18 THE WORLD OF GOLFING
TANDRIDGE GOLF CLUB
Tandridge Committee approves
improvement budget
Tandridge Golf Club
Members have approved a budget for
autumn and winter refurbishment work
on the first and ninth holes at Tandridge
GC, in Oxted, Surrey.
Work on the Harry Colt-designed
course, under the auspices of golf course
architect Tim Lobb, of Woking-based
Lobb + Partners, will see the removal of
some bunkers and the refurbishment of
the rest, including drainage, liners and
new sand. Run-off surrounds around
the first green will also be improved -
changes which will include some new
irrigation.
The meeting also saw the approval
of the club’s ‘Course Design Policy’
document - the blueprint for all
future work on the course. It covers
objectives for daily presentation, routine
maintenance and the more significant
improvement work. Eventually, an
updated woodland management policy
will also be included.
The members also approved the lease
of a second-hand excavator with the
capability to perform almost all of
the club’s regular jobs, including all
bunker re-shaping. Members agreed
the leasing would have a significant
beneficial impact on the cost of bunker
refurbishment programme over the
coming years.
Colt’s original course dates from 1924
and Lobb has been engaged by the
WEBSITE: www.tandridgegolfclub.com
club to carry out a course-evolution
programme, while retaining its natural
and historic character. The Melbourne
University graduate, who has been a
course architect since 1996, has been
gathering extensive historical data on
the course, including aerial photography,
from English Heritage, from the 1940s,
‘60s and ‘90s, as his team looks to assess
changes in a systematic way.
The delightful Tandridge course, near
Oxted, affords spectacular views of
the Surrey North Downs and the High
Weald, with the front nine running
along relatively gentle land and the back
nine sited in more rolling and dramatic
terrain.