Malcolm Peake

We are honoured that the author of ” A natural course for golf “ and ” The confessions of a Chairman of Green ” should be happy to join our Advisory Panel.

Malcolm Peake, a long-time member of Temple GC, Henley-on-Thames where with Martin Gunn, the Course Manager, he has helped present a downland course, designed by Willy Park Jnr. in 1909, in a sustainable manner. He loves the ‘fine running’ game over fine grasses and Temple has bucked the trend around London where so many of the great heathland courses have receptive, meadow grass (poa annua) dominated greens, requiring expensive over-watering, tons of fertiliser and pesticides.

Malcolm has written a delightful essay below on why he prefers  ‘fine’ to ‘target’ golf, challenging so many of our normal assumptions developed by professional golf on TV.

He ends with a rousing call to the golfing authorities

to control the distance of the golf ball.

“SAVE OUR NATURAL GOLF COURSES
Many golfers who enjoy the natural style of golf or Fine Golf are beginning to feel like an endangered species, perhaps even a golfing dinosaur. There are not many golf courses that really look or “feel right”. There are heathland courses with little or no heather, and an excess of larch, pine, and birch, exotic plantings on parkland courses, inappropriate trees and over manicuring on downland sites. Links courses are too often lush and green, and have mis-managed dune grassland overgrown with scrub, which often obscure views of the sea.

Malcolm Peake putting

These golf courses are neglected, sometimes through ignorance, but often just because of a lack of awareness. Now you will be thinking here we go again. But is not golf more of a test and much more enjoyable when playing on a traditionally managed golf course?

Perhaps a heathland course, with heather in bloom, and gorse in flower, the windswept links with views of the crashing waves, or a downland course with the meadow grasses, daisies, and orchids gently moving in the breeze.

Where you have to use your imagination, as well as your shot making skills. When you have to try and shape your shots, a little fade or a long draw, to hit a high holding shot into a firm green, or a low ball into the wind. To clip an iron off a tight lie, and chip or putt from off the green to the pin hidden in a protected corner of the green. This is the cerebral part of the golf game, where artistry can triumph over pure brawn, and that joy to be alive feeling, lasts all of the round.
A great old pro I used to play a lot of golf with, was often want to say, “Use all the clubs in your bag, and especially the wood that sits on your shoulders!” It doesn’t quite sound the same with “metal wood” instead of persimmon clubs, but you know what I mean. The true game of golf should not just be about strength and brawn, but about shot making skill, about temperament, about the thought process, and about the strength of character to accept the bad bounce, an important part of the game, as well as enjoying the good one.

British golf was never meant to be fair,

which is why the likes of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, and now Tiger Woods are all delighted to play in The Open Championships. It is because the game is so different here, and as Tiger says “It’s real neat”.  It’s a three-dimensional game, unique, in comparison to the one dimensional and boring game of target golf, and long may it remain so.

Malcolm in a Temple meadow

But we can only play our beloved game, of Fine Golf, if the golf courses are managed in a sustainable style, and in sympathy to the golf course architects’ design. Club Committees and some Course Managers don’t always appreciate this. It is also a question of retaining the natural environment, whether a sandy links, a wonderful open heathland, or the challenges of meadow roughs on downland course. We must ensure that these traditions are not lost, and the understanding and appreciation of this natural game that goes with it.

To play golf shots from a tight fescue sward, to a firm bent/fescue green is the ultimate thrill for a real golfer. Sadly, so few golfers now have the opportunity to experience this.
Many green keepers are doing an excellent job, but are often being obstructed by the very people they are trying to help. Nowadays golfers often want a “lifestyle” golf course, all green and lush, neat and tidy, with straight mown lines and consistent bunkers with neatly trimmed edges. Bunkers by definition are a hazard, so why ever should they be consistent ? ( Ed. A controversial view but worth thinking about ! )
These courses have little character or charm, and look more like suburbia than the natural countryside. The values are taken from the golfer’s garden and lawns rather than the surrounding environment, and they often sacrifice playing quality for visual presentation and colour.
Many of the most natural courses, (which include most of The Open venues), are an important part of our golfing heritage. Yet they are under attack, because of indolence, ignorance, and apathy, but once they are lost they will be lost forever.

The problem is what golfers see on the television and read in the press.

They are bombarded, by what is happening in the professional world of golf, and that is not always what is best for the real game of golf.

Professional golfers are only the tip of the iceberg; the majority of us play golf for fun.

The modern professional golfers are overwhelming, not only the older traditional golf courses, but also, even the new extended models, which have been built especially to challenge these super powered professionals. The par of a course is almost meaningless as the tournament professionals often complete a tournament 20 or more under par. Par is defined in the dictionary as; what is normal value, or what is to be expected, but par, in golf, is now a travesty, and has no real meaning.

There are a number of issues which are involved in creating these problems.

1) The technology in modern golf clubs and balls,

2) golfers improved fitness and techniques, as well as

3) the way golf courses are designed and managed.
The game is in danger of losing all its artistry, and the imagination, which is such an important part of the game. There would hardly be room, in the modern world, for the wonderful shot making talents of Lee Trevino, Seve Ballesteros and Christy O’Connor Snr unless they had the power as well.

It was not that long ago, when it was not unheard of golfers occasionally played 3 rounds in a day, this was possible because of the length of the courses, sometimes less than 6,000 yards, but also because of the speed of play. It was not unusual to get a two ball round of golf in 2 hours. Now with courses being extended every year and different altitudes, the golfer is lucky to take under 3½ hours.

So what is going to happen now that golf courses are reaching up to 8,000 yards? The financial implications are immense, with the need for extra land, increased maintenance costs, including labour and fuel, larger quantities of water, fertilizer, and pesticides, which then have environmental implications, as well as the monetary.

Mark Twain’s famous comment “Golf is a good walk spoilt.” is coming home to roost. Because the game is in danger of becoming a very long walk, with only the occasional golf shot. Wonderful golf courses have to be tricked up to protect them from the modern powerhouses of professional golf. Surely this is not the way to treat these golfing treasures, they ought to be shown the respect they deserve.
If this continues unchecked, few people are going to have the time or the inclination to play golf. Golf is about hitting the golf ball, not walking 350 yards between shots?
The longest hitters will always be just that, so does it really matter, if they don’t hit it quiet so far?

If the distance of the golf ball were controlled, it would be the saving of some great golf courses.

The golfing authorities need to bite the bullet,

and control the golf ball, before our championship courses, as well as many little known gems are obsolete.

Our game and golf courses need protecting to ensure the future of the wonderful game we know as FineGolf.