Golf GETTING Personal...
Sam Evans - keen, organised, optimistic ... Belieber!
Who are you? Sam Evans; 28 years old. I enjoy rugby and cricket, am a big fan of Only Fools and Horses and a supporter of Swindon Town Football Club.
Family status? Married, with a two year old daughter.
Who’s your hero and why? Jonny Wilkinson has always been a hero of mine, because I feel he is a great role model and fantastic rugby player.
What would you change about yourself? My love handles!
What’s your guilty pleasure? Justin Bieber’s music.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? Attending the Golf Industry Show in 2015, closely contested by getting the job at Fulwell.
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? Barack Obama, Ian Botham and Terry Wogan.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? Joe Root, so I could have his cricketing ability for one day!
Do you have any bad habits? Expecting too much.
... or any good ones? Very organised.
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day’s workload? Yes, but not every day. Depends what is going on. For big projects, I am normally prepping in the office the night before.
What are you reading at the moment? The Secret Player: The Hidden World of Professional Football by the original Secret Player.
What are your pet peeves? Being late.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? Mexico with the wife.
What’s the best part of your job? Spreadsheets!
… and the worst? Rain and frost!
Do you have a lifetime ambition? To enhance as many people’s lives as possible.
Favourite record, and why? Oh! Carol by Neil Sedaka because it is my Karaoke tune.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? The wife; but if she was busy, Liz Hurley would be a lovely substitute.
26 I PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
What’s your favourite smell? Sausage rolls.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Go and have a pint!
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? A drum kit. At times it can form part a fantastic tune, however, if it is constant, it can become extremely annoying!!
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Let the world take a few turns.
What do you do in your spare time? I enjoy rugby, football and cricket; watching and playing. I also enjoy socialising with friends and spending time with the family.
What’s the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? “Is this real grass and am I okay to walk on it?” when a visitor to my golf club came to a green.
What’s your favourite piece of kit? Billygoat blowers. At another time of the year, it would probably be something different.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Keen, organised and optimistic
What talent would you like to have? I think being able to do the Worm, or another elaborate dance move, would be something great to have in your locker.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? Some sort of compulsory driving test should be in place for the use of golf course machinery. A generic course for tractors, ride-ons, utility vehicles and other machines. To help managers feel comfortable that the machines will be used how they should.
About our industry How do you see your job changing in the future?
I think the role of Head Greenkeeper/Course Manager will become more management based and I can see the role of Secretary/General Manager and Golf Course Manager becoming more united, but this may be a long way off.
How do you balance work with your personal life?
It is difficult, living on site it can be too easy just to ‘nip’ over to the office to do this or that. But I try to leave the mobile phone in another room or keep myself busy with the family to switch off from work. I think if you asked the wife this question she would say that this is something that has a lot of room for improvement.
What would you consider to be the state of our industry?
Confusing. I seem to be hearing stories of people always wanting more money, being undervalued or wanting a better deal, but I personally feel that you live to your means. If more money is what you want, you need to think about how to get it and what you have to do. I had to take jobs on lower wages and long travel times to get my experience and opportunities. I remember setting my alarm for 1.30 in the morning to head to the Buckinghamshire to help at a competition there, and then return to work and do a full day! However, the experience I had helping out was priceless.
It seems that people want something for nothing, but making sacrifices in the short term can dramatically help your long term. It is a hard job but, for me, the passion and love of the job overtakes the financial reward. With regards to chemicals in the industry, it also appears confusing and things are being taken away from us without any real validation or reasoning. I would love for a department somewhere to be impartial and act as the greenkeepers link to the authorities, so we know the facts, what is going on and why.
Are we undervalued?
I don’t think so, no. I think it is a fantastic industry that, if you work hard, put yourself out to gain experience and knowledge then you can be rewarded. However, you do have to start at the bottom and you have to put the time in to get to where you want. I think a few members on each golf course do undervalue greenkeepers and expect us to work with magic wands, but everyone has these members and, personally, I try to stay neutral and constructive!
How would you raise our profile?
I think increased interaction with members will increase our profile personally and professionally. Regular meetings or presentation evenings, play golf with members or against members, have yard open days for members to have a look at our working zone. Perhaps involving your secretary or captains with industry events such as BTME would also be beneficial. I think we need to try to get golfers discussing their greenstaff in a positive way, but we need to make sure they have the knowledge to do so. This will then snowball between clubs and the profile of greenstaff will grow.
Do you and your staff attend industry shows, seminars, demo days, road shows?
I try to get the lads to go to as many as possible. I try to rotate who goes as often as possible. A small number of us attend BTME every year, additional education days and golf days. I like to try and arrange two course walks a year at other golf clubs where I get everyone to attend, just to see what goes on at other clubs.
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