Summer Sports - Bowls
“
Some get uneasy about what we do to the green, but I think I’ve pretty much convinced them that it’s the right way of going about things
Presidential duty, handing over the club’s green to the Sussex and Berkshire ladies teams Norman Kennard - greenkeeping preferred
which looked magnificent on this summer’s day.
Norman says it was as Chairman of Green
at nearby Ifield Golf Club where his liking for fine turf care began. He took careful note of what head greenkeeper there, Steve Hayes, said about this and that and learned much about turf culture skills and routines. The green was built by Leicester firm Two
Counties, who continued to maintain it for a couple of years. They did a reasonable enough job but, not being on the spot to deal with day-to-day issues, it wasn’t very practical. In 2000, Norman took up the greenkeeping mantle and has been in charge ever since. He says he has tried to retire, but the truth is he loves doing it, and clearly does a marvellous job. He is quick to point out that he does have a lot of help - what he calls his greens team. A club member will sweep the green every morning without fail to rid it of dew and debris. On three days a week during the playing season, it is mowed down to 4mm, sometimes 3.5mm, again without fail. It’s a routine that is set in stone and works. Norman does all the out of season mowing, usually to 10mm. A John Deere 220A and a Dennis FT510 are his tools of choice for all greens cutting. The latter with its verti-cutter cassette and a trusty Sisis Rotorake took care of the toughest ever spring clean-up ahead of the green’s first serious bowl of the season, a county match on 30th April against Berkshire. Norman organises and directs the greens
team during the playing season from April to the end of September. Over winter, he lets them off and does all the work himself. The club is totally self-sufficient in greens care. He will enlist the help of members when spiking or scarifying is called for, and club chairman, Ted Cousins, now does all the aeration using a Groundsman machine. Come late September, when the season is
over, Norman will enlist and get the support of a body of members for autumn renovation work. This year it’s going to be a bigger operation than usual thanks to the Mole.
“Some get uneasy about what we do to
the green, but I think I’ve pretty much convinced them that it’s the right way of going about things,” said Norman. “I guess it’s understandable when you see a smooth fine turf surface being dug up. Hollow tining, deep scarifying and sweeping away the debris can look like damage, I suppose.” When I compliment Norman on the state of his green he simply says; “we put six tonnes of sand on it, topdress it, re-seed it with Johnson’s J Green mix of fescues and bents, and feed it with granular Impact
The Mole as a mid-summer trickle 66 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2014
The ladies county match in full flow
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