66 postdates Woking’s creation by some years), the greens are large, sinuous and, in places, massively contoured. As with most of the Surrey heath courses, time took its toll on Woking. Heathland is a created, not natural, landscape – it was formed by early farmers who felled trees to create grazing for their f locks, and when no longer grazed, it inevitably reverts to woodland if left untouched. That is what happened at Woking, as at virtually every other heathland course. And it happened sufficiently long ago that these courses have been heavily treed now for many years, long enough for a narrative to emerge that they are or should be ‘forested courses’. Under the supervision of course manager Andy Ewence and consulting architect Tim Lobb, Woking continues to make progress with one of the most ambitious programmes to restore heathland characteristics yet to be adopted on the Surrey heath. One example of this work was the clearance of a substantial area behind the second green and to the left of the eleventh fairway. To anyone familiar with Woking, the change was remarkable. The hillside behind the fifth green was now clear. Two years on, heather is springing back into the cleared area: in a few more years, it should be a field of the purple stuff. The club is now evaluating similar work in other areas: not only would this open up the site quite remarkably in places, over time the reduced fertility in the soil from the lack of falling leaves should have a significant effect on both the heather coverage (it does best in poverty soils, when it cannot be out-competed by other species) and the turf sward — it should “ Heathland is a created, not natural, landscape – it was formed by early farmers who felled trees to create grazing for their flocks, and when no longer grazed, it inevitably reverts to woodland if left untouched” WOK ING GC A substantial area of green at the par-four fifth has been recaptured Photo: Jason Livy
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