Recent rain stops play in East Cork Golf Club

THE recent wet weather has not been kind to Cork golf courses, with many closed at different times over the past two weeks. 

While Midleton and Glanmire were in the news, the heavy rain also had a devastating impact on East Cork Golf Club. 

Close to 30 centimetres of rain fell on the course, and when feeder streams to the Owenacurra burst its banks a large part of the course was underwater.

Head greenkeeper Alex Newenham explained the impact of the heavy rain on the course. 

“The day of Storm Babet saw the two rivers that border it burst their banks. 

"Our 12th fairway and 13th and 15th fairways were under .5m of water. 

"Our 12th and 15th greens were completely submerged as the two rivers joined forces and ran down the road which disects the course.”

Many people may have seen the videos that circulated on social media, with many thinking that the water flowing down the middle of the course was a river and not a road. 

Newenham kept records of the volume of rain that fell over the past few weeks, almost three times the normal level. 

“Average rainfall for East Cork Golf Club in October is 103mm. Before Storm Babet hit on the 18th we already had 67mm recorded. 

"Over the two days of the initial storm and its aftermath we had 110mm and 14mm. 

"Then, from Sun 22 to Tues 31st we have had another 98mm of rain. Our total recorded rainfall in East Cork Golf Club is 289mm. 

"This comes on the back of an extremely wet Sept where we had 147.5mm. This kind of rainfall on top of already field capacity soils has made any transportation on the golf course near impossible."

East Cork members came out to help the clean-up efforts, which was welcomed by the head greenkeeper. 

“We had a team of volunteers out on the course helping clear some heavy debris. 

"Ground conditions didn’t allow machines on the course so a team to move debris manually is very welcome. 

"This is typical and testament to the club that is East Cork Golf Club. A welcoming, friendly, active, helpful, warm club, they have the best for the club at heart always. 

"With all this good will we are convinced we will get back to golf and once again golfers will be back in their natural habitat.”

There was no relief over the past weekend, with another 20mm of rain falling on top of the already wet course. 

Alex is hoping that they will have nine holes open for members at some stage this week, but that again is dependent on the weather this week.

The winter is usually a great time from a greenkeeping team to carry out some major maintenance and development projects, but the recent weather has meant that Alex and his team need to reassess their winter plans.

“We will instead continue to try and reopen all holes as soon as possible with proper golf traffic management put into place. 

"The bunkers on the lower 9 holes have been badly affected by the flood waters and so this is a good opportunity to assess each bunker on its own merits and decide how best to manage it. 

"This could mean filling in some bunkers, reshaping others or turning others into grassy hollows. We will see how time and resources allow us to proceed.”

Alex moved to East Cork in 2022 ago having worked in Douglas, Muskerry and Blarney, and he has been greenkeeping for 18 years. 

A former Irish hockey international, Alex was part of the international greenkeeping team at the Players Championship in Sawgrass earlier this year. 

It was his second time to work at the prestigious event having previously worked there in 2019.

In his 18 months at East Cork, Alex has developed a new programme which is designed to improve the course, as well as help the local environment. 

“The last 6 months have seen the course take great steps forward,” explained Newenham.

“The course has greatly benefited from the ongoing sand and aeration programme. 

"This together with a full nutritional programme and integrated pest management programme has seen a measurable improvement and playability on the greens. 

"This goes a long way towards ensuring the course will open once the outfield conditions allow. 

"We are continuing our quest for more sustainable management along with improving our course biodiversity. 

"Like many golf courses we are managing no-mow areas or re-wilding areas of the course which see little to no golf. 

"We are actively encouraging our population of Red squirrel and Common Buzzard. 

"We are taking steps to create a habitat which will promote the growth of the barn owl and the long-eared brown owl population by introducing and increasing our wildlife corridors throughout the course.”