environment


Golf caring for the


the Greenkeeper


considered to be one of the finest inland courses in the North West of England. The Manchester Golf Club was created in 1882 by eight Scotsmen led by John Macalister, a native of the St Andrews Golf Club. Indeed, the club was originally called The Manchester St Andrews Golf Club, not only as a token of respect for its founder and in recognition of the authority of the Royal and Ancient, but also to distinguish it from another club called the The Manchester Golf Club, founded as early as 1818, which has since come to be known as the Old Manchester Golf Club. The club moved to Hopwood Park in 1912 and, apart from a few minor modifications, the general layout has remained much as Mr Colt originally designed it.


Course Manager is Mark Jones, who has been at the club eight years. He is assisted by five staff - Deputy Head Greenkeeper, Richard Morgan, Matthew Shimwell, Andy Phillips, Arron Watkinson and mechanic and longest


serving employee, John Glover, who has been at the club over twenty-five years. Mark’s son Chris, who used to be a member of the team, still comes in and helps out on an ad hoc basis. They all have relevant training certificates - PA1, PA2, PA6, CS30 and CS31 Chainsaw, First Aid, Manual Handling, Tractor and Digger driving. The club commit £1,500 each year to the greenkeepers’ training budget. Working hours are 6.00am to 2.00pm during the summer months and 7.00am to 3.00pm in the winter. Weekends are covered on a rotation basis, with three staff on hand to prepare the course - mowing the greens, changing pin and tee positions and raking eighty bunkers. The club has invested heavily in machinery, and buy most outright, with John Glover undertaking the day to day maintenance and much of the service work, making the most of his new workshop facilities. The club also have a wash down area to keep the machines clean.


Recent purchases have included two


Toro Greens triples 3250D, a Jacobsen LF3800 fairway mower and new tractors. The club has also invested in a large wood chipper - more of that later. They have three Kawasaki Mules for getting around the course which Mark prefers over other utility vehicles as, he says, they cope better with the uneven ground conditions on the site. Maintenance regimes are fairly straightforward and based around good cultural practices, sensible cutting heights and plenty of aeration, with applications of topdressings to improve surface drainage.


Mowing heights, too, are fairly standard with the greens cut at 3.5mm in the summer months and 5.5mm in winter. Tees, collars and aprons are maintained at 10mm and 12.5mm respectively, and fairways at 14mm and 17mm. Semi rough is kept at 75mm all year round, and the rough at 100mm. The rough is split into three areas


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