Golf
“ Neil Ballingall
I would like to see clubs promoting their greenstaff as professionals who care about their work with a passion, and not use them as someone to blame when something doesn’t go according to plan
14 I PC JUNE/JULY 2015 ” Typical Links style
Health & Safety is a very big part of our daily working lives and I make sure that every member of staff is up to speed on what they need to know and how to work safely
10th on the Kittocks
environmental officer. He is fantastic and spends a lot of his own time doing work around the two courses; it’s his hobby,” confirms Neil. “Rabbits are our biggest problem,”
continues Neil, “as we have an open site and they migrate from our neighbours.” At this point, it is hard not to imagine the greenkeepers of the bordering St Andrews Links Trust’s Castle Course shooing them across the boundary, but Neil confesses that he has a good working relationship with all the local courses. It’s an intriguing image though. “We have local enthusiasts who come in at
night to keep the population down to an acceptable level. I also have a Jack Russell called Billy who is very good at keeping levels down when he escapes his lead.” Neil initially trained as a quantity surveyor,
but was laid off during the construction industry slump of 1986. “I took a seasonal job at my local club, Lundin Golf Club. I loved it and was fortunate to be kept on. In 1993, I moved to Muirfield as Assistant Course Manager and, from there, in 1997 I went up to Moray Golf Club as Course Manager. I
came to my present post at St Andrews in 2001.” Currently studying for Level 4 Golf Course Management, to supplement Greenkeeping Levels 1, 2 & 3, Pa1, Pa2a and Pa6 and a BTLI certificate for automatic irrigation systems, amongst others, Neil praises all the previous head greenkeepers and course managers he has worked under for being role models and offering valuable support, but cites his father as being his biggest inspiration by far. “He would lead by example and never raise his voice. He always got respect from his employees and that is how I try to operate here.”
“My deputy and Head Greenkeeper is
Craig Bayne, who has been here for three years. Our Deputy Head Greenkeeper is Glenn Cameron who has six years’ service. The remainder of the greenstaff are Fraser Cochrane (13 years), John Docherty (10 years), Kevin Robertson (9 years), Paul Hunter, Neil Blanco and Craig Slezas (all with 8 years service), David Halley (3 years) and Bryan Grieve and Lewis Fraser (both 2 years).” “Additionally, I have a Workshop
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