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Ask Our
Tim Webb
Sunningdale Course |
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At Sunningdale, we encourage member interest and
involvement in caring for our shared environment. Here are a few of
the questions I've received recently from members ...
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Q: |
"I've noticed some signs on the course that
say "Wildlife Habitat Area" and "Environmentally Sensitive Area
- please keep out". What do these signs signify and how
should I treat these areas as I play golf?" |
| A: | We have put out these signs on the course to designate
various important parts of our overall habitat that are
sensitive to damage. The Wildlife Habitat signs are in deep rough areas and can be "in play" for golfers who are well off-line (eg. signs well to the left of the 16th tee on the Thompson Course; near the forward tee on the 7th Thompson; and along the 4th fairway of the Robinson Course in the rough). Golfers may enter these areas to find a ball or take a shot, but please do NOT drive any golf cars or take your pull cart into these areas.
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Q: |
A member wrote an e-mail that said: "I was reading under
your environmental practices that you use "after melt barley
straw" to control algae in the course ponds. I also have a
pond that has a fair amount of algae growth. Could you
provide me with some info on this method?" |
| A: | What we have done in the past is set the barley bales on the
ice and let them melt through or if we don't get them out in
time we will just throw them out into the pond. What we
have found is that we need to either cover the bale somehow or
wrap it in chicken wire so the bale doesn't fall apart and float
to the drain. Also you will need to tie something on the
bale so it will sink. Just remember to use something
environmentally friendly. We generally try to place a
couple of bales at the inlet so we force the water to flow
through the bale. For an example we put a total of 4 bales
in 4 Robinson pond with 2 being placed at the inlet and 2 bales
spaced out in the pond. You can use other forms of straw the
only thing is that the barley bales have the highest amount of
bacteria to fight algae. This alone will not control algae 100%. It will depend on the source of water that comes from your inlet. We have farmland runoff and once the farmland is worked, seeded and fertilized and you add a rainfall which runs some fertilizer into the ponds the algae blooms explode within 2 day's. Good luck and we will hopefully see you soon on the course! |
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Q: |
One question that gets asked a lot is: "How Come
the golf course can water anytime it wants? Do you
conserve water?" |
| A: | Actually, we can't water anytime we want. We have to
have a "water take permit" from the Ministry of the Environment
which restricts us on when, how much and where we can take water
from. Permits vary depending on your water source and the
way your pump house is set up. We have a permit to take
water from the Medway Creek as well as from 12 Thompson's
irrigation pond.
As for water conservation, one big way we conserve is through
our new irrigation system, installed during the recent course
renovations. This computerized system allows us to
put down the proper amount of irrigation water required - no
more and no less. Most of our watering is done through the
night which does a couple of things: we use hydro at a
less-than-peak time, and there is minimal water evaporation
during that time. |
| If you have a question you would like Tim to answer for the membership, send an email to twebb@sunningdalegolf.com. |
