Patrick ‘Cal’ Callaby is Workshop Manager at the Celtic Manor Resort in South Wales. Whether it’s a full on televised tournament or just a ‘special event’ a heightened level of care is required on the course.
In this article Cal explains how Celtic Manor staff operate during the Wales Open.
will ‘swim’ on the next height of cut change. It’s a matter of timing and, at this stage, economy of blades (for me anyway) does not come into it, only the playing surface. ‘Salvage’ can be addressed later. A week before the tournament we sharpen all fairway and trim mowers and grind all the pedestrian tees mowers at the end of that week.
The final height of cut on the greens is now getting close and any problems will soon make an appearance. The pedestrian greens mowers are tickled on the grinder after each use and their performance on the greens is carefully monitored, every mark is scrutinised, diagnosed and addressed. Practice Day 1 is upon us; the compound is a hive of activity at 4:30am as the greenkeepers get in the starting blocks. Everything has been prepared the day before so it’s a “jump in and go” type start. Early tee-offs make every minute count and a great deal of organisation regarding the route each individual operator must take to their work place has occurred. If mistakes are going to be made, or the plan has to be modified, then now is the time. Some 15-20 minutes after the
greenkeepers commence mowing our tournament support truck leaves the compound and the duty technician trawls
around the course, mobile phone and 2- way radio at the ready, parking occasionally and looking at greens to see if there are problems looming. My team of three take turns with this. I depart 30- 40 minutes later and drive around the course stopping at each green that has been cut, keeping an eye out for any problems, with my mobile phone, 2-way radio, prism, macroscope and kneeling board all in my vehicle. Hopefully the work progresses without incident and, when all the tasks are completed, the greenkeepers on their various machines assemble with the Course Manager, his Head Greenkeeper and our support truck and all travel in together in a convoy. This ensures that seasonal people, not totally familiar with the estate, do not get lost and all machines take the same route to keep away from the golf action. Once back at the maintenance compound our workshop staff then get busy to prepare for the after-play cut. Greens mowers are washed off and refueled by the greenkeepers, and brought to the workshop for a few passes on the Express Dual grinder and any height of cut adjustments the ‘boss’ decides are necessary. Fairway, trim and tees mowers are also
checked for cut, adjusted as necessary and any problems addressed.
We will next turn our attention to the other two courses, although work on these is minimised for the duration of the tournament. Machines from a different fleet have been prepared and are dispatched, they are usually back by lunchtime and then the staff restaurant is attacked by ravenous greenkeepers, where hotel workers can be trampled underfoot and the servery left bare, apart from the odd wisp of steam.
By this time the workshop has come to the end of its work until the after-play cut is completed. It is now time for the technicians to have some lunch. Each year we hire in a couple of pool tables, darts board, putting ‘green’ and a ping- pong table. This keeps the greenkeepers amused between work periods for the first part but, towards the end of the week, everyone will be getting tired and bodies are crashed out everywhere, arguments arise from nothing and all are getting irritable. The end, however, is in sight.
It goes without saying that good
forward planning is essential if the tournament is to run without a hitch. An example of this is the greens ‘squeegees’, which have previously been checked over and are now put out ready for use as, this year, there is the threat of rain. The crew bus is washed to smarten it up and any
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