Bernhard and Company - left for our briefing with Cal. After our first practice day, most days followed the same routine. We were up at 4.30am to be collected by bus for the short drive down to the 2010 course. After a hot drink and briefing, we waited for dawn. At 6.45am, when daylight started to show, all 118 greenkeepers got going on machinery - fourteen semi rough mowers, fourteen fairway mowers, fourteen collar mowers, fourteen tees mowers and fourteen greens mowers. Each pair of mowers had vehicles following behind collecting grass cuttings, and guys switching any mess left behind. Bunkers were trimmed and raked, holes changed and any other item that was out of place was dealt with. Each group of people cutting had a pair of workshop staff with them, in case of breakdown or poor quality of cut. With such a vast amount of people helping, the entire crew were back at the yard by 8.30. So, what do twelve equipment technicians find to when 118 greenkeepers are out preparing the 2010 Ryder Cup Course? Well, actually, not a lot. Our job, as you know, starts when they all come back in and, believe me, with this amount of people and kit, it doesn’t take long before they start making their way back to the yard, all queuing for the wash down pad. So, after breakfast each day, our jobs started. Each day, the twelve workshop


technicians checked and reset every mower to be used, after which, anything that was slightly in question was reground to achieve the best possible cut. All the fairway mowers were reground throughout the week, with all the greens mowers being done again Saturday night. Well, that’s what happened until it started to rain! On Wednesday, 15mm fell in four hours and then, on Thursday night, up until Friday lunchtime, 33mm fell. I have never witnessed anything like it. 130 people turned that washout back in to a golf course in a couple of hours to allow play to restart. It was an impressive show of teamwork from people who hadn’t known each other just a few days before.


No grinding was carried out Friday evening, as that was spent unblocking pumping equipment, making up hoses and repairing waterlogged machines, a fifteen hour day, but well worth every minute of it. Sir Terry Matthews even came down to the welfare building that evening to thank us all, and said that we had saved the Ryder Cup by getting the matches back on track. With Saturday being dry it was a normal day of cutting, but with the added job of spreading tonnes of bark chip on all the muddy areas. Little did we know it was the lull before the storm!! The heavy overnight rainfall on


Saturday demolished a lot of the bunkers


and, with a multi tee start scheduled to claw back the time lost, the crew had another massive task ahead. Out went the mowers, and the rest of the guys were split into ten teams who, again, performed miracles to bring the course back into play for a second time. By 1.20pm on Sunday play had resumed. That afternoon, I was able to watch a fair bit of golf and had the pleasure of watching the last match of the day. Standing inside the ropes on the 18th green, next to Chris Evans who was reporting for BBC 5live, and only a few feet from Monty and the majority of both teams, is something I will never forget. Unfortunately, I missed out on the final day as I was returning home. I have many fond memories of the whole event and made many new friends. This was a truly international event with volunteers from all over the world. The greenkeepers and relevant departments did an excellent job, with enthusiasm and dedication to achieve the end goal and European golf ’s finest hour! It was a privilege and honour to be involved in such a spectacular tournament and represent my club, John O’Gaunt, at the Ryder Cup. I would like to thank my club, Cal Callaby, Jim McKenzie, and everybody else involved, for making it possible for me to attend the Ryder Cup and, in testament to that, I have been invited to help at the Wales Open in May.


Fairway mowing in the ‘damp’


Losers Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods


The volunteer technicians


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