Yelverton Golf Club

Greens Department

Recent “On-course” Gorse Management

It is our responsibility as a Club to ensure that not only the in play areas of the course are maintained and managed but also the habitats and areas directly adjacent to the in-play areas.

Why do we need to manage these areas?

Playability	Including severity and strategy of the hole.
Aesthetics	Creating a beautiful landscape.
Habitats	Maximising ecological value.
Plant Health	Ensuring healthy regeneration.
Health and Safety	Providing a safe environment.

At present, the gorse in particular has experienced little or no management in the last couple of decades. We now have blocks of degenerate gorse that are completely impenetrable, up to 15-18ft tall, leggy, unhealthy and unsafe, meeting none of the criteria stated above.

If these areas of gorse and scrub are left unmanaged, large expanses of the course will become woodland through “natural succession”. By allowing this to happen the golf course will lose many areas of heather and low-growing gorse. This will dramatically reduce what is already an endangered habitat and deplete the populations of rare species of fauna and flora. The golf course will also lose its unique feel and character that set it apart from other courses. As custodians of this wonderful piece of land, it is our duty to ensure we manage it in a way that creates ecological diversity and restores as much heathland / moorland as possible.

We estimate that we are at least 10 years away from reaching a sustainable target in order to manage the gorse on a phased program. This phased program will ensure that the gorse will only reach a certain age before it is cut for regeneration. The phased areas will be mapped out so that year on year areas of gorse can be cut for regeneration without compromising the playability, beauty and ecological value of the course.

The recent work carried out between the 15th / 16th holes and the 14th / 17th / 18th holes (two of the worst areas) has been to remove volume and segment these dense blocks of gorse. As the gorse regenerates, we can look to be more selective and take out areas of old degenerate gorse. Eventually we can get to the stage where the areas can be mapped and a phased program implemented.

George Pitts - Course Manager
Gary Hawking - Greens Committee Chairman