‘Augusta of the North’ Vandalised

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‘Augusta of the North’ Vandalised: Boy racers have taken to a golf course in Angus and caused significant damage.

Letham Grange Golf Club was previously kept open against all odds and honorary secretary Bruce Currie said the damage to several fairways was a “real kick in the teeth”.

Opened in 1987 by Sir Henry Cotton, Golf Monthly once bracketed Letham Grange in Angus alongside Augusta National, the home of the US Masters.

Mr Currie said: “The louts who carried out this most recent attack, whoever they are, clearly have no care for the time, money and commitment that our members have invested in maintaining this facility for the benefit of the local community and golf in Scotland, and should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.”

Throughout the long-running legal wrangle over the ownership of the once-thriving hotel at the centre of the estate, the Letham Grange Golf Club, which makes use of the disputed facilities, has battled on.

The 19th century mansion house was at the centre of a title dispute that went through all levels of the Scottish courts system to the House of Lords over the past 15 years.

Members turned up at the course to play at the weekend and were disgusted to discover the fairways of several holes had been vandalised.

Holes on both the championship-standard Old Course and the Glens Course had been damaged by a vehicle or vehicles being driven recklessly across them, churning up the turf and leaving deep scars.

“This mindless vandalism is deeply frustrating,” said Mr Currie.

“The club’s members and greenkeepers have worked tirelessly in challenging circumstances, successfully, to keep the two courses open since the hotel closed its doors in January 2011.

“Just in the past few days, members and greenkeepers combined in a huge effort to tackle the after effects of Storm Ali, clearing masses of fallen branches from the heavily tree-lined courses.

“Both were open for play within 24 hours of the storm passing.

“To have this man-made damage inflicted immediately afterwards is a real kick in the teeth.

“This is not the first time we have been targeted.

“Earlier this year there was a break-in and robbery at the clubhouse for which one of the perpetrators was recently sentenced to a jail term and we have previously experienced theft of equipment on several occasions.”

A 15-year legal wrangling over the resort’s ownership finally reached its conclusion earlier this year.

A settlement was reached between the liquidator of Letham Grange Development Company (LGDC) and Peter Liu who was the owner of LGDC from 1994-2002.

Since April 2011, the golf club has maintained and operated the courses under a Licence to Occupy.

The Licence to Occupy runs until February 28 next year.

The Old Course is a 6,632 yard par 73 championship layout that features memorable water hazards on the eighth and 10th holes.

The Glens Course opened in 1992 and is a challenging, 5,528 yards, par 68 course.

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Anger After Mower Theft

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Anger After Mower Theft: Steve Kenny, chairman of Whalley Junior Football Club, is angry after thieves broke the lock of a container and stole a Craftsman mower worth £2k on September 18.

The club have two large pitches, and three smaller-sided pitches to cater for matches for their age-groups from

Mr Kenny said: “It is gutting and frustrating as we put a lot of effort into fundraising events a few years ago.

“We have to mow our fields as part of the agreement with the parish council to use the facility.

“Our groundsman Dave Leeming rang me to tell me about it and you could tell how gutted he was in his voice when he told us.

“We have a lot of volunteers and we are doing it for the community and then you get people doing this.

“It is a huge area to cut and we have paid to get a new yellow deck on the side of it to cut the grass which makes it distinctive.

“We have been asking people locally if they have any CCTV of vehicles in the area to see if we can identify who stole it.

“It is a real shame because it is for the community as other organisations and families use the pitches too. If we don’t maintain it, then it will be overgrown.”

Steve has been amazed by the response of the community since the news broke.

He said: “One of our neighbours has contacted us to say that we can borrow their sit-on mower if we needed it.

“We have also set up a Crowdfunding page to try to raise money for a new one.

“So far we have managed to get £920 and we have been taken aback by the support in such a short space of time.

“We are hoping to get our target of £2k to get another mower.”

Groundsman Dave Leeming said: “I turned up and the container was open.

“I rang up to see if anyone had left it like that and then I saw the mower was missing.

“It was heartbreaking when I saw the lock has been forced open.

“I have been going down two or three times a week and put a lot of time into getting the pitches looking good and you just cannot do your job.”

