open’ courses and deplored ‘superficial cosmetic improvements’ of golfing greens. “When I first came here, I was nearly sacked after a week when I severely deep spiked the greens and veticut them to relieve compaction and thatch.” Like Jim Arthur, Bob believes in fine
turf, arguing against heavy feeding and watering. “The most essential ingredient for good greenkeeping is regular aeration, more crucial, to my mind, than any amount of fertiliser. It’s a necessity not a luxury. I’m a firm believer in only watering enough to keep the grass alive, not making it green.”
indicating a swathe of red in the machinery shed. “All our greens, rotary and hand machines are that make, but I also run a number of Ransomes Cushman Trucksters - a favourite of mine. They can do anything.” “If I had to put my finger on one machine that’s really changed the shape of greenkeeping it would be the Cushman. It’s versatile with the ability to use many different applications, allowing us more time to devote to other things,” he explains. “We’ve been pleased with Toro as well and have enjoyed a good relationship with them for a number of years. I’ve visited their headquarters in the States twice in my time. That was really enjoyable.”
Bob aims to replace machinery every
three years and is given the annual maintenance budget - some £350,000 - to allow him to do it. A recent machine update amounted to £154,000. “I’m fortunate in having a healthy figure to work with,” he beams. The view from the balustraded balcony of the clubhouse is a flurry of activity as Royal Automobile Club members busily go about their golf at seemingly breakneck speed. Some 70,000 rounds are played across both courses annually - 40,000 on the Old, 30,000 on the Coronation. Championship standard, the Old course owes its greater popularity to its longer length (6,724 yards) and more open
contours, says Bob. The Coronation though is hilly and known to be particularly challenging. “We treat both courses exactly the same and do not give particular preference to the Old just because of its
championship status. My mission is to make sure that each course is equally used. Recent modernisation of the Coronation, with five new greens and improved bunkering, is setting us in the right direction.” Bunkers on the Old though total 96, more than twice the tally (41) on the Coronation. The pre-World War One-style of
bunkering across the Old Course, while a trademark of renowned golf course designer W Herbert Fowler, makes hard work for Bob and his team, he explains. “Fowler’s signature rounded bunkering
is a real feature of the course that the club rightfully doesn’t want to let go of but, needless to say, this style makes our job as greenkeepers trickier to maintain to the standard we like.”
Bob is “a traditionalist at heart” and a
strong advocate of the practices of the famous British agronomist Jim Arthur who believed in the protection of ‘the
Although not advocating heavy fertilising, he does believe in using products that have proven results, a policy that the club began to reap the benefits of seven years ago when they started using Symbio organic compost tea. It is a natural product brewed in much the same way as beer, then routinely sprayed on the greens. “We were having problems getting our roots down as deep as we would like, so decided to try the tea after seeing its benefits outside the UK,” explains Bob. “We were the first club in the country to use it, and found that, after only a relatively short time, the roots started to go down as far as six or seven inches, and the soil was becoming much more friable - no mean feat in our chalky soil.” The year 2007 saw results of the
organic treatment reach their pinnacle, demonstrating says Bob, just how effective compost tea proved to be when
We have the best range of equipment on the market to keep your Natural surface in tip top condition. Whether it’s routine maintenance or full scale rejuvenation, our technical experts can advise you on the most suitable machine and help you devise a maintenance regime.
Call01428 661222 today for information and a demonstration.
www.charterhouseturfmachinery.co.uk 14
Natural
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