September when the greens are scarified to a depth of 15mm using a Graden, topdressed with five tonnes of 70/30 and over seeded. The greens are then fertilised with a NPK 6:5:10 granular fertiliser. During the winter months Vic will aerate the greens several times with his Groundsman spiker to a depth of 100mm. Vic also takes a number of soil samples from the greens and sends them off for analysis A full maintenance programme costs between £4500-5000 (mowing and end of season renovations), end of season renovations £1500 and £600 for a winter cutting regime. To assist clubs he offers a direct debit payment scheme to help them spread the maintenance costs. At the end of the day there is a cost for providing a maintenance service - labour, materials, fuel and transport have to be paid for. It may seem a large amount, however, when you split the costs down by the amount of games played per season, and take in to account the number of members who participate, the costs are manageable. For example, most of the clubs
Vic looks after play at least four matches per week - a total of 96 in a season. Divide the annual maintenance cost of £4500 by 96 and the cost is £46.87 per match.
Further divide this cost by the number of members who regularly play matches (usually twenty) and the cost is just £2.34 per match per player. Vic is concerned that membership appears to be on the wane at most of the clubs he looks after. In addition, there appears to be a lack of interest in working on the
greens.
He sees the survival of these clubs dependant on individuals who are prepared to take up the role of greenkeeper (paid or volunteered). But, for the moment, it would seem that there are plenty of bowling clubs in the Cambridge area who are happy to rely on Vic’s skills and dedication. Long may it continue!
Seeds of precision.
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...for Sports Visit
www.bshamenity.com Photo courtesy of Bexhill Bowling Club. or call 01522 868714 to contact your regional advisor. 15
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