Tag Archive for: greenkeeper

Shifnal GC greenkeeper downing tools

Shifnal GC greenkeeper downing tools: He arrived as a fresh-faced teenager and now, 47 years later, Peter Leath can reflect on a stellar job as Shifnal Golf Club’s head greenkeeper.

Read the full article from Shropshire Star here

Shifnal GC greenkeeper downing tools

Shifnal GC greenkeeper downing tools

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Greenkeeper delivers supplies to Ukraine

Greenkeeper delivers supplies to Ukraine: BIGGA member Bryn Roberts and a small team are travelling to Chelm to deliver medical supplies, goods and a 4×4 vehicle. 

Read the full article from Golf Magic here

Greenkeeper delivers supplies to Ukraine

Greenkeeper delivers supplies to Ukraine

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Greenkeeper Salaries Down For Second Consecutive Year

Greenkeeper Salaries Down For Second Consecutive Year: The survey, conducted by Hillier Hopkins, found that Head Greenkeeper remuneration packages have fallen for the second successive year.

Read the full article from Golf Monthly here

Image credit: Getty

Image credit: Getty

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Entries open for Toro Student Greenkeeper Awards

Entries open for Toro Student Greenkeeper Awards: Entries open for the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award 2022 on 14 February.

A highlight in the greenkeeping calendar, the event provides the opportunity for the UK’s course managers and lecturers to recognise their brightest employees or students by nominating them for these prestigious industry awards.

Entries open for Toro Student Greenkeeper Awards

Entries open for Toro Student Greenkeeper Awards

The awards provide fantastic professional experiences including a regional interview with some of the industry’s key figures from award sponsor and Toro distributor Reesink Turfcare and event organiser, the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA), while the networking opportunities just attending the finals provide are invaluable.

To win provides educational, international, all-expenses-paid prizes for the winners, runners-up and nominators including, for the first time, a work experience placement at Adare Manor, host of The 2027 Ryder Cup.

David Cole, managing director at Reesink, says: “Running for over three decades, the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award has the enviable reputation of creating a fantastic community for finalists, runners-up and winners. Regardless of winning, the event provides knowledge, experience and networking opportunites that are unlike anything else.

“To nominate a member of staff or student who has demonstrated their skill and talent in the actual or virtual classroom or out on the course gives them access to unmatched opportunities, which bring benefits to the club, college and candidate.”

This year the finals will be held in September at England’s greatest sporting estate, Goodwood in Surrey. For 33 years the awards have enabled BIGGA, the UK’s only membership association for golf greenkeepers, to work alongside turf maintenance equipment manufacturer Toro and distributor Reesink to celebrate the next generation of talented and dedicated greenkeepers.

David continues: “Ours, Toro’s and BIGGA’s long-standing support of this educational award is constantly rewarded by the enthusiasm, career passion and commitment to personal development that we come across every year from all involved, and that is the significant element that sustains this long-standing, career-enhancing award.”

BIGGA CEO Jim Croxton said: “The Toro Student Greenkeeper Awards have provided the springboard to success for so many of our members over their 33-year history and the legacy of this competition has been its contribution to elevating standards of golf course presentation all over the United Kingdom.

“Not just the winners, but anyone who participates in the awards process gains a great understanding of the wider sports turf industry beyond the confines of their golf facility or education provider and so often that inspires them to return home and strive even harder for success. As always, we are tremendously grateful to Toro and Reesink Turfcare for facilitating this tremendous and career-defining opportunity for the talented and ambitious members of BIGGA.”

Entries open 14 February and close 31 May 2022 for both the main and young awards. Both employers and lecturers can make nominations.

Visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk/sgoty to find out how to make a nomination for the 2022 awards.

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Golf club greenkeeper retires

Golf club greenkeeper retires: A small celebration to mark nearly six decades of green keeping at Sutton Bridge Golf Club has taken place.

The greenkeeper, Andrew Norton, retired after almost 58 years at the club .

Read the full article from Lynn News here

Golf club greenkeeper retires

Golf club greenkeeper retires

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Greenkeeper took own life after losing job

Greenkeeper took own life after losing job: A greenkeeper who worked at Lyme Regis Golf Club for 33 years took his own life after losing his job during the coronavirus pandemic, an inquest heard last week.

Read the full article from Lyme Online here

Greenkeeper took own life after losing job

Greenkeeper took own life after losing job

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Heroic greenkeeper saves man’s life

Heroic greenkeeper saves man’s life: A greenkeeper at Gullane Golf Club in Scotland saved the life of a golfer who was having a heart attack on the course.

