Groundsman impresses judges with Union Jack front lawn

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Aston Villa groundsman impresses judges with Jo Cox-inspired Union Jack front lawn in Great Barr:

This, believe it or not, is someone’s front lawn which leaves passers-by in Great Barr bemused – so much so that they “often stop to stroke it”.

The master behind the creation is Keith Smith, green keeper at Edgbaston Golf Club and part-time groundsman at Aston Villa.

Green-fingered Keith, of Swinbrook Grove, entered his Union Jack front lawn into the 2017 International Creative Lawn Stripes Competition.

He made the final six but Keith’s desperate to go one step further and win a prize place.

Keith said: “Last year’s flash floods nearly scuppered my creative lawn competition entry as the garden sank deep beneath a lake of rainwater.

“The diamond design I created in 2016 made the final four of the competition but this year the competition was opened internationally so I had to come up with something more striking.

“This year’s challenge included a 12-week recuperation from a back operation – Mrs Smith temporarily brandishing a lawn mower was scarier than the floods.

“The Union flag idea came from ‘The Great Get Together’ in memory of Jo Cox and how this united us during some of the most dividing times such as Brexit and recent terrorist attacks.

He made the final six but Keith’s desperate to go one step further and win a prize place.

Keith said: “Last year’s flash floods nearly scuppered my creative lawn competition entry as the garden sank deep beneath a lake of rainwater.

“The diamond design I created in 2016 made the final four of the competition but this year the competition was opened internationally so I had to come up with something more striking.

“This year’s challenge included a 12-week recuperation from a back operation – Mrs Smith temporarily brandishing a lawn mower was scarier than the floods.

“The Union flag idea came from ‘The Great Get Together’ in memory of Jo Cox and how this united us during some of the most dividing times such as Brexit and recent terrorist attacks.

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Golfer says ‘thanks’ to his life-saver

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Golfer who ‘died’ for 18 minutes on seventh hole says ‘thanks’ to his life-saver: A pub landlord has been reunited with the greenkeeper who gave him life-saving CPR when he collapsed on a golf-course and ‘died’ for 18 minutes.

Steve Garrard, who runs The Punch Bowl pub in The Groves alongside his wife, Jan, suffered a heart attack as he played the seventh hole at Heworth Golf Course on June 5.

Mark Hirst, the course’s head greenkeeper was working nearby and rushed to help the 57-year-old and started CPR while emergency services were called in.

“It looked like he had taken his last gasp,” explained Mr Hist, 37.

“I didn’t want to see a fellow human die in front of me so I started doing chest compressions.

“Within a minute or so of doing that I saw him gasp.

“His heart was clearly in a very bad situation, so I continued doing CPR until paramedics arrived and took over.”

Paramedics used a defibrillator six times to shock his heart back into a regular rhythm.

Mr Garrard was taken to James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, by Yorkshire Air Ambulance and was placed in an induced coma on the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) for 10 days.

The dad-of-one underwent a triple heart bypass on June 15 and spent six weeks in hospital before doctors discharged him.

The pair have since been reunited so Mr Garrard could thank Mr Hirst for his lifesaving intervention.

Mr Garrard said: “It’s amazing what Mark did and I cannot thank him enough. I feel lucky to be alive because my heart stopped beating for 18 minutes.” The publican has no memory of the events, but his wife believes her husband was feeling unwell on the morning he set off to play golf.

However, she could not have predicted what happened next.

She received a phone call from her husband’s golf partner Richard Cussans explaining what had happened and the pair drove to the hospital together.

Mrs Garrard spent the next six weeks at her husband’s bedside and was able to see him in hospital every day while he was in Middlesbrough after a customer offered her one of his homes to stay in.

She said: “I was worrying all the time about him not coming out of the coma.

“It was touch and go and nobody knew how well he would be once he came out of surgery.

“We said ‘let’s get him through the operation’ and see what happens after that. I’m just grateful for everyday now and I get quite emotional thinking and talking about it, and it still brings a lump to my throat.”