Sgt Stuart Banks, from the Neighbourhood team in Ribble Valley, said: “This crime is going to have a massive effect on a football club and they are suffering a significant loss to mow their pitches.

“We are appealing for anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area to report it to us.

“Another vehicle would have been needed to take it away from there so we need the public to help by calling 101 and using the crime reference number of 20180918-0781.”

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Gillingham To Replace Pitch

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Gillingham To Replace Pitch: Gillingham have taken the decision to replace their current playing surface with a hybrid pitch, leading to the rescheduling of two home fixtures.

The surface of the Priestfield pitch has been problematic for some time and the club have now decided to act.

Their home game against Peterborough United is the last on the current surface before renovation work begins, this Monday.

Chairman Paul Scally confirmed the work is to be undertaken and that negotiations are underway about moving the home league match against Blackpool and finding a new venue for their Checkatrade Trophy game against Tottenham’s under-21s.

Mr Scally said: “Work is scheduled to begin on Monday.

“As a result of the work, which will take little over a fortnight, our home match against Blackpool will have to be rearranged, while our match against Totteham in the Checkatrade Trophy will have to be played at another venue.”

Manager Steve Lovell was delighted with the news.

He said: “It’s fantastic news for us as coaching staff and our players that we will have a brilliant pitch to play on in the next couple of weeks. The type of football I like to play will be one that we will hopefully be able to produce at home, as well as away.”

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Pompey’s Fox In The Box

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Pompey’s Fox In The Box: It appears Portsmouth may have unearthed a new fox in the box, but it’s not a new striker that has arrived at Fratton Park.

Not that they need much help in that department as things stand anyway!

Nor is it the breakthrough of one of their academy youngsters, who’ll set the world alight with his youthful exuberance and a disregard for reputations, leaving even the most experienced of defenders running scared.

Unfortunately, it’s the discovery of a danger of a different kind that will have the club’s groundsman feeling nervous. Fratton Park has always had problems with foxes.

And it appears the latest batch of unwanted residents at PO4 have taken their residency to a new level.

As Pompey prepare to play host to Wycombe on Saturday, the ground staff at Fratton Park arrived at work on Thursday to discover some interesting chunks had been taken out of the playing surface.

That will leave the groundsman ‘holed up’ all day in a race against time to repair the damage ahead of the visit of the Chairboys.

And he’ll have to come up with a cunning plan so that he’s not outfoxed in the future!

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GTC Release New Training Materials

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GTC Release New Training Materials: The Greenkeepers Training Committee (GTC) has released a revised set of best practice learning materials for all levels of student greenkeepers.

Although originally inspired as the underpinning knowledge for the Level 2 qualification, the GTC Board of Directors and the Employer Group championed the revision of the copyright Learning Materials.

These will be made available not only to learners undertaking the Level 2 Greenkeeping qualification, but will also be available to all golf clubs to be used as best practice.

Prepared by industry specialists and based upon best principles and practices for golf course maintenance and management, the copyright materials are divided into eight chapters, ranging from health and safety, golf course preparation and maintenance to preparing a tractor with attachments.

The 327-page publication is available to purchase in digital format to anyone through the GTC’s shop for £150. For more information, see www.the-gtc.co.uk/shop/

All GTC Quality Approved Centres will receive a copy of the of Learning Materials, for use with all sports turf students on the various greenkeeping courses.

The GTC is supported by England Golf, Scottish Golf, Wales Golf, The PGA and BIGGA.

GTC Manager Fiona Lyttle said: “Each of the original chapters has been meticulously reviewed and updated by specialists from within the sports turf industry. Following consultations with our Employer Group, it was suggested we incorporate some additional aspects of what a fully-qualified golf greenkeeper should know. With this in mind, we have included more detail on soil science, as well as basic drainage and irrigation. Changes in technology, equipment and machinery have also necessitated an extensive update. The GTC has ensured the materials are suitable for everyone from apprentices to golf course managers with all subjects comprehensively covered.”

For further information on the GTC’s Learning Materials, contact GTC Administrator Emma Willis on 01347 838640 and emma@the-gtc.co.uk

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