From 2005 to present there has been a demonstration area for the rally cars at the top of the hill
Legend of Goodwood's golden racing era and Le Mans winner Roy Salvadori once famously said "give me Goodwood on a summer's day and you can forget the rest".
One Summer, King Edward VII turned his back on the traditional morning suit, and donned a linen suit and Panama hat. Thus the Glorious Goodwood trend was born.
One Summer, King Edward VII turned his back on the traditional morning suit, and donned a linen suit and Panama hat. Thus the Glorious Goodwood trend was born.
Flying training began at Goodwood in 1940 when pilots were taught operational flying techniques in Hurricanes and Spitfires.
Goodwood’s pigs are a mix of two rare breeds (Gloucester Old Spots and Saddlebacks) plus the Large White Boar.
Just beyond Goodwood House along the Hillclimb, the 2nd Dukes banqueting house was also known as "one of the finest rooms in England" (George Vertue 1747).
Goodwood Motor Circuit was officially opened in September 1948 when Freddie March, the 9th Duke and renowned amateur racer, tore around the track in a Bristol 400
Mattresses and eiderdowns are stuffed with wool from the Goodwood Estate.
Inspired by the legendary racer, Masten Gregory, who famously leapt from the cockpit of his car before impact when approaching Woodcote Corner in 1959.
For the last two years, 5,800 bales have been recylced into the biomass energy centre to be used for energy generation
Legend of Goodwood's golden racing era and Le Mans winner Roy Salvadori once famously said "give me Goodwood on a summer's day and you can forget the rest".
Spectate from the chicane at the Revival to see plenty of classic cars going sideways as they exit this infamous point of our Motor Circuit.
Spectate from the chicane at the Revival to see plenty of classic cars going sideways as they exit this infamous point of our Motor Circuit.
Spectate from the chicane at the Revival to see plenty of classic cars going sideways as they exit this infamous point of our Motor Circuit.
For the last two years, 5,800 bales have been recylced into the biomass energy centre to be used for energy generation
The red & yellow of the Racecourse can be traced back hundreds of years, even captured in our stunning Stubbs paintings in the Goodwood Collection
King Edward VII (who came almost every year) famously dubbed Glorious Goodwood “a garden party with racing tacked on”.
Leading women of business, sport, fashion and media, take part in one of the most exciting horseracing events in the world.
One Summer, King Edward VII turned his back on the traditional morning suit, and donned a linen suit and Panama hat. Thus the Glorious Goodwood trend was born.
King Edward VII (who came almost every year) famously dubbed Glorious Goodwood “a garden party with racing tacked on”.
King Edward VII (who came almost every year) famously dubbed Glorious Goodwood “a garden party with racing tacked on”.
The first ever horsebox was used from Goodwood to Doncaster for the 1836 St. Leger. Elis arrived fresh and easily won his owner a £12k bet.
The Fiat S76 or "Beast of Turin" is a Goodwood favourite and can usually be heard before it is seen at #FOS
The Motor Circuit was known as RAF Westhampnett, active from 1940 to 1946 as a Battle of Britain station.
The first ever round of golf played at Goodwood was in 1914 when the 6th Duke of Richmond opened the course on the Downs above Goodwood House.
The first thing ever dropped at Goodwood was a cuddly elephant which landed in 1932 just as the 9th Duke of Richmonds passion for flying was taking off.
Built in 1787 by celebrated architect James Wyatt to house the third Duke of Richmond’s prized fox hounds, The Kennels was known as one of the most luxurious dog houses in the world!
Goodwood Motor Circuit was officially opened in September 1948 when Freddie March, the 9th Duke and renowned amateur racer, tore around the track in a Bristol 400
One of the greatest golfers of all time, James Braid designed Goodwood’s iconic Downland course, opened in 1914.
The iconic spitfire covered almost 43,000 kilometres and visited over 20 countries on its epic journey and currently resides at our Aerodrome.
The Motor Circuit was known as RAF Westhampnett, active from 1940 to 1946 as a Battle of Britain station.
The iconic spitfire covered almost 43,000 kilometres and visited over 20 countries on its epic journey and currently resides at our Aerodrome.
A temple-folly guarded by two sphinxes, the beautiful shell house was built in 1748 with collected shells and the floor made from horse teeth.
Built in 1787 by celebrated architect James Wyatt to house the third Duke of Richmond’s prized fox hounds, The Kennels was known as one of the most luxurious dog houses in the world!
Ensure you take a little time out together to pause and take in the celebration of all the hard work you put in will be a treasured memory.
The first ever horsebox was used from Goodwood to Doncaster for the 1836 St. Leger. Elis arrived fresh and easily won his owner a £12k bet.
Easy boy! The charismatic Farnham Flyer loved to celebrate every win with a pint of beer. His Boxer dog, Grogger, did too and had a tendancy to steal sips straight from the glass.
Flying training began at Goodwood in 1940 when pilots were taught operational flying techniques in Hurricanes and Spitfires.
Testament to the 19th-century fascination with ancient Egypt and decorative opulence. The room is richly detailed with gilded cartouches, sphinxes, birds and crocodiles.