The heart attack, which doctors blamed on Mr Garrard smoking, has forced him to quit work and cigarettes, but he is still hopeful of getting back out on the golf course when he is well enough. The couple are raising money for Yorkshire Air Ambulance and held an event at the The Punch Bowl pub last Saturday.

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High praise for club

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High praise for club: The greens were packed last week at Cobram Bowling Club, where 120 people from all around Victoria gathered to play for the Cobram men’s triples tournament.

Competition was fierce, but nobody was surprised when the victory went to Australia’s number one ranked bowler Barrie Lester and his teammates Josh Thornton from Shepparton and Troy Mansfield from Echuca.

Cobram Bowling Club board member Andy Reeves said it was one of the most successful tournaments the club had seen in a long time.

‘‘It’s a major event for us, a little club on the Murray. It certainly doesn’t happen every day,’’ Reeves said.

‘‘We have people coming from all over regional Victoria, as well as from the metropolitan areas. We’ve filled all three greens, which is absolutely fabulous.’’

The rain and poor weather cleared up just in time for the tournament, which had ideal sunny conditions for a game of bowls.

‘‘Considering the recent rains, the greenkeeper and volunteers have done a fantastic job,’’ Reeves said.

‘‘The greens are in excellent condition and we’re getting a lot of compliments from the players.’’

Club members were delighted to get a chance to meet international bowler Barrie Lester, who gave tips and advice during a demonstration day on Tuesday.

Lester gave club members tips on their bowling technique, but he said the most important advice he could give was on how to run a good, active club that attracts new members.

‘‘The club members been really receiving, they’ve enjoyed picking up a few tips to help their own game and more importantly to help their club,’’ Lester said.

‘‘I gave a lot of advice on club culture, club behaviours and the characteristics of being a good club both off the green, inside the club and the running of the club as well as a few coaching tips out on the green.’’

Lester said he was impressed by how the tournament was managed.

‘‘It’s an amazing tournament, beautiful greens, just a great group of people.

‘‘There should be more of it, clubs like this running great tournaments.’’

Lester hopes to make it to the Commonwealth Games next year with his bowls partner Josh Thornton, who shares his goal of getting more people into bowling and joining their local bowling clubs.

‘‘Cobram has a great club,’’ Thornton said.

‘‘They’re very progressive in terms of trying to get people playing the sport and they’ve got great facilities.

‘‘If they keep doing what they’re doing, they’ll be going strong for a long time.’’

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Artificial Six-Hole Course Opens At Frilford Heath

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Artificial six-hole course opens at Frilford Heath: An exciting new course has just opened at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire in the form of a unique synthetic artificial grass layout.

The Yellow Course sits alongside Frilford Heath’s three existing championship courses but what sets it apart is that it has been created using Huxley Golf all-weather surfaces.

The course is divided into two accessible loops of three holes each with the second loop slightly more challenging than the first.

It caters for all standards of golfer, but will especially appeal to beginners who want an accessible and gentle introduction to the sport, experienced players who want to improve their short game within 100 yards, and the rapidly expanding group of golfers that find it hard to find time to play regularly.

The brand new course was officially opened with an exhibition match featuring European Tour Professional Eddie Pepperell, previously a Frilford junior member.

Huxley Golf’s Will Alsop worked with Executive Chairman Alistair Booth and Head Greenkeeper and President of BIGGA, Sid Arrowsmith, to design and create the course.

Said Booth added: “Huxley Golf worked with us over a period of 18 months to turn an under-utilised area of woodland into this stunning new feature. In my opinion, the team skilfully created an exceptionally high quality facility that can be used by young and old, novice and professional.”

The Yellow Course’s six greens all measure 1350 sq. ft (125 sq. mtrs) but all are unique in shape and undulations.

There are 12 Huxley Golf Premier Nylon Tee Mats, two for each hole, creating a variety of approach shots from differing angles and length with increasing difficulty.

The light, bright course meanders its way through avenues of trees with bird boxes to encourage wildlife and natural grass fairways and approaches.

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Learning LIVE Signals Opportunity

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Learning LIVE signals opportunity: The SALTEX 2017 free education programme is set to inspire visitors at the NEC on 1 and 2 November.

