Golf


“ “


They are delightful and a huge


attraction, but they do present us with problems, the most troublesome being running through bunkers


The clubhouse with deer grazing near the 18th green


took on the head greenkeeping role at the newly built Sutton Green course, between Woking and Guildford, where he was involved in its construction and grow in. After five years there, he switched from new to old by taking over the 1903‐built Hendon Golf Club, where he oversaw a 3‐year revamping programme.


“The contrasts of new and old courses ‐ from scratch start to a £350,000 budget ‐ was such a valuable experience. It was like moving from a one‐bedroom flat to a mansion,” he says.


He hadn’t been looking for a move away from Hendon but, as a golfer himself, he had played the Knole course as a student and placed it in his memory bank as one of the two or three courses he would relish working at if a post ever became available. It did, and his application was successful. He’s now in his sixteenth year as Knole’s head greenkeeper.


He’d worked on clay: he’d worked on


gravel. Knole with its sand make‐up and very undulating terrain presented him with a whole new area of challenges. It continues to do so, and he clearly loves it. The Knole Park Estate is an ancient deer park, and there’s been a herd here for over 600 years. These days it numbers between 600 and 700. When Gavin first came to Knole it was about 2000, but the Estate was unable to sustain a herd of that size and there was a need to regenerate the park, so culling was implemented.


“They are delightful and a huge attraction, but they do present us with problems, the most troublesome being running through bunkers” says Gavin.


“Generally they are more of a difficulty in winter months because the more succulent, more nutritional grass is on the course, not in the open parkland areas, and they tend to group together on playing areas. Picking at fairways and greens is a perpetual annoyance, as of course are their droppings.”


“It’s not a good idea to shoo them away, however much of a nuisance they are. They are a herd animal and will bolt, leaving hoof prints on approaches and greens. They are quite shy creatures and the presence of golfers and busy greenkeepers tends to keep them away from business areas of the course during daylight. When it’s the rutting season in September, aggressive stags especially can have a damaging effect.” Knole Park has been enjoyed since Tudor times and golf is a relative newcomer to activities there, although it is close to notching up a century.


The course was designed by J F Abercromby, at the behest of the then Lord Sackville, whose family home Knole House has been since it was gifted to them by Elizabeth I. The architect was not perhaps the most prolific, but he made his mark with Knole, as he did for the Addington, Worplesdon and Coombe Hill courses, by using natural land undulation to great effect.


We share this magnificent open space with the many thousands of year round visitors that come to experience Knole House and the Park


Gavin Kyle, Head Greenkeeper at Knole 18 I PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018


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