Design and Construction

Innovative design and construction techniques can positively influence the future maintenance and sustainability of golf courses and estates. For a long time Matkovich & Hayes has been abiding by largely self-imposed environmental regulations, underlined by Peter’s mantra, ‘listen to the land.’ We utilise environmentally sound routing, design, and construction techniques on our golf courses.

The choice of a site for a golf course is an aspect of a development that we only play a small part in. A thorough Environmental Impact Assessment needs to take place before any project goes ahead. This is an extensive study that includes surveys of land utilization, water availability and applications for dam licenses. After all the governing bodies are satisfied, a Record of Decision is issued, and only then do we get fully involved. Today this is a governmental process that takes anything up to 6 years to attain.

Wetlands are vital components of a healthy ecology and are always going to be ‘hot-spots’ where golf courses are concerned. We recognise their importance and either design the holes far enough away from them to not affect them or we design buffer strips which are vegetated areas that intercept surface run-off and subsurface flow in order to filter pollutants. Bunkers can also serve as buffer zones. This is best illustrated by Arabella’s 18th hole where a bunker runs along the length of the hole next to the Bot River Lagoon. The fairway was also shaped to drain run-off water away from the lagoon to a catchment dam, which then feeds the water back into the irrigation system.

In some cases where we cannot avoid impact on a wetland, we create two or three times more wetland elsewhere on the course as a trade-off for the impacted area. Inevitably we build dams for irrigation and as features for certain holes, which are planted with indigenous flora and ultimately become thriving wetlands.

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One of the hallmarks of a Peter Matkovich designed course is the number of trees that he incorporates into the design and surrounding areas. Peter goes to great lengths to avoid uprooting trees and also tries to route the course through areas where exotic trees will be removed or open areas.

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Landscaping of the out of play areas and ‘framing’ of holes is an essential part of golf course design. Landscaping adds to the beauty of the surroundings but also involves large-scale rehabilitation of indigenous flora. This often involves extensive tree-planting programs, the best example of which is Cotswold Downs golf course, opened in November 2006; where over 20 000 trees were planted on the course.

The removal of exotic species is one of the great positives that a golf course development can bring to an area. We spent three months clearing the site for Arabella which was infested with Port Jackson Willow and blue gum. Much of the Pinnacle Point site was infested with Rooikrantz and while people may criticize the fact that there is a golf course there now it would have been left to further alien infestation, and the course and the housing estate has a small footprint on the overall piece of land, which is now well managed. Ebotse had extensive stands of black wattle that have all been removed and will be rehabilitated to indigenous plants. We firmly believe that the impact of an environmentally sensitive golf course is far better than the usual municipal developments where very little attention is paid to the environment, usually due to lack of funding to deal with issues such as alien vegetation.

Arabella Golf Club was awarded ISO 14001 status for environmental compliance.

Prior to construction in an area, we require demarcation of environmentally sensitive areas so that we can make them ‘no-go’ zones for machinery and where foot traffic is limited.

Limiting the amount of bare soil, especially on slopes, that is vulnerable to run-off during heavy rain is extremely important. In sensitive areas, like the swamps that can be found in the valleys at Simbithi, extra care is taken and geotextile barriers can be used. In the same light, we do our best to limit the number of access roads during construction thereby minimizing our ‘footprint’ of affected or damaged area on a site

Water availability is the biggest issue confronting golf course developments in the future, not only here in SA but around the world. Water resources are under pressure and because golf courses use highly visible irrigation practices they are an easy target for criticism. The use of recycled effluent or grey water is becoming common practice and golf courses are being viewed as environmentally desirable disposal sites for effluent. This is one of the solutions to the problem however we do also design courses that use water more efficiently.

Effluent water is partially treated wastewater that is cleansed of major pollutants but still contain enough salt, heavy metals and bacteria to render it undrinkable. Turf grass traps and holds particulate pollutants in the water and allows them to degrade naturally. Turf grass is more efficient at doing this than wetlands because the effluent is spread widely and there is no real water flow to carry the waste. The effluent is then cleansed and returns to lakes, streams and ground water. Hand in hand with effluent water usage is the choice of grass species that needs to be salt and drought tolerant.

In the design of our irrigation system we choose sprinklers that irrigate specific play areas only so that there is no wastage. Irrigation systems are also accurately programmed to irrigate at the most effective time and frequency, and by measuring evaporation and following weather patterns we can work out how much water needs to go back.

Fertilizers and pesticides are mainly applicable to course maintenance but are an important factor for any golf course’s environmental plan. Mike Wallington is our preferred turf maintenance provider and one of the foremost agronomists in SA. He commented that all the products they use are approved in the USA and used according to instruction to avoid excess and spillage. Few courses in SA have the budgets available to those in the USA, and for this reason fertilizers and pesticides are used sparingly thereby avoiding possible contamination.

The last point regarding golf courses, especially in built-up areas, is that they are green lungs. Not only do they provide sanctuary and relaxation for many people but they convert tons of Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen every year, cleaning our atmosphere.

Ebotse is a good example of land rehabilitation through golf development.