“There’s always going to be someone that won’t be happy with your work and, in most cases, it’s the opposition”
usually swap around wickets if we need to.”
The process of pitch preparation alters through the season - up to sixteen days in the run-up to a match, depending on the weather, he explains, although this reduces as the season progresses as there is less time to bring pitches back up to standard.
“I overseed pitches immediately after use as I find that it really helps to ensure grass is kept on the pitch at all times, making managing them on wet days far easier and preventing the square from drying out too quickly.”
Fast germination is also important and Nigel often pre-germinates seed before laying it on the square. “Sometimes we soak the seeds before spreading, though we generally use either a spinner or dimple seeder,” he explains. “I’ve found that you achieve better germination if you can get the seed into the ground quickly, soak it and then dry it out. By continually watering while the seeds are down, we can expect to see shoots coming through after three days.” The efforts of Nigel and his seven- strong team at the Rose Bowl since 2001 have made the ground into what it is today, but changes in
the way the site is run have proven a major factor too, he believes. “The club has a much more mature style of administration now,” he says. “In my early days here, there were only three of us involved with the running of the grounds, which carried a lot of responsibility for handling virtually every job ourselves. That’s improved, and the more specialised jobs are left to those properly trained to do them.” Nigel’s latest recruit could become his successor at the Rose Bowl. Karl McDermott joined the club this year from Worcester. “I selected him personally as my assistant and I’m confident that I can leave things to him to do, knowing they’ll be in a safe pair of hands. He’s in a good position to progress further here and one day become my successor.”
GOLF COURSE GATHERS PACE
Aerial view of the proposed new look Rose Bowl with covered stands and 18 hole golf course (top)
FEW sporting venues in the UK can boast a world-class test match venue, a five star hotel and a championship standard 18- hole golf course. Yet the Rose Bowl will offer just that when the pioneering redevelopment of Hampshire CCC’s Eastleigh headquarters is completed. The present 9-hole, members and pay and play site will be transformed into a fully-fledged course with a mix of membership, corporate and hotel golf, aspiring to stage professional tournaments. Working with the design team on the plans is golf course manager Raymond Hunt, who joined the Rose Bowl last October from Welsh private links course Pyle and Kenfig where he spent seven years, after a time with Marriott Hotels. “I saw a major opportunity here,” he
Raymond Hunt is the man tasked with bringing the Rose Bowl’s new 18 hole golf course to fruition. He is relishing the challenge as he tells Tom James
says. “The overall picture for development is unique and there is a major job to do here to create a course on a par with the standard of the rest of the provision here.” He is bullish about achieving his mission. “My project experience, coupled with a high standard of presentation, should enable us to create something special that gives golfers a championship challenge in terms of degree of difficulty.” The new course will be completed under
a five-stage programme that will see the present one landfilled, with proceeds ploughed into the cost of construction. In charge of the scheduled three- to five-year development is Ethos Recycling, who plan to hand over the fully functioning course by 2014.
The company is an “environmentally friendly” provider of waste management
services that has built a clutch of courses in the south of England, developing land in a way that benefits the environment by using soil recycling methods and by diverting construction soils from landfill. Inert subsoil will form the foundation of the course, transported from other brownfield construction sites prior to overlaying with suitable topsoil. The ‘green’ focus is also set to include sustainable water management by creating several lakes for irrigation. “My key role since joining last October has been to keep the 9-holes going and progress the development of the eighteen,” Raymond emphasises as he looks out over the woodland course. Although still in the “planning and talking” stages with architects and contractors, elements of grounds provision have
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