Market Harborough Golf Club.

Sustainability & The Environment.

The nationally recognised work of Market Harborough Golf Club in the areas of sustainability and the environment is undertaken by a small group of club members headed by Jim Jacobs and John Doran. The aim of the group is to promote sustainability and the environment becoming one of the main considerations whenever short and longer term decisions are made re the wider golf estate. MHGC is well placed in this respect having been the birthplace of the Greener Golf Network, whose influence is now spreading inexorably across the midlands.

Those interested should go to www.greenergolf.co.uk to see the work of this organisation, you may be surprised at what you find!

Within the club the group’s recent activities have included encouraging LED lighting and airated water taps, encouraging the use of wooden tees and the avoidance of single use plastics, recycling, the creation of a water recycling machinery wash down area, and advising concerning lake and pond maintenance. We are also looking to provide a water butt at the clubhouse to reduce the amount of mains water being used to water clubhouse flower beds.  Over the years we have deployed over a hundred bird nesting boxes around the course and have recently been working with the Hawk and Owl Trust to clean and monitor the various owl nesting boxes we have on the course. It was great to recently have the Kites nesting on the course and this year we have had kestrels nesting and increasing numbers of sparrow hawks and buzzards in the skies above.

We encourage biodiversity in every way we can and have an ambition to establish an “arm of biodiversity” stretching across the course from north to south from which differing plant species can spread and establish, with all the associated flora and fauna benefits. This arm is intended to stretch from the top of the ninth fairway across and through the academy course to behind the fourth tees and on down through the conifers to the areas to the left of the fifth. In these areas we are attempting to establish a range of different plants and flowers, not with the intention of making the course look “pretty” but to provide a reservoir of plant life that will eventually support a far wider spectrum of animal, bird and plant life. Via donations from many organisations we have been able to start the process of restraining grass and bramble growth to the area to the back of the fourth tees and to introduce a far wider range of species.

The creation of a wider range of habitats is also an important element of our work, so we have built a couple of dead hedges behind the fifth and seventeenth greens. This together with the log wall on the path up to the sixth tee is helping to keep the badgers off the nearby tees and green. The log wall not only provides some definition, but it also enables the club to use timber that would otherwise have to be disposed of or burnt at some environmental cost. Both the dead hedges and the log wall will be regularly “topped up” and will eventually break down to provide a very valuable habitat for a wide range of insects and animals, as well as providing ideal conditions for fungi and lichens.

We are currently in the process of undertaking a comprehensive survey of all the trees across the estate with a view to initially compiling a full record and then working with the greens team to consider where there might be opportunities to thin, fell, plant and even transplant some trees. This survey will also be looking at the possible impact of losing all our ash trees if the ash dieback disease continues to spread across the country.  In autumn 2025 we went around the course and resecured many young trees by way of providing new stakes ad supports.  We also supported the Greens team with the replacement of several strategically important trees and some new plantings made possible by a very generous member donation.  We have also established an  on-course Tree Nursery which can be used to accommodate and grow on young trees which can then be planted out on the course when needed. If any members have any young trees they would be happy to donate please contact us.

However by far and away the most urgent matter likely to be affecting golf courses like ours in future years will be the real threat of not being able to use mains water for course irrigation. To this end we are working with the directors and the greens team to look at all possible ways forward. This involved working with both the water supply and the drainage authorities, our local authorities, DEFRA, and local interest groups. This work has been greatly assisted by the networking power within the Greener Golf organisation.

We welcome and donations of ideas, time, plants or money, and as of January 2026 we would be interested to hear from any member or otherwise who might have access to a small tractor cultivator to assist with the preparation of further seedbed areas. All our work is self-funded by way of member donations and corporate sponsorship,  in which respect thanks are due, amongst others, to Helix Tool Company, Thompson and Morgan, Dobies Garden Centres, O A Taylor and Sons, Pictorial Meadows and MeadowMania.  Anyone with an interest in this work should contact Jim Jacobs via IG or at  jimjacobs planner@gmail.com

December 2025.