The Enville Golf Club Ltd
Golf Course Management
Environment Management Plan
2008 – 2017
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Description and Background
to the site
3. Objectives
4. Current Conditions
a. Heathland
b. Woodland
c. Wildlife
5. Rationale for Management of
Work undertaken
6. Identification of
operational objectives, selection of management options and outline
prescriptions
1. Introduction
More and more Golf Clubs throughout the country are now
realising the importance of maintaining the roughs or “through the green”
areas. These form an important part of any golf course but are often neglected
with a loss of valuable wildlife habitat and species diversity. The “through
the greens” play an important strategic role to golf and are also important
from the amenity or visual perspective. Ecologically, these areas represent
linear linking systems, allowing wildlife the chance to move and extend their
range of distribution through the countryside. Woodland screens, copses, the
grasslands (including the heather dominated grasslands such as are a main
feature here at Enville) and associated water features, i.e. ditches, etc. all
provide very important ecological bridging systems. These areas could be
considered analogous to other marginal habitats, i.e. roadside verges and
railway embankments, all of which are becoming increasingly important in modern
conservation practices.
Add details referring to the importance of golf courses
being managed correctly to enhance the wider national and international scale.
2.
Description and Background to the site
Enville Golf Club is a 36-hole private members club situated
in Staffordshire. The Golf Club is by means of a traditional Committee
Structure with a Management Committee overseeing a number of smaller sub
committees. The sub committee that governs the management of the golf courses
is the greens committee to which the Course Manager reports. The Course Manager
is responsible for the daily, weekly, monthly and annual management of the
Courses with the environment management falling into his responsibilities. As
mentioned on many occasions in this report the environment and its management
are placed very high in the overall management of both the courses at Enville.
Financial resources are allocated each year for the management of the heathland
and the other important environmental areas within the golf courses.
The Course Manager has a team of 10 greenkeepers who are
also very aware of the responsibilities placed on them to manage this important
site correctly.
The Courses are named Highgate, being the older of the two
courses and the Lodge. Both of these courses run through heathland and
woodland, with the majority of the heathland being on the Highgate course.
The site is underlain by lower Mottled Soft Red Sandstones
of the Bunter series. The soils are typically sandy, well-drained and highly
acidic humo-ferric podzols along with brown soils developed from drift
deposits. Over a number of areas, a much darker organic- rich layer is in
evidence normally lying to a depth of around 15-20mm immediately above the
sandier mineral soils.
Preserving the “natural” heathland characteristics must be
prime objective at Enville Golf Club. From an ecological viewpoint, the dry
heath/acidic grasslands are part of a much wider but rapidly diminishing world
resource supporting and helping in the conservation of internationally
important bird, insect and other wildlife species. On a more local level,
Enville Golf Club is by its presence helping to conserve one of the very few
remaining heathland sites throughout Staffordshire and the West Midlands.
Enville Golf Course and Highgate Common were once one
continuous and relatively extensive block of heathland, which was also linked
to Kinver Edge. The site is therefore a remnant of a much larger ancient heath
system. Although in a fragmented state, the heathland nature of the course is
possibly the second largest heathland system within Staffordshire.
Heathlands, although exhibiting an air of naturalness, are a
product of human activity and the processes of early deforestation and will if
left unmanaged quickly revert back to their original state. It is therefore
important to accept from the outset that the existence of our heathlands is
purely a result of the complex interactions between the vegetation types and
the effects of their management. Management may be natural, i.e. through fire,
storm damage, etc, and herbivorous grazing from rabbits or other rodents, or
through the intentional practices of burning, grazing or cutting. Lowland
heathlands are by their composition inherently unstable with successional
change normally being quite rapid following the cessation of management.
Heath/acidic grassland
mosaics persist in the roughs with heather (Calluna vulgaris) in a variety of
growth stages. In some areas the heather appears healthy with a dense cover.
However, there are many areas where the heath has been invaded by dense tall
fescue grass (Festuca sp.) and here the heather is often present as sparsely
scattered degenerate bushes amongst a dense tussocky grass sward and scotts
pine. Bracken is present as a few isolated patches.
