GOLF Getting Personal
Tom Collings - he loves Oasis
Who are you? Tom Collings, Head Greenkeeper at The Point at Polzeath (North Cornwall).
Family status. Married with two children.
Who’s your hero and why? Don’t have one.
What would you change about yourself? More hair on my head and less in my ears!
What’s your guilty pleasure? Anything sweet.
What’s been the
highlight of your career so far? Every day is a highlight … I get to walk around a golf course for a living.
What are your pet peeves? The usual … divots, pitch marks, unraked bunkers. People who moan, but don’t have any idea what it takes to maintain a golf course.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? A sunny beach with 3 to 4 foot waves rolling in.
What’s the best part of your job? Love being out on the course.
… and the worst? Never enough time.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? To shoot 65 at Augusta.
Favourite record, and why? Anything by Oasis … because they’re Oasis.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? My wife.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Phone my wife!
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? What?
18 PC October/November 2019 Early morning brushing
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? Alex Ferguson, Liam Gallagher and Ricky Gervais.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? It’s hard enough being me!
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day’s workload? Always.
What are you reading at the moment? Just started re-reading Game of Thrones.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? If in doubt … don’t.
What’s your favourite smell? Coffee at crib time.
What do you do in your spare time? Family, surf SUP and play golf (occasionally).
What’s the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? …. Hahaha.
What’s your favourite piece of kit? Amazone flail collector.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Happy, busy and passionate.
What talent would you like to have? Any musical talent would be great.
up the surround. We are hoping to open the new hole in spring/summer 2020, and I want to get the drainage in and rootzone down ready to seed in the autumn. Then, it all depends on the weather. Hopefully it is good to us and we can get the hole open at some point next summer. The whole place is one big project to be honest. We have already done a lot of drainage including open ditches to help keep the course open in the winter. We’ve constructed tees, bunkers and a putting green. For five years now we have been working on a bunker programme, getting rid of old bunkers, reshaping and repositioning to help make the course more interesting to all golfers; we try and do as much as we can in house.” “Ongoing is constant tree clearing and tidying up. Years ago, we didn’t have the manpower or machinery to clear up the scrub areas or in amongst the trees. We want to show off some nice features, like old Cornish stone walls. For five years now we have been working on a
bunker programme, getting rid of old bunkers, reshaping and repositioning to help make the course more interesting to all golfers.” Tom talks me through the general maintenance of the greens throughout the season. “Cutting height is at 6mm throughout the winter. In early October, we will verti-drain using 20mm solid tines at a depth of seven to eight inches, hollow core (every other year) and overseed with the Vredo disc seeder, using Johnsons J All Bent grass seed. We have gone with bents over the last few years which has come through well. I previously went with just fescue but, in the last few years, we have had a lot of wet winters and the fescues were struggling. Also, last year with the hot weather, I found the fescues took longer to come back than anything else. We will then heavily topdress and brush in; we use about sixty to ninety tonnes of dressing a year, two heavy dressings at the start and end of the season and as many light dressings as we can through the main playing season.
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