Springwood BC snakes on the green

Club News

After a 15-week playing season through the Winter months, Springwood greenkeeper, John Pix, is happy with the progress being made in preparing for the Summer season. The Springwood green was one of the two original greens in the Winter League. It has been played on every Winter since 2020 and hasn't had a rest from all year round action for 6 years..

Looking at it now sort of disperses the belief that some people would tell you about greens being damaged by all year round use. No one is denying that Winter action means more maintenance work during the Winter months but the income generated over that same time period will more than finance that work.

If you get the opportunity to see the Springwood green when there isn't a bowling match on then you may notice 20+ tubes scattered around the green. You can see them in the latest photograph below. I asked John about this practice of regularly throwing them around the green. This is his response.....

For a number of years I have joined Huddersfield Recreation Club bowlers on a weekend in Bridlington, bowling at Westgate and Hunmanby. Last time we visited l noticed them throwing these bits of pipe on the green when we had finished .So I asked what they were for and was told they were to imitate snakes to keep the seagulls off the green .

At the time we had a lot of trouble at Springwood with something digging holes in the green. It was thought to be a fox. So we made some 'snakes' and up to now it seems to have worked. Even magpies and squirrels stay in the gutters. Long may it last.