Golf
GETTING Personal...
Shayne Savident - positive, ambitious and sophisticated - hair by McIlroy!
Who are you? Shayne Savident, Head Greenkeeper at St Pierre Park Hotel & Golf Resort, Guernsey, Channel Islands.
Family status? Single.
Who's your hero and why? Rory McIlroy - we have the same hair!
What would you change about yourself? Nothing ... I am who I am.
What’s your guilty pleasure? Chocolate.
What do you drop everything for? My Family, they are important to me.
What's been the highlight of your career so far? Getting my current position as Head Greenkeeper, it’s difficult in Guernsey; we only have 3 golf courses!
Glass half full or half empty? Definitely half full, always optimistic and positive about everything.
Climate change - fact or fiction? Fiction, don’t believe any of it.
What’s your favourite season? Summer, of course, out in the sun, tanning it up whilst working.
What are your pet peeves? Anything on the course that looks untidy, it’s all about presentation with me.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
What's the best part of your job? Being out in the sun, the fresh air, what more could you want?
… and the worst? Being on call 24/7.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? To be the best I can be, and work on championship courses.
Who wouldn't you like to be? David Moyes! He’s not having much luck is he?
Favourite record, and why? Kanye West - any record. I find them inspiring.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? Kelly Brook.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? New house, new Porsche!
24 I PC JUNE/JULY 2014 Verti-draining the 1st green
does slitting and deep scarifying regularly, without overdoing it. The 8th green does require more fertiliser on a regular basis, due to its sandy base, as it does more water during the summer. It drains very well, but is also close to the main lake, so it is just the surface that dries out.” All work is done in-house, as Shayne told me they
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? Bagpipes - Noisy, loud, and difficult to handle.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? No matter how bad you feel, get up, dress up, show up and never give up, until you no longer need to sleep, because your life is better than your dreams! - I tell myself every day.
What’s your favourite smell? Lemon, it is very fresh.
What do you do in your spare time? Drive my Porsche.
What's the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? In the middle of the summer, I once got asked to raise the height of cut on the greens to 10mm! My answer was a simple… NO!
What's your favourite piece of kit? Rough cutter - I like going out all day cutting rough with my headphones on, rather than being stuck in my office doing paperwork.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Positive, ambitious, sophisticated.
What talent would you like to have? I have always wanted x-ray vision.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? There should be a law against members asking greenkeepers daft questions.
have enough staff to cope with the demands, and targets that they set themselves. However, if there is a major tournament, of which there are a couple throughout the year, volunteers are in abundance to rake bunkers and suchlike. The golf club committee are always willing to help out, and give their opinion where needed. Shayne attends the monthly committee meetings to let them know his plans for the coming months, as well as encouraging members’ feedback, good or bad - which he doesn’t always agree with! In addition, Shayne interacts with club members through a blog every month; and posts it on the club’s Facebook page. He also does course walks with members, at their request, as they do take a big interest in the work, both planned and underway. “Not a lot has been done over the last few years, which I feel has benefitted the course,” commented Shayne. “A lot of work has been done to make it look nice, like a garden though, not very helpful in my opinion. Some of the bunkers have been filled in, which is something I would like to bring back as, having grown up here, I notice how different the golf course is now to the original Tony Jacklin design. Budgets play a major part in the renovation decisions and, of course, it is much easier to hire a mini-digger and an operator and tell them what you want, what shape and they just do it. Otherwise, it is just four of us with a turf cutter, rakes and a spirit level.” “I am responsible for the budgets and have a meeting with the Operations Manager and Financial Controller to discuss the budget at the start of the financial year. We work around what we used the previous year and see where we can make improvements. For example, buying a better quality grass seed or fertiliser, or more topdressing, and more sand for the bunkers, depending on what projects we are doing that year.” As well as Shayne's responsibilities for maintaining the golf course, he and his team are responsible for the hotel gardens and grounds. This is done with the help of one gardener; Juris, who works full time to achieve an excellent standard, plus Alex, who likes working on the course, but also mows the hotel lawns and surrounding areas. In addition, there is an eight bay, covered driving range and a putting/chipping
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