Following a dramatic upturn in major weather events experienced nationwide in recent years, the Environment Agency sought to protect homes in the Enfield area from residential flooding by constructing a substantial barrier to the eastern edge of Enfield Golf Club. Whilst this was no doubt excellent news for the local residents, those with a golf membership had reason to be concerned, with parts of the golf course - which sits on council-owned land that is long-term-leased to the club - designated to become flood plains as part of the scheme. 

Liaising closely with the Environment Agency, the Council, and of course the Golf Club, Turfdry designed a comprehensive remediation scheme. This saw a high specification Turfdry Drainage System using Hydraway Sportsdrain installed on affected fairways and the 10th green, designed to return the course to play as quickly as possible following high volume storm events. 

The performance of the drainage system over the wet winter of 2014 - and in particular the drainage installed on the 10th green, which was commonly cited as the wettest green on the course prior to the drainage installation - compelled the club to quickly contact Turfdry to design and install its greens drainage system on a further seven greens in 2015. 

The satellite survey of the course initially undertaken for the 2014 works again formed the foundation of the design work, and was supplemented by a number of site visits to ensure total sensitivity to the demands of the club, and the issues present on the course. Despite some classically challenging British weather, the installation was carried out quickly and efficiently, with a subsequent site visit revealing very positive opinions regarding the speed and tidiness of the works - General Manager Paul Beresford-Green noting that "many members have complimented the tidiness of the greens work."

Indeed, the club's continued delight at the efficacy of the Turfdry Drainage System, and the strong working relationship established between the club and both Turfdry's management and installation teams, a further six greens and an additional fairway were drained by Turfdry in Spring 2017.

The Environment Agency’s Salmons Brook residential flood prevention scheme was called into action for the first time in early 2021. As per the scheme’s design, this deluged the 1st, 2nd, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th & 18th holes, leaving them flooded up to 3 feet deep in places.

Within 24 hours of the flood surge, the Turfdry Drainage System using Hydraway Sportsdrain had cleared all of the floodwater from the course – as shown by the photos kindly shared by Head Greenkeeper Dane Watts, taken on the 14th & 15th January.

As the banks of Salmons Brook are higher than the adjacent fairways, the golf club had feared that – despite the impressive performance of the Hydraway in dealing with more regular high-rainfall events – floodwater would be trapped on the fairways for some considerable time after the water level had dropped, not only restricting the course’s playability, but also contributing to compaction and challenges for healthy grass-coverage. However, thanks to Hydraway’s effectiveness even when installed at zero gradient, the laser-graded design for the drainage system ensures rapid de-watering of even challenging topography, and returned the course to a playable state the very next day.