There are a number of holes on both courses which run
through woodland with the dominant trees being Oak, Silver birch, Scots pine,
Lodge pole pine, larch and Chestnut. These woodland areas are also very
important from both an environmental perspective and golf perspective giving a
completely different habitat to that of the heathland but also offering
transition for plants and animals from and into the heathland areas. From the
golf perspective they give great natural architectural difference and valuable
feeling of separation from the rest of the course and holes.
3. Objectives
a) To
ensure that the management prescriptions carried out on the golf courses are
both practical and sustainable. Many species of wildlife will become
increasingly dependent upon the habitat types created, resulting in the
management programme being both practical with respect to its implementation
and sustainable or continuous into the longer term.
b) To
develop and maintain diversity within the habitat.
c) To
develop an ongoing timing of works so as to minimise ecological disruption when
carrying out any management operation.
d) To
give regard to the careful and considerate execution of works, with particular
emphasis being given to phasing of work, the careful use of herbicides (if
necessary), the types of machinery used and the manner of their use.
e) To
create an appropriate balance between the varying habitats within the
landscape.
Golf
a) To
maintain an adequate throughput of traffic around the course.
b) To
facilitate continuous play in and out of the roughs.
c) To
retain and improve the strategy of each hole.
d) To
retain the aesthetic and visual quality both on an off the course.
Ideal Management Objectives
To maintain and enhance the existing heath vegetation and to
increase the area of heath vegetation, particularly in areas of acidic
grassland and heath/acidic grass mosaics. To maintain other semi-natural
habitats such as the woodland and other grassland areas as to encourage the
longevity of all these environments. However it is also very important to
maintain and enhance the intrinsic appeal of the golf course. The overall
objectives from this management plan are listed below.
1
To maintain and enhance the existing areas
of heath vegetation (HO1,HO2, HO3 and HO4).
2
To increase the area of dry heath
vegetation, in particular by increasing heather cover in areas of heath/acidic
grassland mosaic and acid grassland (HO2).
3
To maintain the diversity of semi-natural
habitats (HC7).
4
To maintain, and where desirable enhance,
populations of rare species of flora and fauna.
5
To maintain and enhance the intrinsic appeal
of the site.
4. Current conditions
a.
Heathland
Heathland is a relatively fragile habitat in that it
requires management to retain its character. In the absence of management
lowland heath suffers from invasion of scrub (and bracken) undergoing natural
succession to woodland.
The heather itself also degenerates in the absence of
management, becoming tall and leggy, lacking vigour. Eventually there may be a
lack of regeneration of the heather and grassland takes over. Heathland is also
sensitive to nutrient enrichment and recreational pressure.
Some of the heathland at
Enville is suffering from a lack of management. Many of the rough areas are
being invaded by regenerating birch and Scots pine. Bracken is also present in
some areas. Much of the remaining heather is also degenerating and almost all
the remaining heath habitat is a mosaic of scattered heather bushes amongst
acid grasslands. The only areas of pure heathland are those areas that have
received some management in the way of cutting and areas that have been
reinstated by way of turf stripping and seeding with harvested heather seed
from cut areas.
The site is also subject to heavy recreational pressure with
many of the roughs subject to players crossing between tees, searching for
balls and playing from the
rough. Heather is venerable to trampling and the thin soils
are susceptible to erosion. As you can see from the picture the pathway has
over time spread sideways and the heather has been reduced to give way to grass
land.
The strips of rough between the fairways on the heathland
site have a good lowland heath flora. This heath vegetation is typical of both
the surrounding Staffordshire heathland landscape and of heaths further south
in the county which have lighter sandier soils than those in the north of the
county. In table 1 shows a list of vascular plants present on the site and are
characteristic of lowland heath, this was collated as part of a county wide
heathland survey conducted in 1990. We are currently updating this list as part
of our management objectives.
