Sustainable golfing at Ebotse

For an area of land that was once an old mining site, the Ebotse Links Golf Course, within the Ebotse Golf and Country Estate, is a fine example of a pristine and environmentally sustainable world class golf course, which will provide the setting for the Benoni City Times Golf Day, on August 29.

Millions of cubic metres of soil, contaminated with mining by-products, were removed, an old quarry pit was filled in, a second quarry pit rehabilitated and thousands of square metres of alien vegetation was removed to make way for what is today an environmentally sensitive and balanced golf course, combining links, lakeside and parkland.

Peter Matkovich’s (designer) vision includes the clever use of what was once a quarry, dramatically transformed into a driving range, where golfers are able to hit floating balls into the lake.

Now into its fifth year of operation, the Ebotse Links continues to uphold this environmentally sustainable trend.

The course is maintained to world class standards — fertilizer programmes are environmentally friendly, putting down only what is needed, while the John Deere equipment used for course maintenance is the preferred brand of the PGA, used by the association to prepare golf courses for all its tournaments.

“At Ebotse Links we use a Rain Bird irrigation system, which is operated from a central control computer situated in the course superintendent’s office,” said Hardus Maritz, course superintendent.

“We use the forecast evaporation transpiration level for the day to work out how much water needs to be sprayed onto the course while primary irrigation activities take place during the night, when there is no evaporation, and this also ensures that the course is always ready for players to use during the day.

“No potable water is used for irrigation purposes — we draw all this water from our main irrigation dam, situated at the driving range, which derives from storm water inlets on the estate.

“Storm water and drainage areas have been very well designed to ensure that most of the water is channelled to the irrigation dam, providing sufficient water to irrigate the golf course all year round.”

In addition, several artificial wetlands are being established and maintained within this irrigation programme.

Although Ebotse Golf and Country Estate is a thriving and well-populated residential and golf estate, a strict biodiversity policy ensures that protected species are appropriately managed within environmentally protected areas on the golf course.

The estate and the rehabilitated Rynfield Dam are home to an array of threatened and unusual wildlife, including the giant bullfrog, the fresh water otter, owl, duiker and springbok.

Book your spot today for the Benoni City Times Golf Day, by calling 011 748-1631, or sending an email to marketing@ebotselinks.com.

For any enquires contact Heypenni Gold, on 011 894-3831, or email to Kerry, at admin@heypennigold.co.za.

For more information about the course and to take a virtual tour of the estate visit www.ebotselinks.com.