Duncan
Do you think Cavendish feels or plays like a moorland course? To me it feels very much a parkland course. That said, every heathland course has varying degrees of parkland feel because of too many trees, wrong mix of grass and less than ideal rough management.
Ever the contrarian! 😉
I’ve never heard anyone ever suggest before that Cavendish is anything other than a moorland course, and certainly not a parkland!
It is quintessential moorland - prior to being a golf course the land was grazed by sheep and the surrounding properties still are. The turf is predominately fescue and bent grass and there is little to no sign of green lushness.
Recent aeration work has resolved the issue of surface water retention on the fairways and this winter Cavendish has been one of the driest courses in the region. It is certainly drier than both Conwy and Delamere Forest, both of which I have squelched around in the last few weeks!
Extensive tree clearance is beginning to open up views across the course and to reveal more of the majestic Scots Pines in the Horseshoe Woods which had become shrouded in crappy silver birch.
There are even signs of heather beginning to regain a hold in places.
I will accept that the course isn’t up on the hilltops and instead lies on the lower slopes of the surrounding moors, but its character is unquestionably defined by its moorland setting.
Parkland?
Pah!
😉