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Tony_Muldoon

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Heathland Courses
« on: November 03, 2005, 11:37:25 AM »
I was wondering if anyone has ever started a thread attempting to nail the number of true Heathland courses.  I've seen a few where people try to list the Links courses and generally the agreement is there’s less than 150. If the true heath exists only in GB & I they are probably much fewer in number.

I think there is something very special about the free draining soil, the heather and birch on the heath. Can it only be the flora and fauna that defines them?  Are the ones in GB&I unique or are they matched in flavour by courses with equivalent characteristics around the world?  


To start things off. ( I’m guessing some)


Walton Heath (x2)
West Hill
Whittington Heath
Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin)
Woking
Worplesdon
Wentworth (x3)
Thames Ditton (9 hls)
St Georges Hill
Sunningdale (x2)
Sunningdale ladies
Sutton Coldfield (there also a municipal adjacent)
Swinley Forrest
Queenwood
New Zealand
Little Aston
Ganton
Curragh
Dorking
Coombe Hill
Camberley Heath
Berkshire (x2)
Berkhamstead
« Last Edit: November 03, 2005, 11:43:05 AM by Tony Muldoon »
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ForkaB

Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2005, 11:50:18 AM »
Tony

Did your teachers ever mention to you the concept of vertical dyslexia?

hciR

BTW--where are the great Heathland courses of dnaltocS on your tsil?

David_Tepper

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2005, 11:58:29 AM »
Tony,

I played many of the heathland courses south & west of London in 1984 (Sunningdale-2, Berkshire-2, New Zealand, Wentworth-2). I also played Little Aston on my way up to Southport. I don't recall Little Aston being much of a heathland course. Certainly, there was very little heather about. In my mind it was much more parkland in nature.

DT

Tony_Muldoon

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #3 on: November 03, 2005, 12:11:34 PM »
BTW--where are the great Heathland courses of dnaltocS on your tsil?

e.g.   ,    ,    ?

I did get a bit carried away once I realised how many started with a 'W'.

David that was one of the guesses.  It's only about a miliie from the massive Heath that is Sutton Coldfield park and I haven't played it. On a side note the thing about Heaths is they just feel like golfing land.  Once a year I visit relatives who live near the park on the other side of the heath from Sutton Coldfield GC.  The land is fantastic and as I walk the dog I insist to anyone with me that we following the routing of the course I've laid out in my mind. One day.
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Tony_Muldoon

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #4 on: November 03, 2005, 12:28:33 PM »
I thought a definition might help, so Googling

Heathland is a lowland habitat, and is favoured where climatic conditions are typically warm and dry, particularly in summer, and soils acidic, of low fertility, and often sandy and very free-draining; bogs do occur where drainage is poor, but are usually only small in extent. It is dominated by low shrubs, 0.2-2 m tall, particularly heather (Calluna vulgaris), heath (Erica species) and gorse (Ulex species). It is noted for the brilliant colours when these species flower in late summer (see photo, left). The habitat is maintained artificially by a combination of grazing and periodic burning, or (rarely) mowing; if not so maintained, it is rapidly re-colonised by forest, mainly of pine (Pinus species) and Silver birch (Betula pendula).

Heathlands have a very typical associated bird fauna, notably Montagu's Harrier, Eurasian Hobby, European Nightjar, Wood Lark, Tree Pipit, European Stonechat and Dartford Warbler; where there are scattered trees, Green Woodpecker is also characteristic. Some reptiles are also largely confined to healthland, notably the Sand Lizard and the Smooth Snake, and one amphibian, the Natterjack Toad. It is also an excellent habitat for ants with many species being restricted entirely to it.

One of the biggest heathlands is the L?ger Heide in northern Germany. Other notable heaths include large parts of the New Forest and the Breckland in southern and eastern England respectively, and the Veluwe in the Netherlands, and smaller areas in Dorset, Devon and Surrey in southern England. Heathland habitats are also found in parts of Denmark, France and Spain.

