TalkingPoint
Ian Quirk is Chairman of the Greens at Lymm Golf Club in Cheshire. Here he talks about the loss of ‘Britishness’ in modern UK golf courses and how committees should trust the knowledge of their greenkeepers
MANY members and friends ask me why I bother, when it appears that the good times are massively outweighed by the bad. The answer is simple. Working with a team of committee members and, most importantly, a committed, enthusiastic and skilled greens staff, provides enormous pleasure, both in the good and bad times which, in turn, keeps the light shining at the end of the tunnel. You should try it, if you have an interest in helping to provide future members with a healthy and stable golf course for years to come. Do not get involved if all you want to do is change the golf course to benefit your own golf and views/perceptions, as this will, for 95% of the time, be detrimental for the course. In my experience, and from many
conversations with numerous head greenkeeper and course managers, most of them have a clear understanding of what their course requires. Unfortunately, many of them do not feel they have the support or understanding
from the members to allow them to proceed with the required maintenance programmes that will give long term benefits, but with short term disturbance. We have to trust our head greenkeepers to
know better than we do, as this is their profession and job. As far as I can see, they all take pride in their jobs, their course and only want the best for their members. This only ceases, when they become brow beaten and pressured to deliver conditions that make poorer golfers (with less control of their ball) look better than they are, and courses that are managed with a “garden mentality” instead of a “natural” approach. In my view, British courses should look like they have been cut out of “common land” not out of a managed park. I have been playing golf for some time now, and can remember the days when British golf was played on British golf courses that were designed and managed for our climate, indigenous grass species and style of play. If it
was dry, we played on the ground; if it was wet we played in the air. Simple. Part of the skill of being a golfer must be to assess the ground and air conditions and play golf according to them. Not to expect that each day you play, the conditions of the ground to be the same! The unfortunate rise of the “foreign” style
courses in the UK, that mimic golf styles from other parts of the globe and are designed and managed in a similar way, has led us to the point where the British golf course is becoming a rare breed.
Just look at the changes to Wentworth’s West
course. You may like or dislike them, but one thing is for sure, the “Britishness” of its design has been reduced massively. I agree that customer choice is important, but I don’t agree that every country in the world should have all other styles of course. If people want to play Spanish or American style golf, they should go there. For me, British golf is revered around the world as best in class.
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