Golf GETTING Personal...
Ben Evans ‐ let the countdown begin!
Who are you? Ben Evans, Head Greenkeeper at Shrigley Hall.
Family status? I’ve got a partner… I’m not legally married.
Who's your hero and why? Jim Arthur. I think a lot of Practical Greenkeeping, although old, it still rings true.
What would you change about yourself? I’d learn patience.
What’s your guilty pleasure? Takeaways.
What’s been the highlight of your grounds career so far? Getting this job.
What are your pet peeves? Stuff not being put away properly.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? I’d go to Augusta in top condition [written during Master’s week].
What’s the best part of your job? Overseeing something and seeing its progression. … and the worst? Asking for more money from the hotel.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? I’d love to be the head greenkeeper at a really nice links course by the sea. Maybe in the south of France.
Favourite record, and why? Rumours by Fleetwood Mac.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? Rachel Riley from Countdown.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Buy a ProCore.
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? Genghis Khan, Bob Marley and Jim Arthur.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? Tiger Woods. He’s got a lot of money, can go wherever he wants and everyone likes him.
Do you have any bad habits? I can be disorganised. ... or any good ones? I’m hard‐working.
Do you go to bed worrying about the next days workload? No.
Do you read? I mostly read golf books these days. I recently read one about golf course design, but also read Escape from Camp 14 about a refugee from North Korean imprisonment.
What's the best advice you have ever been given? “Stick to what you’re good at.”
What's your favourite smell? Petrol.
What do you do in your spare time? Uni work ‐ BSc Sports Turf Management.
What’s the daftest work-related question you have ever been asked? “What kind of paint stripes the grass?”
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Hard‐ working, motivated and reliable.
What talent would you like to have? I’d love to be good at golf. I just can’t crack it.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? Some kind of proper punishment for breaking the regulation on fungicides.
28 I PC JUNE/JULY 2018 What’s in the shed?
Toro Reelmaster 3100‐D x 2, Toro Reelmaster 5010‐H Toro Groundsmaster 360 Toro Groundsmaster 4000‐D Toro Greensmaster TriFlex
The above machines are all new
New Holland TN60 tractor New Holland TN45 tractor
New Holland TS35 compact tractor
Charterhouse Verti‐Drrain GreenTek Star Slitter Toro Workman (petrol)
John Deere ProGator with Dakota topdresser
Ben said: “The greens are all completely different, although mostly based on clay.” “They’re inconsistent. They get quite sandy below the thatch, but there’s no drainage underneath. They drain well, mainly because we’re laid out on a hillside, so the water runs away into the valley.” Ben stressed the
understanding nature of the members, saying: “They expect very little, in that they trust that we’ll do a good enough job. They’re happy to have a surface they can actually play on at the moment, as so many courses around have been unplayable.” “Like anywhere, there’s the odd negative comment, but they’re very positive in general. They have their own little pot of money and bought us a roller out of those funds.”
“They also help us. We have a member party every
Wednesday, when three‐or‐four members will help out around the course. There’s good interaction.”
Some greens at the bottom of the course are fully shaded, and there is one which is susceptible to disease. Ben is soon going to remove the trees between it and the morning sun. The team
sometimes sprays just that green for disease, and it is always the first one they brush for dew.
This isn’t helped by the altitude of the course, and Ben told me their course is usually a good couple of degrees colder than those close by. They’ve discovered they get slightly more rain than the local weather station does ‐ and this in the notoriously wet Greater Manchester/North Cheshire area.
“I haven’t been around long enough to notice the weather being different to when I was little. I may have a recollection of a time when there were strong seasons, but I may just be looking back through rose‐tinted glasses.”
Nick S. added: “I’ve noticed that change over time. Now, it rains in summer a lot. There was a summer when it never rained; 1976. None of you lot will remember that, though…”
Like anywhere, there’s the odd negative comment, but they’re very positive in general. They have their own little pot of money and bought us a roller out of those funds
”
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