Tag Archive for: Roll

Final Roll For Retiring Greenkeeper

Final Roll For Retiring Greenkeeper: Deniliquin’s Tom Maw has worked and mastered the art of ‘greenkeeping’ over the past 48 years.

When Mr Maw was 17 he applied for a greenkeeper apprenticeship at the Deniliquin Golf Club after his father noticed the ‘wanted’ position when playing a round of golf.

Final Roll For Retiring Greenkeeper

He applied and got the job, completing some formal studies via correspondence from Sydney over three years while at the same time keeping Deniliquin’s fairways and greens lush and manicured.

Mr Maw developed a love for the job. He spent about six years at the Golf Club before taking a position at Deniliquin Bowling Club under head greenkeeper Bruno Roberto, where he stayed for another six years before becoming the sole greenkeeper at Deniliquin RSL Bowls Club where he has remained for 36 years.

Mr Maw said a lot of people think there’s not much to the job but it’s not as easy at is seems.

‘‘You have to be prepared to do the hours and you have to overcome a lot of problems. The biggest problem I found was a lot of people get their ambitions and their capabilities mixed up, so they blame the greens because they didn’t bowl well! I’ve been pretty lucky with few complaints because our greens are pretty good, but there’s always someone not happy,’’ he said with a laugh.

Mr Maw’s final day on the job is today and he said he’s thoroughly enjoyed his time at the Deniliquin RSL Club.

‘‘It’s a very enjoyable job working at the RSL. I just do my own thing, I don’t have to clock on or off, just as long as the work’s done, that’s why it’s a good job.

‘‘I recently turned 65 and thought it was time to give it away.

‘‘I think I’ve walked around Australia once at least, because some days I think you could walk 20 kilometres easy. Every day the greens are mowed and sometimes you have to go over them at least six times to get the product you want, so there is a lot of walking involved.’’

Apart from the long hours and labour, Mr Maw said you have to have a ‘knack’ for the job.

‘‘You mow, roll it, fungicide it, fertilise it and water the grass.

‘‘If you have been doing it a while like I have, you tend to know just by looking at it what it needs.

‘‘I would be able to tell you where the dry patches will show before they even come up. You get to know the greens and build a relationship.’’

There have also been a lot of changes to the grass throughout his career.

‘‘When I first started there we has a thing called bent grass which is a grass that grows in England because they have a lot of moisture, however it doesn’t like the heat.

‘‘So over here you had to watch it every day or it would die, and if it died well that was it.

‘‘Then they changed over to a couch grass called Tifdwarf, which came in from America. The grass gives a much quicker bowl which meant the bowls had to be changed as well, but the most important thing was that we could sleep at night knowing the grass won’t die.

‘‘One tournament at the Deni Bowling Club over a long weekend in January we would go back to water the greens at 2am to 3am in the morning and then we would have to be back there to mow it at 5am; that went on for about a week. So a lot of things have changed in my time,’’ he said.

Now with more time on his hands Mr Maw said his first plans are to enjoy some sleep-ins, along with some travelling with his wife Chris and then trying to get his golf handicap down.

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The Smoothest Roll For The Smoothest Greens

The Smoothest Roll For The Smoothest Greens: Toro’s new GreensPro 1260 arrives in the UK

 While there’s always a lively discussion to be had on the pros and cons of fast greens, one thing at the top of most golfers’ wish lists are smooth greens. With that in mind, the latest launch from Toro will now most likely top most head greenkeepers’ and course managers’ must-have machinery lists!

The Smoothest Roll For The Smoothest Greens

The new Toro GreensPro 1260 is the company’s latest greens roller. It takes all the excellent features of the previous Toro GreensPro models and adds overlapping heads for a consistent roll over every pass, a quick latch coupler and pivot handle to easily transition from roll to transport, many easy maintenance features including only one grease point and added comfort such as a bi-directional seat adjustment lever, armrests and a rubber isolation mount, to name but a few.

But perhaps most importantly, one of the key new features is split stainless steel smoothing rollers. The benefit of this is two-fold: uniform smooth greens are achieved in just one sitting and the risk of scuffing during turns is dramatically reduced.

Toro has also added a hydraulic drive system to the 1260. This replaces the hydro and chain drive and eliminates leaks and potential contamination of the grass as well as reducing the amount of maintenance required with chain drive systems.

Put it all together and the result is smoother greens with a more uniform appearance and the best playability. For the operator it’s a more comfortable ride, thanks to the isolated engine, which means minimal vibrations and the ability to perfectly place the seat and steering column according to individual requirements. For maintenance, well that job just got a whole lot easier – there’s less to clean and access is much easier, as is transporting the machine from green to green. For club management it’s an improvement in course perceptions and an increase in productivity.

Jeff Anguige, national sales manager at Reesink Turfcare, the sole UK distributor of Toro, says: “The new GreensPro 1260 is the next evolution of green irons, and it’s about to arrive here in the UK. The way this machine follows the contours and undulations of the greens no matter how slight the undulations are results in an exceptionally uniform smooth putting surface. Just like its predecessors it is unmatched in its roll consistency and now thanks to the split rollers it’s ability to turn without scuffing the surface is market-leading too.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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