For the last few seasons, J Premier Tee has been transforming tees and aprons at Reddish Vale Golf Club, Stockport, bringing benefits to play, and praise for head greenkeeper Aaron Watkinson and his team. Widespread flooding over the New Year period however meant a major recovery programme for the fairways, – Johnsons J Fairway ready to rescue them.
“I’ve worked with Johnsons mixtures for many years and know it’s a range I can rely on,” comments Aaron. “We set about some long-overdue improvements on the tees and aprons by first removing some of the tree coverage and identifying the key characteristics we were going to need from our choice of seed, which were wear tolerance, quick recovery, strong colour and an ability to withstand drought stress due to our ageing irrigation system.”
The blend of J Premier Tee and J Fairway from the Johnsons Sports Seed range features 4turf tetraploid ryegrass, the former rapidly re-establishing high-wear areas and sustainable shade tolerant tees.
“We had some tees which were virtually unplayable come the end of September but thanks to overseeding the last few years we now have a strong sward, delivering quality all year round. The members have undoubtedly noticed the improvements,” says Aaron.
For certain tees, Aaron also incorporated additional strength and drought tolerance with the 100% fescue blend of Johnsons J Fairway. Its proven performance on the tees and aprons is set to be extended as the team embark on a large-scale flood recovery project.
“We came back in January 2025 to find five of our holes under six to eight feet of floodwater from the River Tame. Once it receded, we were left with hundreds of tonnes of silt and sewage contamination – all removed by the three of us, by hand!”
Alongside their hard work, the resilience and performance of J Fairway has underpinned their recovery, Aaron reports. “Thanks to the incredible team effort, some areas have already bounced back incredibly well and those that need a bit of a helping hand will get an overseed with J Fairway to help complete the restoration in the coming weeks.”
The new J Fairway mix has been carefully selected to help restore Reddish Vale’s traditional heathland character and deliver cost-effective, intelligent turf management. “The blend combines high-quality chewings and slender creeping red fescues for density, visual merit, salt tolerance and drought resilience, alongside two strong creeping red fescues chosen for shoot density and disease resistance. A final 5% of browntop bentgrass gives this mixture a real edge in terms of longevity and visual quality,” adds Stuart Yarwood of DLF Seeds, who advised Aaron during the post-flood planning.
Aaron concludes, “We’re keeping positive and using this recovery as an opportunity to replicate the high standards we’ve delivered with Johnsons on the tees across our flood-hit fairways. We’ll get there!”