• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2000
• Subjects: Tay; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.616.7443; http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~crb/web/golf/eageabs.pdf

The majority of golf courses in the world require extensive irrigation systems and large water supplies, even in wet climates. The links golf courses around Scotland’s coastline are typically located on vulnerable coastal dune systems and many utilise groundwater to sustain their water requirements. A geophysical survey and hydrological modelling exercise was conducted on a local links course to determine the extent of groundwater supply and the groundwater vulnerability to contamination by saltwater intrusion. The geophysical survey successfully mapped the freshwater-saltwater boundary and modelling results confirmed existing extraction strategies based on current climatic conditions and irrigation demands. A number of pumping scenarios were constructed based on the results of the survey for future water use planning during times of drought and heavy extraction. The methodologies employed in this study can be built into course management strategies where decisions on sighting new irrigation wells and defining future pumping regimes requires predictive capabilities of the aquifer and the subsurface geology. The techniques used in this study readily apply to any golf course or recreational area that relies on groundwater. Background The Fife courses are located on the east coast of Scotland between the Tay and Forth estuaries. The drift sequences above solid bedrock, including soil horizons, were mostly deposited since the last ice sheet retreated and include till, pebbly and sandy clays and low permeability marine clays. Bedrock consists of decametre thick sandstone beds interbedded with siltstone, mudstone, thin coals and thin carbonate layers of the Carboniferous Strathclyde Group (Forsyth and