Learning LIVE Signals Opportunity

With the full Learning LIVE programme set to be revealed in the coming weeks, the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) has released a few teaser seminars. The programme looks set to provide limitless opportunities and inspire and educate visitors from a wide range of sectors within the turfcare industry.

Now in its third year, SALTEX’s free-to-attend education programme has gone from strength to strength. Last year, Learning LIVE saw 53 unique seminars, 99 high-profile speakers and many key topical issues explored. For 2017, the programme will follow the same successful format developed over the past two years situated within four purpose-built seminar theatres on the show floor with state-of-the-art sound systems and screens.

Within the theatres a number of influential speakers will be on hand to provide updates and key advice. Mark Pover, facilities investment strategy manager at The Football Association (FA), will be participating in a panel debate entitled ‘Funding the future of natural turf.’ With so much money being invested into artificial turf, SALTEX visitors will have an opportunity to ask the funders if there is a danger of natural turf being left behind.

Commenting on the panel debate, Mark said: “We haven’t forgotten the fact that the majority of football matches in this country are played on natural grass. We have just shy of 800 artificial pitches on our 3G register suitable for affiliated matches and we are continuing to invest in these but there are approximately 23,000 natural grass pitches. Clearly these are very important, as is the quality, so we will continue to improve and use natural turf pitches to keep people playing and also attract new players.

“We are currently spending two million pounds a year on natural turf pitch improvements and I believe that SALTEX is the ideal place to update the industry so that visitors understand exactly what we are doing and the targets we have set. It is also a good opportunity to address some of the negative rumours that are circulated annually and reinforce our commitment to natural turf.”

For those visitors that are looking to progress their career, the ‘Career development’ seminar presented by Steve Chappell, head greenkeeper at the PGA Centenary Golf Course at The Gleneagles Hotel, should not be missed. Steve will be primarily focusing on how volunteering can significantly help improve job prospects.

“The thought process behind the session is to provide a little bit more of an understanding of how volunteering can help improve and embellish your CV,” says Steve. “It can help you stand out from the crowd and be more employable to a prospective employer.

“The seminar would be beneficial for younger people in the industry, and also maybe for those who feel they have become stuck in a rut. The message behind it all, is to use the opportunities that are out there to develop yourself because it can help you take that next step which will give you that career fulfilment you are looking for.”

Additionally, the seminar ‘Making your move’ will be beneficial in helping a visitor along their career path. Wayne Billing, head groundsman at Northampton Saints RFC; Stuart Kerrison, head groundsman at Essex CCC and Danny Beckley, head of estates and grounds at Harrow School, will all be on hand to reveal the secrets behind making it to the top within their respective fields.

For further inspiration, John Ledwidge will be documenting his rise from starting in an apprentice position through to being the current grounds manager at Leicester City FC in ‘From apprentice to grounds manager’. In a separate seminar John will also be joined by the rest of his grounds team in a session entitled ‘Building a team for success.’

By attending any of these seminars within the programme, SALTEX visitors have the opportunity to enhance their CV as IOG and Basis CPD points are available for all Learning LIVE sessions. Attendance at the seminars can be recorded by picking up a CPD form from the IOG Hub (Stand C180) and can contribute towards the minimum requirement of 35 hours in 12 months in order to qualify for the IOG’s Certificate of CPD Achievement.

After being motivated by the Learning LIVE seminars, visitors can visit SALTEX 2017’s new feature – the Job Clinic. Located on the IOG Hub, industry expert Frank Newberry will be hosting 15-minute one-to-one sessions covering CV writing to interview techniques. To book an appointment with Frank, visitors are advised to go to the IOG information desk on the IOG Hub as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

Located in the centre of the UK, whether you are travelling from overseas or within the UK, the NEC is incredibly easy to get to by car, rail or air. No matter what route you take, one thing is certain – opportunity awaits on November 1 and 2 at SALTEX 2017.

The full programme of SALTEX events will be regularly updated via www.iogsaltex.com.

Visitor registration to SALTEX 2017 is free. To confirm your attendance visit www.iogsaltex.com

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