Golf


As the last of the December snow cleared from the West Midlands, Jake Barrow headed to a cold Penn Golf Club in Wolverhampton to find out how its new (ish) Course Manager, Tim Johnson, is changing the mindset of the members as he aims for a chemical free course ... and the first double green in the club’s long history


Penn Golf Club


Putting Penn to paper...


T


im Johnson, 30, is Course Manager at Penn Golf Club in Wolverhampton. He’s approaching two years at the club, having come from


Wilmslow Golf Club, where he worked from 2008.


Before that, he had worked at High Leigh Golf Club for around eighteen months. Both positions were as Greenkeeper or Senior, so this is his first job in golf management. He said: “Management has its moments. But 90% of it is


straightforward. When you have your systems in place, they do the job for you.” “My staff are good. Everyone’s human, but the management understand that I’m capable and they leave me alone. They have a bit of faith in me.”


“Anything up to about £1500 is fine for me to sort without clubhouse involvement, and I prepare the annual budget myself. I keep them in the loop.” “If I need anything, like a new strimmer, I’ll just tell them I’m going to go and get one, and they assume it’s necessary. Off the back of that relationship, we’ve got new grinders, a new fleet of machinery, clothing for the guys … it’s working.”


“Generally, I’m a Toro man. I have a good relationship with Ransomes Jacobsen, because I organise these charity walks.”


“Remember the guys walking with the lawnmowers from Liverpool to Hull, and Ipswich to Harrogate, in about 2012 and 2014? That was my thing.”


“Mower‐wise, I don’t think you can beat the reliability of a Toro, but if


anyone’s got anything better, I say ’bring it on’.”


“They’re also what I’m used to. My last two clubs have used Toro, but I’ve got a schedule that says I’ll need some new machinery in a couple of years, and the door is open to anyone.”


“I also deal directly with Toro, directly with Reesink, and I have another strong relationship with Richard Campey. A lot of that is because I used to live over that way.” “For me, the best kind of salesperson is those who don’t come in to push a particular product. If they come to chat about nonsense, usually I’ll buy something. It’s reverse psychology, and I’ll usually end up saying, ‘Oh, while you’re here…’, and remembering something I need.”


“Chris Knowles from ALS is a lot like that. We spend most of our time talking about mountain biking. Off the back of that, I buy most of our uniforms, paints and chemicals from him.” “At least, he claims he does the proper downhill biking. Seeing is believing. I don’t do it that much anymore myself, but I was very into it back in the day.” “I never had any major crashes, but there was one incident when some spokes went into my knee. I’ve had the odd scrape on my knees too, but no breakages. I’m a bit older and wiser now, though.”


Tim played golf when he was around eight years old, and loved spending time at his home course, Leigh Golf Club in Warrington.


One day, when he was twelve, he spoke to one of the greenkeepers there,


PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 I 33


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