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Michael Wharton-Palmer

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #5 on: November 03, 2005, 12:43:00 PM »
One of the "purest" heathland courses is Blackmoor in Hampshire..heather/heather everywhere..a great little course.
I have played Little Aston many times and yes definately a parkland course..and a good one at that.
Parkstone and Broadstone near Poole are both good partial heathland layouts as well.

Whittington Barracks in Staffordshire is another fine partial heathland course

James Bennett

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #6 on: November 03, 2005, 06:02:27 PM »
Heathland definition, from Tony Muldoon

Heathland is a lowland habitat, and is favoured where climatic conditions are typically warm and dry, particularly in summer, and soils acidic, of low fertility, and often sandy and very free-draining; bogs do occur where drainage is poor, but are usually only small in extent. It is dominated by low shrubs, 0.2-2 m tall, particularly heather (Calluna vulgaris), heath (Erica species) and gorse (Ulex species). It is noted for the brilliant colours when these species flower in late summer (see photo, left). The habitat is maintained artificially by a combination of grazing and periodic burning, or (rarely) mowing; if not so maintained, it is rapidly re-colonised by forest, mainly of pine (Pinus species) and Silver birch (Betula pendula).

I visited Moortown in Leeds recently.  There are some spectacular areas of heathland (eg right of 3, the expanse across 10/12/13/14), and some areas that have been heavily colonised by pine and silver birch (many other holes, especially the boundary areas).  And the colours of the heather in mid-autumn were delightful and subtle.  Don't know what the soild are there, but the softness underfoot was in contrast to the bounce of the ball.  I don't think I've played on fairways that had such a soft underlay feel for the walking golfer but still able to produce a 4 metre high bounce on a drive.  Moortown seems to fit the good and bad parts of the full description above rather well.

James B
Bob; its impossible to explain some of the clutter that gets recalled from the attic between my ears. .  (SL Solow)

Brian_Ewen

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2005, 06:20:52 PM »
A friend showed me some pics. of his local courses in Jutland (Denmark) , and they definitely looked Heathland.

Brian

Mike Benham

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #8 on: November 03, 2005, 07:07:16 PM »
Heathland is a lowland habitat, and is favoured where climatic conditions are typically warm and dry, particularly in summer, and soils acidic, of low fertility, and often sandy and very free-draining; bogs do occur where drainage is poor, but are usually only small in extent. It is dominated by low shrubs, 0.2-2 m tall, particularly heather (Calluna vulgaris), heath (Erica species) and gorse (Ulex species). It is noted for the brilliant colours when these species flower in late summer (see photo, left). The habitat is maintained artificially by a combination of grazing and periodic burning, or (rarely) mowing; if not so maintained, it is rapidly re-colonised by forest, mainly of pine (Pinus species) and Silver birch (Betula pendula).


We Californian's have our own Scottish Heathland course, the famed Poppy Ridge in Livermore, owned by the Northern California Golf Association.  They began marketing the course as a Scottish Heathland course about 7 years after it was completed (1996), probably because it was not as successful or popular as it's sister course, Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach.

At the urging of John Krystynak, I inquired to the management about their definition of Poppy Ridge as a heathland course and was given this reply by their General Manager:

"A Heathland course is defined as an inland course that uses the natural topography and natural grasses. Most of the holes are without high vegetation, providing an open visual presentation. Similar to a Scottish course the challenge and difficulty of Poppy Ridge comes primarily from strategically placed bunkers and lush deep rough that closely border fairways. Add an unobstructed breeze and you have a course that requires creative shot making and a great golf experience. Rees Jones had this in mind while designing Poppy Ridge and as the course matured we have marketed the Scottish Heathland style course as suggested by Rees Jones.[/i]






"... and I liked the guy ..."

Martin Mulholland

Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #9 on: November 03, 2005, 07:55:41 PM »
3 other notable heathland courses I have played in the south of England are:

Ferndown
West Sussex (Pullborough)
Hindhead

Remy

Brian_Ewen

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #10 on: November 03, 2005, 09:02:55 PM »
Guys
Is it possible for a Heathland course to become choked with grass ? .