Table 1
|
Common Name
|
Latin Name
|
Common Name
|
Latin Name
|
|
Heath Milkwort
|
|
Heath bedstraw
|
Galium saxatile
|
|
Western Gorse
|
Ulex gallii
|
Heath rush
|
Juncus squarrosus
|
|
Gorse
|
Ulex europaeus
|
Pill sedge
|
|
|
Broom
|
Cytisus scoparius
|
Sheeps fescue
|
|
|
Tormentil
|
Potentilla erecta
|
Wavy hairgrass
|
|
|
Heather
|
Calluna vulgaris
|
Common bent
|
Agrostis capillaris
|
|
Bell heather
|
Erica cinnerea
|
Purple moor grass
|
Molinia caerulea
|
|
Bilberry
|
Vaccinium myrtillus
|
Mat grass
|
Nardus stricta
|
|
Heath speedwell
|
Veronica officinallis
|
Bracken
|
Pteridium aquilinum
|
b.
Woodland
There are many areas within the area of Enville Golf Club,
which are and for the purposes of this management plan classed as woodland.
These areas of woodland create valuable areas for wildlife and also give a
diverse feel to the golf course environment.
There are areas amongst the heathland which are
predominately pine which have naturally regenerated due to the neglect of the
heathland, however these are now well established and would be to controversial
to remove in there entirety but do also add to the quality of the landscape.
These areas will be managed as part of the heathland environment so as not to
have an adverse affect on the heathland and will form part of the heathland
management plan.
In some of the older areas of woodland the predominant
species are oak, silver birch and pines with the occasional pockets of alders
and chestnuts.
4-12 Lodge HLS Map/Ref number 7230
This area of Enville Golf Club was planted as part of the
war effort around 60-70 years ago. It was planted with Pinus Sylvestris (scots
pine) with the occasional Lodge pole pine. The feel of this area is very
different from that of the other areas on Enville Golf Club; it therefore
represents a major proposition to improve this environment. However, we feel
that we can make these improvements over the long term not only to improve the
ecological value of this area but also jointly improve the golfing experience
by changing from predominately commercial pine woodland into a diverse
environment ranging from broad-leaved trees through to areas of heather.
There are a number of pines and oaks that are much older and
would have been there before planting of the pine woodland. In a number of
areas there are small stands of heather, which are remains of the original
heath that once covered this area prior to the planting of the pine woodland.
It is expected that as part of the woodland management that we can create more
areas of heather throughout this area. In fact recent tree thinning work around
the 5th Hole revealed soil structures very similar to that of the
true heathland areas so a trial of applying heather seed harvested from the
heath was created. To date only severn months on from seed being applied we
have extensive amounts of young heather. I would suspect there is a viable seed
bank in the soil throughout the entire area, however the introduction of fresh
seed has improved the chances of heather establishment.
In a number pf places there is natural regeneration of
silver birch and oak and the occasional chestnut but the area still remains
dominated by pine.
This area has been part of Enville Golf Course since the mid
1980’s.
The aim of the management plan is to improve the diversity
of species of trees throughout this area, reducing the amount of pine and
increasing the amount of broad-leaved species along with areas of heather.
With all the work prescribed we have to be mindful of the
fact that the orientation and definition of the golf course has to be the key
factor in all of the proposed work, the site is primarily a golf course. The
club is run by a management committee and various sub committees so due to the
fact that to improve the area major work will have to be implemented then
approval will have to be gained. The current committee are well aware of the
needs to improve and maintain this environment so it is hope that the plans
will e accepted and the club will be fully behind the long term improvements of
the golf course and its environment.
Over the period of this management plan we intend to work on
compartments within this wider area each year along with general woodland
management throughout the site. Initially we will thin areas of dense pine and
replant with native broad leaves. As mentioned above we will endeavour to also
leave areas for heathland creation amongst areas were thinning has taken place.
c.
Wildlife
5. Rationale for Management
Objective 1: To maintain and enhance the existing areas of
heath vegetation.
The heathland at Enville Golf Course underwent a long period
during which it was not managed (probably in the 1950s to 1970s). Certain areas of the heathland are now in
urgent need of a programme of active management in order to retain and enhance
their wildlife value.
