student greenkeeper of the year finalists - msu...

Student Greenkeeper of the Year finalists

Name: Nicholas WebberAge: 35College: GreenmountGolf Club: PortstewartGC

Nicholas is a former pro-fessional golfer whosefeats include playing allfour rounds in theEuropean Open atSunningdale and winningthe Regional QualifyingRound at CamberleyHeath for the 1984 Openat St Andrews. He twicejust failed to win his Tourcard and so reapplied forhis amateur status. Hewas a successful carsalesman before decidingto move into green keepingand is currently studyingfor his Level 2 as well asdoing a Distance Learningpackage for an HNC fromElmwood. He has qualifiedto represent NorthernIreland in the HayterInternational Cup inAtlanta later this monthand his handicap is cur-rently 5.

Name: Steven MyresAge: 34College: ElmwoodGolf Club: Glenisla GolfCourse

Steven combines his roleas greenkeeper at Glenislawith that of Head of SkiPatrol in the area which isone of Scotland's mostpopular ski resorts. Thecourse was built by theGlenshee ChairliftCompany in 1994 to offera summer sport andSteven, who has beenemployed by the companyfor 12 years, was involvedin its construction. He is a9 handicap golfer and isalso a keen squash playerand curler as well as askier.

Name: Gary GruberAge: 19College: ElmwoodGolf Club: Royal DornochGolf Club

Gary has just completedhis SVQ Level II and issoon to start his HNC. Heis a 4 handicap golfer anda former Junior CountyChampion and ClubChampion at StrathpefferSpa GC. His love of golfinspired him towards acareer in greenkeepingand he has been at RoyalDornoch for two and ahalf years. He would liketo move to an inlandcourse at some stage toadd to his greenkeepingknowledge.

Name: Mark AllenAge: 24College: Warwickshire CollegeGolf Club: Marriott Forest of Arden - now Fulford Heath

Mark arrived at greenkeeping from the world of crowngreen bowling (he was part of the '97 British TeamChampionship winning team) when he took on the role ofgreen keeper at a green in the Midlands on a part-time basis- and is still there. Having initially begun studying for adegree in psychology he changed course to turf managementand joined the Forest of Arden. He has since worked onsome of the top European Tour events held at the course.

Name: Paul ShelleyAge: 29College: OaklandsGolf Club: ChesfieldDowns Golf Club

Paul arrived in greenkeep-ing following a careerchange - he had previouslyworked in the food retailindustry. He enrolled in aNational Certificate inGreenkeeping and SportsTurf Management courseand then did volutary workat Chesfield Downs togain practical experience.A 7 handicap golfer andmember of Stevenage GC,Paul's other interestsinclude football, skiing andtravelling.

Name: Sally DohertyAge: 24College: WarwickshireCollegeGolf Club: The Belfry

Sally is First Assistant onthe the world famousBrabazon Course which iscurrently being preparedto host the 2001 RyderCup. She has nearly com-pleted her NVQ Level 2.Her interests include yogaand reading while she hasjust started to have golflessons. She is also study-ing sign language.

Name: Geoff MillsAge: 41College: Cannington CollegeGolf Club: Woodbury Park G&CC

Name: Richard AitkenAge: 49College: MyerscoughGolf Club: Royal LythamSt Annes Golf Club

Richard has been an assis-tant at the famous Openvenue for 12 years, work-ing under JimmyMacDonald, and made thedecision to through him-self into education late inlife. He is currently study-ing for his NVQ Level III.He has a handicap of 12and is also a keen photog-rapher.

Geoff has been the head man at the Nigel Mansell-ownedWoodbury Park for eight years and is responsiblefor the 27 holesas well as the extensiveestate lands. He hascompleted his NVQLevel 3 and is looking forward to movingon to Level4. He wasawarded the Best Student prize at Cannington College. His inter-ests include golf where he has been a 6 handicapper- currently13 - horses, dog training and rugby - he is an ex-Captain ofExmouthRugbyClub. He is also a former National Board ofManager Member of BIGGA

Over the last fifteen years,

green keepers and groundsmen have

come to rely on good old Super

Mosstox.

Always effective and reliable, Super

Mosstox just gets straight on with

the job of controlling moss - on fine

turf or hard surface areas.

And it's just as good today as it's

always been. So when moss makes

an unwelcome comeback, just

remember faithful old Fido. It won't

let you down.

