Premier Greenkeeper Cedric Gough at Broadway Golf Club, Worcs has recently installed over 200 of the new Golf Grass Mats: (22mm thick, tough, reusable rubber matting) used to install permanent or temporary walkways around Golf Courses.
Starting with critical areas such as the below, the gateway through a Cotswold Dry Stone Wall at the 3rd hole. He and his staff have laid the mats to great effect in improving the ground conditions in this heavily trafficked area, whilst still allowing the grass to grow through the mat.
Another area tackled was the path area from the 16th green where the golf grass mat has been laid as a temporary winter protection for a traditional problem area (pictured below).
Possibly the most significant use has been the below-pictured newly raised walkway to the 7th Tee. The Greenkeeping staff
have constructed this elevated area across what was difficult terrain and laid the Golf Grass Mat on top to provide a permanent all-weather surface.
Cedric comments: "The 3rd pathway was the first area to trial with this new matting. We tried turfing around the mats and overseeding the main walkway. Despite unfavourable weather conditions the seed germinated quickly and now covers 75% of the matting, whilst the turf struggled to cope with wear."
"We are now using mats on most of our pathways. We have also used it as a temporary protection for newly turfed areas." I have received a lot of positive feedback from both the golfers and committee members regarding the use of these mats.