Read the full article from Golf Magic here

Heroic greenkeeper saves man's life

Heroic greenkeeper saves man’s life

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Course managers achieve Master Greenkeeper status

Course managers achieve Master Greenkeeper status: A pair of course managers who have spent their entire careers working at the same golf clubs have achieved the highest accolade available to UK greenkeepers.

Richard Johnstone of Nairn Dunbar Golf Links in the Scottish Highlands and Paul Brett of The Springs Golf Club in Oxfordshire have become the 86th and 87th members of the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) to achieve the prestigious Master Greenkeeper Certification.

Course managers achieve Master Greenkeeper status

Course managers achieve Master Greenkeeper status

Master Greenkeeper status is awarded to members of BIGGA who have reached the highest standards of greenkeeping and golf course management. Members must have been working for more than 10 years as a greenkeeper, including three years as a head greenkeeper, course manager or superintendent. They must undertake a three-stage examination process including an assessment of the operations at the golf facility they maintain.

Richard, 39, joined Nairn Dunbar in 2000 straight from school and became course manager in 2016. As BIGGA’s most active member utilising the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme, Richard has achieved more CPD milestones than any other BIGGA member. He has also undertaken a wide range of the opportunities that are made available to BIGGA members, including the BIGGA Delegation to the Golf Industry Show with Bernhard & Company, the John Deere TPC Sawgrass Volunteer Programme and the Future Turf Managers Initiative with Jacobsen. You can read more about Richard’s career here.

Paul, 41, joined The Springs in 1997 and was appointed head greenkeeper in 2000, aged just 20. He has since overseen a transitional phase in the club’s history, including a three-year period when the club was put up for sale and he took on general manager duties and operated the on-site shop. In 2017 Darwin Escapes purchased the golf club and hotel and has since invested £20m into the redevelopment of the site, with Paul playing a key role in the redevelopment of the golf course, alongside former Ryder Cup captain Brian Huggett MBE and architect Tim Lobb. On 20 December 2021 Paul will take up a new role as course manager at The West Berkshire GC. You can read more about Paul’s career here.

Richard said: “Learning never stops and I am always setting myself new challenges, one of which was to complete the Master Greenkeeper Certificate. It had always been an ambition of mine to become a Master Greenkeeper and I feel so proud to have achieved it at the first attempt. The whole process, from the review of golf course operations to the final examinations, was extremely rewarding for both myself and the team. I’m now looking forward to doing what I can to give back to the industry and help others reach their full potential.”

Paul said: “I had often thought of attempting the Master Greenkeeper process. However, due to being dyslexic and shy, I avoided it. While giving advice to both of my sons in preparation for university and the challenges they faced – being shy themselves – it made me take a look at myself and I decided it was time to practice what I preached. I have really enjoyed all stages of the process and I feel so proud to have my name on a list with so many great guys.”

To find out more about the Master Greenkeeper Certificate and to get involved, head to the BIGGA website.

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Greenkeeper retires after 43 years

Greenkeeper retires after 43 years: Cochrane Castle Golf Course head greenkeeper Lachie McGill is leaving the club after more than four decades of ensuring its fairways and greens remained in superb condition.

Read the full article from the Daily Record here

Greenkeeper retires after 43 years

Greenkeeper retires after 43 years

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‘Thank A Greenkeeper Day’ returns

‘Thank A Greenkeeper Day’ returns: The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) is joining other organisations across golf to offer a message of thanks to greenkeepers and sports turf professionals on Tuesday 14 September 2021.

For the second year running, BIGGA is working alongside other global greenkeeping and superintendent groups to recognise those who help golf courses enjoyable and sustainable. Thank A Greenkeeper Day will take place on 14 September and will encourage those who love golf to take a moment or two to thank their golf course’s greenkeeping team.

‘Thank A Greenkeeper Day’ returns

‘Thank A Greenkeeper Day’ returns

In 2020, the hashtag #ThankAGreenkeeper trended within the top 10 of UK topics on social media throughout the day as celebrities, professional golfers and countless others offered messages of thanks to their greenkeepers and groundsmen. Some clubs even laid on hot breakfasts or meals for their teams!

In addition to BIGGA, other groups taking part in the global event include the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association (ASTMA), the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association (CGSA) and the Federation of European Golf Greenkeepers Associations (FEGGA). All together the groups represent more than 31,000 golf course management professionals in 78 countries around the world.

The celebration will include a commercial that will appear on the Golf Channel and other media outlets and social media messages touting the many ways that greenkeepers benefit the game and their communities’ golfers. Golf fans are invited to join the conversation on social media using the hashtags #ThankAGreenkeeper or #ThankASuper, depending on the country’s nomenclature.

In addition, golf courses and other groups are encouraged to provide special recognition for their course manager and greenkeeping staff on 14 September.

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