Open 2012 conservation guide

The guide to the environmental management of the links at this year’s Open venue, Royal Lytham & St Annes, is now available. This booklet is one of a series covering all of the Open venues with the aim of raising awareness of wildlife and the role golf is playing in managing and conserving the environment in which the game is played. Importantly, they show just how golf and environmental bodies are working together to protect our natural heritage.

The championship course at Royal Lytham might seem like any other that is set in an urban environment; surrounded by housing and, one might think, with little apparent wildlife interest. It is, however, an excellent example of fixed dune grassland. In effect, it is a relic of how the landscape used to look here before the housing was built and, as such, it protects the wildlife associated with this relatively rare type of ecosystem.

A wide range of plants and animals can be seen on the golf course, the rough grassland providing food and shelter for rare bird species, the skylark and linnet, and pollinator insects including bumblebees and butterflies such as gatekeeper and meadow brown.

The booklet provides information on how the links are managed to encourage wildlife and what is done to prevent habitat damage and minimise disturbance to the wildlife in preparation for The Open Championship.

The booklet can be downloaded here.