Super Moss!,!~·

Ci!RHONE-POULENC~ AMENITYr.t

Rhone-Poulenc Amenity, Fyfield Road, Ongar, Essex eM5 OHW. Telephone 01277)01115 Fax 01277 301119.SUPER MOSSTOX CONTAINS DICHLOROPHEN. MOSSTOXIS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF RHONE-POULENC AGRICULTURE LTD.ALWAYS READ THE LABEL: USE PESTICIDES SAFELY. (MAFF 05339) © RHONE-POULENC AGRICULTURE LTD 1998.

Keeping in touch with news and comment from the Sections

CentralI hope you enjoyed last month's

news as I thought I would give AndyO'Hara the big chance he has beencraving for and let him write theSection report. (At least I think I toldhim it was his one and only chance!)Seriously though there hasn't been agreat deal happening Section wisefately, hence the reason for missinglast month.

Section committee member, SteveEwing, is leaving the Dukes Course,at St Andrews, to become DeputyHead Greenkeeper at LethamGrange, in Angus, and Craig Staffordhas been promoted to HeadGreenkeeper at Balbirnie Park, atMarkinch, taking over from IanMacMillan. Our best wishes go tothem all for a successful future.

The Leven Links Sporting Club isadding another sport to its long listof activities, this time it is StuartSime who is having a go at stock carracing, A. O'H. says that he should-n't have to change from the way hedrives the tractor around LevenLinks so if you fancy sponsoringStuart, or lending him your car forthe weekend, you can get in touchwith him c/o Leven Links SportingClub.

The AGM will be held on the 28thof this month at Kinross Golf Club,forms for which have already beencirculated. The reason for this is thatwe intend to have the first roundplayed earlier in the year, which will,hopefully, make it easier for everyoneduring the busy summer months.

Here are some future dates for yourdiaries, in 1999 the GolfTournaments will be held at LundinGolf Club in the Spring andBalbirnie Park in the Autumn(Tuesday September 21), for theyear 2000 I am awaiting confirma-tion of the venue for the SpringTournament while the Autumn tour-nament will be held at Stirling GolfClub, in September. It's been a whilesince I was able to welcome any newmembers to the Section, so we mustbe slipping up somewhere, there arestill a great number of greenkeeperswho are not members and also a fairnumber of lapsed members, WHY?If you know anyone who hasn'tjoined or rejoined please find out thereasons and we will try and rectifythe situation if it is at all possible.

Regional Administrator, PeterBoyd, has visited a number of clubsin the Central Section lately, encour-aging potential new members to join,so if you think a visit from Peterwould be beneficial to your staff orcommittee just get in touch with himand he will be more than happy tooblige.

John Crawford

NorthThe Autumn outing at Alford took

place in typical weather for this year.We arrived at the course in pouringrain, but the decision was taken toplay. We are indebted to WilsonMorrison and his staff for keepingthe greens playable throughout themorning. Luckily the rain stoppedaround noon and the wind got up abit, so we were able to all get round.

Not surprisingly most of the prizewinners, listed below, were latestarters. Scratch & Hampton Cup; 1.Kevin Peace, Inverurie, 70; 2. ColinForbes, Tarland, 71. Class One; 1.Arthur Williamson, retired, 74-5-69(also Veteran Toro Cup Winner); 2.Stephen Sullivan, Craigiehill, 73-3-70; 3. Gordon Moir, StAndrews, 75-4-71 bih. Class Two; 1. AndrewShade, Peterculter, 79-7-72 bih; 2.Stewart McBain, Hazlehead, 80-8-72; 3. Stuart Robertson, Craigiehill,82-10-72. Class Three; 1. DougalDuguid (no this is not a mistake),Westhill, 90-25-65; Brian Cocker,Alyth, 82-14-68; 3. Keith Wood,ICings Links, 86-16-70. Veterans 2.Allan Grant, retired, 82-10-72.Apprentice; 1. Ross Macleod, Tain,75-6-69; 2. Gavin Neill, Tain, 83-11-72. Trade; Mike Dennis, RigbyTaylor, 81-12-69. Guest, R Stewart,Alford, 85-15-70. Nearest the pinStuart Hogg, Fortrose. LongestDrives, Class One, Robert Roy,Garmouth; Class Two,Trevor Harris,Cupar: Class Three, Ian Cowper,Tain. Aggregate Winners SGM(Head Greenkeeper) and MeldrumNurseries Cup, Kevin Peace, 139.M&M Cup Veterans, George Aitken,Peterculter, 145. Committee Trophy,Dougal Duguid. The blazer was wonby David Marnoch, Peterculter.

