Bomb discovered on golf course

/in , , /by

Bomb discovered on golf course: Greenkeepers unearthed a little surprise on Monday at The Royal Cromer Golf Club, when a bomb was discovered under ground at the seaside golf club in East Anglia.

The bomb was found whilst groundsmen were carrying out work and maintenance between the 7th and 12th fairways around midday Monday 20th July.

After discovering the wartime device, the police and Royal Logistical Corps Bomb Disposal Team were sent to Royal Cromer GC where the bomb was then safely taken to the driving range and detonated at around 4:45pm.

Jamie Collyer, bar manager at the Royal Cromer Golf Club, said: “They were just doing some maintenance work, they were digging and found part of it.

“People on the course, told me [the explosion] was really, really loud,” he said.

Local residents of the Cromer area took to Twitter to ask other members of the public if anyone knew what had happened, after many described hearing a “huge explosion” and “massive boom.”

Click here to read the original article

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Community efforts lift club’s fortunes

/in , , /by

Community efforts lift club’s fortunes: The future is bright at Auchmill after community spirit put a real buzz into the Aberdeen club.

A band of volunteers joined head greenkeeper Mathew Smith and stewardess Andrea Stewart to make massive improvements to the course and clubhouse during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Their reward is seeing a demand to play their course.

Auchmill also received a £25,000 grant from the Scottish Government on offer to some small businesses.

Captain Gordon Graham said: “Membership is up and visitor numbers are up and thanks to our marvellous bunch of volunteers, who have transformed the course and clubhouse, we have had really positive feedback.

“It fills me with pride how their work is building a platform to go on to bigger and greater things.

“The £25,000 grant arrived just after the course closure and helped pay ongoing costs such as staff wages, maintenance of the course, repairs to sprinkler system and other sundries such as top dressing, fertiliser and diesel.

“The volunteers cleared grass cuttings, strimmed and cleaned bunkers and other areas, painted distance markers and signs and helped maintain the greens machinery and car park.”

Mathew, formerly of Westhill and Newmachar, and Andrea, both only started work at the club at the beginning of the season.

The volunteers quickly got to work on a new course improvement plan drawn up by Mathew which included an improved greens programme.

The volunteers redecorated the clubhouse, painting the interior, refurbishing furniture and even preparing a beer garden.

Andrea said: “It has transformed the clubhouse into a warm, welcoming place. It was wonderful to see members rallying round and bringing about improvements.

“I am looking forward to the opening and welcoming everyone once the restrictions are lifted.”

Click here to read the original article

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Scott Fenwick reflects on four decades

/in , , /by

Scott Fenwick reflects on four decades: He remembers hoisting the bag over his shoulder and playing from sunrise to sunset at Craigie Hill Golf Club.

At this point young Perth High School student Scott Fenwick harboured dreams of rising through the ranks to stardom on the professional tour.

That particular dream was not realised but his journey in the golfing world has taken its own unique and incredibly successful pathway to the top.

It was 40 years ago when Scott, a shy 16-year-old at the time, was talked into applying for the position of apprentice greenkeeper at Gleneagles.

“As a youngster I was a keen golfer and played a lot,” reminisced Scott (56).

“I harboured ambitions of being a pro golfer. When I was leaving school I was going to become a joiner, but my dad had said there was a greenkeeping job at Gleneagles.

“I came out for the interview, got the job and everything moved on from there.

“At that time the main shed was a small bothy area.

“I remember there were a lot of people and it was quite intimidating, all of these older guys and young 16-year-old me turning up for work in the morning.

“Back in those days you started off quite basic. The majority of it was raking bunkers in the morning and then out filling divots for the rest of the day.

“You got your wheelbarrow full of soil and off you went around the golf course.”

Those humble beginnings laid important foundations for progress and he would later be appointed Gleneagles’ golf courses and estates manager.

Now director of agronomy and estates, Scott has been reflecting on four memorable decades of success at one of the world’s finest golfing resorts.

“I was inspired by seeing the guys doing all the different jobs,” he says.

“It made me realise there is a lot more to looking after a golf course than I first thought.

“As time went on, the thoughts of becoming a golfer dwindled away and I got more interested in the golf course maintenance side of it all.

“But I was there almost a year before I even got a shot of a mower. Once you started getting on the machinery, everything changed.”

