Golf Club Vandalised

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Golf Club Vandalised: A North-East golf club has hit out at individuals who stole two buggies and caused thousands of pounds of damage.

Vandals struck at Insch Golf Club leaving tyre marks on a green, pulling up posts and driving over signs.

Club manager Jayne Farquhar said she and her staff were “really upset” after the incident on Tuesday.

She said: “It’s disheartening because everyone works so hard to keep the greens looking good, and this comes at a time when golf clubs are struggling.

“It would be horrible if this turns out to have been someone local.

“This is a members-only club and they pay a lot to play here so for someone to have done this shows total disregard and disrespect for the work put in.”

It is thought that the damage to the green alone could be between £2,000 and £3,000 – and that doesn’t include the cost of repairing the golf buggies.

One of the buggies was recovered more than a mile away on Western Road in Insch at around 8.40pm on Tuesday with the second recovered a short time later.

Vice captain of the club Colin Campbell was hopeful that repairs could be made to the green.

He said: “We are all disappointed.

“This has happened before but never as bad as this – this is substantial damage.

“Our head groundsman is confident that he can re-cover the green, but because the grass isn’t growing now the scars will be visible for a while.

“The mechanic will be looking at the buggies because the windscreens were smashed and there may be also be damage to the underside as the vandals drove over signs.”

Investigating officer Pc Mark Hammond said: “The buggies had been parked at Insch Golf Club at 3.30pm that day but a member of the public called in about the buggy at Western Road in the evening.

“Anyone who either saw any of the buggies being moved later in the afternoon or in the evening or who knows anything about this incident is asked to contact police.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting reference 3594 of 30 January.

“Information can also be provided anonymously via the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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IOG Pilots New Framework

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IOG Pilots New Framework: The leading membership organisation for people involved in the management and maintenance of sports pitches, landscape and amenity facilities in the UK, The IOG, is piloting a new framework to the ‘measurement’ of the standard of football pitches at grassroots level.

The new Pitch Grading Framework will not only highlight the level of an individual playing surface quality but also the appropriate training and education, and the recommended levels of qualifications needed by those who maintain it.

IOG Pilots New Framework

In terms of calculating the standard of a pitch, each level of the Framework has certain parameters and, after measurement, the overall result/level of a pitch will be calculated. It is a system that has been used successfully within cricket by the IOG and the England and Wales Cricket Board for over ten years.

The recommended appropriate training and education will match each level of the Framework. For instance, for pitch maintenance at the Basic level (volunteer), an IOG Level 1 course (or equivalent) would be the minimum training recommended. Training/education would increase through the levels with IOG Level 5 (or equivalent) being recommended for individuals maintaining pitches at the Elite level. At all levels, the experience of those in situ will be taken into account and catered for individually.

Working closely with the Football Foundation and Football Association Pitch Improvement Programme, regional pitch advisers from the IOG-led Grounds and Natural Turf Improvement Programme (GaNTIP) are now piloting the Framework to identify any potential improvements before the scheme’s full implementation in November, when it is envisaged that each grass sport will have its own specific pyramid.

A range of highly-experienced people have been consulted leading up to the pilot, including Sport England’s Framework Agronomists as well as leading professionals, volunteers and organisations attached to the groundscare industry.

Commenting on the development, GaNTIP director Jason Booth, said: “This really is an exciting time for the future of groundsmanship and to be part of it at the beginning is great for GaNTIP and the programme’s team.

“The system is not designed to identify what is missing; it is to identify where support and development is required, and the initial feedback from the National Governing Bodies of Sport which have viewed the concept has been nothing but positive.”

Geoff Webb, IOG chief executive, added: “The roll out of this revised framework for natural turf will bring much needed clarity to what constitutes a surface that’s fit for play, and it will lead to advanced knowledge and understanding of what input and experience is required to improve the quality of a playing surface and the enjoyment of sports in general.”

For more information, visit: www.iog.org

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Locust World Cup Fears

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Locust World Cup Fears: A plague of locusts could “disgrace” Russia by destroying World Cup pitches, claims The Russian government.

Locusts often feast on crops in southern Russia and Pyotr Chekmaryov, who oversees plant protection at the agriculture ministry, says they could descend on stadiums, too.

In comments reported by state news agencies, Chekmaryov says ‘we’ve more or less learned how to deal with locusts, but this year I’m afraid we could end up in an international locust scandal.’

He adds that ‘locusts like places where there is a lot of green,’ and says that it is important ‘not to disgrace ourselves in front of global society, especially where we will have guests from all over the world.’

