Course Forum

Donald Steel's course recommendations met with strong support from Southerndown members at last night's Course Forum. More than 70 members braved the elements to hear what the Executive Committee proposed following the architect's report.

 

After a brief introduction by Glenn Hughes on the Club's new website, Director of Course, Dyfrig Edwards, and Course Manager, Andrew Mannion, gave a detailed presentation on the subject. They identified three main features of the report: gorse management, bunkering and lengthening. These were then considered on a hole-by-hole basis, with photographs illustrating what needs to be done.

 

It was reported that the EC had already made a detailed appraisal of the recommendations, evaluating each under the headings: 'agree', 'not sure' and 'disagree'. This had revealed a strong consensus which formed the basis for what was proposed under phase one of the work, details of which will follow shortly.

 

It was recognised that there were cost and man-power issues relating to some of the proposals, particularly green construction. However, the more expensive items were to be left for the time being enabling more routine work on gorse and bunkers to be carried out under phase one. Another forum would be held in due course to review progress and to report plans for the next phase.

 

The response from members was very positive. Several questions were asked and Dyfrig Edwards was able to elaborate on the ExecutiveÂ’s proposals. Donald SteelÂ’s expertise was universally acknowledged and it was clear that members were looking forward to seeing his proposals adopted as soon as resources permitted.

 

Work is expected to commence within the next few days.