Clearing the Underbrush at The Addington (Pictures)

[Mark Bourgeois]

The new ownership has cleared the underbrush.  It restores the scale of the place; many of the holes feel "big."

Two example holes:

Looking down the left-hand side of the fifth, with the fourth and second fairways visible.



Looking down the right-hand side of the fifth, with the 11th down the first half, the 8th down the second (i.e., closer to 5 green). 10 green is to the right of that service road.



6 green, through the trees.


Mark

[Tony_Muldoon]

Nice report Mark. So this is what you call working in London?  Did you get to play it?  I'd be very interested to know how it drained after the recent snow and rain, a number of courses have been closed this week.

I saw a recent free Golf mag. featuring an interview with new owner Ron Noades.  He was talking about the need to take trees out so hopefully this is just his first step.  

It said he paid £8m.  The club supposedly had 160 members paying approx £2000 each (country membership was less).  Add in GCA's paying £40-50 a game plus societies (only allowed two days a week).  That’s a hell of price when the existing turnover can't be much more than £400k.

The new target is 450 members at the same rates as before with no entrance fee. Now he claims 200 members and societies can book any day of the week, so check in advance before planning a trip.

[Andy Hughes]

Mark, this is definitely more interest.

[Pete Lavallee]

Lastly, this shocker: the snooker room is no more.  A new pro shop is going in!

Oh my, now they'll actually have to hire someoe to run it! Thanks for the report, it was a bit of a shame to see such a great course enjoyed by so few in the past. Please tell me they haven't invested in a fairway irrigation system yet!

[Jon Earl]

Tony,

The quiet days are over, and the "ante-sale" members must be unhappy with that.  On the Tuesday (pre-snow) I visited, the car park was surprisingly full (with two taxis parked, their drivers apparently out playing!), and an overflow car park being built.

Against the lost tranquility, and cohesive membership, the benefits are that much-needed maintenance is going forward.  Some greens and tees are being rebuilt -- they've said they're not making any architectural modifications to the course -- and modern machinery and agronomy are coming.  They've done soil analysis on the greens and apparently they were in bad shape.

I can say that even before the snows, the greens were incredibly soggy.  One felt a sense of guilt simply walking on them.

Lastly, this shocker: the snooker room is no more.  A new pro shop is going in!

If there's interest, I can post more pics....

Mark

PS Who's to say I was not working "offsite?"

Mark

Great pictures. I am 'working' from home today and I almost went and had a round. It will be interesting to see how it looks come Summer.

A few words on Mr Noades (or 'The Ron' as I like to call him). A benevolent dictator he isn't. He is a bottom-line man and he will make any changes he sees fit to make good on his investment. He will not be sentimental about existing members or, indeed, the architecture of the course itself. If he does not like something he will change it. I'm afraid the feel of the old Addington is a thing of the past.

I suspect his aim of getting 450 members is a bit hopeful given the competition for the golfer's pound in the area. I guess I would be typical. I would to join but would find it hard to justify the cost as I generally only play at weekends and infrequently during the week. Also, if I was paying £2000 I would certainly not want unaccompanied play at the weekends.

PS Like Donald Trump he is a very quick player. He sends out one of the pros in a buggy in front of him to clear the way for him and his wife. He owns the place so I suppose he can do what he likes. However, I'm not sure how this sort of behaviour will go down with the 'old school' members at the Addington.

[Jon Earl]

Mark

I last played he course on a Sunday last October. They were allowing unaccompanied play after 10.30 back then. It may have changed.

I may be doing him a disservice but I suspect that any parallels drawn between himself and Aber would be lost on the Ron.

[Paul_Turner]

Mark

Nice pics and it's great to see Addington clearing the trees.  

Any trees gone to the left of the 12th green?  That hole was made have an approach option from that side.  I'd like to see a load get chopped on the right side of the 16th too.

I have mixed feelings about Ron Noads from his days at Palace.  But at least he's started on the right track as far as the course is concerned.

There would be some expansive view if the club got really serious, see the 6th above.

[RT]

Here is an underbrushing operation going on with a specialized machine designed to knock over, grind down into a mulch form; the more passes back and forth after the brush is down makes the mulch finer.

Pics not taken at Swinley Forest should you look at the picture "properties", but there is some tree clearing happening on Crown Estate land next to Swinely,left of 15 and 16 and first part of 17, and what a very fine difference it is making.




after several passes back and forth, perhaps 4x each way in this instance.



results



closer look at rotating head