Edzell GC is close to me and I have played it a lot over the years . I always seem to have this memory of it being much more scrubby and heathery than it is now , and the surrounding properties seem to back this up .

A few years back the committee seemed to change their ideas of how the course should be set-up . Narrowed the fairways , grew much more grass , which then put the bunkers into the rough .

With this , the course looks and plays much more like parkland than heathland nowadays , and its hard to find any heather .

Is this possible , or do I just imagine such things ? .

Regards.
Brian

Marc Haring

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2005, 03:16:46 AM »
No Brian you’re not imagining things. That sort of thing happens much later on in life.  ;)
Heather has a life span of about 40 years, so if it is not managed properly by turf stripping, mowing, burning etc it will die off never to be seen again. Irvine up near Troon is going through the same thing at the moment. Also it is reliant on the soil being maintained with very low fertility or the grass will simply take over. The other thing to remember is that heathland is an entirely manmade environment. Acid, sandy soils were cleared of all trees a couple of thousand years ago for grazing by rabbits and sheep. The result is heathland that will revert back to woodland via gorse domination if not continually managed. As a former superintendent at Camberley Heath, I know about these things.

The best example of a true heathland course is Hankley Common. It was choked by trees but has now been almost totally cleared and the heather is thriving. Don’t know about Queenwood, all the heather was imported. The Addington is another not yet mentioned. Oh and Hindhead and a bit of Farnham GC.

In Europe the Bordeaux region of France must have 100 square miles of heathland with a few excellent courses located within it including Medoc, site of the 1999 French Open.

Nice idea about Poppy Ridge being a heathland course Mike and I suppose they can call it what they like but the key to the definition of heathland (which is not just associated with golf) is that the dominant species are erica, calluna and ulex.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2005, 03:26:13 AM by Marc Haring »

ForkaB

Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #12 on: November 04, 2005, 05:51:36 AM »
One of the best heathland holes I have ever played is the 9th (Paradise) at Golspie.

One of Golspie's claims to fame is that it consists of 6 links holes, 6 heathland and 6 parkland.  So, if you are into variety.......

Marc Haring

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #13 on: November 04, 2005, 06:49:56 AM »
Piltdown....that's another one.

Oh and East Berks


and Royal Ashdown Forest.....the heather grows on the fairways there.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2005, 06:52:51 AM by Marc Haring »

Tony_Muldoon

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #14 on: November 04, 2005, 06:57:57 AM »
Moortown in Leeds recently.
 
Don't know what the soils are there, but the softness underfoot was in contrast to the bounce of the ball.  I don't think I've played on fairways that had such a soft underlay feel for the walking golfer but still able to produce a 4 metre high bounce on a drive.

Yes, yes that's the other thing.  Early this year I played Sutton Coldfield twice and the turf was exactly as described. Heretical to say it here but it was better walking than on than any links course I've played.  The ball bounced and ran after a days rain in April.  Together with the surrounds this makes for a really great place to play the game.

Mike the marketing angle of Poppy Ridge and the 'deep lush rough' make it sound more like that uncomfortable hybrid (or oxymoron) "inland links".  The deciding factor would be in how it plays.
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Tony_Muldoon

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #15 on: November 04, 2005, 07:22:52 AM »
So far we have about 50 with only one each from Ireland and Scotland.

Erica common name ‘Heath’

700 species found in Europe , South Africa and temperate W and C. Asia

Calluna. Heather or ling

North and West Europe to Siberia, Turkey,  Morocco and the azores.

Must be more…
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ForkaB

Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #16 on: November 04, 2005, 07:37:32 AM »
Tony

Off the top of my head, and including only those I've played, I'd add the following from Scotland:  Alyth, Blairgowrie, Forfar, Fort William, Kingussie, Kirriemuir and Ladybank.

