Battling The Elements

Some of the country’s best-known courses are facing immediate or future threat from the forces of nature

- Fergus Bisset

Climate change affects us all and has an impact on multiple aspects of life. In January and February this year, two stories emerged that demonstrated the battle Britain’s golf courses are facing, and could face, with the elements owing to climate change.

Firstly, there was news that England’s oldest golf course, Royal North Devon (RND), had lost a section of land behind the 8th tee and that much more was under threat. Then came a Climate Coalition report that suggested RND could be the tip of the iceberg. The report stated that “only a small increase in sea-level rise would imperil all of the world’s links courses before the end of the century.” Many of Britain’s most revered and renowned tracks could be lost.

When Storm Eleanor hit the south-western coasts of England this January, it claimed some 50 feet of land from behind the 8th tee at RND. Tidal flooding left rocks and debris strewn across the course. The 7th and 8th holes are now under imminent threat from further high tides. Worryingly, there are currently no plans to prevent the ingress of the Atlantic.