Added: 31st MARCH 2023
Dave Taylor - Course Manager at The Bristol Golf Club - first approached Turfdry regarding potential course drainage improvements in November 2021. Following a change in the club's ownership, significant investment had already been made into other key areas of operational activities, including new greenkeeping machinery and equipment, so the generation of a new drainage strategy was a crucial 'next step' in the club's continued development.
The golf course sits high above the Severn estuary and boasts spectacular views looking down on the Severn Bridge from its 18th century, Grade II listed clubhouse, which is a highly sought-after venue for weddings and other events. The club's main 18-hole golf course occupies a very generous fifty hectares of an undulating former deer park, with mature woodland and numerous features combining to offer a course both challenging and picturesque.
Like many golf courses in the UK, Bristol Golf Club sits on clay soil that is prone to winter waterlogging, and the club was looking for a solution that will enable the course to be enjoyed year-round by both members and visitors. After talking to various drainage companies, the club appointed Turfdry to undertake a complete topographical survey of the course, and to design detailed drainage systems for those holes most prone to persistent waterlogging. The course survey was undertaken in early 2022, and a decision was taken to drain one hole (the 9th) in the autumn as a trial - as previous attempts at drainage on the course had been largely unsuccessful.
As the 9th hole is almost a mile away from the greenkeeping compound where drainage aggregates were to be tipped by incoming lorries, the aggregates were delivered in advance and transported onwards to a temporary storage area near to the 9th hole, by Dave Taylor's greenkeeping staff, in readiness for the drainage work. Indeed, a cooperative and collaborative spirit beats at the heart of the most successful projects, and this was certainly true throughout Turfdry's time at The Bristol Golf Club - extending to a local contractor employed by the club to excavate a new drainage ditch that Turfdry had designed as part of the drainage solution.
The main drainage works constituted the installation of Hydraway Sportsdrain in minimally disruptive narrow trenches at 4-metre spacing across the 9th fairway, connected to new carrier drains that discharge the drainage water into the club's existing system of open ditches.
Design drawing for Turfdry’s installation of Hydraway drainage system on Bristol Golf Club’s 9th fairway
Following 2022's extended summer drought, the installation of the Turfdry Drainage System on the 9th hole was timed perfectly with a dramatic change in the weather. The Martyn Hicks weather station at Filton (2.5 miles to the south-east of the golf club) recorded the following rainfall:
- October 2022: 90.4mm
- November 2022: 170.8mm
- December 2022: 114.4mm
- To January 9th 2023: 50.4mm
- TOTAL (15 Weeks): 426.0mm (Average annual rainfall since 2005: 839.2mm - just over 50%!)
When contacted by Turfdry's MD Melvyn Taylor on 9th January 2023 to get an update on the 9th fairway's drainage performance since installation, Bristol GC Course Manager Dave Taylor reported that whilst the course was generally soft underfoot and struggling with waterlogging, the 9th fairway was a dramatic contrast. Although torrential rainfall had caused some washout on the drain lines, the fairway remained firm underfoot, and - unlike the rest of the course - completely playable.
The 9th fairway had been specifically selected by the club for the trial installation because of the intensity of the challenge it presented to any successful drainage solution. Twelve months prior, Dave had inspected the 9th with the club's new owner, and they could barely walk up it because it was so wet. Now - following the installation of the Turfdry Drainage System - they have found the fairway transformed, triggering numerous compliments from the membership.
"I'm really amazed," said Dave, "It's like Witchcraft!"
Whilst the results seem magical, the truth is that science and technology drive the dramatic performance of the Turfdry Drainage System, and deliver the substantial improvements over traditional plastic pipe drainage solutions.
Hydraway takes in water three-times faster than 80mm plastic pipe, yet can be installed in much narrower trenches, inducing minimal disturbance on the course. Its high-performance, non-woven, 140 micron needle-punched geotextile has long-term (≈ 30 year) proven clog-resistance, and the drain can function effectively even at zero gradient (which is impossible for conventional perforated plastic pipe).
Science-fiction luminary Arthur C Clarke once noted that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." By combining the advanced technology of Hydraway Sportsdrain with decades of drainage design experience, and a highly practical approach to collaborative project management, Turfdry can deliver transformative results for golf clubs - so there might not be any "witchcraft", but we like to think there's a little bit of magic!
Turfdry is the sole UK importer of Hydraway, and has been its sole UK approved installer for the past 28 years, having developed the mechanised installation technique that has since been adopted by its American manufacturer. The firm has hundreds of satisfied clients nationwide, including more than 80 golf clubs. Get in touch today, or read more about Turfdry’s other golf course drainage projects, and the Turfdry Drainage System.