A very big thanks to all at Alford,especially the green staff, what couldhave been a disaster turned out to bea very successful day with about 60people present. The five lucky 200Club winners were as follows, March£30 no.57 David Inglis, Balnagask;May £30 no. 123 John Geddes andHugh Maclatchie (last ticketbought!), June £30 no. 196 BradleyWood, Westhill, July £30 no. 188Arthur Williamson, Perth, andAugust £100 no. 157 BrianStrachan, Auchmill. Well done toStewart McBain for selling all thetickets this year and thank you to allwho bought one.

lain MacLeod

EastSince I last spoke to you we have

had events in the Section. Firstly wehad a surprise dinner in honour ofJimmy Neilson, Murrayfield GolfClub, who retired recently. We invit-ed along a lot of his friends from allaspects of the trade and a great nightwas had by all, especially Jimmyhimself. So on behalf of the EastSection Committee, Members,Patrons, Trade RefS etc we wouldlike to wish you al the best in yourretirement and hope to see you

around the courses as you are alwayswelcome and, of course, we will seeyou at all BIGGA events etc.

PS. Jimmy if you fancy a game atSwanston Go Club just give me a callas you will be welcome, at any otherclub as well. (Pictures of the Dinnerand report can be found in this issueof Greenkeeper International).

We have also had our annualWillie Woods Tournament atGlencorse Golf Club as they wereworthy winners last year they got tohost it this year. We would like tothank the captain - Mr B. Lawrie andhis committee for the courtesy of thecourse, the clubhouse/catering stafffor looking after us so well on theday. Also thanks to HeadGreenkeeper Ian Bell and his teamfor having the course in great condi-tion, considering the torrential rainthe day before, we were really luckyto play the tournament on theWednesday so thanks again lads, ajob well done.

We had 21 teams comprising ofcaptains, secretaries, greens chair-man and a variety of other commit-tee members who all enjoyed a greatday out as the scoring on the day willshow you. So if you haven't playedbefore ask a member of your clubcommittee and enter next year andhave a good day and show your com-mittee what BIGGA is all about, socome on get asking and we'll see younext year. Results: 1. K. Mail/R.Lawrie, Glencorse G C, 62+ 1=63;2. D. McleocI!I Keenan,Craigentinny GC, BiH 68; 3. D.DuganID. Young, Glencorse GC, 68

So as Glencorse retained the WillieWoods Memorial Trophy we shallreturn to Glencorse Golf Club nextyear, so we hope to see you all there.As a result of the winners score andthe way they played on the day, nextyear they will be playing with lefthanded clubs to give the rest of us achance.

Tickets for the Annual Dance arenow on sale and are selling well.There is only a few hotel rooms leftat this time so call me now on 01620842037 or 0131 445 7165 orfax onthe same number or call or fax SDixon Secretary on 0131 443 0235ASAP as this year is looking to be asell out well before the big night, socall now to avoid disappointment.The Dance is on Saturday 5December 1998 at The KilspindieHouse Hotel, Aberlady.

Next event on the fixture list is theAutumn Tournament by kind per-mission of the Captain and Councilof Peebles GC so a full report in anupcoming issue of GreenkeeperInternational. I would like to takethis opportunity to welcome RoyAuld (Formerly SGM) back into thetrade as Sales Representative forGeorge Henderson & Co LtdEdinburgh. Welcome back Roy welook forward to seeing you aroundthe section and wish you all the bestfor the future. PS. I hope I have gotyour title right, if not let me know!

Roy will be taking over from HughMillar who is due to retire a the endof the year.

From earlier in the column theSection and various other donationswe gave Jimmy Neilson an ElectricCaddy Car, Golf Bag, Head Coversas a present for his retirement.

Chris Yeaman

WestHas it stopped raining yet, or am I

just dreaming? What a summer or socalled, rain, rain and wait a minutemore rain. Winter is just around thecorner and if the weather doesn'timprove then pity help us.

So has anything happened recent-ly? Well the only thing to mention isthat the West team won the NorrieWhittock Trophy held at LevenLinks. The team consisted of RobertHogarth, Ian Smith, Paul Yate andThomas Nisbet. Well done lads agood performance.

