Information on this page gives historical examples of when the club has acted on members feedback. Please note dates quoted may have now passed, for current updates on specific projects please see latest club news of speak to the club secretary.
Clubhouse Update January 2021
England Golf Grant.
Grants were available from England Golf to enhance outdoor catering. £4000 was given to Lilleshall Hall Golf Club to be spent before 31st March 2021. The money has been spent on a total refurbishment of our cabin which enables us to produce much more variety of outdoor refreshments. We approached Howdens to buy new kitchen units , they are a franchisee in Newport run by Andy Heath – a family of golfers- who offered to give us the kitchen for free!
We have had new flooring, blinds, fridge and freezer and at long last a new water heater. Outside you will, over the next few weeks, see a new seating area facing the 18th green.
Hopefully when we restart our golf, we can rebuild the great friendships we have all been privy to at our wonderful golf club. My thanks go to all the volunteers who have selflessly helped with this project.
Sue Parker (Facilities Director)
February 2020 – Updates
Due to this years exceptional rainfall this has highlighted the need for us to concentrate on drainage more than ever. We have had a contractor in recently clearing various woodland ditches around the 2nd, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th as well as verti-draining all of the fairways and green surrounds.
‘Verti-draining’ involved driving solid spikes deep into the ground breaking up compaction to aerate the soil and assist with drainage. The new par 5s are having extra verti-draining carried out each year and this year it was December and will be March, April and May. The wetter areas on the 11th, 12th, and 18th will have additional drainage installed by our greens team over the winter.
We will be carrying out the Graden work on the greens during August again this year and will once again be seeking assistance from volunteers to ensure the course is closed as little as possible during this time. As weather permits, the greens and tees will continue to be slit by the Club machinery to encourage aeration throughout. This will greatly assist drainage and make the course more playable.
Introduction of fairway mats with subsidised cost to help protect the course during the Winter months when the turf is soft and vulnerable to deep divots. The work on the 7 new bunkers will be completed by the end of February (weather permitting) and we will be trialling new sand used on courses such as Celtic Manor, Forest of Arden, Druids Heath and many more high profile courses around the UK. We hope that the way the bunkers are constructed will remove the need for rotovation after each heavy rainfall, and aid the drainage in these bunkers making them more playable during wet weather.
The tree at the top of the bank on the 17th will be pruned top and bottom to make the hole more playable once Spring arrives. We will be experimenting with grass growing mats around some of our high traffic areas in an effort to improve the appearance of our course and make it easier to walk around during extreme wet weather. We plan to start with Edna’s Bridge as soon as a budget can be freed up and man-hours found for the task.
October 2019 – Updates
– Many of you will be aware of or have read the history relating to the various attempts made by the club since 2011 to address the state of our old bunkers. Recently, we told you about our visit to Frilford Heath GC in Oxfordshire which uses an interesting ‘upturned turf’ construction technique below the bunker sand.
– We have decided to trial this approach with 6 of our more challenging green-side bunkers this winter, namely the RH 1st, RH 3rd, RH 4th, RH 5th, LH (Rear) 6th, and RH 9th. The front face of each bunker will be a little steeper, and the sand will be compacted to help the ball to run back into the centre. We will also be using a different (coarser) specification of sand to improve drainage and reduce the depth required. In some cases, the tops of the bunkers will be lowered to make the bunkers more playable.
– We have also responded to a number of requests from members to modify the design of the bunker at the rear of the 2nd hole. The course architect designed it the way it is to ensure that it could be seen from the fairway but it has proved to be a very challenging hazard for the average golfer because they are often faced with a downhill lie, playing across a narrow green with water on the other side. This will be changed so that there is a rising slope on the green side and the backside will be lowered so that the shape is more traditional.
– A new CCTV system is due to be installed during the week commencing 11th November.
– The “winter works” programme on the course has started. Approaches to the greens have been top-dressed and seeded, and bunker renovations are due to start shortly.
– The club is planning to introduce a weekly “Club Night”, which during the spring/summer would involve golf and food in the clubhouse, and in the autumn/winter would involve a range of social activities and food in the clubhouse. More details to follow.
August & September – Relevant items from board of Directors Briefing
– A quotation to renew and upgrade our CCTV system has been approved, and this work will be carried out in the near future.
– The latest phase of the work to the practice ground has been completed. After weed-killing, the new area has been rotovated for a second time, the stones on the surface have been removed and the area has been seeded. It should be in use for the next playing season.
– An option to re-locate the golf shoe cleaner to the side of Tom’s Cabin has been investigated, but the cost of upgrading the electrical supply to the Cabin makes this unaffordable at the present time.
– The club has agreed to take on a new golf software system. Intelligent Golf will replace our current Club V1 system, and this will bring really positive benefits for members. More details to follow in the coming weeks.
– The winter works programme contains a range of activities on the course, including the renovation of several bunkers with a new system that we will be trialling.
