This autumn the Center Course — our original 2004 nine — closes for eight weeks of the most ambitious work since it was built. New drainage on seven holes, re-turfed approaches and wider run-offs around every green.
Why now, and why the Center nine?
Twenty years of play compacts soil no matter how lovingly you aerate. Last winter three fairways held water for a week after storms, and the approaches had grown too firm for the bump-and-run the holes were designed for. The renovation restores the original shot values.
What changes on each hole
- Holes 2, 5 and 7 — full sand-slit drainage and new fescue turf, back in play first.
- Greenside run-offs — widened by two metres and re-graded so short shots feed, not reject.
- Bunker edges — re-turfed revetted faces on eleven bunkers for cleaner lies.
Playing through the work
Members keep 18 holes open throughout: the Ridge and Meadow nines run a composite routing, twilight rates drop by a third, and the practice ground extends to 10pm. The Center nine reopens hole by hole from late October.
"We are rebuilding the shots the course always wanted to ask for — nothing more, nothing less."
Follow the weekly photo diary on this blog as the turf goes down. The first roll on the new second fairway is a date worth keeping.
Admin — Ridgewater Fairways
Course news, membership guides and greenkeeping stories.