Now, to let you know what's hap-pening soon. Firstly, the AGM atClaremont Bowling Club on October22. This once again will be combinedwith a games night. Secondly theannual dinner has been arranged forthe Victoria's night club on Nov-ember 13. Tickets to cost £15 andwill be moving fast so make sure tobook a seat. Last but not least thefootball. A Section Challenge Matchis being organised for November sothose interested would contact BrianHillen on 01236 434323.

A report on the Autumn outingand the five a side tournament willbe included next month. Sorry Neilfor nearly forgetting about conveyingyour thanks to John Robertson atHilton Park for all his help. Neil hasjust been appointed Assistant Headat Brucefields Centre and theSection's best wishes go with him inhis new position. New members tothe Section, lain Forbes, EastRenfrewshire GC; Ross McLeish,Vale of Leven GC; and FrankMcAvoy,Linn Park Gc. Welcome tothe Section and, as I say all the time,I hope to see your at future events.

Stuart Taylor

AyrshireI write this month in a jealous

mood. It must be great to start a newjob, with which we all wish lain Barrwell, and then go on holiday. I mustcheck the expenses going throughthe Section. I jest, I hope lain is hav-ing a great time in Minorca.

It is becoming a bit of a Beithmonth in the news. After congratu-lating lain on his new position Iwould also like to add my best wish-es to his successor, Marshall, in hisnew job a Beith Gc. As if this wasnot enough, congratulations toMarshall again, but this time withhis better half Nikki, on the birth oftheir daughter, Emily, a sister forKelsey.

As I said earlier I was jealous of ourscribe on his holiday but I am evenmore narked by the fact that our

October 1998 Greenkeeper International 43


Secretary is off next month toAtlanta to represent the ScottishRegion in the Hayter InternationalCup. I knew I should have stuck inat this golf game! Good luck to youDerek, I say through gritted teeth.You will be a great ambassador forScotland, and I say this not throughgritted teeth. Derek should justabout have sobered up by this timeafter his wedding on September 25to his lovely Colleen, Jacinta.They're taking the US trip as theirhoneymoon. That'll keep him on histoes!

I am sure everyone in the Sectionjoins me in wishing them both ahappy married life. I am sure the daywill be great and I am looking for-ward to it as I have the pleasure ofbeing Derek's best man. I really mustintroduce this guy to some otherpeople as he must have been hard upto have had to ask me. I am hon-oured.

Thanks to our Section representa-tives at the Norrie Whyttock Trophyheld recently at Leven Links in keep-ing up the Section's abject failure towin this trophy. We really must stopbeing so sporting in letting all theother Sections win this trophy. Wewill work hard for next year. Trainingstarts soon.

One small point which has beenmentioned to me already by lain. Heis not getting any information to putin the magazine. Please give him aphone or write to him as it is difficultwhen you have to keep makingthings up yourself. Hope the yearhas been good to you and you have adry Autumn to get on with the work.

Jim Paton

North WestThis month (August) the N/W

Section won two magnificent tro-phies to be held for 12 months. Thefirst is the "Greenkeepers Vs GolfClub Stewards". This trophy waswon at Warrington GC on August24, and the team of 16 had a greatday. I suppose it is fair to mentionthat the match ended four gameseach allowing us to retain the cup aslast year's winners.

The most amazing happening onthe day was the return of the Cupwhich has been missing since 1991.The winners since 1991 have beenpromised the Cup once found. Wewere once presented, as winners,with a potato head with grass seedsown for hair, because at that stage itwas still lost. However, the Stewardat Warrington GC opened a cup-board in the clubhouse, and amaz-ingly the cup fell out and hit him onthe head. That is their story andthey are sticking to it.

We had an excellent day as always

44 Greenkeeper International October 1998

and the weather was great as was theresult. Many thanks to WarringtonGC for courtesy of the course whichwas in great condition, the golf clubstewards for organising the venue,and of course Gary Worrall GroundCare for once again sponsoring thegreenkeepers as Gary has for manyyears now.

Two days later we had the 'Battleof the Roses' at Swinton Park GCwhere we snatched the PattissonCup back from the NorthernSection. Unfortunately althoughboth Sections had 16 players eachthe day before, we were both letdown at the last minute and we fin-ished with 14 players and theNorthern Section with 12 players.The match was played with sixgames instead of eight, and the N/Wsection won by three and half, to twoand half. The course was in lovelycondition considering that 24 hoursearlier we had heavy rain all day.Alan Jones and his staff had done agreat job.

