Duty calls at Cottesmore Golf & Country Club

A dragon reputedly roamed the mediaeval forest that spreads out along the edge of Cottesmore Golf & Country Club. References to the legendary beast in pubs and place names permeate this region of West Sussex.

What its fiery breath decidedly did not do was to burn down Cottesmore’s clubhouse, a disaster that nearly left a longstanding family business in ashes.

Like the mythical phoenix that rose up from the remains, Cottesmore was reborn and thrives under the same family ownership as a new generation takes the reins, creating impressive fitness, wellbeing and dining provision, plus a hotel and six lodges alongside 27 holes of parkland golf for its 2,000 members (and there’s a waiting list).

The passion and commitment to make that rebirth happen clearly runs throughout Cottesmore and Course Manager Ben Clements exemplifies it. Locally born and bred, Ben came to the club nearly 11 years ago and rose rapidly to take up his present post three years later. He’d started out at 16 as a greenkeeper at nearby Tilgate Park where his uncle was head.

Now 34, he runs a seven-strong team, including two part-timers (three days a week each) and an apprentice, managing the 6,444yd 18-hole Griffin course and its full-size, 9-hole, par 3 and 4 Phoenix counterpart.

“We’ve almost no time to think, it’s so busy,” says Ben. “Pro-Ams, club championships, seniors events, medals and Stablefords every weekend.”

A stone’s-throw from Gatwick Airport and Crawley’s industrial and business hub, Cottesmore maintains an atmosphere of peace and calm in which to play golf. It shares one of its boundaries with the environmentally important Buchan Country Park, so Ben has to ensure he ticks the sustainability boxes where he can.

“Our ten-year plan covers Tarmacing 100m of paths annually and introducing secondary drainage to link with the primary system, and that will include tining, slitting and shock waving. We started a year before Covid struck and it has been difficult to get back on track, but we’re there now.”

“Purchasing a Shelton trencher just after the pandemic allows us to complete plenty of that work in-house, avoiding contractors’ costs – usually we start after August, following renovations, reaching 400mm depth and focusing on fairways and approaches, as our tees and greens are good,” he explains.

When so many courses are sodden or under water, Cottesmore is fortunate in being able to store plenty on-course in two full-size lakes (which stretch across two Par 3s and a Par 4) and three collection ponds. “One’s a fishing attraction, stocked with pike and carp, and a stream feeding Buchan Park,” says Ben.

“A flock of Egyptian geese visit regularly, as do herons, while buzzards soar overhead. We’re not short of deer here either. The lakes stay clear most of the time and we allow the bullrushes and reeds to grow along the perimeters, maintaining buffer zones around the water edges where we do not apply herbicides or fungicides.”

Cottesmore cannot escape the rigours of rain however. “The courses lie on heavy clay so can become waterlogged. We have to close them to play sometimes,” Ben adds. “Last year was fine until December, then it never stopped raining and the fairways became unplayable. We closed for at least two months. Many others were in the same position.”

Having thinned out the oaks, chestnuts, beech, pines, silver birch and ash (“We’re free of dieback thankfully.”), the team is busy replanting willow saplings in areas that stay wet. That includes a stretch between holes 10 and 11, where trees have rotted, and the plan is to enhance it with heather.

Late flowering purple rhododendron ponticum grow plentifully – and aggressively - across the landscape. “Although a good filler and colourful, we have to clear it to prevent it taking over.”

“But Cottesmore is more than a golf club, and aesthetics go a long way to attracting visitors and members. The rhododendrons and azaleas planted up along the driveway to the clubhouse are visually stunning when in flower, as is the short par 5, 14th hole when striped up. The cuttings need to be on point. I know what I want to create, an effect that’ll  make people want to visit us.”

When we spoke, the team had just finished spring renovations. “Keeping golf continuous while we’re working is our priority, so we shut nine holes at a time, keeping the front nine of the Griffin in play, then switching to the back nine, before closing the Phoenix to complete the job.”

Totalling just three days to finish – “I don’t mind the 17-hour days.” – the work includes deep aeration with a Wiedenmann down to 275-300mm, over a medium sand dressing; also shallow aeration, hollow tining with a ProCore at 100mm.

Overseeding with rye and fescue, rotary brushing, blowing debris off greens, cleaning irrigation heads, double rolling greens with a TruTurf roller, then cutting new holes to complete the work.

Ben is another course manager fond of annual meadowgrass in the sward. “I like Poa, when it’s cut low to prevent seed heads appearing – 2.5mm in summer and 3mm on average.”

“Now all our curatives have disappeared off the market, keeping turf clear of disease is difficult,” Ben concedes. “Fusarium creates tea plate-sized patches, so it’s vital to keep the courses free of it with a robust prevention programme.”

Besides applying liquid feed to boost sward density, Ben’s trying growth suppressants, next to a good foliar programme to create density on the greens.

The team also allows sections of the site to grow high to allow more separation between holes, and wildflower planting is on the cards, Ben says, to attract pollinators.

Recycling’s a prominent part of Cottesmore’s management. “All food waste is composted then mixed with green waste and wood chip for a year before applying around the site. We generate leaf mulch separately.”

What’s his management style?  “To create an environment that the team love to work in. Why do they get up in the morning and want to come here? I’ve seen some leave Cottesmore for more money, only to return.”

“I work with individuals, each is different. I ask how they are outside of work – any issues or problems I may be able to help resolve for them.”

“Managing people is challenging but rewarding. I’m very old school and see it as my duty to come to work with a smile on my face. I like to lead by example and wouldn’t ask any member of the team to do something I’m not prepared to do myself.  When I come to Cottesmore, it feels like a second home.”

His self-confessed “forever job”, course management at Cottesmore boils down to these essentials for Ben – “Honesty, playability, ergonomics and progression”.