Producing pristine playing conditions for members and visitors across the Queen’s, King’s and PGA Centenary courses became second nature.

There has, too, been a huge buzz associated with hosting tournament golf throughout his time at Gleneagles.

“When I first started, there was still the pro-celebrity golf,” he said. “But 1987 was the first of the Scottish Opens coming, the bigger televised events.

“Tented villages were coming on site. At the time I think the Bell’s Scottish Open was the third biggest tournament on the European Tour.

“You had all the top pros coming in – Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Ben Crenshaw – so it was a huge tournament.

“It was great to be involved in that and see the actual golf course being presented on the television.

“I have always found tournament golf really enjoyable.”

When 2014 rolled around, the spotlight intensified on the fairways of Gleneagles when the Ryder Cup welcomed thousands from across the globe to the Perthshire hills.

Scott and the team had learned the PGA Centenary Course would host the biennial showpiece between Europe and the USA 13 years earlier.

“It is the biggest golfing event in the men’s game,” Scott told the Perthshire Advertiser. “We had started altering golf holes, building greens and changing areas on the course.

“We planned for the worst case scenario, but we ended up getting perfect weather.

“Everyone got stuck in and did a tremendous job.

“Our team of greenkeepers wasn’t big enough to set up the golf course, so we needed volunteers and brought a lot of former Gleneagles guys back in.”

Scott added: “We had the biggest sporting event for men, then were told we were hosting the Solheim Cup in 2019. I’m not sure if there is anywhere else that has done both.

“It’s a great achievement and terrific for everyone involved at Gleneagles.”

The Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup experiences will live long in the memory but, when the dust settled, there was no time to down tools.

Maintaining and building on high standards was paramount. That has been achieved, but the past few months have been strange times for golf.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the closure of courses across the country in March and only now is there a real sense of normality returning.

While it has proved a “tough” period for those in the industry, Scott is now looking forward to building on his own and Gleneagles’ success story.

“Golf courses are there to be played and you want golfers out on them,” he said. “When this all happened, the paramount importance was safety.

“Now we’re getting back to a little bit of normality and four-balls are coming back in. Hopefully the visitors will come back as well.

“I’m enjoying what I’m doing and we’ll see where it goes next.

“The good thing about working at Gleneagles is that there is always a new challenge.”

Click here to read the original article

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Ryde GC’s long serving greenkeeper

/in , , /by

Ryde GC’s long serving greenkeeper: Binstead-born Doug Rigby has helped develop Ryde Golf Club’s popular course into one of the best and challenging on the Isle of Wight over his 40-year career.

Doug, 56, who joined the club straight from school, is believed to be one of the longest serving greenkeepers in the industry.

After a trial working under John West initially, then Paul Knight, who went on to become Shanklin and Sandown Golf Club’s greenkeeper, Doug has made Ryde the envy of many clubs in the South.

With the advancements in technology, more televised golf events and a shift in the seasonal patterns, Doug, of Jellicoe Road, Binstead, has seen many changes during his career.

Doug said: “I always thought of Ryde Golf Club as like my back garden.

“I enjoy getting up early in the morning and being on the course — seeing the sun rise, squirrels running around — you can’t beat it this time of year. I couldn’t work in a factory!

“It’s a seven day a week job and it does take over your life a bit, but it gives me great pride and satisfaction what I’ve achieved in 40 years. It’s gone in the blink of an eye.”

From what was once a very open course, Ryde looks resplendent following Doug’s introduction of almost every variety of native tree imaginable to it.

“I’ve noticed how much the weather and seasons have changed over the years,” said Doug.

“When I first came to Ryde, the ground was frozen in October and I used to have to use a lighter to get the key in the shed door. Even the kettle was frozen.

“The fairways were like aeroplane runways, but I’ve always planted trees — getting cuttings from wherever I can and growing them.

“The second fairway used to be so open, but now it’s one of the hardest holes because of all the trees and out of bounds areas.”

Doug, also a keen fisherman and metal detectorist, was put on lockdown for five weeks, which he said had “done his nut in” after breaking his busy routine.

He has, since, had to put in an 80-hour week to get the course back to how it was before lockdown.

Club president, Mick Timms, celebrated Doug’s landmark by presenting him with a bottle of his top tipple, gift vouchers and an engraved hip flask — at a club’s length!

