Burghley Park Golf Club is now in the 2nd year of a major investment programme, aimed at improving all the facilities provided by the Club. The first part is focused on the golf course, where the Club have obtained the services of the nationally renowned golf course consultant Gordon Irvine, who is masterminding the changes. Gordon is working closely with our greenkeeping team, led by Course Manager Paul Mills. The strategy has two parts – improving the presentation of the golf course, and redeveloping a number of holes.
Course presentation has been significantly improved, using new state of the art machinery which improves both the quality of the cut, and the health of the turf, with members and visitors commenting favourably on the improvements seen on greens, surrounds, approaches, fairways and tees. This programme is continuing, and the proportion of fine grasses is increasing as a result, giving better year-round playability.
Redevelopment of the course started in the winter of 2016/17, with the greens complexes on Holes 3 and 13 being radically changed. The greens were enlarged, bunkers relocated and made bigger, and a series of rolling swales were created around the greens. These have now settled well and have increased the interest and challenge of the holes. Work is currently in progress over the winter of 2017/18 on three more holes, the 6th, 15th and 16th.
On the 6th and 15th the ponds have been removed, and are being replaced by bunkers and swales which increase the challenge of the greens complexes. Fairway bunkers are also being created. The 16th will see remodelling of the surrounds, and a slight softening of the central ridge across the green, which will allow better conditioning of the sward in this area.