Ville Nurmi

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #17 on: November 04, 2005, 07:59:31 AM »
Esbjerg GC in Denmark is definitely heathland,
It is really nice and well thought course.
http://www.esbjerg-golfklub.dk/ is the homesite. And there is a lot of "hed" in Denmark

Ville

ForkaB

Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #18 on: November 04, 2005, 08:05:44 AM »
Somebody more au fait with the crack GCA serach engine than I should try to bring up the photos published here a few years ago by J. Pitt (?) of the course (in Holland?) with heather fairways.

Also, do you know that the reason that holes 6 and 12 on the Old Course are called "Heathery" is that the green surfaces used to be made largely of heather and sea shells?  Wonder what they stimped out at........ :o

Tom Dunne

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #19 on: November 04, 2005, 08:07:13 AM »
Marc Haring: I was going to mention Ashdown Forest as well, but I thought it would get disqualified because the soil is clay-based. However, it has quite a high concentration of humus, so it drains really well.  If you're not examining the composition of your divots, it looks as pure of a heathlander as can be.

In the Netherlands, Utrecht de Pan and Eindhovensche are both lovely heathlanders that look like they've been airlifted right out of Surrey.

EDIT: Rich Goodale, is this the thread you were looking for?

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=4068
« Last Edit: November 04, 2005, 08:13:28 AM by Tom Dunne »

Jim_Coleman

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #20 on: November 04, 2005, 08:09:46 AM »
    Tha back nine of Bethpage Black.  Add hole #7.

ForkaB

Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #21 on: November 04, 2005, 08:34:46 AM »
Tom Dunne

Scrolling through your link I don't see the course I was thinking of, but I could be wrong and in any case thanks for reviving those greeat heathland pictures!

TEPaul

Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #22 on: November 04, 2005, 10:59:13 AM »
James Bennett said this;

"Heathland is a lowland habitat, and is favoured where climatic conditions are typically warm and dry, particularly in summer, and soils acidic, of low fertility, and often sandy and very free-draining;"

There's something in that remark that most probably overlook but just may be the reason for the real odd happenstance and coincidence that connects the original linksland to the English Heathland and the siginficance of both to golf architecture and its future. That something is the word "acidic".

The linksland's significance to all golf and architecture is well known. But the Heathland's significance to golf architecture is less well known as to its important place in the evolution of golf architecture as the first really good golf architecture outside the Scottish linksland. In other words the first really good "man-made" golf architecture (the linksland was originally wholly natural).

The point is golf originally came to be played on the linksland because it was land that no one ever wanted for any other use---eg mostly farming. And the same was true of the English heathlands. And the reason it was that way for both was because both were uniquely highly acidic---eg nothing useful could be grown on either---that is other than natural bent and fescue that just happened to be the perfect grasses for golf. Those two perfect strains had no real natural grass competition.

On the original linksland that natural bents and fescues just happened to be there on their own on natural corridors that were not dunes obviously from estuarial deposits (acidic) in the low areas of the linksland swathes. But with the healthland that land had soil characteristics that just happened to be coincidently discovered under a mass of ground cover, and apparently it looked pretty foreboding. The same could be said for the raw land and look of PVGC.

The healthland courses lucked out too, I'm sure, as they weren't far from city life and that meant money---and money to build those initial healthland courses meant the architects who built most of them for the first time had the time as well because of the money to devote to creating them.

Seems like golf and architecture just happened to evolve in the Scottish linksland initially and in the English Heathlands initially in such significant ways all because of the unique acidity of the soil of both. And the odder thing still is that in both intially no one was really looking for that or perhaps even understood what it really meant.

Doug Wright

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #23 on: November 04, 2005, 11:07:53 AM »
One of the best heathland holes I have ever played is the 9th (Paradise) at Golspie.

Rihc,

Totally agree. In fact I think it was one of the best holes we played in 12 rounds in Scotland...
Twitter: @Deneuchre

Marc Haring

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Re:Heathland Courses
« Reply #24 on: November 04, 2005, 12:00:31 PM »
Tom

I'm sure we've had this conversation before but linksland is not acidic. Generally it's alkaline due to the high proportion of sea shells in it. But it is still very low in fertility and that is the key.  

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