He said: “Doug is a super guy, who is tireless, adaptable and resourceful. Nothing is too much trouble for him.

“To achieve 40 years of loyal service at Ryde is incredible.

“His work is a greenkeeping masterclass, making Ryde one of the Isle of Wight’s most prestigious courses.

“Doug’s ingenuity has saved Ryde thousands of pounds over the years too. He is an absolute godsend and we’re very lucky to have him.”

Click here to read the original article

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Tributes paid to a first-class groundsman

/in , , /by

Tributes paid to a first-class groundsman: Tributes have been paid to Durham Cricket’s former head groundsman, Tom Flintoft, who died on Tuesday, aged 86.

Mr Flintoft, who lived in Whitby, spent seven years at Emirates Riverside becoming the club’s first head groundsman in 1991.

He was born and brought up in the Whitby area on the family farm, where he helped out until he was called up for National Service.

During his few years in the Army he spent most of his time as a driver in Hong Kong, and was on the last ship through the Suez Canal before it closed.

He returned to North Yorkshire and farming, and was asked to help out at the playing fields in Nunthorpe.

Wife Kath said: “He was always keen to earn a bit of extra money, so he helped out with the playing fields. He was then asked if he could help out at Middlesbrough Cricket Club. He didn’t think he was up to the job, but he gave it a go.”

Mr Flintoft’s reputation as a first-class groundsman spread and he took up the role of head groundsman at Hampshire Cricket Club, winning many awards throughout his career.

He returned to his native North-East and became head groundsman at Durham. Durham Cricket Board Chairman, Bob Jackson said, in a statement on the club’s website: “There is no doubt that Tom Flintoft was one of the most popular recruits that Durham made nearly 30 years ago. His knowledge of many of the cricket clubs from Whitby to Whitburn, the people and grounds around them, proved to be invaluable as Durham had to bring several grounds up to speed for first-class cricket in the initial years.

“This was a big enough job without the incredible responsibility of creating a future test ground at Chester-le-Street. Not only was Tom needed to provide the scientific input to the pitches but all of the groundsmen were desperate to improve their own knowledge and Tom was the source of this. Not only did he support those clubs involved with hosting first-class and second team matches, he found the time to advise numerous club groundsmen.

“Durham is indebted to Tom for his magnificent part in their short history.”

Philip McCormick, head groundsman at the Northern Cricket Union’s main ground Stormont, Northern Ireland, also paid tribute to Mr Flintoft. He said: “Tom used to come over and see our grounds as an advisor. He was never shy about getting his hands dirty and helping where he could. Although he was there to advise, he was always keen to get involved. He was a great man, he wanted to help everyone. He was a rare find.”

When Mr Flintoft retired he moved back to Whitby and lived with wife, Kath, next to the cricket club.

Whitby Cricket Club secretary Pauline Russell said: “Tom spent his life in cricket and when he retired to Whitby he generously gave his time to work on our ground alongside our groundsman. His knowledge and dedication were greatly appreciated.

“Tom was greatly respected across the cricket community and we were grateful he was part of Whitby Cricket Club. He was a lovely man, down to earth and was always happy to help out.”

Mr Flintoft loved to travel and with Kath he enjoyed more than 60 holidays. She said: “One of the highlights was a trip to Kenya, it was a wonderful holiday. We also went to the Canadian Rockies, France, Las Vegas and enjoyed a honeymoon on the Queen Elizabeth sailing from Southampton to New York ,through the Panama Canal and on to San Francisco.”

The couple, who got engaged on Valentine’s Day 2011, were married in September of that year. They had known each other since school.

Friend Barbara Booth said: “Tom was such a friendly person, a real gentleman. He was very caring and we are going to miss him a great deal. There were six of us who go on holiday together and Tom used to call us his harem.”

Friend Dougie Raine, chairman of Sport Mulgrave, said: “Tom was an amazing man. He was always there to lend a hand. We will miss him very much.”

Mr Flintoft, who was one of ten siblings, leaves four sons, Nigel, Mark, Neville, Craig, from his first wife Mary.

A private celebration of Mr Flintoft’s life will be held at Kirkleatham Crematorium on July 9. The hearse will leave from Whitby Cricket Club at 9.45am and donations are being made to St Catherine’s Hospice.

Click here to read the original article

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

© Copyright - Turf Matters 2026