Located on the exposed Llandudno coastline, North Wales Golf Club has been shaped by the elements since its establishment in 1984. The traditional links course faces relentless wind, sand splash, naturally free-draining conditions and increasing pressure from dry summers – making drought tolerance a critical consideration when it comes to the clubs choice of grass seed.
Demonstrating outstanding resilience and tolerance of both high traffic and the climatic conditions site-wide are mixtures from Johnsons Sports Seed.
Head Greenkeeper Gareth Tibbetts joined the club 11 months ago, taking on the maintenance of challenging links terrain with the assistance from a team of five. “I’d used Johnsons mixtures at my previous club which, albeit was parkland, was also incredibly free draining so I knew they were more than capable of performing in low moisture situations and hardy enough to cope with the demands of a busy course.”
The transition to Johnsons Sports Seed had already begun when Gareth came on board, but the programme was refined through consultation with DLF’s Regional Technical Manager Stuart Yarwood. “On our fairways, we opted for Johnsons J Sustain Fairway which, it’s clear, was formulated for the exact challenges we see here and excels in links conditions.”
The five Fescue blend, including resilient Hard and Sheeps Fescue, delivers excellent playability, density and visual appeal under low-input management and sites prone to environmental extremes. Together with outstanding drought performance, J Sustain Fairway also provides superior salt tolerance, disease resistance and resilience to stress.
“We’ve done two sowings of the J Sustain Fairway since I arrived and the whole team have noted that the seed germinated well, comes through a lot healthier than other mixtures and copes with the dry conditions very well.” Gareth continues, “It was a particularly dry summer last year so it really put the seed to the test but our fairways more than survived, they thrived.”
Johnsons seed is also delivering equally impressive results in other areas of the course. “We use a bent/fescue blend on our greens which gives us the colour we need and the robustness to cope with an average of 200 rounds per day. The reliability and cleanliness of the Johnsons mixtures give us confidence in every bag and every overseed” he adds. “Together with a focus on cultural practices including aeration, we’re now achieving consistency in our surfaces in what is always going to be an unpredictable environment.”