Heath generally benefits from several different forms of
management, all of which prevent succession (to scrub and woodland) and
maintain the heather in a healthy growth stage.
In the past, lowland heaths were usually subject to a combination of
cutting (for fuel and fodder) and grazing (by both sheep and cattle). Heaths can also be managed by burning. Therefore, there are several potential
management options to fulfil the above objective: grazing, cutting and burning.
Since the site is a Golf Course, grazing is unlikely to be a
realistic option. Burning can be
problematical from the point of view of public perception of its use and
burning may be inappropriate at a Golf Course, which is heavily used for
recreation. Also, if burning is to be
successful it must be carried out very carefully, with a high level of skill
required by local managers. The activity
can require a high level of manpower.
Finally, burning is not recommended on heaths smaller than about 5 ha
since there is insufficient are for rotational management. At this site, there is actually very little
heath at a stage where burning would be beneficial. Therefore it is probably inadvisable to
prescribe burning as an appropriate option for heath management at Enville Golf
Course.
Therefore, cutting is likely to be the most appropriate
management for heath vegetation on the site.
For cutting to be successful the heather should be in the building or
mature growth stage (degenerate heather will not regenerate from root stock
following cutting). The cut should be
carried out between October and March – a cut in January or February reduces
risk of frost damage. However, if the
cuttings are to be used in heath restoration projects (see later), the cutting
should be carried out between October and December, when there is still seed in
the pods. The heather should be cut to a
height of no less than 15cm – a shorter cut may result in frost damage or
desiccation. Cuttings should be removed
following cutting, whether or not they are to be used, to prevent enrichment
and mulching. On the lowland heaths of
Staffordshire a rotation of about 10-15 years is recommended. However, in some areas of the Golf Course,
such as the semi-roughs and some roughs, it may be desirable to maintain the
heather at a certain height (e.g. 15cm) in order to retain visibility and
permit playing from the rough. Where
this is the case, the rotation will probably have to be reduced to 4-5
years.
However, in some cases were the heather is in good health we
have found that cutting on a more regular basis 2-3 years, the heather has
grown more dense and of greater health. So it is expected that some areas will
be treated in this way.
Degenerate heather will not benefit from cutting. The best option for stands of tall degenerate
heather is to shallowly rotovate (to a depth of a few centimetres only) in
order to expose bare soil and to rely on regeneration from seed. This regeneration can be encouraged by rolling
of the rotovated ground and the spreading of heather cuttings/litter in early
spring.
Such treatment of heath applies to both areas of dry heath
and patches of dense heather within the heath/acid grassland mosaics.
Where scrub is invading the heath, scrub/trees may require
removal prior to cutting, though heather cutting should check scrub invasion in
future years. Scrub control can include
pulling, weed wipe and spot gun treatment with an approved herbicide such as
glyphosate (for smaller scrub) or cutting and treatment of the stumps, again
with an approved herbicide such as glyphosate (“Roundup”). Cut material should
be removed from areas of heath, even if it has been chipped. All species of invading scrub should be
removed from areas of heath. Edges of
glades should be scalloped to maximise the area of woodland edge habitat, i.e.:
to increase the area of woodland/heath ecotone.
Another practice which has been very successful in the past
amongst areas were grass has overtaken the heather, has been turf stripping
down to the mineral/humus layer were the seed lies dormant. In many cases this
has resulted in heather regrowth within twelve months of this operation being
carried out and a good stand of heather within 2-3 years. This is a practice which
will continue as it also provides us with good fescue dominated turf to use in
bunker restoration so thereby not wasting any resource.
In places, where bracken can be shown to be invading the
heath vegetation, bracken control may also be required. There are two options for bracken control:
spraying with Asulum, or cutting, or a combination of both. Spraying should be carried out just as fronds
have unfurled and almost formed a canopy while cutting is best carried out once
in mid-June and again in late July. In
either case, follow up management (spray and/or cutting) will be required in
subsequent years.
Objective 2: To increase the area of dry heath vegetation, in particular by
increasing heather cover in areas of heath/acid grassland mosaic , acid
grassland, forestry areas and neglected sites.
