Written by: Richard Holland
2021
In 2019 and 2020 we agreed with the Deventer shepherd to graze patches of heather on the golf course. Grazing by sheep is a natural and effective way to prevent fast-growing grasses overcoming the heather and is an approach also used by nature conservation agencies. The alternatives to this (fire, chemicals, machinery) are much less sustainable.
There are 11 separate areas of heather on the golf course. Moving the sheep around to graze these different patches over 3-5 days was sufficient to control the various grasses. The presence of the sheep meant that in some places tee positions or parts of holes had to be changed for a few days to ensure the safety of the animals.
Most golfers reacted positively to seeing the sheep and it also provided an opportunity to inform members in the newsletter about the GEO system. The effect of the sheep grazing was positive for the heather and we plan to extend the areas of heather on the course and make sheep grazing an annual occurrence.
