Golf
GETTING Personal...
Steven Horwood - far too tolerant, even when attending meetings or building bunkers!
Who are you? Steven Horwood, Head Greenkeeper at Chiltern Forest Golf Club.
Family status? Married for twenty-six years to Connie, with three children - Samantha (25), Stuart (23) and Leanne (18).
Who’s your hero and why? Bill Shankly. A man ahead of his time. A terrific motivator and man manager.
What would you change about yourself? My tolerance; at times I have too much.
What’s your guilty pleasure? Cakes and desserts.
What do you drop everything for? My wife and kids.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? The day I joined Chiltern Forest. I’m privileged to work for a club with good, caring, passionate people who love their golf course.
Glass half full or half empty? Half full. Eternal optimist me.
Climate change - fact or fiction? Seasons are difficult to predict now because of the changing weather patterns. I’m not totally convinced, one way or the other yet though.
What’s your favourite season? Spring. A great time of year to be at Chiltern Forest. We have an abundance of primulas and cowslips in flower and summer is on its way.
What are your pet peeves? Ignorant golfers, unrepaired pitchmarks or, even worse, badly repaired pitchmarks.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? To see my son Stuart in America. He is on a twelve month placement at Quail Hollow GC, North Carolina.
What’s the best part of your job? Early mornings. Just having the golf course to ourselves.
… and the worst? Too many meetings.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? To visit Augusta National.
Who wouldn’t you like to be? David Cameron - a pompous man; not in touch with reality.
Favourite record, and why? Just Who Is the 5 O’Clock Hero? by The Jam. The raw musical talent of Paul Weller at his best. Brings back memories of my youth.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? If not my wife, it would be Linda Pizzuti, the wife of Liverpool FC owner John W Henry. We could talk football while we eat.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Make sure my
32 I PC JUNE/JULY 2014
parents were taken care of in their old age, secure my childrens’ future and treat my wife to her dream car.
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? Drums - I always seem to be beating on about something.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Be confident in yourself. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but learn from them.
What’s your favourite smell? Freshly cut grass in spring.
What do you do in your spare time? I am a season ticket holder at Watford FC, have an interest in National Hunt horseracing and am a keen darts fan. Occasionally, I will have a game of golf.
What's the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? “Is that a bunker you are building?” whilst we, the greenkeeping team, were putting sand into a new bunker. Doh!
What’s your favourite piece of kit? Toro Procore - best spiker on the market.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Passionate, committed, eccentric.
What talent would you like to have?
To have had enough talent to earn a good living and play golf professionally. What a fantastic life! To tour the world playing on the best golf courses, and to be paid well for doing it.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? Any good legislation that doesn’t need approval from Brussels.
solid and hollow tines on both tees and greens, and have a variety of different diameter tines. The depth and diameter of tine used is dependent on the time of year and the purpose of the task. For example, we will use pencil tines in the summer months just to keep surfaces open and prior to the use of any wetting agents/soil surfactants, which has less impact on play.” “When hollow coring (March), we will use
Headlands C-Complex 4:3:4 and incorporate it into the soil profile to help stimulate microbial activity and root development. This is followed, in April, with their C-Complex 5:2:10, an organic mineral based fertiliser which contains humic acids and composted cow manure. They also have a processed seaweed extract which allows for a fast breakdown of the product, and a low temperature turf response, which is vital for us, as temperatures for good growth can be slow early in the year. We will then apply our first foliar application from mid May onwards, using Trisert 15:0:12, Seamac Ultra and a water soluble fertiliser, Solufeed NK 15:0:25.” “Our foliar applications used to be on a four week
cycle. However, in the last two years, we have reduced the dose rate by 50%, but increased our applications to fortnightly. To me, this ensures a more consistent uptake to surfaces and stops any peaks and troughs that we used to get on our four week cycle.” “We will continue the same foliar applications
through to August, but add in some growth regulator to try to keep surfaces playing and looking as consistent as possible.” “Renovations are then programmed in for August.
This year, we are looking at incorporating a sand fill operation down to 20mm to dilute any thatch issues we may have, and the same 4:3:4 C-Complex will be applied. Once September comes, we are back to foliar treatments using an iron product with seaweed; Seamac Proturf. This is mixed with Turfite, a phosphite categorised plant elicitor and a liquid turf hardener and Vertex K potassium. This will be applied on a four to six week cycle and will be followed up with an application of Throttle fungicide as a preventative measure. We may add in some Iprodione as we go into the winter months, dependent on if there are any visual signs of disease.” Many golf clubs have been affected by budgetary
controls in recent years due to the economic situation and Chiltern Forest are no exception. “We have had to prioritise any renovation work due to these restrictions. Needless to say, our greens have remained the absolute priority during this time,” states Steven. “We have a Greens Committee and I liaise closely
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