The one sour note was that themembers who let us down the daybefore, giving us no time to getreplacements, did not have to travelfar, but Mike Hinch, ManagingDirector of Pattissons, travellecf upfrom Brighton early morning, stayedall day, had a meal with us and pre-sented the Pattisson Cup to the win-ning team before driving back toLondon. I would like to thank Mikeand Pattissons for sponsoring thiscompetition for the last 20 years andespecially Mike for joining us on theday.

Bring your clubs next time Mike.I have just been informed that

Thomas Byrne, a retired memberfrom Ellesmere Port, has passedaway in his seventieth year. Ourthoughts are with his family.

The next golf will be The Christ-mas Competition on Thursday,November 26, at Wilmslow Gc. Wewill also be playing for the new"Presidents Cup". The golf will befollowed by the Annual GeneralMeeting. All you need to do to enteris, send a cheque for £10 to BillMerritt, 225 Utting Avenue, Walton,Liverpool, L4 9RB, and everybodybring a bottle, so that we all go awaywith a prize. The tee is availablefrom lOam. That's it for now, butany news or views contact me on0151 7245412.

Bert Cross

NorthernThis year's Roses match was held

at Swinton Park Golf Club. The pre-vious day saw plenty of rain, leavingpuddles around the course in addi-tion to the "legitimate" water haz-ards! Disappointingly both sideswere down in numbers. I cannotunderstand why people are only toowilling to put their names down butthen pull out at the last minute, ordo not even have the courtesy to saythey will not be attending. Everyonewho played seemed to enjoy them-

selves and on this occasion theNorth West team were victorious by3.5 games to 2.5. Thanks to BertCross for organising the event and tothe North West boys for their hospi-tality. Pattissons once again spon-sored the day,with Mike Hinch theirManaging Director doing a mam-moth round trip to attend the eventand make the presentation after themeal. I hope this event continues,

but it would be nice to see-a littlemore support from out golfing mem-bers to raise a full team for next year.

Another ten pin bowling eveninghas been arranged on ThursdayNovember 12, at the LA Bowl inLeeds. Anyone wishing to put hisname down please contact PhilMitchell at 5 Well Street, Keighley,BD21 2DU or phone 01535-681933. The cost of the evening is

Without doubt, the new ~rti-

Drain Mustang is the fastest, most

effective aerator on the market today.

Whilst it still features the unique,

patented 'heave' action, there are many

new improvements, including single

point arm adjustment, a stronger tine

support system and fewer working parts.

£10 per person to include food andtwo games. Places are again limitedso send your names and money in assoon as possible. Partners and friendsare all welcome.

The only other event left in thisyear's calendar is the winter golf.This is to be held at Keighley GolfClub on Wednesday, December 9.The Section AGM will follow thegolf and meal at approximately

S.30pm. Even if you cannot attendthe golf, please try and support theAGM. Congratulations to Jim Brownon his new appointment as HeadGreenkeeper at Cookridge Hall Gc.Jim moved from Crow Nest Park inBrighouse, where I believe Bob Geeis taking over.

Anyone with any news from withinthe Section please contact me at 1Cockley Meadows, Kirkheaton,

Huddersfield, HDS OLA or phoneon either 01484-317813 or 0411-601420.

Simon Heppenstall

ClevelandA little bit of news this month sup-

plied by Bill Thompson of BorderSports Services. Barry Walker, HeadGreenkeeper at Wearside Golf Cluband his Club Pro won a trip to

Portugal. Very well done.Graham Boarder, Course Manager

at Castle Edon Golf Club, won theDurham match played at Billinghamplus he has been picked for the coun-ty Good luck.

If I am to keep putting a news let-ter in to the magazine I must havesomething to write about. Please ifyou have any news do let me know.

Kevin (Scoop) Heslop

It can drive its 6" tines, solid or

hollow, at a faster rate than any other

aerator, which makes it the perfect

machine for high speed runs down the

fairway and for even shorter work on the

greens.The new Mustang joins the market-

leading range of\krti-Drains that have

outsold and outperformed allcompetitors for the past 20 years.

And, with an aerator to suit

virtually every application, it's the widest

range available anywhere.

But one word of caution.

The new Mustang is fast; so fast

that you may get done in a flash.

Contact us now for further

information or a demonstration of the new

Verti-Drain Mustang on 01428661222.