Chekmaryov pointed out the Volgograd region, situated more than 600 miles south of the capital Moscow, as a particular concern.

This summer’s finals will run between June 14 and July 15, with matches being played in 12 stadiums across 11 host cities.

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Groundsman Award Nominations

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Groundsman Award Nominations: Cambridgeshire FA are looking for nominations for this season’s Groundsman of the Year award.

Member clubs at Step 7 and below are invited to nominate their grounds people who give up hours of their time to provide the best pitches possible, often using very few resources. This competition is a great way for these volunteers to get recognition for their time and efforts on a local and national level whilst also having the opportunity to meet and talk with the professional groundsmen who conduct the judging.

The first ranked Cambridgeshire club groundsman will go forward to the national judging stage and undergo independent adjudication.

To nominate your groundsman please compete and return the form (click here to download) to Joanne Bull, Facilities and Participation Manager, by email: joanne.bull@cambridgeshirefa.com

Postal nominations:

Cambridgeshire FA
Bridge Road
Impington
Cambridgeshire
CB24 9PH

The closing date for nominations is Thursday 22nd February 2018.

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Golf Course ‘Abandoned’

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Golf Course ‘Abandoned’: It is the harsh and unpredictable conditions on the seaside that have traditionally made links golf such an enticing endeavour.

But for England’s oldest course, at least, they are proving too much of a challenge.

The Royal North Devon Golf Club has accused the Government of “abandoning us to the ocean” after Storm Eleanor prompted the collapse of part of its eighth tee and high tides expected next week threaten the demise of the seventh.

Designed by the famous Victorian golfer “Old” Tom Morris, the course at the mouth of the Taw-Torridge Estuary is renowned as the “St Andrews of the South” and one of the UK’s toughest.

The historic lay-out now faces permanent disfigurement, however, due to the brutal coastal erosion.

More than 50 yards of the championship course has been lost as a result of the “preventable” collapse, with boulders strewn across one of the fairways.

The disruption places in jeopardy two major upcoming amateur competitions.

Yet Natural England, the body responsible for the stretch of coast near Westward Ho!, appears content to let the sea reclaim the land, according to the club.

The agency last night insisted no suggestions were ruled out, but a statement explaining that “the dunes and shingle ridge are naturally dynamic coastal features and subject to constant change” have been seized on by local golfers as evidence civil servants are determined to let “mother nature take its course”.

Mark Evans, the club’s general manager, said: “By allowing this collapse we are tampering with history.

“There’s no plan at the moment – it’s a disgrace.”

Founded in 1864, the club quickly gained national status thanks to the patronage of the then Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, who bestowed the royal title two years later.

Believed to be substantively unchanged since the original Tom Morris design, the course is the oldest in continuous use in England.

While other land is available which would allow the club to reconfigure the course away from the coastal collapse, this would make the golf “not anything like as interesting”, according to Mr Evans.

Natural England said it would permit the club to build two new greens, providing it relinquished the two existing ones threatened by erosion.

The collapse and subsequent flooding have also provoked fears over the security of a nearby landfill site containing hospital waste and other toxic material such as asbestos.

The club says wrangling between the local Torridge District Council and Devon County Council has so far held back action to address the problem, although last night Torridge said the two authorities were “working well”.

It is understood that to adequately protect the golf course, and by extension the landfill site, from the sea erosion would require a costly project of installing “rock amour” along the coast.

“They’ve got to look at the bigger picture,” said Mr Evans

“Yes they might be saving England’s oldest golf course but they’re saving an environmental disaster that’s just waiting to happen.”

He said both Natural England and local council officers were “burying their heads in the sand”.

However, a meeting has been scheduled for January 29 to discuss the landfill site.

“Natural England is working with Devon County Council, Torridge District Council , the Environment Agency and the golf club to consider options and agree the longer term management of coastal change at Northam Burrows,” a spokesman for the agency told The Daily Telegraph.

“The dunes and shingle ridge are naturally dynamic coastal features and subject to constant change, a characteristic that makes this stretch of coast so special for wildlife and its wonderful wild landscape.

“As a Site of Special Scientific Interest any works would need the consent of Natural England and having an agreed longer term approach to coastal management in place will enable the golf club to plan for the future.”

Jane Whittaker, leader of Torridge District Council, said: “Following recent storms and their impact we have already had initial meetings to discuss both the old Devon County Landfill site and how the Golf Club can be supported into the future.”

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