Tow Path Breach Update - 11 April 2025

I am happy to be able to report to you that the Council have received their final consent and will begin work on the rectification of the Breach this coming Monday, 14th April.  It is a significant undertaking to repair and will take some time.  They are setting up a pontoon and delivering to the site from the river, so it is a major engineering undertaking.

I wish I could inform you that we will see an immediate cessation to our flooding woes. However, and this was tied into the consent programme, the culvert and drainage infrastructure will go in after the sheet piling and other work on repairing the 19m gap in the riverbank.  What they are putting in place is a significant piece of infrastructure and this will hugely aid our ability to drain the areas of the course in the flood plain.  However, that installation is scheduled for the end of June, to be completed by 3rd July. 

In the interim, it is envisaged that the extent of the flooding will be lessened, but I cannot fully describe or quantify what “lessened” will mean.  I hope that our ongoing plan and efforts to gradually open as many holes as possible will continue toward a restoration of 36 holes.  There is quite some damage to the riverside holes and rectification will take some time, but we are intending to return to two courses with restrictions whilst that work is being done.  In the meantime, we are trying to work to repair and improve some of the lower holes in conjunction with the Council's plan of work.  I should stress that this is the Council’s plan and, like all projects, there must be some chance of slippage, but it is good news, and there is I am sure some contingency built into their programme.

So, with that I need to be clear that we will be holding our Spring Meetings on the Composite Course.  This is obviously going to have an impact on the availability of golf and tee times through May.  I hope that we can all accept that we are in a unique situation and that we can exercise some respect and understanding to each other, knowing that a significant solution is on the way.  I know the Captains have been looking at a number of things to improve the golfing situation and how we can accommodate as many of you as we can.  The Greens Committee and Courses Team are committed to working to get as many holes open as quickly as we can now that we have much greater confidence that the work is starting.

We have been fortunate with such a dry March.  This has significantly reduced the water in the river and the flow, which are as responsible for the flooding as the tides.  This will help the Council with their work and reduce the effect of the coming Spring Tides that will occur before complete restoration of the breach.  The warm March with daytime temperatures up, particularly in the sun, and a strong cold easterly wind have helped dry out a lot of the courses, in particular those areas affected by the flooding.  It has also obviously dried out the in-play holes and, with night-time temperatures dropping down to a couple of degrees above 0, we have seen frost this week and we have not seen the growth that we so desperately need.  We have had to do a lot of hand watering to control application despite the significant effects of the sun and wind, but have not seen the desired levels of growth. We hope that with an increase in nightly temperatures that we can see that growth start.  We have been significantly fertilising in anticipation of these temperature changes.

Beyond the immediate breach repair work we are working with the Water Working Group and our engineering consultant partners to continue to examine ways to improve drainage across the courses.  You will hear more on their plans in the coming months.

So, to summarise, we do need to be patient for a little while longer, but the light at the end of the tunnels is betting bigger and bright.  In the meantime, enjoy your golf and the sunny spring.

Kindest regards

Mark