FUTUREPROOFING FAIRWAYS

Cardigan Golf Club on Wales’ west coast has been tackling the perennial challenge of maintaining healthy fairways on shallow soils, averaging just 3-4 inches over bedrock.

The issue was particularly acute in 2025, with months of very low rainfall testing the resilience of the turf.

Course manager Stuart Adams says the club has been experimenting with fescue blends to find varieties suited to the site’s rugged, sandy conditions. “We went back to basics and looked at what was native on the fairways,” he explains. “Hard and Sheeps Fescue seemed to cope with our links conditions, so we’ve been using a bespoke mix containing around 25-30% Hard Fescue for the last few years.”

This year, the club trialled a new overseeding option from Johnsons Sports Seed, J Sustain Fairway, which contains 40% Hard Fescue. The results were notable. “As soon as the rain returned in September, the strike rate was incredible - the best I’ve seen from any mix in the last six or seven years,” Stuart reports.

The mix also incorporates Sheeps Fescue and other creeping and chewing fescue varieties, designed to perform in links and heathland conditions while requiring lower inputs of water, nutrients, and chemicals. Stuart highlighted its resilience as a key benefit for the future, saying, “It’s tough and perfect for coping with hotter, drier summers and wetter winters, which is critical for futureproofing our course.”

Unexpectedly, the new mix also seemed to reduce leatherjacket and bird pecking damage, potentially due to the tougher root structure of the Hard Fescue.

Without irrigation on the fairways, the club schedules overseeding for autumn, and the new mix is already part of plans for 2026. “When something works as well as this, it should be shouted from the rooftops,” Stuart says.