Golf
GETTING Personal...
Oliver Pennington - hot spots, top crops and a quick ‘washdown’ of a pint
Who are you? Oliver Pennington, Head of Golf Course and Grounds at Les Ormes Resort, Jersey.
Family status? Single.
Who’s your hero and why? Steven Gerrard - great player and servant to Liverpool.
What’s your guilty pleasure? A pint after work on a Saturday.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year regional winner and National Finalist 2009.
What are your pet peeves? Not cleaning down machinery properly.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? Scotland - the best golf courses in the UK by far.
What’s the best part of your job? Having my say on course improvements and course conditioning.
… and the worst? During the height of summer, having to come to work on weekends and nights to fix irrigation and hand hose hotspots on greens.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? To lead a team at an 18 hole championship course.
Favourite record, and why? Public Enemy - Harder than you think.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? News presenter, Suzanna Reid.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Buy a house - getting on the property ladder is extremely difficult in Jersey.
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? A triangle - simple.
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? Old Tom Morris, Harry Colt and Tom Doak. It would be great to listen to their views on course design, what was going through their minds when designing differing courses and
38 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015
how they compare to each other. Plus their thoughts on equipment changes and golf course surface expectations etc.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? Tiger Woods - best player to play the game.
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day’s workload? I did when I first started this role, as it was my first head job, but really now only when there is a big competition on; I worry about has everything been completed and will all go to plan.
What are you reading at the moment? Task Force Black by Mark Urban.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Do not over complicate things.
What’s your favourite smell? Freshly mown grass.
What do you do in your spare time? I play golf!
What’s the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? Can I leave early to get my haircut?
What’s your favourite piece of kit? Our new core harvester, it save so much time.
What talent would you like to have? To be good enough to be a tour pro golfer.
through Myerscough College.
How do you purchase machinery?
We generally purchase machinery new, but if we can get a reasonable price for secondhand equipment we look into this option on occasions. We have a good working relationship with Ernie Le Feuvre Ltd - the John Deere dealer in Jersey. They have helped us, over the past two years, with getting parts here by the next day. I will generally go with John Deere as the back-up locally has been very good. We have recently purchased a
core harvester, which will save us a huge amount of time from having to push all the cores off the surfaces. We are able to complete greens, tees and approaches in a week now. We have also purchased a sarrel roller to give light aeration and to help us get products through the thatch layer. It is quick and easy and takes one hour to do all ten greens.
What about the local ecology and environment?
We consider the local flora and fauna very important and there are plenty of bird boxes on the site. We are also lucky enough to have Red Squirrels living on the site. We have started removing invasive species of trees on the course, with the Holm oak (Quercus ilex) being a major problem. We are also looking to grow long rough areas
to help support bird and insect life, and have also introduced a wildflower area to promote bees and other insects.
And finally, is our industry in good shape?
I think the industry is in as good a position as it has ever been, with greenkeepers and groundsmen being recognised as highly skilled professionals and with the stereotype of the ‘daft guy with a mower’ slowly being lost. In general, people are starting to understand that it is both an art and a science. I know a good proportion of
golfers really value the work we do here, but with others not really having an understanding of what we do, or our achievements. They think that it is as simple as jumping on a mower. I would like televised
tournaments to have a ten minute window showing what goes on; not just about the mowing, which is skillful enough, but also such things as taking Clegg hammer readings, moisture levels, trueness readings and stimpmeter readings - this would show off our job to the wider audience.
Thank you for your time.
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