Golf
“The golf course staff were all good hearted guys, but come from a different background than us ‘regular greenkeepers’ are used to”
pedestrian greens and tee mowers, triples, fairway units, rough units, ProCores, sweepers, Workmen, boom and hawk sprayers, Sandpros, and numerous gadgets and tools and, on paper, it sounds great! However, being based on an island in The Caribbean measuring just twenty-one miles by seven miles, meant it was hard to get parts in fast, and ordering parts, tools, chemicals and fertilisers took up to three months to get on the island, so good planning was needed! Occasionally, there were times when we needed to improvise, like the time we had a pipe break and couldn’t get the part for two months! Fortunately, Jay was an irrigation guru with many tricks up his sleeve and we overcame the problem. The crew consisted of the
Albany’s 18-hole championship golf course was designed by Ernie Els. The 7,400-yard links-style course plays through windswept dunes and is highlighted by a number of scenic and strategically challenging water features.
The first Els-designed golf course in The Bahamas, it offers one of the purest golf experiences with fairways free of residential development.
Featuring four sets of tees and a range of shot values, the course caters to both the scratch golfer and the avid recreational player.
First-class practice facilities complement the golf course, including a driving range and three-acre and one-acre short game areas with two chipping greens and a putting green.
20 PC APRIL/MAY 2013
superintendent, myself as the deputy, a head mechanic and his assistant, four spray technicians, two irrigation technicians, two ‘bunker guys’, two operating fairways mowers, three on tee and detail mowers, six on greens mowers, one handyman and three edgers and detailers; all had a good solid understanding of their roles. Like every job, there were good and bad times trying to manage people but,
from working with the superintendent, and having witnessed various management techniques from different places in the past, and talking about management with my mates around the world facing similar situations, I developed my own management technique.
The golf course staff were all good hearted guys, but come from a different background than us ‘regular greenkeepers’ are used to. I felt these guys needed a new technique of management, so I tried to treat them as equals and personally get to know and understand each individual, something that larger establishments tend not to do. With a large crew it is difficult to man manage, but I feel this technique worked in this situation and allowed for a better working relationship. By taking this route, I earned their respect, and vice- versa, and we worked together and produced a consistent quality product. A regular working week was Monday to Sunday, where I averaged a seventy hour week on the course and around the resort. Albany required fast greens and we maintained the speed around eleven on the stimp - when we had the PGA guys down, we normally jumped them to
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156