MR. BOWLS
By GARRY ALLEN, Contract Greenkeeper for Bowls clubs in and around Portsmouth
I started my career in greenkeeping back in 1978 serving an apprenticeship with the then Portsmouth City Council Leisure Department during which I gained my City and Guilds in Amenity Horticulture. I spent ten happy years with P.C.C and, during this time, worked in several different parks across the City, mainly on their bowling greens although I did experience working on cricket wickets, tennis and winter pitches. Latterly, I spent my time working at Southsea Castle Bowling Greens where the three greens were kept to a high standard for the prestigious annual Southsea Open Bowls tournament. This competion attracted participants from all over the UK and even some foreign players. In 1988 I moved to work for the
Portsmouth Water Company to maintain their bowling green, cricket wicket and football pitch, along with grounds maintenance at their head office, pumping stations and reservoir sites. I spent fifteen years with them but,
associated with Bowls is the age group of the members which, on average, must be over
sixty. There is an urgent need to get younger people involved in the sport. If this does not happen then the future survival of some of the clubs must be in doubt”
82 “The main problem
towards the end, my job changed and I was spending less and less time on the sports facilities and more time working on water quality. This, for a greenkeeper, was very frustrating when you know certain jobs had to be done on the green but, because of management practices, I was not allowed to perform them. Eventually, the greens suffered and it was at this point in time I knew it was time for a change.
During my time as a greenkeeper I always maintained membership of the IOG and sat several of their examinations gaining the NPC and NTC certificates in turfculture. I also attended their level 1 and 2 Bowling Green courses held at Beach House Park in
Worthing which involved tuition by the likes of David Bracey and Tony Leach, both interesting and very informative. It was during one of these courses that my lucky break came.
I just happened to sit next to a complete stranger. We got talking and it transpired that he had been sent from a bowls club local to me to gain some experience so that he could liaise with the contractors maintaining their green. He said that they were not happy with the service they were getting and were looking for other companies to tender for the work. When I mentioned that I was thinking of setting up my own company, and looking for contracts to maintain bowling greens, the seed was sown, I had an interview with the committee of the club and gained my first contract. That was in April 2003. The club had recently purchased a new Dennis FT610 with loads of attachments. The committee members had ideas about doing the work themselves but, once I gained the contract, a deal was sorted out where I purchased the machine from them over a five year period. So I had use of a brand new FT610, which has turned out to be a reliable mower and very good for contract work with its interchangeable cassettes. I also purchased a Groundsman 345 aerator and a Wolf 32b scarifier. It did not take long for the word to
spread about the ‘new kid on the block’ and I soon acquired three further contracts for the full maintenance of greens. So, within a year, I was looking after the greens at Cowplain, Waterlooville, Bedhampton and Southsea Waverley Bowling Clubs With the ages of the clubs ranging
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