GOLF Getting Personal
Rob Cook - he has a passion for fescue and the seaside
Who are you? Rob Cook, Course Manager at Perranporth Golf Club.
Family status. Live with my partner Ellen.
Who’s your hero and why? Billy Mitchell - fi fty plus years pursuing Fescue.
What’s been the highlight of your grounds career so far? Being Course Manager at Perranporth.
If your younger self saw you now, what would they think? Crikey, you have settled down.
Which famous people wind you up? Politicians.
What job would you love, other than your own? Professional golfer.
What was the most
embarrassing moment in your life? Falling off my motorbike outside of school.
What is your favourite fi lm? Shawshank Redemption.
What scares you? Heights. What would your
autobiography be called… and who would play you in the fi lm? Lifetime of Golf - Brad Pitt.
What is your favourite sport? Golf.
What would you cast into Room 101? Perranporth’s irrigation system.
What’s your favourite smell? The seaside.
46 PC October/November 2020
Which historical time and place would you most like to visit? The building of Perranporth Golf Club in 1927.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? To help make all links courses fi ne grass dominant.
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? James Braid, Bill Nicholson (Spurs) and Tiger Woods.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? It is hard to do nothing.
What’s your favourite piece of trivia? 80% of golfers will never play to a handicap of less than 18.
Which three albums would you take to a desert island? Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever, Queen - Greatest Hits and Adele - 21.
What’s your favourite piece of kit? Toro ProCore 648.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Passionate, hardworking and enthusiastic.
What is the single most useful thing you could tell a 16-year-old groundsperson/ greenkeeper? Ask as many questions as you can.
What talent would you like to have? Be able to sing.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? National Service.
The course is extremely free draining, which enables play all year round. “Last June, it rained pretty much all the way through which meant we had a couple of pockets of standing water on the course, but they were not really in play. If anything, the course performs better in winter when it is green and lush. In summer, it is very dry and tends to burn off pretty quickly … if there is anywhere that could do with irrigation, it is here, as it dries out rapidly.”
Rob gives me the breakdown of his maintenance regime for the greens throughout the year. “During summer, we cut no lower than 4mm, then gradually rise that to 5mm before going to 6mm in winter.
We have four Baroness LM56 hand mowers and a Toro GreensMaster TriFlex 3420. With staff being furloughed, it has been diffi cult this year but, typically, we will try and hand mow two to three times a week
with the groomers and try and do a double pass, then use the Toro over the weekend.” I asked Rob why he swaps between the two methods of cutting? “I just love the fi nish the hand mowers give us and we only have groomers on those mowers. All the guys here are passionate about hand mowing and it saves wear and tear on the surrounds; because it’s an old-fashioned course, it can be diffi cult to turn the triple. Over the years, I have carried out a lot of hand mowing myself and I would adopt this to all tees and greens if I had the resources.” Throughout the season, Rob doesn’t undertake scarifying on the greens and has carried on from where Billy left off with the use of graminicides. “When I fi rst started, I applied four applications in spring and autumn (before Rescue was taken off the market), to ensure I had eradicated all the ryegrass and Yorkshire Fog.
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