Golf
15th Hole at Quail Hollow Club during the 2014 PGA Tour Wells Fargo Championship
season of 2013-2014 which, without any reservation, I accepted.
“
Cape Kidnappers, completed in 2004, was designed by legendary golf architect Tom Doak. The course measures 7,119 yards with of a par 71. Here, they maintain pure bent grass surfaces, both greens and fairways, to a high standard, with fescues in the rough. I was mainly involved in the application of chemicals. This involved selective herbicide programmes, plant growth regulator programmes and foliar fertiliser application, as well as routine fungicide and wetting agent programmes. I also dedicated long hours in the greens and fairways aerification programmes. Brad looks for at least two highly motivated seasonal greenkeepers each season which starts in early October and runs through the end of March. I would highly recommend this experience to anyone because of the skills I gained and the future doors it opened. As I came to the end of my
Mike had told me to be prepared for long hours and high temperatures, but you do not really understand how long or how hot until you are actually amongst it. The summers are brutal; high temperatures in the nineties
30 I PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2016
time at the Cape, Brad encouraged me to reach out to Mike O’Keeffe to enquire about The Ohio State University International Turf Management Program in the United States. Mike is the Program Manager. I contacted him via email and received a prompt reply within eight hours; he is extremely efficient. The reply was solid - no soft talk - and delivered what the TOP Program was all about and its expectations. I was on board right away as
Mike explained what the program could offer me and the doors it could open in the future.
He guided me through the
necessary paperwork and visa process which made things easier. It was about a four week process, sending emails to and fro with Mike and my host course, waiting for my visa interview with the US Embassy and then to receive all my official documents allowing me to travel to the US. My placement for eighteen
months was at Quail Hollow Club, located in Charlotte, North Carolina under Superintendent Keith Wood. My eighteen months at Quail Hollow was made possible by completing a twelve week course online on stress physiology set out by Karl Danneberger, Professor at The Ohio State University. I feel the literature was advanced compared to studies I have seen before, but this encouraged me to work hard and I completed the course with distinction. Typically, you tend not to stay
at one course for the whole time, but Quail Hollow had so much to offer and, with preparations for the 2017 PGA Championship already underway, I felt I would learn so much. I discussed my decision with Quail Hollow and Mike, and they supported me one hundred percent. Quail Hollow Club is a Championship course which hosts the Wells Fargo Championship PGA Tour event annually. I have watched the tournament on television over
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