Golf GETTING Personal...
Ashley Bulpitt ‐ Sat by a pool with a beer whilst smelling of two‐stroke!
Who are you? Ashley Bulpitt, Head Greenkeeper at Copsewood Grange Golf Club.
Family status? Single.
Who’s your hero and why? My dad, because he was a high‐level cricketer, and I’ve always aspired to be as good as him at some sport.
What would you change about yourself? My hair colour…? What’s your guilty pleasure? Westlife.
What’s been the highlight of your grounds career so far? Being promoted from within.
What are your pet peeves? Tapping or grinding teeth. Gets on my wick.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? Somewhere warm, sat by a pool with a beer in hand.
What’s the best part of your job? Come the weekend and getting that feedback.
… and the worst? This week. Hand‐raking flood debris. It’s just horrible.
Favourite record, and why? ‘In the Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins just chills me out and puts me in the zone.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? Rita Ora.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Get the family together for the big surprise... and party!
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Kevin Hart… and I’ve always had this thing about Davina McCall.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? I race motocross. So, maybe Ken Roczen.
Do you have any bad habits? Vaping. I can’t put the thing down! ... or any good ones? Organised.
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day’s workload? Last week, I did.
What are you reading now? Pitchcare, BIGGA… all the good magazines.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? “To make an omelette, you’ve got to break some eggs.” What’s your favourite smell? Two‐stroke engine.
What do you do in your spare time? Anything sporty. Golf, snooker, football, motocross.
What’s the daftest work-related question you have ever been asked? There’s a long list, but one that’s more of a comment than a question tops it: “Don’t worry about my pitch marks; the greens mower sucks them out.”
What’s your favourite piece of kit? It’s got to be the turf iron, battered and old as it is.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Active, generous, happy.
What talent would you like to have? I’d like to be able to sing.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? I don’t think there should be speed limits on motorways (even though I drive a van that’s limited to 70mph now anyway).
26 I PC APRIL/MAY 2018 What’s in the shed?
John Deere 7700 fairway mower John Deere 2653B banks mower John Deere E‐Gator Toro 4000 rough mower
X2 Toro 3250D greens mower (one with tees units) Tru Turf greens iron
Thatchaway cassettes with scarifiers, verticutters and topdress brushes
Kioti Dk 35 tractor
TYM T1431 tractor with front loader
Charterhouse 7416 Verti‐Drain
Charterhouse Rapidcore with custom blocks for pencil tining
Sisis Variseeder Noblat topdresser Trilo leaf blower Reco leaf collector Tad‐Len TL206 sprayer 2 ton Trailer
Team Sprayers Team Cub pedestrian sprayer
Cooper Pegler X2 25l knapsack sprayers
Husqvarna 550XP chainsaw Stihl BR600 backpack blower
Stihl FR 131T Combi with strimmer, hegdcutter and chainsaw
healthy enough to sustain this, with tees and aprons to about 10‐11mm, fairways at 12‐13mm, first cut around 16mm, and a two‐inch rough.
And, last year, they purchased a turf iron. Ashley said: “Straight away, you could see the difference. We took Stimp readings quite often last year, and I think our overall average was a nine, which is the best ever, and drew a lot of positive comments.”
They only overseed once every two years, usually. When they hired a machine, they ended up using 50% more for the same coverage, so have decided to go back to their own. They use a primarily bent‐based mixture, which goes some way to tackling the chronic moss problem.
All equipment at the club is taken on a five‐year lease, and they try to get something major in every year, though it sometimes spills over into two. One thing Ashley has been trying to push for recently is a mini‐digger. He also loves his turf iron so much that he would prioritise a new one, were money no object.
Ashley told me: “Originally, all
the equipment was John Deere, and we bought it all in a short space of time. But, I’m slowly drifting toward Toro.” “We’ve got a rough mower, one for the tees and greens, and the next one will be a fairway mower, for which, again, I’ll go with Toro.” “I think they’re the best bits of kit out there. I think the quality of build is the best available, and that they’re the easiest to maintain.”
“The committee, of course, will always want to see two different prices and have it sold to them why one brand of kit is better than the other, so we always get a comparison.” “But, the last time we had all our suppliers come around, I was taken by the Toro. They could demonstrate features that it would be hard to find from anyone else.”
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