Golf
What angers me are those who turn up for a round and who couldn’t care less about keeping things in good condition. They just don’t respect the course
The 18th green on the Waterfall looking back down the fairway
Simon Ridgers, now nearing eight years at the club. “He saves us a lot of time, effort and money by keeping our fleet operational,” says Giulio.
Deputy head greenkeeper Adam Bedson, 32, has already clocked up eleven years on site and “tries to do everything I do”. Team member Tim Watts, 47, meanwhile, is celebrating twenty‐five years. General greenkeepers David Burroughs and Keith Browning are positively newcomers. “They’ve only been here six or seven years.” Giulio is committed to bringing on young greenkeeping talent through training and his two apprentices ‐ Dominic Groves, 20, and Liam Matthews, 21 ‐ have both recently qualified in NVQ Level 2 from Brinsbury College, near Billingshurst, a stone’s throw away.
“My policy is to bring the apprentices in, push them through college and then they can decide what they want to specialise in. The more they are qualified, the greater their chance of career progression.” Sounds like Giulio ‘cracks the whip’ figuratively speaking but “I’m not a hard task manager. As long as everyone understands me and my reason for doing what I do, they know what I expect of them”. “Everything is geared to presentation and
is all about quality to ensure we give customers the best experience we can when they play the courses.” To that end, a focus on greater aeration five years ago boosted greens consistency. “We also frequently apply the lightweight Verti‐Drain across the Waterfall greens, which has brought big benefits ‐ 8mm solid tines in summer down to eight or nine inches, then 12mm solid tines to the same depth in autumn. Greens are hollowed cored twice a year, at the end of March or first week in April, then on the last Monday in September.” Keeping the paying customer up to speed with what’s happening on the course ranks high in Giulio’s list of priorities. “I issue weekly email updates to members so they are abreast of projects underway. They still fail to replace divots as often as they should and we try to inform them about how their behaviour on course can benefit presentation.”
“What angers me are those who turn up for a round and who couldn’t care less about keeping things in good condition. They just don’t respect the course.”
Members surely have little to gripe about though, given the rolling programme of improvements Giulio and the team put in place.
- Treat Your Turf
echneat PC APRIL/MAY 2018 I 41
More than seventy courses lie within the Sussex boundary. Mannings Heath’s Waterfall ranks a highly respectable six or seven, so Giulio knows the team are doing something right.
Perhaps in contrast to many
greenkeepers, Giulio adopts a ‘live and let live’ stance on Poa. “There’s no way to eliminate it really even if we wanted to and, over the last six or seven years, we’ve gone from 20%/80% bent/Poa to 50%/50%. Overseeding with bent once or twice a year does the trick as it thrives in our soil conditions. I don’t skimp on seed. If you want the best performing cultivars, they’ll cost you accordingly.”
“The last couple of years, we’re seeing good consistent greens for longer periods of the year, perhaps explained partly by the trend to warmer weather later.” “Now, October is a growing month, whilst Aprils are generally colder so grass growth patterns are shifting. From early May to mid‐ November, there is no reason why greens cannot be up to the mark. Our mowing regime contines almost right up to Christmas.”
“As spring is starting later, we stay clear of cutting until the temperature rises. When those icy April winds sweep across the
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