Golf GETTING Personal...
Rhys Butler - Goo goo, bubba - and that’s just his youngest’s artistic skills!
Who are you? Rhys Butler, Links Manager, Royal St David’s Golf Club.
Family status? Engaged to Sian with three crazy boys, Cameron 11, Jac 8 and Flynn 20 months.
Who’s your hero and why? Gary Player; he went from sleeping in the dunes at St Andrews to winning the open in the same week and is surely one of the most focused men to ever live. Amazing man!
What would you change about yourself? Switch off from work a bit more. I’m a planner and always thinking of what we need to do to improve our product even further.
What’s your guilty pleasure? A glass of red and chocolate!
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? Securing my position as Links Manager at Royal St David’s and working on two Open Championship support teams with BIGGA.
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? Nelson Mandela, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? Bubba Watson, the way he plays golf is so unique and I’d love to hear what his thoughts are whilst playing.
Do you have any bad habits? Impatience!
... or any good ones? I know when I need to say nothing!
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day’s workload? Not really, it’s a bit late by then! Generally, I’m always a few days ahead with work planning, dependent on the weather, of course, which has been unpredictable to say the least!
What are you reading at the moment? Pitchcare, of course!
What are your pet peeves? Lack of attention to detail.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? Anywhere in Italy with my good lady for some good food, sun and wine.
What’s the best part of your job? To see all the hard work the team put in come to fruition.
… and the worst? When the weather destroys the lot!
20 I PC JUNE/JULY 2016
Do you have a lifetime ambition? To just be the best I can be in all aspects of life.
Favourite record, and why? Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls - great song. Album wise, Helplesness Blues by the Fleet Foxes - amazing sound.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? There is only one for me, my better half!
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Go on holiday with the family.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? To go and do an HNC in Golf Course Management; a truly superb learning experience.
What’s your favourite smell? Clean washing.
What do you do in your spare time? Spend time with the family and mountain biking and road biking ... and golf when I can fit it in.
What’s the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? Can we get salt on the greens to defrost them?
What’s your favourite piece of kit? I like the Toro GR 1000 hand mower, but anyone that knows me will know that my spin dresser gets a good workout very regularly!
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Passionate, focused and fair.
What talent would you like to have? To be able to paint. Flynn, my youngest, is better than me at 20 months old!
The Air2G2 - on Rhys’s wish list
Soil samples are taken every year, just to be certain everything is okay. They certainly appear to be!
verti-drain and slit pre-Christmas.” “Height of cut is generally kept as high as possible in
the winter, currently 7mm (March), dropping no lower than 4mm in the summer. We use Toro GR1000 hand mowers in winter and the Toro Triflex 3250 in the summer.”
“We do lots of rolling with our Smithco to maintain
surface smoothness and speed, without compromising on the height of cut and fescue health. And we overseed at least twice a year with the Vredo, with a double pass and lots of localised overseeding during the year.”
“We don’t scarify or verticut greens; brushing is
about as aggressive as we get. I aim to get at least 200 tonnes of sand dressings on every year, using a Dakota 410 spin dresser.” “Parsley piert, daisy and cat’s ear are something we
are continually trying to clean out from the playing surfaces,” continues Rhys, “and I was shocked at the disease pressure, especially fusarium, coming from a course which rarely had any, but I think we have made good progress in reducing this by improving cultural practices and, this year, we will be using a biofungicide and soluble compost tea to try and ‘Beat the Fuzz’.” “Like most links courses, we suffer from leatherjacket
attacks and, now that chlorpyrifos has gone, it will be a real headache in the future if no effective alternative is found; much the same as Merit Turf with imidacloprid to treat chafers. Their both being present can destroy golf courses following damage from badgers and birds.”
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