pitchcare TRAINING & education
Writtle College
A partner institution of the University of Essex, the College has an international reputation as one of the UK’s leading institutions of further and higher education in the land-based industries.
Courses are available on a full or part-time basis, and levels of study available at the College include short courses, vocational training, University of Essex Foundation and Honours degrees and Postgraduate programmes.
The College is situated in its own 220 hectare estate, including 15 hectares of sports fields with a full range of sports turf surfaces and equipment for sports turf maintenance.
Every year, through their NVQ Sports Turf course, students take part in the Ohio State Programme, which is an initiative set up between the College and Ohio State University. The programme enables Writtle College to send suitable students to Ohio to enhance their international career prospects by working on prestigious sites in America, such as Pinehurst Golf Course during the United States Open Tournament.
A number of short courses and workshops in horticulture are also available at the College including the Institute of Groundsmanship National Practical Certificate Induction Training for Groundsmen and Greenkeepers, and a variety of machinery and vehicle handling courses.
To find out more about the courses, please visit
www.writtle.ac.uk
Oatridge: solid training is the fundamentals of greenkeeping
Oatridge College in West Lothian has an enviable reputation for turning out some of the best trained and educated greenkeepers in the UK.
Which is why one of them, Barrie Lewis, is the current Lantra Landbased Learner of the Year in Scotland and why many of his fellow graduates can been found at top clubs all over Europe, the United States and indeed the rest of the world. Several, like Danny Murray and Stewart Macfarlane, have reached a pinnacle by being selected to prepare the top courses for glamour tournaments, in their case the 2006 US Open, but on a day to day basis many more use the College expertise simply to keep their skills and knowledge up to date and boost their careers through continuing professional development. Short courses designed for greenkeepers and ground staff, have long been the most popular the College offers. They can run from one day to five days and
Russell Taylor presents Barrie Lewis with the Peter Alexander Perpetual Trophy
“I think Scotland’s ability to train young people in the practical and sound basics of looking after a golf course is being recognised around the world.”
Many Oatridge apprentices have gone to the United
cover a huge range of specialities, from the safe use of pesticides, the use and maintenance of equipment and risk assessment, through updates on the latest turf maintenance equipment to vehicle and trailer training, small tree felling, drystone dyking and first aid at work. These courses supplement all that has been learned on the basic, full-time one year National Certificate in Greenkeeping course, which prepares students for careers in the sector, and the part-time courses which provide the academic input on the way to a modern apprenticeship. This can be a two year Higher National Certificate course, two year courses leading to SVQ Levels 2 or 3 in Sports Turf or a fast track course leading to SVQ Level 3 Sports Turf in just one year.
The College is currently looking at offering specific managerial/supervisory training for Head Greenkeepers and golf course managers which could be a stand alone part of continuing professional development or a precursor to higher educational awards such as a Higher National Certificate or Diploma or SVQ Level 4.
States under TOPS, a programme run by the Ohio State University, which offers internships to the brightest of young greenkeepers from abroad. Michael O’Keeffe, the Irishman who runs the programme, says course superintendents love their ability to “get stuck in” and their solid and confident knowledge of the fundamentals of greenkeeping.
He says: “I think Scotland’s ability to train young people in the practical and sound basics of looking after a golf course is being recognised around the world. In future, when fewer chemicals will be permitted, the Scottish management philosophy of ‘less is more’ will come to the fore. That is why these young people are in such high demand. They are being trained to manage golf courses in a more environmentally friendly way from the start.” Oatridge College stands on its own 700 acre estate in
the rolling West Lothian countryside and the campus includes a nine-hole play-and-pay golf course which is home to the Binny Golf Club and the perfect resource for student greenkeepers to gain practical experience.
pitchcare TRAINING & education
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