Melrose golf course swings into action to protect newts

A golf club in the Borders is changing its approach to course maintenance – in order to help protect some unexpected guests.

The discovery of great crested newts in a greenside pond has prompted the action at Melrose Golf Club.

It has now approved the purchase of new equipment – with support from Scottish Borders Council (SBC) – which will help staff provide them with the necessary habitat.

Club captain Chris Tiemessen said: “It was a strange feeling, we thought oh my goodness what will we do here? But what may have begun as a problem has since turned into a good opportunity.”

Habitat loss is regarded as the main reason for the dramatic decline in numbers of great crested newts across Scotland, and the wider UK, from the mid-20th Century onwards.

The amphibians are now heavily protected with it being a criminal offence to harm them, their eggs, or their habitats.

Their presence on the golf course created something of a conundrum over how the club could continue to maintain the course and the newts’ new habitat without damaging either.

However, new and more efficient equipment should help ease the challenges of working on land with the protected species which Chris said appeared to be “thriving” since their arrival last year.

In its submission to the council for funding, the golf club said that, due to the “labour-intensive nature” of working on land with the protected species, improved machinery was required.

It said that would allow greenkeeping staff to carry out their current workload in a “timely and proper manner, as well as maintain the protected species habitat”.

“The project will also allow for the protected species to reside in harmony with the golf club,” it added.

The golf club has been granted just under £10,000 from SBC so it can provide the necessary habitats for the protected species.

The machinery will cost nearly £16,000 – with the club contributing just under £6,000.

It means, with the off-season approaching, it can take a different approach to work on the course which should protect the newts.

Chris believes it also gives them a new and unique selling point.

“I think it puts Melrose Golf Club on the map a little bit, in terms of a uniqueness,” he said.

“It’s something we’d certainly like to promote.”