Charterhouse Turf Machinery Ltd,

~ydown Industrial Estate, Weydown

Road, Haslemere, Surrey, GU27 IDW

leI: 01428 661222. Fax: 01428 661218.E-Mail: [email protected]

Web Site: http://www.redexim.com


wa

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.redexim.com


MidlandFirstly,I would like to thank every-

body on behalf of the Section whoattended the funeral service forTrafford Stonebridge. There wasgreat support from many green-keepers on this very sad day andthis goes to show what great respectand appreciation Trafford had with-in the greenkeeping industry

On a lighter note I would like tocongratulate Paul Woodham on hisrecent wedding announcement andall the best for your future together.As a committee we have decided tocancel the proposed trip toTurnberry until the spring of '99because there has been insufficientinterest in the trip.

The Autumn tournament willhave been played at Edgbaston bythe time you read this report so Iwill give you all the results in mynext report. The same will happenwith the results of the Rigby Taylordoubles which is also due to becompleted in the next few months.With winter fast approaching can I

remind you that you need to getyour entries in early for theChristmas tournament which is tobe played at Copt Heath onDecember 10 and entries need to bein by November 9. May I remindyou that the AGM will also takeplace on the evening of December10.

Finally, I would like to introduceyou to some more new members -Daniel Jones, Jamie Wilson, JamieGriffin and Mark Allen.

Jonathan Wood

8,8&0Once again summer slips into

Autumn and the never ending jobof clearing leaves is upon us. It real-ly is the only time I wish I was backon a Links Course. Despite the mis-erable weather that awaits us thereare some things to look forward toespecially on the Education front. Ihave been informed that BerkshireCollege are to continue with thereWinter Lectures possibly structuredas a Seminar. At present there areno confirmed dates but if you con-tact Steve Gingell at the College hewill be able to assist.

By the time this goes to print theNew Training Academy at theCollege will be finished, this willprove beneficial to all students

attending courses in the future.Those of you who have travelled toAldwark Manor over the years toattend various courses will bepleased to note that the muchawaited Headquarters of theAssociation will be officially open-ing at the end of this month. This isa huge step forward for theAssociation and we as members areindebted to those people who havepushed this project through. I forone look forward to my first visit atthe Official Opening.

The next event in the Section isthe Turkey Trot and AGM whichwill be held at Whiteleaf onNovember 26. I hope for once theweather is kind to all competitors.Entry forms will be posted soon.Please ensure that your membershipis up-to-date, as the mailing listcomes directly from HQ.

Lindsay T Anderson

East AngliaFifty odd members turned up at

the Norfolk in August. Not 50 oddmembers well not all of them.Perhaps 50 plus members soundsbetter. Not that they are over 50years old just more than 50 in num-ber. Anyway there was a lot and ajolly good time we had too, thankyou. The whole thing went like

clockwork only it was a -lon~ clockfour and a half rounds in searingNorfolk heat. Luvly Bubbly There isa new old face there now: The gafferat the Norfolk is Michael Peters,good to see him doing his stuff. Ourthanks to him and his men on pre-senting a good course for us to hackup.

The Harry Hacker score board is asfollows; Overall winner was GregMcHugh (Alias John Wayne) 40Points. 0-9 cat; I. R. Witing, 35pts;2. A. Carter, 34pts; 3. A. Kirwan,33pts. 0-18 cat; 1. G. McHugh,40pts; 2. G. Bird, 36pts; 3. G. Nash,35pts. 19-28 cat; 1. D. Farrington,30pts; 2. D. Ireson, 30pts; 3. T.Russell, 29pts. Guest/frade; I. T.Reynolds, 38pts; 2. J. Earl, 34pts; 3.K. Timms, 33pts. Bringing up therear so to speak A Arbon whosename is added to the toilet seat.Prizes were donated by Rhone-Polenc (Main Sponsors), TORO,SISIS, Rigby Taylor, Moorfoot Ltdand one of the guests, Mr Reynolds,donated a Toyota jacket. The prizeswere presented by the Club Captain,Mr Fletcher.

Our thanks to Ian, Brian and theBBC for seeing after us and thanksto all at the Norfolk for a splendidday

Micle Lathrope

Tel: 01797 344731Fax: 01797 344737

~••TPI BALI

46 Greenkeeper International October 1998

East MidlandsThis year's AGM will take place at

Lutterworth G.G on November 12at 4.30pm all members should havereceived their letter, if you have notplease contact me and I will send youyour form. This year's Section golfmatch against the East of EnglandSection as held on August 20 cour-tesy of Oundle G.G After a very hardfought match in difficult windy con-ditions, the East of England Sectionwere victorious by 3 games to 2.

