Course Manager's Blog: A Familiar Topic… But An Honest Update, 13th February 2026

I feel like I’ve written more winter weather updates this year than course reports but unfortunately that’s been the reality of the last few months.

Since October, our weather station has recorded around 362mm of rainfall, and the real issue hasn’t just been how much rain we’ve had… it’s how often it’s arrived. We simply haven’t had the drying gaps in between that to allow the ground to recover.

Every time surfaces have started to firm up a little, another band of rain has followed. So instead of drying cycles, the course has stayed in a near-constant saturated state.

Why That Matters
When the soil is full of water, it contains very little air. Turf needs air just as much as it needs moisture. Without it:

• Roots stop functioning properly
• Surfaces soften quickly
• Wear damage increases massively
• Recovery in spring becomes much slower

A single day’s play on saturated ground can take weeks to repair at this time of year. Multiple days can affect surfaces well into the season.
So, when we close, it isn’t about protecting the course for that day it’s about protecting April and May.

“It Doesn’t Look That Bad…”

This is probably the hardest part to judge from outside.

The course can sometimes look playable from a distance but underfoot tells a very different story. The top might appear fine, but a few millimetres down the soil is at capacity. Foot traffic and trolley wheels then squeeze the structure out of it, leaving us with compaction that takes months of aeration and drying weather to reverse.

If we kept pushing play during these periods, we’d be heading into spring with:

• Thin turf
• Bumpy greens
• Poor rooting
• Ongoing disease scarring

Work Still Continues

Even on closed days, my team are not standing still. We’ve been:

• Monitoring and managing disease pressure
• Protecting worn areas from traffic
• Maintaining surfaces where ground conditions allow
• Taking small weather windows to carry out essential tasks

Winter golf is always weather led, but this year has been particularly dictated by it.

Looking Ahead

February is always a recovery month rather than a presentation month. Once soil temperatures stabilise and we get a consistent drying period, things change quickly, growth begins, surfaces firm up and we can start preparing properly for the season ahead.

The aim right now is simple:
Arrive in spring with a healthy golf course, not a damaged one.

Thank You

I completely appreciate how frustrating closures are. Nobody wants the course open more than we do.

But every decision has been made to protect the long-term condition of the course rather than gain a short-term day’s play at the expense of the next few months.

Hopefully we start to see a settled spell soon and when it arrives, we’ll be ready to move quickly.
 

Leigh Hyde
Course Manager

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