GOLF Getting Personal
Nathan O’Sullivan - he’s proud of his achievements
Who are you? Nathan O’Sullivan - Course Manager at China Fleet Country Club.
Family status. Married.
Who’s your hero and why? My wife; for putting up with me and being a great mother to our children.
What’s been the highlight of your grounds career so far? Just bringing the golf course to the standard it is now; seeing the transition from very thatchy, disease prone greens, that had around six fungicide applications per year, to a decent, free draining surface, with only one fungicide application in sixteen months. The continued feedback and backing from the members, who now understand why we have to cause some disruption at times in order to improve. Also, being involved in the support team for the PGA at Wentworth a few times.
If your younger self saw you now, what would he think? I would be proud of myself and my family.
Which famous people wind you up? Reality tv ‘stars’.
What job would you love, other than your own? Professional footballer/golfer.
What was the most
embarrassing moment in your life? Pronouncing my wife’s name wrong at our wedding!
What is your favourite fi lm? Ferris Buellers Day Off .
What scares you? Heights.
What would your autobiography be called… and who would play you in the fi lm? ‘No idea’ ... Tom Hanks.
What is your favourite sport? Golf.
What would you cast into Room 101? Bottled water, lazy people and having so many passwords to remember!
Which historical time and place would you most like to visit? Ancient Rome.
28 PC October/November 2020
Do you have a lifetime ambition? To visit Augusta National.
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? John Lennon, Billy Connolly and Karl Pilkington!
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Listen and think positively.
What’s your favourite piece of trivia? The world’s richest 1% have more than twice as much wealth as 6.9 billion people.
What’s your favourite smell? Bacon cooking.
Which three albums would you take to a desert island? Ocean Colour Scene - Mosely Shoals, Kings of Leon - Because of the times and The Beatles Anthology.
What’s the daftest work-related question you have ever been asked? Is the course fl oodlit?
What’s your favourite piece of kit? Toro ProCore.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Passionate, hardworking and stressed!
What is the single most useful thing you could tell a 16-year-old groundsperson/greenkeeper? Put yourself out there, speak to other greenkeepers, listen and play other courses.
What talent would you like to have? To be able to play the guitar.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? Some sort of ban, or further limitations on single-use plastic.
subsequently, we are starting to see drains collapsing and just not functioning properly. We are in the process of renewing some drains on the fairways, but we have not really had to update drainage on the greens yet.” Nathan tells me he is seeing a signifi cant change in the weather patterns in the last few years. “We are getting extremely high levels of rainfall; it is becoming the norm now. We are starting to get more warmer mild winters with bouts of hefty rain. Gone are the days in November, when you could just park up the machines, strip them down and paint them up ready for the start of the growing season. That is just not the case anymore; it
is a matter of getting out and cutting when you can. Then, we move into summer and, over night, you seem to go into a drought; especially in 2018/2019. It goes from one extreme to another with not much gap in between, which has led us to rethink the way we manage the course throughout the year.” I asked Nathan is there a possibility in the future to extend the irrigation system? “I can’t see it on the fairways, but possibly the approaches. However, we would need another three lakes the same size as the current one,” he laughs. “There is talk of a borehole, but then we have to be careful as we are so close to the estuary; we would have to make sure the
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