Some consolation for the sectionwas John Barr winning nearest thepin on the 3rd and Mark Bindey andFrank Kempster winning by the high-est margin of 7 and 6.Congratulations should go to theEast of England section. The Sectionwas represented by the followingmembers, Jeff Dickinson, GaryThurman, Ian Needham, AntonyBindley; Jamie Bedford, Rob Wall,Jonathon Barr, Frank Kempster andMark Bindley. I would like to thankOundle GC for allowing us courtesyof their fine course and to the stew-ard and stewardess for a really greatmeal, not forgetting the greenstaff forpreparing a challenging test of golf.

Finally a specia1 thank you toChandlers for their continued spon-sorship of this event. This year'sSingles final will again be contested

by Dave Leatherland, of KedlestonPark, who will play CarlChamberlain, of Scraptoft G.G

Next year's Autumn Tournamentwill be held at Erewash Valley onSeptember 6.

Antony Bindley

East of EnglandThe annual match for the Toro

Shield between the East of EnglandSection and the East Midlands Sectiontook place at Oundle Golf Club. Theresult was 3 - 2 to the home section(EOE). Thanks to Gary Nimmo andstaff for presenting the course in goodcondition, especially having just ver-tidrained the greens a couple of daysbefore our match. An excellent mealwas had and I would like to thankOundle Golf Club for allowing us cour-tesy of their testing course. Thanks alsoto Jim Carr, of Chandlers, for sponsor-ing the event and Leigh Siddon,Willmot Pertwee, and Duncan Beale,Greenpride, for donating some raffleprizes. Nearest the pin went to JohnBarr East Midlands. The results wereas follows; 1. G. Macdonald, Newark,G. Nimmo, Oundle, - won; 2. J. Dair,Oundle, M. Francis, Oundle, won; 3.M. Wood, Thorpe Wood, J. Fox, OrtonMeadows, lost; 4. K Hodges, Ryston,J. Carr, Chandlers, won; 5. G. Ogden,Stoke Rochford, R. Harrison, Stoke

Rochford, lost. Result; 3 - 2 to the Eastof England Section.

Essex and East AngliaOn August 26 the Essex and the East

Anglia Sections got together for thefirst time since the formation of thenew Essex Section at Stoke ByNayland GG The two teams compet-ed for the 'Tuckwell Cup' with theresult very close, Essex 272pts, EastAnglia 275pts. The Captain of thewinning team, Ian Willett, was pre-sented with the Cup by Neil Peacheyof P 'Iiickwell Ltd.

Individual results; Handicap 0-9, 1.Antony Kirwin, 37pts; 2. AndyToomey; 36pts 3. Mick Fance, 34pts;1O-1S, 1. Richard Dunmow; 36pts, 2.Greg McHugh, 34pts; 3. Ray Clark,32pts; 19-2S, 1. Tony Tyrrell, 34pts 2.Tim Russell, 31pts 3. Steve Davidson,2Spts; Trade, Neil Peachey; 3Spts;Guest, Richard Watson, 45pts.Longest Drive, Antony Kirwin,Sponsored by P.Tuckwell; Nearest Pin7th, Steve Townsend, Sponsored by P.Tuclcwell; Nearest Pin l Sth, GrahamMillbank, Sponsored by ConsultClarkson.

We would like to take this opportu-nity to thank Stoke By Nayland GCand their staff, Kevin lOng, HeadGreenkeeper and green staff, for hav-ing the course in excellent condition,

Neil Peachey for his hard work and P.Tuckwell Ltd for sponsoring the eventand donating the trophy. To the fol-lowing trade for their support, ConsultClarkson, The Greenkeeping SupplyCompany; Rigby Taylor, WillmotPertwee and Grass Roots Trading. Nextyear's match, 1999, has been pencilledin for Lakenheath USAF Base, so theEssex boys can regain revenge. I wouldlike to thank Dominic Rodgers andSteve Townsend for helping me on theday.