Just beyond Goodwood House along the Hillclimb, the 2nd Dukes banqueting house was also known as "one of the finest rooms in England" (George Vertue 1747).
The Motor Circuit was known as RAF Westhampnett, active from 1940 to 1946 as a Battle of Britain station.
Testament to the 19th-century fascination with ancient Egypt and decorative opulence. The room is richly detailed with gilded cartouches, sphinxes, birds and crocodiles.
The famous fighter ace, who flew his last sortie from Goodwood Aerodrome, formerly RAF Westhampnett has a statue in his honor within the airfield.
Built in 1787 by celebrated architect James Wyatt to house the third Duke of Richmond’s prized fox hounds, The Kennels was known as one of the most luxurious dog houses in the world!
I will start with our Nematode issue on our greens. As I have mentioned previously that the 9th green has suffered badly from these microscopic worms, however, we have noticed nearly all greens have some affected areas on them.
We have had soil samples tested in a turf laboratory prior to an application of an organic garlic product (which is the only available product that will help reduce numbers). After the application was made, we re-tested and the numbers dropped to an acceptable level, we then sprayed Garlic again 14 days later, to reduce numbers even more.
Although this has lowered the numbers in the soil, it has been too late to affect the numbers inside the root system itself, which after speaking to the UK leading specialist, has told me the cyst nematode (bad nematode) would have been laying eggs in the root system in the spring, with no signs of symptoms, until it was too late. Therefore, to prevent this happening next year, we will be sending soil samples bi-weekly in the spring to allow us to know when the female cyst nematodes will be laying eggs, so we can minimise any damage before it takes effect later on in the year. After the garlic product has reduced nematode numbers, we then sprayed a bio nutrient package to increase the numbers of the good nematodes which also help us reduce the unwanted nematodes in the soil profile.
Unfortunately, due to this and some other summer diseases we had last month, the turf is much weaker than normal and this is a concern going into the autumn. We will look to maintain good plant health and apply products that have aided us in the past few years to minimise disease.
We continue with our sand top dressing on a bi-weekly basis, however, sometimes this may be done weekly to catch up on missed dressing due to the disease present in the last few months. Top dressing or dusting provide a truer and faster surface to putt on as there is less resistance between the ball and leaf blade. It also dilutes our thatch layer, which also aids in improving the health of the plant. The AVG green speed for the past four weeks has been 9.6 on the stimpmeter, getting up to 10.1 on Club Championship days. Moisture levels were higher than normal with a 30% average (target range 20%-25%) and trueness was in target range averaging at 90%, which was pleasing. I would just like to say a thank you to my team for all the hard work they’ve put in so far this year, especially around Club Championships, where there were a few evening shifts before each competition to produce the course to the best it could be with the resources we have.
With the considerable amount of rain we have had in the past six weeks, the course is looking great and is extremely green. It is the first time in many years that we are cutting the rough constantly (in normal summers we normally cut on a two-week basis). Therefore, there may be some more grass clippings around than normal.
Weeds in the bunkers have now been sprayed with total weedkiller to help with presentation. We continue to move sand to help with bunker levels, however sometimes these hazards have a minimal rake, because of the higher frequency of cutting in the current conditions.
Next month we are scheduled to cut and collect the long rough. This will take a few weeks as it is thicker this year due to the wet spring we encountered earlier in the year.
Finally, The Downs Deputy Head Greenkeeper, Dan Cornish and Agronomy team member, Danny Carter qualified for the BIGGA National Final last week after playing at West Sussex Golf Club in the regional qualifier. Dan won the best gross score with +2 and Danny won the nett Stableford with 39 points and also came 3rd on gross with a score of +3. We wish them all the best in the final which takes place in September.
Look forward to seeing you on the course!
Rob Dyer, Head Greenkeeper, The Downs Course
The Academy Short Course work goes from strength to strength, and we are delighted with the progress. For those of you who’ve passed by on your way to the Academy, or as you are out on the Green, I’m sure you are as keen as we are to see the work in development, and looking forward to the opening when it comes around.
On the course itself, throughout August the greens have remained consistent in speeds and performance. It’s clear to see the benefits from our regular maintenance. We’ve been using folia feeds that help aid heat stress and grass health and soil feeds that help enhance root growth and improve oxygen availability for the plant, as well as cultural tasks such as light sand dressing to aid with trueness and speed. All these practices have been vital in keeping the greens at a very high level.
It has been business as usual on the rest of the course; 100mm of rain throughout the month and the recent rise in temperature has given us a nice growth boost, which has helped our re-seeding programme on some of the damaged areas throughout the course, especially the damage to the 10th fairway.
Bunker work is always an ongoing task with Flymo, edging and topping up the sand a regular job throughout the month.
The good old British summer has been more than a little unpredictable and the more monsoon-like showers we’ve experienced have caused a few challenges. However, cutting continues to keep standards high.
And finally, the Golf At Goodwood Club Championship week went as planned. The Greens were stimping at 10.10 for the Mens and 100% true. We received lots of great feedback which is always appreciated, so thank you to those of you who shared with us, it motivates and drives the team.
See you on the course,
Simon Berry (Head Greenkeeper)