RECOVERY & RENOVATION

PICTURED ABOVE: Reddish Vale before and after treatment

Stockport’s Reddish Vale Golf Club experienced widespread flooding over the New Year period meaning a major recovery programme is now underway on the fairways with the help of Johnsons Sports Seed.

Head Greenkeeper Aaron Watkinson said the club is now embarking on a large-scale flood-recovery project.

“We came back in January 2025," explained Aaron, "to find five of our holes under six to eight foot of floodwater from the River Tame. Once it receded, we were left with hundreds of tonnes of silt and sewerage contamination - all removed by the three of us, by hand!”

Alongside their hard work, it’s been the resilience and performance of Johnsons J Fairway that Aaron says has underpinned their recovery. “Thanks to the incredible team effort some areas have already bounced back incredibly well, and those that need a bit of a helping hand will get an overseed with J Fairway which will help to complete the restoration in the coming weeks.” 

The new seed mix has been selected to help restore Reddish Vale’s traditional heathland character and deliver cost-effective, intelligent turf management. “The blend combines high-quality chewings and slender creeping red fescues for density, visual merit, salt tolerance and drought resilience, alongside two strong creeping red fescues chosen for shoot density and disease resistance. A final 5% of browntop bentgrass gives this mixture a real edge in terms of longevity and visual quality,” said Stuart Yarwood of DLF Seeds, who advised Aaron during the post-flood planning. 

Aaron concluded, “We’re keeping positive and using this recovery as an opportunity to replicate the high standards we’ve delivered with Johnsons on the tees across our flood-hit fairways. We’ll get there!”