We are open when many other courses are closed!

Alresford Golf Club sits upon the chalk downland of Tichborne Down and is extremely free-draining and has not had an unscheduled closure during this 2015/2016 winter season. Indeed there were no unscheduled closures during the 2013/2014 winter season despite having received over 60% of a normal year’s rainfall between 15 December 2013 and 7 February 2014.

During that period (15 Dec 2013 to 7 Feb 2014) 561mm of rain was measured – some 22 inches!

“Despite persistent heavy rain yesterday (Thursday 6 Feb 2014) and through most of the night, a group of us teed off just after 07:30 today – Friday 7 Feb – and found the course very playable indeed. Power Trolleys were allowed and the green keepers were using their heavy petrol-driven buggies on the course.” Few courses in Hampshire could say the same!

Would your course be playable a couple of hours after this?

On Sunday 29th July 2012, the annual “Husbands & Wives” match was abandoned due to thunder, lightning and the heaviest rain and hail anyone can remember. It is estimated that well over 15mm of rain fell in under 30 minutes.

The result can be seen below, greens turned rapidly into lakes, water was so deep in the middle of the fairways it went over people’s shoes and never-before seen streams were formed.
Click on the thumbnails for a larger version:

Whilst we packed soaking wet golf gear away, the deluge stopped almost as rapidly as it started. What was truly amazing was that due to the extremely free-draining nature of Alresford Golf Club – sitting as it does on chalk downland – players were back on the course after about an hour and a half. The picture below was taken an hour or so later, with a limited amount of residual water in the bunkers the only sign of what had happened.

A similar short but torrential downpour happened at about 4pm on Sunday 1st March 2015. Something like 10mm of rain and hail fell in just a few minutes. The website editor noticed the damage to the 17th greenside bunker shown below, during a 7am round the next morning as we walked to the 9th tee. The volume and power of the water runoff must have been very significant. Despite that deluge, the course was pleasantly playable and trolleys were permitted. It’s a tribute to our greens staff that by the time we actually played the 17th the bunker had been repaired and thoroughly raked!