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Scott Fenwick reflects on four decades

July 14, 2020/in Industry News, News, Press Release/by External Source

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 […]

Soil-plant interactions and fertilizer impact for turfgrass research

July 13, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Soil-plant interactions and fertilizer impact for turfgrass research: ICL has been collaborating with Bangor University on a unique research project which is exploring soil-plant interactions and fertilizer impact for turfgrass. The results may well revolutionize the use of fertilizers and encourage sustainable innovation. The research is being conducted by Anna Ray, who is working on […]

Scott Fenwick reflects on four decades

July 14, 2020/in Industry News, News, Press Release/by External Source

Soil-plant interactions and fertilizer impact for turfgrass research

July 13, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Scott Fenwick reflects on four decades

July 14, 2020/in Industry News, News, Press Release/by External Source

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.”

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Soil-plant interactions and fertilizer impact for turfgrass research

July 13, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Soil-plant interactions and fertilizer impact for turfgrass research: ICL has been collaborating with Bangor University on a unique research project which is exploring soil-plant interactions and fertilizer impact for turfgrass. The results may well revolutionize the use of fertilizers and encourage sustainable innovation.

The research is being conducted by Anna Ray, who is working on her Masters by Research (MRes) and Dr Professor Davey Jones from Bangor University.

Soil-plant interactions and fertilizer impact for turfgrass research

A key focus for the research is struvite: a slow-release, sustainable fertilizer that is extracted from wastewater and Dr Professor Davey Jones believes it could well be the future. “We grow food, people eat it, we excrete waste, and we extract the nutrients from that. Recycling on this level is revolutionary,” he said.

Anna is in her first year of the research project and has already reported some positive results – most notably after a 7-day fertilizer and microbial interaction assessment.

“The trial focused on the microbial activity in the soil and the impact of different fertilizers on it. Microbial communities are a key biological indicator for the soil and plant health, and the impact of fertilizer applications on this community is under-assessed. The work demonstrated that microbial communities can be impacted but they are resilient and recover relatively quickly. Struvite had a similar effect to our control (water) throughout the experiment suggesting it is environmentally friendly. A promising result,” she said.

With the human population and food production rising, using fertilizers is inevitable, but through careful product selection and accurate application, use of fertilizers can be improved and become more efficient.

“It is important to develop sustainable fertilizers, with a minimal environmental impact,” said Dr Professor Davey Jones. “Anna’s research will give us a better understanding of how fertilizers impact soil-plant interactions.”

Anna’s research was funded by a Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarship (KESS 2), which is how Anna was connected to industry partner ICL. The collaboration with ICL gives Anna the opportunity to instantly present her ideas and results to the industry.

“When we are allowed to travel again, I will visit ICL to learn about the industry and present my research,” said Anna. “With ICL we discussed the objectives for both parties. It’s a partnership of designing experiments and I think it is important for academics to keep in touch with the industry and its needs.”

Dr Professor Davey Jones was also quick to praise the importance of the collaboration between academia and industry.

“The industry brings an economical and practical aspect to our research. We could engineer perfect fertilizers, but economically it will probably not work on mass scale. Researchers could gain knowledge that might take another 30 or 40 years before it is of commercial use.

“This union between academia and industry makes our research instantly valuable and it works perfectly for an urgent market need such as more sustainable fertilizer-solutions.”

Commenting on the collaboration, Andy Owen, ICL International Technical Manager, said: “ICL utilize struvite from a company called Ostara as part of our Sierrablen Plus Pearl product range. We know this recycled product is a sustainable option that also provides real turfgrass benefits. We’re committed to develop products that perform, so we are keen to understand the fertilizer-plant interaction in more detail. The collaboration with Bangor University allows us to explore the science further and ensures we can be clear in our marketing and communication with our customers.”

In looking further ahead, Dr Professor Davey Jones hopes to continue the research to new and more sustainable fertilizer products and critically evaluate them against conventional products.

“There is so much more to discover. For instance, we still don’t entirely understand how roots and fertilizers interact and why some fertilizers suppress root growth while others promote it. An answer to these questions will bring us closer to the perfect fertilizer.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Scott Fenwick reflects on four decades

Soil-plant interactions and fertilizer impact for turfgrass research

Scott Fenwick reflects on four decades

Soil-plant interactions and fertilizer impact for turfgrass research

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Scott Fenwick reflects on four decades

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.

Soil-plant interactions and fertilizer impact for turfgrass research

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