August 2019 – Course updates
During the week commencing Monday 12th August, our greens staff will be carrying out extensive and intrusive work on our greens. This work, which is scheduled in the club diary, involves scarifying to remove thatch and injecting sand and seed into the ground, and is essential to promote healthy grass and true greens.
The work will close the front 9 and the back 9 at different times for most of next week, so please be aware of this when planning your golf during that week.
July 2019 – Putting Green Now Open
We are very pleased to announce the new putting green is now open!
Chip shots will be permitted onto the chipping green (The old part of the Putting green) but please refrain from playing higher pitch shots.
November 2018 – Course updates
Contract work will commence on the course on Monday 5th of November, this work will consist of ditching, pond clearance and the reshaping of the fairway around the old second green. The reshaping work will take place on Tuesday 6th and until the area is turfed it will be GUR and the par 5 will remain in play, when the area is turfed, in the near future, the par 5 will be closed until the spring, the hole will be played as a par 4 during this period.
October 2018 – Putting Green Extension
The General Committee is seeking the views of all the club’s members on a proposal to improve the club’s practice facilities – specifically the enlargement of the putting green adjacent to the clubhouse.
All playing members of the club are entitled to vote on this matter. Your views are important even if you have only recently joined the club, as the improved practice facilities will be available for the use of all members and visitors. You can vote by completing a voting slip that will be available in the bar at the club. The voting closed on Wednesday 10th October at 12.00pm after which we counted the votes and advised the membership of the result. A simple majority of votes cast will determine the outcome of the vote.
October 2018 – Fairway and Green Repair
Due to the severe drought conditions in the summer some of the areas of fairways and greens surrounds have been damaged as a result of the grass cover dying, the dead areas consisted mostly of annual meadow grass.
From experience it is known that these areas can take up to two years to fully recover and then the quality of the grass is not good, your committee has therefore authorized a remediation program to accelerate the recovery, which should become apparent in the spring.
On Monday October 1st a slit seeder machine was in operation on the greens surrounds and out approximately 10 yards into the approaches, the work was completed on Tuesday 2nd, every effort was made to stay ahead of the Ladies Final Medal that day.
A contractor has been engaged to treat identified poor areas of the fairways with a large slit seeder, this happened on Monday 15th of October.
These machines slit the ground and inject seed directly into the slits for efficient germination, we have chosen a seed mix of 60% rye and 40 % fescue which are hardy grasses and able to withstand drought much better. Unfortunately there will be some disruption to play during this necessary work but thank you for your understanding. Roping off the greens and approaches for the winter commenced on Monday October 22nd.
October 2018 – Par 5 and Practice Ground
The par 5 and practice ground completion program will commence on Monday October 29th. Lineal Construction will send in machinery to bulldoze parts of the old 2nd and all of 10th green away and grade the ground, our staff will then install drains and then cover these areas with approximately 2,500 square metres of turf, this will ensure that we will be able to play the par 5s in the spring. The club will need volunteers to help with the turfing as this is a large area and speedy completion is imperative.
The Par 5’s will be closed until the new turf is sufficiently bedded for play.
Whilst the contractors are present clearance work will be done on the pools on the 2nd and on the 4th/5th holes. Major drainage ditches will be dug around the new practice ground extension, this will allow branch drains to connect and drain the area, clearance and rotovation of the area scheduled for next week will then allow the staff to identify the wetter areas and position the branch drains for maximum efficiency. Leveling and seeding of the extension is still scheduled for Autumn 2019 and the area to be in use by spring/summer 2020.
October 2018 – Starting Sheets
Due to increased traffic on the course on weekend mornings, starting sheets for Major Competitions will now be re-introduced on a trial basis, they will cover the usual slot of 08.00 to 10.30. The trial commenced on the 6th of October for the Final Stableford and Stableford. The starting sheet will be posted on the competitions notice board. If you cannot get to the club before the event, you can call the pro shop and the staff will put your name on the sheet.
To inform our newer members, there will be an ordinary Stableford competition running alongside the major competition, so entry into this is possible, it is also the first qualifying competition for the 2019 Final Stableford.
The Final Medal and Medal on Sunday 14th of October will also be subject to a starting sheet.
It is imperative that if you, or your partners do not intend to use the starting time, you should remove your names as soon as possible. Please stick to the starting time that you have signed up for, there have been many instances of groups waiting for another group to tee off when that group has gone off much earlier.
September 2018 – New Members Survey
We would like to thank all new members that completed the “New Members” survey that was available during September. All of you comments have been logged and will be discussed a future committee meetings to ensure that this club is constantly improving for its members. Please click here for a copy of the survey results.
If you have any comments about how we can improve your golf club, please fill in one of the feedback sheets available in the club house. If you have any immediate issues, please contact honsec@lhgolfclub.co.uk