GOLF Getting Personal
Roger Stillwell - a couple of Winstons and a pair of brothers - could be one hell of a dinner party!
Who are you? Roger Stillwell, Course Manager at Wheatley Golf Club.
Family status? Married, with a daughter in university.
Who’s your hero and why? Seve, great inspiration, charisma.
What would you change about yourself? Lose about five stone!
What’s your guilty pleasure? Watching movies while eating Haagen Dazs Belgian chocolate ice cream.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? Being able to work for the European Tour preparing the courses for the great players in the early days like Seve, Faldo, Monty, Woosnam etc.
What are your pet peeves? Golfers who are disrespectful to the course.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? Mexico.
What’s the best part of your job? Working outdoors.
… and the worst? Watching the golfers disrespect the hard work which goes into looking after the course.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? Pay off all debts and travel the world.
Which three albums would you take to a desert island? Dark side of the moon, Queen’s Greatest Hits and the Beautiful South.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? Margo Robbie … best change that to the wife!!!
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Pay off the mortgage and go around the world first class.
What would you consign to Room 101 and why? Bureaucrats who ban products from their offices and do not see the actual reality of what is happening in real life.
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party?
Winston Churchill, Ray Winston, the Krays.
34 PC February/March 2019
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? Quentin Tarantino, to try and figure out what goes through his head!!
Do you have any bad habits? Snore like a train.
... Or any good ones? Very generous.
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day's workload?
Not really, just depends on what’s on at the time.
What are you reading at the moment? - hard copy or online? Rattle, by Fiona Cummins. About a serial killer.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? You can count all of your friends on one hand.
What's your favourite smell? Fresh cut grass.
What do you do in your spare time? I’ve taken up boxing and love it, going to the local, looking after my tropical fish and don’t mind cooking.
What’s the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? There are too many, but a good one was: “why can’t you heat the water in the irrigation system to defrost the greens?” Then: “have you found gold yet?” While digging out bunkers, or another: “are you filling that bunker in?” While clearly you’re digging it bigger.
What’s your favourite piece of kit? Amazone.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Understanding, fair, clinically obese.
What talent would you like to have?
Be able to predict the weather for the coming two weeks, as our weather forecasters can’t tell you what’s happening tomorrow accurately.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? Not printable.
Ecology and Environment
The greenkeeping team encourages wildlife, flowers and grasses. Foxes seem to be a help rather than a hindrance and birds of prey are regularly spotted. We spotted three in the time I was there. The team puts up bird boxes each year and there are beehives too behind the sheds. The team is fortunate to have assistance from a select few members who impart their specialist knowledge and offer practical help with strategic planting and other environmental initiatives.
About our industry
Discussing the state of the industry, Roger raised two thoughts: He believes that the increasing demands
being placed on greenkeepers generally appears to be causing raised stress issues. The other is that the help from certain fungicides and insecticides is being reduced with the withdrawal of certain products with no real alternatives available. As with many in the industry, Roger is of the same opinion in that greenkeepers are undervalued! BTME each January is where the team always visits, and perhaps one or two others.
View from behind the 12th
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