GolfClubAtlas.com > Golf Course Architecture Discussion Group
The End Of An Era At Brora?
Simon Barrington:
--- Quote from: Niall C on November 17, 2024, 07:28:14 AM ---Yes, there's nothing better than trying to extract your Pro V from a freshly laid cow pat. ::)
Do people really go to Brora to see cows or sheep or is it just something that they remember afterwards ? Surely they go there for the quality of the golf ? Will it be a worse course with no livestock ? I'm also not sure that the livestock help with the agronomy aspects but what they obviously do is help retain the open aspect of the course. Take the animals off the course and I suspect that through the green will improve condition wise but that the deep rough will become just that, deep rough. I'm not sure that will make the course worse or put off visitors.
Niall
--- End quote ---
Well educated Scottish Golf Historian professes ambivalence for "Deep Rough" on classic links golf courses, The Good Doctor is rolling in his grave!
;D
Tony_Muldoon:
Why must all courses seek the same look and conditioning. In other areas having a 'point of difference' is seen as a distinct advantage, creating your own story.
After an 18 year gap I've made the pilgrimage the last two years and it would put me off revisiting.
Ben Sims:
Time to put some speculation to bed. I went to Brora and was immediately smitten with the golf course. When I take first-timers to Scotland, I want their first course to be Brora. When my kids get old enough to finally play a “big course” in Scotland, I want their first round to be Brora. So I joined as a full playing member (not overseas). Why? Cause like Ran says, this is what I imagine golf in Scotland to be. Look over some dunes, feel the wind and see/smell the ocean close, whack ball, go find it, and hit it again until it’s holed.
The club seems heavily invested in the two questions before the membership in this EGM. One of those is the Common Grazing Rights question. They’ve planned hard. As a very limited user with a voting right, I feel it’s important to be differential to both local members AND club officials.
The specific concern I had as a somewhat turf-knowledgeable person was this: the rough/native at Brora is one of its essential elements. Livestock help create this wonderful melded fairway edge and thinner roughs/native. Losing it and becoming like dozens of “higher profile” links with unplayable rough/native will assuredly change the course.
So I asked. And the reply I received is that soil testing combined with a few “no livestock” test areas indicate that the rough will remain similar to how it is now. I have no reason to doubt this assessment. The course manager at Brora presented what, by the end of our trip, I considered the best course presentation and turf I’d yet seen in Scotland.
I wanted to post this not to disclose or publicize club business, but because it seems many in the greater golf world care a great deal about Brora.
ward peyronnin:
Pennard boasted a similar menagerie and as I recall the motivation to clear the bovines was that the proper fertilizer or other applications would not be healthy for the animals.So maybe removing the animals allows for more flexibility for turf management at Brora?
Ira Fishman:
--- Quote from: Ben Sims on November 17, 2024, 10:24:48 AM ---Open kimono time. I went to Brora and was immediately smitten with the golf course. When I take first-timers to Scotland, I want their first course to be Brora. When my kids get old enough to finally play a “big course” in Scotland, I want their first round to be Brora. So I joined as a full playing member (not overseas). Why? Cause like Ran says, this is what I imagine golf in Scotland to be. Look over some dunes, feel the wind and see/smell the ocean close, whack ball, go find it, and hit it again until it’s holed.
The club seems heavily invested in the two questions before the membership in this EGM. One of those is the Common Grazing Rights question. They’ve planned hard. As a very limited user with a voting right, I feel it’s important to be differential to both local members AND club officials.
The specific concern I had as a somewhat turf-knowledgeable person was this: the rough/native at Brora is one of its essential elements. Livestock help create this wonderful melded fairway edge and thinner roughs/native. Losing it and becoming like dozens of “higher profile” links with unplayable rough/native will assuredly change the course.
So I asked. And the reply I received is that soil testing combined with a few “no livestock” test areas indicate that the rough will remain similar to how it is now. I have no reason to doubt this assessment. The course manager at Brora presented what, by the end of our trip, I considered the best course presentation and turf I’d yet seen in Scotland.
I wanted to post this not to disclose or publicize club business, but because it seems many in the greater golf world care a great deal about Brora.
--- End quote ---
Ben,
We loved Brora and thought the turf including the rough and greens to be excellent, and more importantly, consistent with the nature of the course. I appreciate you asking the question. My follow up for you or another turf expert is what are they looking to accomplish in terms of conditioning if they say the rough/fairway meld will not change?
It is of course for the members to decide. I do hope that they are thinking about potential unintended consequences.
Thanks.
Ira
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