next season.
Investigating Golf Course Drainage Systems
Part 2 of 5: how to understand an existing drainage system, locating drains, checking outfalls, trial pits, compaction, and surface water movement, before installing more.
Managing Traffic and Compaction in Wet Conditions
Part 3 of 5: much of the damage seen on golf courses during wet winters is caused by traffic on saturated ground, not a lack of drainage - practical ways to manage it.
Robotic Mowing and Winter Playability
Why golf clubs should take robotic mowing seriously, lighter machines mean less damage on saturated ground, denser turf, and a longer effective cutting season.
After a Wet Winter - What Should Golf Clubs Do Now?
Practical steps to improve summer conditions and prepare for next winter: short grass, wide paths, recording damage, and planning ahead while there's time to act.
Why Golf Course Drainage Stops Working
Drainage systems require periodic maintenance to keep functioning - how gravel drains seal over, how to refresh them, and where gravel banding, verti-draining and shockwave aeration fit in.
Planning Now for a Better Winter
The best winter surfaces are created months earlier - a round-up of low-cost checks and interventions worth doing in late summer and early autumn, while ground conditions are firm.
The Biggest Change in Golf Course Maintenance for 50 Years?
Why commercial robotic mowers have reached the point where every golf club should evaluate them, not mainly for labour savings, but for more mowing days and more golf.
The Business Case for Robotic Mowing
A practical framework for assessing robotic fairway mowing - the measurable annual cash costs alongside harder-to-quantify benefits like winter playability, reduced compaction, and released greenkeeper capacity.
Can the Sustainable Golf Course Keep Costs Down?
Why investing in sustainability beats cost cutting - from keeping proper course records to robotic mowing, drainage, and drought resilience, sustainable practice is what keeps a club affordable, not what makes it feel worthy.
Trees and Parkland Golf
The right trees in the right place make a great parkland course - but poorly planned planting quietly drains a club's maintenance budget. A practical look at spacing, species choice, and managing an existing stock of trees.