Golf course vandalism continues to blight the game – and Thorndon Park course manager David Byron had to act quickly and decisively after returning from BTME 2025 to discover devastating damage to six greens, three tees and many fairways. He did, and a few months later the surfaces were ready for club championships at what is Essex’s sole Top 100 course.
“Being in Harrogate when news broke of our misfortune was both good and bad,” explains David, in post for the last five years. “While I was not in a position to personally assess the damage the quadbikes had caused, I was overwhelmed by the support and offers of assistance I received from the greenkeeping community.
“I took advantage of as many extra pairs of hands as I could when I returned to clear the greens and managed to get hold of a lot of materials on overnight shipments. The club, members and the whole industry went above and beyond in our hour of need and we’re incredibly grateful.”
David and his team of nine set about relevelling and restoring affected greens one at a time, sacrificing the club’s putting green to bring the surfaces back into play as swiftly as possible. “We took our time to blend the turfed areas in with micro-coring, topdressing and overseeding with Johnsons J All Bent and J Ultrafine Rye Green,” he explains.
Overseeding strategy
Having sown Johnsons seed across all areas of the course for some years, David brought in supplier DLF’s Craig Spooner to agree an overseeding strategy combining the two mixtures. “We used the quick-establishing ryegrass as a nursery plant before going back to favouring the bent grasses. The photos and reaction we’ve had from players at our recent club championship speak volumes for how successful the programme has performed,” David reports.
Johnsons J All Bent offers density, sustainability and visual quality, comprising three top-rated browntop bent cultivars to deliver a sward tolerant of high wear and close mowing, while disease resistance also reduces requirements for chemical inputs, DLF states.
Greens recovery has been matched by the performance of Johnsons J Tee and a bespoke dwarf ryegrass mixture on the fairways. “Most of the other damaged areas have bounced back with some regular overseeding and a good dose of TLC,” says David, who hails “a momentous team effort all round” in bringing the course back to full playability.
www.johnsonssportsseed.co.uk