I returned to my golf club in Norwich for the first time in more than five weeks recently after cancer surgery (more about that later).
I knew that the course was going to be pretty dry after the scorching summer most of us have experienced but I have to say that I was genuinely shocked with what confronted me.
The fairways and rough are bleached white. I say rough but that is a gross exaggeration - it is little more than stubble.
Drought Conditions Have Changed Golf Courses Dramatically
I have heard stories of senior golfers hitting drives in excess of 350 yards, driving into lakes that should, in all logical sense, be out of range. I have heard tales of balls landing in the middle of fairways and bouncing at right angle, often never to be seen again.
The only areas of green are the tees and putting surfaces. The ground is like concrete. A number of my friends have even stopped playing - it’s too hot, the course is unplayable, it is impossible to stop the ball on the greens, etc.
And it is, of course, the same for just about every golf course in England and Wales.
Cracks are appearing in the middle of fairways. Bunkers are hard-packed and almost unplayable.
(Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club, Suffolk by Matt Holbrook)
They say that grass is incredibly resilient and that it always recovers after a bit of rainfall. But here’s the thing - even with preferred lies, on many fairways there is little or no grass left to recover. Courses are going to face massive reseeding projects in the weeks and months ahead. Winter golf is going to be incredibly challenging.
This is the second year on the bounce that we have faced such conditions and there is every indication that this is going to become the new normal.
It seems to me that the sport of golf has buried its head in the sand over this. It is not as if we haven’t been warned but there has been no preparation and no action taken.
What Can Golf Courses Do About Extreme Summers?
So what on earth are we going to do about it? Do we just accept it or do we look at introducing some new measures that will help to protect our courses? It seems pretty obvious to me that doing nothing is not a practical option because that would means nothing will ever improve.
Many courses encourage golfers to use small fairway mats during the winter. It strikes me that if we are going to give our courses any realistic chance of recovery then we may have to consider doing the same thing during the brutal summer months.
It is surely a better option than trying to play a proper iron shot from a rock-hard surface. And they are not going to break the bank. A quick internet search shows they can cost anything from £12.50 to around £28.
Then there is the thorny subject of water. I fully accept that there have been heavy restrictions on water use but there are alternatives.
I know of several courses that have boreholes that are used purely and simply to fill decorative lakes - this is bonkers, plain and simple. Why would you do that rather than use said water on your fairways?
What about creating reservoirs? Courses that have them are still boasting lush green fairways. Yes, I know that it calls for an investment but let’s face facts here - if summers continue as they have in 2025 and 2026, courses are not going to be fit for purpose. And in the long-term that can only cause damage to the wellbeing of our sport. For courses that lie next to the sea the time has surely come to explore the possibility of getting water from desalination plants.
It is abundantly clear to all of us that the status quo is a non-starter. Some of the solutions may be expensive but they are surely better than the alternative.
Why I Will Never Take 18 Holes of Golf For Granted Again
You may remember that some weeks ago I told you that I needed to have my right kidney removed because of a 7cm growth that turned out to be cancerous. I have been back to the hospital to see my consultant.
The operation was a success and the lymph nodes they removed were cancer-free. I go back in a couple of weeks for a full scan and may need some immunotherapy going forward. The good news is it hadn’t spread to my liver. But there may still be some battles ahead.
In the meantime, I have now been given the all-clear to start playing golf, so I have been back to the driving range. Every bone in my body aches but I feel great. I will never again take 18 holes of golf for granted.
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