Where heather occurs in a mosaic with acid grassland, or
where it has succeeded to scrub, secondary woodland or bracken, it is desirable
to increase the area of heath vegetation, dominated by heather.
Therefore, around all areas where heather or heath
vegetation occurs scrub and/or bracken control are desirable, in order to
extend heath around existing areas of this vegetation. Methods should be as described under Objective
1. Both scrub and bracken should be
removed from all existing heath vegetation to give the heath vegetation plenty
of light and ensure restoration of heath over a larger area. Heath restoration
can then be considered in these areas or in areas of acidic grassland.
Where bracken has been controlled, litter may require
removal where it has accumulated over several years. Litter should be removed down to the mineral
soil and taken off site. The exposed
soil may then require rolling if the surface is lumpy and uneven (preferably
using a Cambridge roller to produce tiny ridge and furrows) to give some
compaction (favoured by heather). Heather cuttings/litter should be spread
sparsely in early spring. The picture above shows an area of stripped turf
rotavated and then rolled with the harvested seed being applied. These cuttings
can be collected from management of vigorous heather stands (see under
Objective 1 above) or by using a leaf vacuum under dense stands of
heather. Then the area should be rolled
one more to press seed into top layers of the soil. If this final roll is not carried out the
germinating seeds are likely to suffer desiccation.
Rotovation will be more appropriate where grass density is
low and where scattered heather bushes are present. Rotovation should be shallow (up to 10
cm). As above, heather will often
regenerate readily, especially where some mature bushes are retained as a seed
source. However, rolling, spreading of
cuttings, and then rolling again, may be required.
Turf cutting followed by spreading of heather cuttings is
generally more effective than rotovation followed by spreading of
cuttings. Both these methods of heath
restoration may also encourage birch (and Scots pine) regeneration and
therefore scrub control may be necessary.
Objective 3: To maintain the diversity of semi-natural
habitats.
The Golf Course was presumably once dominated by heath with
possibly some acid grassland. This might
therefore be seen as an ideal habitat composition for the site. However, much of the site is now taken up by
fairways and greens and some of the roughs are now dominated by woodland (both
semi-natural and plantation). To restore
heath over the entire site would not be compatible with the recreational use of
the site. Therefore it is reasonable to
accept other habitats on the site. The
semi-natural habitats (semi-natural woodland and neutral grassland) are of
particular value at Enville Golf Course.
The semi-natural woodland (generally oak/birch dominated with some
introduced Scots pine) requires little or no management. If left unmanaged it will succeed to oak
dominated woodland in the future, as the birch is relatively short-lived. If management is carried out in the future for good silvicultural practice compromise of
nature conservation objectives should be minimised, e.g.: by retaining and,
where appropriate, enhancing the current level of species diversity, age
diversity and structural diversity and by favouring broadleaved species with
all management restricted to the non-breeding season for birds (October to
February).
The small patch of unimproved neutral grassland could be
managed best by mowing and removal of the cuttings twice a year (to reduce
fertility of this area further). The
first cut should be in July to allow flowering and seeding of typical neutral
grassland species.
Objective 4: To maintain, and where desirable enhance, populations of rare
species of flora and fauna.
Species records for Enville Golf Course are relatively
poor. Vascular plants were surveyed in
detail in 1983/84, but the records have not been reconfirmed since. There are many species considered rare or
uncommon in a regional (county) context and upright chickweed is a nationally
scarce species. Strictly, these records
require reconfirmation before appropriate management prescriptions can be drawn
up. However, assuming that some of the
species are still present it may be possible to follow general management
prescriptions.
The species fall into three main ecological groups, as shown
in the table below. Species typical of
cultivated or disturbed ground are generally annual species with large numbers
of small easily dispersed seeds.
Therefore, provided there are some areas of disturbed ground present,
especially in the locality of the 1983/84 records, or in the vicinity of any
plants of these species re-recorded in the future, it would be reasonable to
expect populations of these species to survive.
