Golf
GETTING Personal...
Andy Ewence - mum’s the word, but don’t leave the milk out!
Who are you? Andy Ewence, Course Manager at Buckinghamshire Golf Club.
Family status? Married to Lucy with two children, Evie and Zac.
Who’s your hero and why? My mum, she always gave me good advice and believed in me in everything I did.
What would you change about yourself? My boxer’s nose.
What’s your guilty pleasure? Alcohol and top restaurants (high maintenance wife).
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? Holding the Ladies European Masters on Sky Sport.
What are your pet peeves? Coming into work and finding the milk left out with the lid off from the day before.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? Canada, for the beautiful views.
What’s the best part of your job? Hand mowing greens (keeps the belly away).
… and the worst? Explaining to the Japanese members that they must repair their pitch marks.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? To travel to as many different countries as I can.
Favourite record, and why? Any old 90s house music, great times clubbing.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? My beautiful wife.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Hide it and get a divorce. Only joking; go on a lovely family holiday for as long as I want.
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? Drum kit, you can just keep hitting it and it never breaks.
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? Tyson Fury, David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko; great entertainment and free.
44 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 No fat greenkeepers at Buckinghamshire Golf Club!
which we hope to improve with our course changes.” These changes are quite
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? Tiger Woods; the first thing I would do is find his old black book of phone numbers!!!
Do you have any bad habits? I bite my nails.
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day’s workload? Never (red wine sorts that out).
What are you reading at the moment? Pitchcare magazine.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Do as I say, not as I do.
What’s your favourite smell? Anything freshly baked.
What do you do in your spare time? Coach boxing and spend time with my family.
What’s the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? A member asking what I was doing, whilst I was standing in a bunker full of water pumping it out!
What’s your favourite piece of kit? The Toro Multi Pro sprayer.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Great looking chap.
What talent would you like to have? Play the piano.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? None, they all change or have loopholes.
The clubhouse slowly comes into view on a misty morning
extensive - and expensive. “We are awaiting the go ahead to begin a £2 million project which involves a new irrigation system and reservoir, changing and reducing the bunkers from 112 to 64 - and also lining them. We have found that technology in golf equipment has changed so much in the past twenty-five years, with people hitting the ball a lot further, that many of our bunkers were out of play most of the time.” “We are also lengthening the
course from 6,880 to 7,200 yards, adding concrete buggy paths and re-edging and shaping the lakes.” “In recent years, we have
been reshaping a few bunkers, plus some aesthetic work to the gardens and entrance driveway in, so this project will be an extensive undertaking. We’ll do as much of the work as we can in-house, but specialist work will be sourced from outside the club.”
Andy explains that, with the exception of the fairways and
rough, all other areas are pedestrian cut. “We walk a total of six miles cutting the greens and over nine miles cutting the tees, approaches and surrounds - I have no fat greenkeepers,” he jokes. Greens are cut at 2.8mm every day. Tees, approaches and surrounds are kept at 8mm and fairways at 11mm; these are cut three times a week. Semi-rough is maintained at 25mm and rough at 50mm. All clippings are boxed off, except the rough. All the greens are built to USGA specification that, in Andy’s words, require “topdressing and more topdressing! We take soil samples at the beginning of the year, in January, and half way through the year to check OM levels and to see if and where we are lacking in nutrient.” “I operate a special work
programme where every day is different, so my staff will never be doing the same morning job as the day before; except when we have tournaments and then they have their own route for the build-up. We find this helps the staff from getting bored and it is great that they can all do
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