Golf
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We don’t have tiny pests either. Nothing’s been pecking at the surface for grubs. The only things we’ve had troubling the turf are a few moles and rabbits
The site was at one point purchased by Wigan Athletic Football Club, to be an outground near their training centre just a mile away in Euxton but, after successive relegations, this became impractical. The team expects the launch date of the new club to be around Friday 6th April 2018, but this will naturally depend on conditions and business requirements in the intervening months.
This will have made it almost exactly a year’s work to get up‐and‐running, as Ryan started the regeneration programme in April 2017.
The first task on the agenda was to roll the entire site with an extra‐large roller. After this, he began to tackle the job of turning the shorter stretches back into fairways and semi‐roughs, going over the whole site like a stencilling. For this, he used the heavy‐duty John Deere 8800 semi‐rough mower, and now maintains the same outline with greater precision using their 7700 fairway model. Asked about patterns and intricacy, he said: “I’m a checked fairways man. I like to take it left‐to‐right, then right‐to‐left. I think that makes it nice and … fancy.” He borrowed a tractor which had a Charterhouse collector mounted on the rear, and used this to deal with the huge amounts of grass which would inevitably begin to pile. This was quickly followed by a ‘complete’
I ask for kit when I need it, and have most of what I’ve asked for so far. And the contract work that has needed to be done has been
Koro of all the greens. They were seeded and topdressed, and then both again at six months including a verti‐drain. This was undertaken by a Cheshire‐based firm, who have been responsible for most of the work on the course. At just twenty‐seven years old, Ryan must surely be one of the youngest Head Greenkeepers around. He does, however, have decent experience in the industry and the local area.
He previously worked at Shaw Hill Golf Club, also in Chorley, and then as the Deputy Head Greenkeeper at Runcorn Golf Club. He also spent some time as the volunteer
20 I PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018
groundsman for the local football club for which he coaches two teams, Charnock Richard FC. Charnock is Ryan’s hometown, which is the main reason he felt taking the job was a no‐brainer.
Leaving school as a joiner, he was made redundant with six months left on one of his contracts. This was when the Shaw Hill post was advertised, and, he said: “It wasn’t my first choice, clearly, but I started to enjoy it and studied for my Level 2 NVQ. Enjoying that too, I went for Level 3 to top it off, about four years ago.”
“That paid off, because now I’m running my own gig. That’s good here, because we don’t really have a budget as such. I ask for kit when I need it, and have most of what I’ve asked for so far. And the contract work that has needed to be done has been.” “The seed is always in fine supply; the fertiliser is always as much as we need. We’ve still got some way to go with the equipment, but I can tell we’ll get there.” “At this point, my wish list includes a tractor and a verti‐drain. A tractor with a cab on would be ideal. I could also do with a topdresser, because there’s a lot of that to be done.”
“The stuff I have already is working well for me. I’m running a Toro Workman utility vehicle, which has a rear‐mounted sprayer and is very helpful.”
The parkland course has an unusual amount of pine trees lining the fairways and, next door to the club, is a house‐based store which sells Christmas trees, with another pine‐based business on the other side ‐ clearly, the villagers take advantage of that natural resource.
One of Charnock’s greens bears the brunt of the tree‐based debris, which Ryan hopes can be solved simply by heavily trimming the overhanging branches nearby, rather than having to remove most of the course’s naturally attractive tree lines.
Behind this green currently, the ground is wetter. However, he noted that the new seed took well in the shaded area, and
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