Since Lucy has completed her 6 months with us on the Kickstart scheme and having done a great job on pushing sustainability at Hunley, I will be taking over her blog to keep up with communicating the great work going on at Hunley.
For those that don’t know me, I am the Deputy Course Manager here at Hunley.
I have been at the golf club for 4 years and have seen so many fantastic projects and changes around the facility and I’m proud to be part of such an inspiring team.
I’m close to completing the HNC in Golf Course Management and received an R&A Scholarship 2 years ago.
In this update, I’m going to focus on the 2 initiatives that we have been working on most recently.
Although having achieved GEO certification for our sustainable management last year demonstrated our fantastic work, we have also used the process to identify areas for improvement.
Reducing Waste
A big focus for us this year is to both reduce, but also to deal with the waste generated on site in a more sustainable way. Up until now around 50% of our waste has gone to a recycling centre, but the other 50% has been going to landfill. Although waste to landfill only equates to around 15-18 tons per year, we are hoping to reduce that significantly going forwards.
With a large portion of our waste going to landfill being food waste, our intention is to start composting this onsite.
We recently applied for an environmental waste exemption, which will allow us to compost up to 60 tons of material per year onsite.
Last month we spent several days creating an area where composting can be carried out safely, without impacting on people or the environment. Greg talked about the practical side of this work in his monthly update and you can see the new access below.
The area will be made up of several piles of organic waste materials that will be mixed and turned regularly to allow for efficient natural breakdown.
Through this process we should have good quality compost within 6 months, however our aim is to look to have a finished product in around a year. This will then be reused around the facility as a compost or mixed into soil where a more nutrient rich material is required.
Tree Planting
The second piece of news to report comes with the planting up of 2 areas on the course.
Lucy spent some time applying for various grants that could help us in our aim to be more sustainable and one of those recently came to fruition, as we had 300 tree plants donated.
The Conservation Volunteers are a charity working on environmental initiatives across the UK and have been running a particular initiative called ‘I dig trees’. This is being supported by OVO energy and their aim has been to plant 2 million trees across the UK before tree planting season finishes.
We have planted up 2 areas, both with the aim of connecting different habitats on the course to help nature move more easily across the course.
The first is down the side of the driving range, with 200 Hawthorn planted to create what will eventually become a dense hedgerow.
The other area is on the far boundry of the course. This has been planted up with a mixture of Goat Willow, Hazel, Hawthorn and Dog Rose, all of which are native species.
This will be of particular benefit to migratory birds, as they look for safe haven after a long journey. Our course is one of the best areas for bird life in the region, with over 150 species having been identified on the course for those that perhaps didn’t know!
Other News
A few other positives to bring you come from the Golf Club Shop which is now back in house as our own retail outlet.
Firstly all bags for purchased items are made from recycled paper and we will no longer be buying in plastic golf tees, which will be replaced by tees made from bamboo!
Every little change makes a difference and we are constantly reviewing the way we do things, to help make improvements in how we can operate and to lead the way in responsible and sustainable management.
Many thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy our information bulletins.
Gavin Kitching
Deputy Course Manager
Hunley Golf Club