A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK! I was interviewed by
Carol Mellelieu, the HR Director, and David Withers, the Managing Director, during which we discussed the course and how I thought it could be developed. I got a call a week later offering me the position.
The maintenance Rory Ferguson M
any of you will know my dad, Alan Ferguson, Head Groundsman at Ipswich Town FC. I have been working alongside him for a number of years and couldn’t have had a better tutor. The club has a good corporate relationship with Ransomes Jacobsen and, when the company were looking for someone to look after the new three hole golf course, my dad put my name forward to be included for interview.
regime for the course is still being built up as it is still very young. I cut the course at least twice a week, or more if there is a visit or demonstration planned. The greens are cut with a Jacobsen Eclipse 122, set at 6mm.
The tees are cut with a Jacobsen 526A, which is set at 11mm, and the fairways and football pitch are cut with a Jacobsen Tri King set at 30mm. The cutting regime was set up to take into account the many different types of grasses that are on this course. Each green and tee is a slightly different seed mix, two of the greens being a monoculture, one bent and the other fescue, and the third is a mix of both. The tees are all
mixtures of perennial ryegrass and meadow grass.
This was done to see what affect each mower would have on certain grass types and how they have to be managed differently.
The fertiliser regime is made up from mainly organic fertilisers called Sustain; from this range we use the 5:2:10 for the greens and tees and the 18:1:8 for the fairways. We chose to go this way as we are trying to make an environmentally friendly and sustainable golf course, and Sustain helps us do that. For irrigation we use a Rain Bird system which is fully automated. This gives us the control to put programmes on during the night when it is cooler and, as a result, not as much water is lost, which helps to cut down our water consumption. We also use recycled water from some of the processes For the topdressing we use a C1
dressing from a local aggregates company, Colchester Sand and Gravel. We apply this in the spring/summer seasons with a Turfco WideSpin 1530 Truck Mounted top dresser on a Cushman Turf Truckster. This is our current regime, but we are adding to it as the course grows and develops. I work from 8.30 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday with an hour for lunch. Some days it’s slightly longer! And I still help out my dad on match
days!
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