[Tony_Muldoon]

Stole this pic from Paul Turner's post on the F&F thread.

I just wonder how common these 'furrows' are on courses.  I've been told they are there from 'olden days' when crops were grown on the raised ground with water flowing away to the channels between. This tends to suggest that the ground is heavy and not particularly free draining.

I know I've seen them on several UK courses but the only two I can name are built on Essex Clay.  Hainault and Upminster.  On these two courses the 'amplitude' of the wave is much shorter. In the picture I'm guessing each wave at 8-10' in Essex it's half that.

Also I can only remember them being at right angles to the direction of play.

Anyone else spotted these?

[Marty Bonnar]

Tony,
I must have seen these micro-features on a gazillion Scottish Courses. Cardross GC over in the West especially sticks in my mind for some reason.
When I was knee-high to a Sand Wedge, someone told me they were leftover from when courses were dug up for food production in WW2. I've never really been able to prove whether this was merely hearsay, heresy or simply accepted wisdom...

Maybe some of the 'older boys' can help....?

FBD.

[TEPaul]

I saw them on some fairways at Fulford and Scarborough Northcliff in Yorkshire. They were perpindicular at Fulford and both perpendicular and in-line at Scarborough Northcliff, if I recall correctly. They were spaced out about like that photo above and as it was a very dry summer they were brown on top and green in the furrows just like the photo. I thought they were really interesting, fun and unpredicatable to play and thankfully a hold-over from the farming days of those sites. Kudos to those courses and all the rest over there who've kept them. There's no doubt in my mind if those were found on a site in America they'd be bulldozed flat in a hearbeat, unfortunately.

[ForkaB]

We've discussed this several times before.  They are a neat feature which (as Martin says) are rife in Scotland (never heard the WWII story, Martin--always thought they were remnants of the old runrig system of farming--but I could be wrong!).

Sean is right vis a vis the luck of the draw on horizontally placed furrows.  The 10th at Aberdour is 530 yards, with the 2nd shot blind over a 100ft hill which peaks about 100 yards from the green.  If you drive it straight and long and your ball happens to end up on an upslope, you can go for the green with some hope of success.  If it ends up on a downslope, you are struggling to make it over the brow of the hill.

[Bill_McBride]

16th fairway at Alwoodley.  This corner was originally farmland rather than pasture, and the furrows are still quite visible.

[Marty Bonnar]

Rich,
your reply got me thinking. Hey Presto, wikipedia comes to the rescue again. Looks more like ridge and furrow than proper runrig? Wish I'd paid more attention in Mediaeval History I!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridge_and_furrow

FBD.

[James Bennett]

Moortown

The rough between tee and fairway on #16 has them, and the fairway left of the green on #18 as well.  The locals said to me it was a result of farming practices form eons ago.

James B

[ForkaB]

Rich,
your reply got me thinking. Hey Presto, wikipedia comes to the rescue again. Looks more like ridge and furrow than proper runrig? Wish I'd paid more attention in Mediaeval History I!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridge_and_furrow

FBD.

F

Thanks!

Looking at the bottom of the Wikipedia article, you see "run rig," and it turns out that "run" = "furrow" and "rig" = "ridge, so it's essentially the same structure for the same purposes.

BTW, is the "run rig" the only GCA feature after which a famous gaelic rock band was named?

R

[Mike Hendren]

Perhaps Mr. Stein, Stiles or Stovall will jump in, but I recall the sidehill fairway of the 14th at Lookout Mountain being furrowed.  Might have something to do with the rock.  Dunno.

Mike

[Jonathan Davison]

The photo shown is from the 1st hole at Harry Colt's Brancepeth Castle in Durham.  
What is interesting about these furrows is that Colt created a small flat area at around 240 - 250 yards from the tee. These flat areas give wonderful strategy from the tee. Hit these areas and you will rewarded, in terms of ideal line and a flat lie to play from.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I, too, can think of lots of examples on inland courses which might very well have been farmed once.  Are there any examples on links courses, which probably never were cultivated?

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I pressed the button too early - I meant to put in another word of praise for Brancepeth Castle.  It really is a favourite of mine.  

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