Golf
“This left me with the ability to tell people to fertilise bunker surrounds, in Cantonese, but unable to order pork with rice in a restaurant”
system is popular with the membership and adds an extra challenge to keep the fairways in top condition.
Whilst it is true that many people in Hong Kong speak English, it is by no means the case throughout the whole region. Amongst the general staff, the majority will speak Cantonese, in various dialects, and Mandarin. There are very few people who are able to speak fluent English. Following being promoted from intern to Assistant Superintendent just a few months after my arrival in 2011, I had to quickly pick up the essentials of the language in order to be able to effectively manage the crew. This left me with the ability to tell people to fertilise bunker surrounds, in Cantonese, but unable to order pork with rice in a restaurant. Since then, my language has progressed to a level where I can get by in most situations, although I still have a lot of room for improvement.
Since becoming superintendent, I have employed a local, tri-lingual Assistant Superintendent to ensure that ideas and instructions are communicated effectively and without confusion. When searching for an assistant, I had two main options: I could find someone with turf knowledge, but no language, or someone who could communicate with the staff, but with very little experience in turf. I chose the latter and am quickly bringing him up to speed with what is required to manage turf in this climate.
This is essential since, although golf is gaining popularity in Asia as a sport, the knowledge of the game amongst the general public and staff can fall a long way short of the expectations set by the club. Simple things, such as keeping quiet when golfers are hitting, may be done without instruction back home, but here you can often find yourself having to explain why a golfer may not enjoy having a backpack blower blasting away whilst he is attempting to escape from a greenside bunker. As an extra challenge, the majority of staff do not hold a driving license and most new recruits have no driving
70 PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
The majority of the general staff speak Cantonese in various dialects
experience at all. Teaching someone, twenty years your senior, to drive for the first time certainly shows how much patience you possess, and, as an upturned cart highlighted to me, also where your weaknesses in teaching are.
Alongside managing the course, I also run the club’s internship programme. Established by the previous superintendent, Chris Chase CGCS, the internship programme gives high end club and warm season experience to those currently enrolled or recently graduated from Turf Degree programmes. The club has so far taken interns from the UK, USA, South Africa and China, with many of them now working as Superintendents or Assistants. I arrived in Hong Kong as a part of the internship programme at the club, before progressing into an Assistant’s position. Through some hard work and fortuitous timing, I now find myself in charge of the course and the same internship programme on which I started out. It is one of the very few internship
programmes for turf students running outside of the USA, and gives students a chance to see how turf can be managed in circumstances outside of the normal range, whilst also experiencing a culture
which is totally different to what you will find back home. Whilst I have future plans to continue to improve the course, time could be slowly running out. With land leases on some areas of the course approaching renewal, the club and Government are under pressure from local groups to redistribute the land so that new housing can be built. Hong Kong continues to expand rapidly and, with available land at a total premium, there is a growing public feeling that a golf course is a luxury that will have to be forgone in order to provide places for people to live. The Government has commissioned a study to take place over the site in order to ascertain suitability. A final decision will be made over the next few of years, which will decide the fate of the course Whether it survives or not, I will be very happy to have been a part of the team which maintains the courses here. Every day brings a new challenge, and every day I feel as though I have learned something new. Courses featuring such a diverse array of challenges, whilst having such high expectations, are few and I am pleased to have the responsibility placed upon me.
Jon with his tri-lingual assistant - communication over turf knowledge
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