And here’s to you MR ROBINSON
Having had a ‘year out’ to travel around the world, Colin Robinson returned to take up the position of Course Manager at King’s Lynn Golf Club in Norfolk.
He talks to our editor about his plans for improving one of East Anglia’s finest courses
S
ituated just a few miles to the north of the historic market town of King’s Lynn at Castle Rising is one of East Anglia’s premier golf clubs.
King’s Lynn Golf Club was founded in 1923 and the club moved to its current site in 1975. The 18 hole course was designed by Dave Thomas and Peter Alliss and, at 6609 yards par 72, is a real challenge for even the most accomplished player. Carved out of the picturesque North
West Norfolk pine and silver birch forests, and just down the road from the Royal Sandringham Estate, this sandy, well-drained course compares favourably with some of the finest inland courses in the UK. The club has recently employed the
services of Colin Robinson LCGI, MSc as Course Manager. Colin, who previously worked at the 36 hole John O’Gaunt Golf Club in Bedfordshire for twelve years, had taken ‘a year out’ to travel round the world. Fifteen months later he was back and looking for employment.
When the opportunity to join King’s
Lynn became available Colin jumped at the chance. “I liked the club’s philosophy on golf management” he said. “In addition, it’s a challenging opportunity with a lot of potential. There’s a hint of Wentworth, a touch of Woking and a sprinkling of Woburn here.”
King’s Lynn is an inland links course that sits on a rich vein of natural sandy
soil, providing the perfect profile for a golf course with free draining greens, tees and fairways. The sheer depth and fineness of the sand certainly helps to act as a perched water table, assisting moisture retention for the native grasses and plants around the course. “I’m currently taking a number of soil samples from around the course to establish exactly what I have got here” said Colin. “Once I have the results it will help me manage the course more effectively.”
“I’ve set myself a number of targets. In the short term I just need to deliver the course in the best possible condition with the resources that I have inherited. In the longer-term I aim to improve sward composition, reduce fertiliser inputs and encourage finer bent and fescue grasses.” “As soon as I started, I identified a couple of areas, that were not getting the right treatment , so we purchased a Toro 648 aerator and John Deere ride on triple mower so we can do much more aeration and cut areas that were uncut before.” “What I have got is an experienced team under me. My deputy, Dale Morley, has been here for sixteen years and knows the course inside out. I’ve also got three other long serving members of staff, Alistair McCoy (30 years) Richard Lepoidevin (23) and Alan Cawston (20). Shaun Carroll is our greenkeeper/mechanic and he’s been here for seven years. And, I’ve recently taken on Matt Goss as an apprentice,
he’ll be studying for NVQ Level 2.” “We’ve got over 700 members, many of whom like to start their rounds early in the summer months, so we start our working day at 6.00am to keep ahead of the golfers. Most days we will have mown all the greens, tees and half the fairways, changed the holes and raked the bunkers by 9.30am. Then we have breakfast! We generally finish our day at 2.30pm.” Holes are changed four times a week,
on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. “The greens are, at present, 60-70% poa, 30-40 % bent with a little bit of fescue, with some greens moving towards a 50/50 split. My aim, over the next few years, is to improve the fescue/bent population with a programme of overseeding and reduced fertiliser inputs. This year I’ve managed to get nitrogen inputs down below 70 kg/N per Ha, which is a step in the right direction.” All the greens are raised sand/soil and very free draining. “We feed them monthly with a Scotts 12:4:6 folia feed, plus a programme of PrimoMaxx. I’ll also incorporate seaweed extracts and some timely applications of chelated iron to maintain colour, especially through the winter months. And, I use a monthly dose of wetting agents to help control dry patch.” “During the growing season we
topdress the greens monthly with a Baileys 70/30 fen soil rootzone, applying about fifteen tonnes in total
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