A recent visit to Lymm Golf Club in Cheshire to talk to Head Greenkeeper, Stuart Yarwood, gave me the opportunity to meet up with several other like-minded individuals who call themselves the Gingerbread Men.
This group of Greenkeepers, with a combined total of over two hundred years experience on golf courses in and around Europe, all currently work at courses in Cheshire and North Wales. Laurence Gale MSc asks ...
GINGERBREAD MEN?
Who are the
Their common goals are to raise the profile of sustainable golf course management and share their ideas and working practices with other greenkeepers.
In the coming months Pitchcare will be visiting the ‘Gingerbread Men’ golf courses to see the results of their endeavours. It is likely to stimulate much debate within the greenkeeping fraternity.
Sustainability is the current ‘hot topic’, with both BIGGA and the R&A promoting examples of good practices being undertaken around the country. The Gingerbread Men have taken this commitment to the cause to another level. Stuart Yarwood takes up the story:
“Andy Ralphs from Delamere Golf Club was instrumental in the maintenance of my sanity throughout this ‘sustainable change’, supporting me over the telephone and at meetings, helping me not give in and to keep me strong and focused. Plus we both enjoy a pint and a game of golf together! It was great to see other golf courses we played from a member’s point of view and, as time went by, we both met other greenkeepers who shared our philosophies and frustrations with the industry.
I met Andy Peel, from Bull Bay on Anglesey, in the back of a van at 3 o’clock in the morning going to Menorca to play golf. Don't ask!! We hit it off and we have kept in touch every week having a natter and supporting each other. After an argument about the benefits of slitting with Steve Oultram of Wilmslow Golf Club, we became friends as we knew we were both treading the same sustainable path to course management, and finding and overcoming the same problems. We got in touch with each other regularly, swapping ideas and experiences and, after a game of golf at Rhuddlan Golf Club, we met Paul Lowe, a great guy and another enthusiast for traditional greenkeeping. Suddenly we were five guys meeting up with each other, phoning and saving our wives being bored from the normal stresses of the job. It wasn’t just me anymore. I was no longer alone! It was when I received a phone call from Steve Isaac from the R&A, who was interested in what we were doing in our area, that we formed a networking cell of like-minded greenkeepers who wanted to share ideas about traditional greenkeeping. The group became complete with Brian
Taylor, Sandiway Golf Club, Carl Croucher, Caldy Golf Club, and Roger and John Kerry from Royal St Davids Golf Club in Harlech. We called ourselves the Gingerbread Men. A great bunch of guys, all trying to promote a more sustainable path at their respective golf clubs.
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We, as a group, are not about a grass species. Although we do everything we can to discourage Poa at our own course, we are not exclusive to the God of Fescue. Colonial bent grasses have been overlooked in the sustainable bun- fight and can readily be achieved on the poorest of sites. You’ve just got to follow best practice guidelines: Jim Arthur, Disturbance Theory or whatever works for you. But, ultimately, it takes one person at the golf club to start the change, and that has to be the Greenkeeper. It also takes a supportive committee, a great agronomist, a
we get the respect and trust of our members. We are all human after all. Some are just more human than others. We are a group in the North
West of England on very different sites working towards and achieving the same sustainable goals through sustainable practices. We are all individuals and do things slightly differently to each other.
The important thing is that we tell each other how different we
well informed membership and a strong Greenkeeper to follow it through. It is now so encouraging to be part of a group, formed out of friendship and mutual respect, who we can bounce ideas off and support each other at our own club nights and members forums. More importantly, it has created a new found enthusiasm in our own courses through fresh ideas and confidence to see the change through so that the club can realise its potential. We laugh together and sometimes cry together! It is so important to talk at all levels in the industry, whether it is to our members, the trade or our peers. Gone are the days of the Greenkeeper hiding in the shed wondering what the members are thinking. We present ourselves professionally and
are and we listen to how it could work at our own clubs. We exchange ideas, support each other and have a good time. It is continued professional development on another level. So, next time you are passing your neighbour, say hello, and talk to him. You might like what he has to say.
And for those thinking why in the world we have called ourselves the Gingerbread Men? Well, it’s not because we are sweet, sickly and always smiling. It is because, as Greenkeepers and, like our biscuity friends, we are always getting our heads bitten off! But it doesn’t seem to hurt as much when there’s a few more of you. Remember, it’s never as bad as it could be, and it’s good to talk. We don’t know who the muffin man is, but we know where he lives!”
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