The Greenkeeping Team at Exeter Golf and Country Club visited neighbouring Trinity School earlier this week to help save their playing field from falling into disrepair. The playing field was installed in 2018 but required urgent care to ensure it was usable this summer. Having been quoted over £10,000 by a sports field contractor company, the School Governors got in touch with the club to see if there was any neighbourly help available.
The playing field required aerating, top dressing and over seeding to repair the damage.
John Parr, Golf Course Manager, headed down to the school to meet with the Headteacher and the vice -chair of Governors, to assess the situation and offer some expert advice. Whilst the school was able to cover the costs of the top dressing and seeding, a large expense would be to aerate the ground. This is where the club stepped in – providing the machinery and a bit of time.
Dave Chappell, Deputy Golf Course Manager visited the school for a morning to verti-draining the soil to provide aeration before the feed and seed process started in April.
Verti-draining is the process of inserting tines into the surface of the ground, used to break up soil compaction. This creates multiple, small holes on the surface of the turf. The holes created from verti-draining allow oxygen into the soil and the greens to drain properly, making room for aeration.
Owen Wilder, Headteacher of Trinity CofE VA Primary School said, “We contacted Exeter Golf and Country Club to ask for help with a view to developing a relationship with our neighbouring organisation. Many of our school families are members at the club so we hoped the club would be agreeable to working with the wider community, which they were.”
Chris Jones, General Manager at Exeter Golf and Country Club said, “Exeter Golf and Country Club has many partnerships with other businesses and has worked with various schools and community projects over the years. We are always to happy to help when we can – luckily in this case we had the means to get involved and save the school money by just offering a bit of expert advice and time. We look forward to seeing the healthier playing field in action later in the year.”
