Happy Christmas eve to you all. We have the back 9 holes open today but some greens will be on temporary greens. Buggy’s and all Trolley’s including Winter Wheels must stick to the paths at all times. PLEASE NOTE THE CLUBHOUSE WILL CLOSE AT 2.30 PM TODAY.

Please log onto the link below to see my latest update re the course and the Drainage news!

https://www.abridgegolf.com/2019/12/23/the-alternative-christmas-message/

Ho Ho Ho to you all and Merry Christmas. As you can see we had a visit from Father Christmas and his very good looking Reindeer this week. They came to give Abridge golf Club’s alternative Christmas message and some exciting news!

Firstly to summarise this year. It’s been tough, very tough in fact since mid- September. Prior to this we came out of spring in great condition and with the amazing Irrigation system we now have, (Part 1 of a 3 part plan), the course was in great condition. We have had many many Golf societies and Corporate days and 95% of them raved about your Golf Course ! The 18th green was drained and is working well and many other improvements to the course such as some of the new ‘run-off’ areas on certain holes and the completion of a full 18 hole buggy/trolley path has made us in a great position to continue to improve the Golf Course.

When the present weather is like it is, its very easy to forget the good work and the excellent conditions the playing surfaces of our course have been in most of the year. Please do not hold us responsible for the weather and remember what we are normally like playing condition wise before judging us or the course at this time of year.

The graph below shows how bad the weather has been, particularly since the 1st October. We have not had an Autumn/ Winter like this for many years! Nature is amazing how it corrects itself after the incredible dry summer of 2018. It’s not been heavy downpours, well until last Friday, just persistent days of rain and when its not raining we have had a few frost days, which also brings moisture once it thaws. I have updated the figures to Sunday the 22nd December 2020 . What it shows is that we have had incredibly 78 wet days out of a possible 83 days ! (94%) (Maybe that tells you the reason why we are so wet. Compare this to last years data for the same period when we had 22 wet days out of a possible 82 days (26%)

On top of that if we compare the amount of rain for this same period of 82 days we have had 386 mm of rain (15.20 inches) compared with 2018 the same period when we had 66 mm of rain (2.59 inches), that’s 5.85 times more rain than in 2018 . These are pretty astonishing and rather depressing figures! Hopefully you might understand the issues we are up against a little more now when you look at these statistics.

Also please remember that locally no other courses are any different than ours, but the good news and when comparing other courses is that because most of you are adhering to sticking to the paths the surfaces are keeping great grass coverage so we when we do dry we will be in great condition.

So I said I would bring you some exciting news! I attended the last Board meeting where I presented a plan including costings and drawings to drain many parts of the course over the next few years, which represents part 3 of our 3 part plan and a proposal that we were always going to look at after the Irrigation installation but is even more topical given the present conditions! It will involve new main drains, primary drainage and secondary drainage and we would start next year trying to do the worst areas first. It’s a lot of work and investment but a project that my staff are excited and committed to doing!

The great news is that it was met with provisional Board approval subject to further discussions regarding logistics and finances, but they all agreed that this must be our next priority. I hope to give you more details in the New Year.

I would like to thank you all for your support and understanding throughout the year and appreciation of what we do with your Golf Course. We also thank you for all the cards and kind gifts we have received.

So with the Drainage news and the wonderful new clubhouse opening soon we are all excited for 2020 when we intend to take Abridge Golf Course to a new higher level! I wish you all a Happy Christmas and Healthy New year.

Enjoy your Course , Enjoy your Club, Remember……….it’s yours

After being able to carry out a proper course inspection, we’ve decided to open the back 9 holes. There will be a few temporary greens in play and all buggies and trolleys(winter and smooth wheeled) are to stay on paths at all times. Thank you for your cooperation.

Sadly another 15 mm of rain over the weekend so the Golf Course will remain closed today. The Clubhouse is open until 2.30pm for food, drinks, cards, snooker and any other indoor games you can think of ? So why not pop up and say hello to Lesley! A further course inspection will take place tuesday morning. Thank you for your understanding. PLEASE LOOK OUT ON OUR WEBSITE THIS MORNING FOR A COURSE UPDATE AND AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.

We have had over 3/4 of an inch (19.2mm) of rain over night and more coming. Regrettably we have made the decision to close the Whole course today as it cannot cope, (like places all around us), with the excess water that is running down over the Golf Course. THE CLUBHOUSE IS OPEN FOR FOOD AND BEVERAGE SO WHY NOT COME UP AND HAVE SOME LUNCH. Please be aware that if it stops raining it then takes a few days to drain the surface level off so please check this website for the weekend conditions.

7mm of rain overnight with a lot more forecast the next few days! Front 9 will remain closed. Back 9 is open , ALL Buggy’s and ALL Trolley’s including Winter Wheeled Trolley’s must stay on paths at all times. Thank you for your co-operation

So after it stops raining and the skies dump another 6mm yesterday we now ping pong back to a frost this morning with rain forecast tommorow . It’s not going to hang around long . The front 9 will remain closed today and we will look again in the morning. The back 9 is open and after the frost has gone we will attempt to get as many of the greens on as we can . All Buggy’s and all trolley’s including winter wheels must stick to the paths at all times. We appreciate your co-operation. It might be good to take ping pong up this week !

More heavy rain over the weekend means the front 9 holes will be closed today and there may be some temporary greens around the back 9. Buggies and trolleys (smooth and winter wheels) are to stick to paths at all times.

Thank you for your cooperation.