Species typical of heath/acid grassland vegetation should benefit from
heath management as discussed under Objectives 1 and 2. The third group of species are typical of
hedgerows/woodlands and should benefit without specific management
prescriptions since areas of semi-natural woodland are to be retained.
NOTABLE SPECIES RECORDED AT ENVILLE GOLF COURSE IN 1983/84
GROUPED BY ECOLOGICAL REQUIREMENTS
Group 1: Species
typical of cultivated/disturbed ground
Common fumitory Shepherd’s
cress
Field pennycress Common
whitlowgrass
Weld Little
mouse-ear
Hop trefoil Thyme-leaved
sandwort
Bird’s-foot Annual
knawel
Biting stonecrop Common
vetch
Small nettle Slender
parsley-piert
Bugloss Changing
forget-me-not
Green field-speedwell Early
forget-me-not
Musk thistle Black
nightshade
Squirreltail fescue Upright
chickweed
Lesser soft-brome Early
hair-grass
Group 2: Species
typical of heath/acid grassland
Heath milkwort Trailing
St. John’s wort
Cross-leaved heath Dandelion
Bell heather Pill
sedge
Heath speedwell Small
cat’s-tail
Wild thyme Heath
grass
Prickly sedge Brown
bent
Sheep’s fescue Heath
dog-violet
Objective 5: To maintain and enhance the intrinsic appeal
of the site.
Enville Golf Course is primarily a recreational site and
therefore intrinsic appeal (in particular, specific Golfing interest) is a
priority at the site. While ideal
management for nature conservation might require removal of most of the trees,
particularly the non-native plantations and invasive Scots pine, this would
have an unacceptably negative impact on the intrinsic appeal of the site as a
golf course. Therefore, at least some
such areas of trees should be accepted.
However, trees retained for amenity purposes should favour broadleaves
wherever possible. Regeneration of all
species, including Scots pine, is necessary in, and immediately around, the
retained groups of trees.
Another area in which
there is some conflict between nature conservation interests and recreational
interests on the site may be in the cutting of roughs. Conservation objectives would prescribe
cutting of heath, once heather is well established, on a cycle of 10-15
years. However, in areas of rough where
balls are likely to fall, golfing interests would prefer to maintain the heath
at a shorter height than this cycle would result in. Therefore, roughs where play might be
expected are generally mown every 2-4 years.
Again, it is hoped that a compromise might be possible with roughs being
mown on a rotation of a minimum of 4 years, but with as many areas as possible
mown on a longer rotation up to a maximum of 15 years. It is also preferable that different areas be
cut in different years, to enhance the age/structural diversity of heather on
the site. In the picture above you can see cutting in operation and the
difficulty of cutting in and around self-set trees.
Objective 6: To improve all woodland areas with special
interest being paid to large plantations of pine.
Over the period of this management plan it is hoped we can
create woodland areas with the dominant species being oak and other native
broad leaves. The area of greatest concern is 4-12 on Lodge. however over the long term we hope to
create diversity within this area through creating a mix of broad leaves and
pine with the addition of heather areas.
For this purpose we have highlighted this area as a special
compartment within the management plans within this report.
Other Factors
Relatively expansive areas of open combustible vegetation
such as heaths are generally at risk from fire.
This may not be a great problem at Enville Golf Course, since the area
is divided by many fairways and greens and these would probably limit fire
damage. It is also likely that there are
good supplies of water to most parts of the site.
Since Enville Golf Club has a relatively high public
profile, at least within the membership of the Golf Club, management carried
out on site may require some explanation/interpretation. Much of the management (e.g.: scrub
clearance, turf cutting, rotovation) will appear destructive and may result in
opposition. Therefore, efforts should be
made to fully explain why the management is being carried out and what is hoped
will be achieved.
It is of paramount importance that all management undertaken
is recorded and that the effects of this management are monitored
carefully. Subsequent management should
be modified depending on the success/failure of previous management to ensure
that objectives are being attained.
There will be legal and other obligations covering the site,
which must be fulfilled in the course of management of the site.
Jonathan Wood
Courses Manager
Enville Golf Club
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