High Elms Golf Club

14/07/2026

This is serious stuff folks, no smoking or discarding vapes on the course please. Have a drink instead🧋🥤. Thank you

⛳ A friendly reminder to all golfers:

Due to the current dry weather and increased fire risk, we kindly ask that you do not smoke whilst out on the course.
Thank you for helping us keep the course safe for everyone🙏

22/06/2026

Please read, and take your bikes somewhere else……

Course Update – 22nd June

We continue to experience ongoing motorcycle vandalism across the golf course. To help deter this activity and monitor the situation, I will be carrying out random late-evening checks around the course. If you see a black 4x4 driving around at unusual times, please don’t be alarmed.

The greens remain in a good place. Our irrigation programmes are working well alongside the current nutrition programme, helping maintain healthy growth and consistent playing surfaces. There is some minor disease activity present on the course, but it is being closely monitored and remains fully under control.

A verti-cut and cut of the greens is planned for Tuesday 23rd June. Following this, we are expecting very high temperatures, potentially reaching 40°C later in the week. To reduce stress on the turf, the greens will only be rolled for the remainder of the week. As a result, green speeds may be temporarily slower than normal, but this approach will help protect surface quality during the extreme conditions.

We also have a selective herbicide application planned for the tees and approaches in the coming days to continue improving overall presentation and turf quality.

Thank you for your continued support.

Craig simms
Regional ground manager

23/04/2026

Spring is here folks………

08/04/2026

Anyone interested? Time outdoors in retirement maybe, and free golf🥳

27/02/2026

High Elms Course Reopening Update

Dear Members,

We are pleased to confirm that we are now targeting a full course reopening at High Elms on Monday 2nd.

Following an extended period of closure, the course has been untouched in terms of grass cutting for approximately 10 weeks. Due to the mild winter, grass growth continued steadily throughout this time, resulting in significantly increased sward height across all playing areas. While recent improvements in temperature and conditions have allowed us to make progress, there remain a number of areas that are still too soft or saturated for machinery to access safely and effectively.

Although we had initially hoped to reopen sooner, further rainfall forecast for Friday would result in the loss of another key cutting day and risk setting back the progress already made. As a result, reopening on Monday allows us the best opportunity to present the course to a standard that members expect and deserve after such a prolonged closure.

It is important to note that we cannot simply reduce the grass down to playing height in a single cut. Attempting to do so would place excessive stress on the turf, risk scalping and surface damage, and ultimately set back turf health and presentation. Instead, the team must gradually bring all playing surfaces back down in stages, allowing the plant to recover and ensuring consistency of cut and quality across the course. This approach protects the turf and ensures a far better standard of surface for play when we reopen.

Despite the challenges, the team has made strong progress and we are currently around 40% of the way there in terms of full course preparation. Over the coming days we will continue cutting, tidying and refining all playing areas so that the course is presented in the best possible condition for reopening.

We appreciate your patience and understanding during this extended period of closure and look forward to welcoming you back to High Elms on Monday.

Kind regards, Course Management Team High Elms Golf Course

10/02/2026

Dear Members,

I wanted to provide an honest update on course conditions, the weather challenges we are facing, and the significant work planned as we move toward spring.

There is no hiding from the fact that this winter has been extremely difficult. Prolonged rainfall, saturated ground conditions, and a lack of consistent drying windows have made course presentation and recovery challenging. These conditions have limited machinery access, slowed recovery from wear, and increased disease and stress pressure on fine turf areas.

Unfortunately, the forecast suggests we are not completely out of the woods yet. Further unsettled weather is expected, and ground temperatures remain marginal. However, there are encouraging signs that spring is beginning to show. Daylight hours are increasing, soil temperatures are gradually rising, and turf growth is starting to respond when brief dry periods appear. These are the foundations we need to begin moving forward.

Ongoing & Planned Agronomic Works

To support recovery and long-term improvement, we have already begun, and will continue, a programme of air injection and solid tining to relieve compaction, improve drainage, and encourage deeper rooting. These operations will remain a key part of our approach going forward.

Looking ahead to next season, we will also be increasing inputs within our nutrition programme, with a greater focus on micronutrients to support plant health, stress tolerance, and consistency across playing surfaces.

Spring Renovation Programme

Our main spring renovation works are scheduled as follows:

Front 9 – Greens, Tees & Approaches:Monday 13th & Tuesday 14th April

Back 9:To follow Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th April.

The week prior to these works will involve further air injection and solid tining, preparing surfaces for renovation.

The renovation process will include:

Deep scarification

Overseeding:

Greens: Bent grass seed

Tees & Approaches: Rye and fescue mix

Heavy top dressing to complete the process

We expect recovery to take approximately 14–21 days, dependent on weather conditions.

Additional Works

Fairways:In the week following renovations, we will deep rake the fairways, followed by a spring liquid feed including sugars and seaweed to stimulate growth and recovery.

Tree Work:Tree works around the 13th, 15th, and 18th greens have been successfully completed this winter, improving light and airflow. We are now progressing with bunker re-edging, weeding, and sand replacement, with the aim of being spring-ready by Monday 30th March, weather permitting.

Course Presentation:Yardage markers in fairways will be cleaned and refreshed, tee markers revamped, and new flags and hole cups will be introduced.

Irrigation: Ongoing irrigation issues are scheduled to be resolved on the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th greens before the spring. This winter we have already repaired leaks and installed new pumps to significantly improve system pressure and efficiency, along with replacing broken sprinkler heads.

Investment & Direction

Over the last year, My time active has invested heavily in the course, including:

New greens mowers

New rough mowers

New cutting units

New aeration equipment

Hiring specialist machinery where required

This reflects a significant change in approach and culture, focused on doing things properly, investing for the long term, and steadily raising standards. This investment will continue, and the benefits will become more visible as conditions improve.

Thank you for your continued patience and support during a challenging period. I hope to see you out on the course soon, and please feel free to speak with any of the greenstaff or myself if you have any questions.

Kind regards,Craig

16/01/2026

Dear Golfers,

I wanted to provide an update on upcoming course maintenance works scheduled for next week at High Elms.

Due to the exceptionally difficult winter we have experienced, course conditions have suffered more than we would like. Prolonged wet weather, combined with the site’s natural characteristics, has resulted in very challenging ground conditions. As a result, we will be carrying out air injection and deep aeration works across key playing surfaces next week.

These operations are essential to improve soil structure, relieve compaction, enhance drainage, and encourage deeper, healthier root growth. While there may be some short-term disruption, these works are a critical step in helping the course recover and in setting us up to hit spring strongly in the best condition possible after a tough winter period.

Alongside this, tree canopy raising works will continue across the course. This is aimed at increasing light levels and air flow, both of which are vital for turf health, particularly through the winter and early spring months.

There is a significant amount to catch up on following the recent conditions, but please be assured that the team is fully committed to improving winter performance and long-term playing quality at High Elms.

The greenkeeping team is on site from 7:00am to 2:30pm, Monday to Friday, and from 6:00am to 10:00am at weekends. If you have any questions, please feel free to speak to us on site or contact me directly via email at [email protected].

Thank you for your continued patience and support.

Kind regards,
Craig Simms
Regional Grounds Manager

29/09/2025

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24/09/2025

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