Michael Fance

EssexThe Essex Section held a golf day at

Thorpe Hall Golf Club on August 7.The main sponsors were Rigby Taylor.Thanks to the club and John Sinclairfor getting the course ready for theday. Thanks to the Manager for hishelp in presenting the prizes and theprizes were; Trade, Dennis Smith,35pts; Guest, Mick Curran, 40pts. 0-9 handicaps, 1. Jeff Robinson, 40pts;2. Steve Crosdale, 35pts; 3. AndyToomey; 34pts. 10-IS handicaps, 1.

Youlturf ..neeus our OCUS.At TIS, we don't spray costly ideas around. Before we design, we survey,we ask questions. We focus on your problems, and not only irrigation.

• Maybe you have standing water. We have the aeration systems.

• No doubt you wish you could out-guess the weather.We can help, by installing your own weather station to provideaccurate inputs.

• We can also provide responsive computer controls tooversee and manage your irrigation system.

In short, we have the best technology, the best products and the best serviceagreements. We focus on quality. You can depend on It.

Talk to TIS about your turf Irrigation and maintenance requirements.For sales, Installation, after-sales service - everything that adds up tototal satisfaction - call us today on ...-- 01477

U1W



Chris Ward, 36pts, 2. Dave Wells,34pts, 3. Ray Clark, 33pts; 19-28handicaps, 1. Barrie Brown, 44pts, 2.Sandy Anderson, 32pts, 3. JackShelton, 32pts. Nearest the pin,Eddie Cottage. Longest Drive, MickCurran. Overall winner, AutumnTrophy,Barrie Brown.

Thanks to Tuckwells, BourneAmenity,Avoncrop,Willmot Pertwee,Jem, Doeg for the raffleprizes and lastbut not feast, Greenkeeping SupplyCompany for donating the prizes forthe longest drive and nearest the pin.

We have a new member, MatthewAllen, Braintree Golf Club. There isan evening lecture on Wednesday,November 4 at Writtle College, 7.30start, Main Building, Room 457. Atall, by David Senior, of Vitax. Doyou really understand how to get thebest results from your fertiliser appli-cations. We also have a regional train-ing programme at Lakeside MoatHouse, Grays, November 10-11 onGolf Course Design. The second oftwo one day Management Seminarcourses at Stock Brook Manor GolfCourse on November 17. The nextcommittee meeting is at ThorndonPark, on November 3, at 2pm. Lastly,all the Essex lads would like to wishAndy Sheehan all the best on his tripto America.

Dave Wells

LondonThe Autumn Tournament for the

London Section was this year host-ed with the kind rermission ofBrookmans Park Gol Club. Duringa period of changeable weather, wewere lucky to have a warm, dry day,and the tee times started at2.30pm.

The course was in excellent con-dition and although one of the twolakes on the course is in the processof being dredged, there was nonoticeable interruption to the golf.The first lake was dredged in 1976and work on the second started onAugust 10 this year. Apyroximatelyhalf a million gallons 0 water hadto be drained before removal of thesilt could start and an estimated6000 cubic metres will have beenmoved over a period of 15-16 days.The project has been handled byVic Wagland Contractors, with allthe spoil dumped and levelled onan area of waste ground betweenthe two lakes.

Some tree surgery will take placeon the mature woodland surround-ing the lake to try and reduce leafdrop into the refurbished area. Thenext project immediately followingthe lake will be a reconstruction ofthe 5th green also carried out byVic Wagland.

The overall winner of theStableford was Ian Semple, of OldFold Manor, with 38 points withKenny (plus two) Mackay, ofHanbury Manor, a close second on37 points and A. Pipe, one pointfurther back on 36 points in 3rd.Ian put together a round thatincluded seven Birdies and reversedJuly's results at TheBuckinghamshire, by piping Kennyto the post. Nearest the pin wassponsored by Willmot Pertwee andin the absence of Mark Pyrah, whohad to leave early, Ian Semple wascalled on to say a few words andpresent the prizes. Results: 1. IanSemple; 2. Roger Mace; 3. CraigHandyside. The trade were prettydisappointing again, as no-onemanaged to hit the Green! Comeon Clive! Thanks again to WillmotPertwee who sponsored the postageof all the entry forms for the event.

Finally thanks to CourseManager, Chris Carpenter, DarrenBurdis and the rest of the team forall their hard work and also toBrookmans Park Greens ChairmanElect, John Wilkinson, for attend-ing the function and also to thecatering and bar staff for their cour-tesy.

Ian Semple would also like tocongratulate BIGGA on securing a

deal with Stylo Matchmaker, whowill be marketing golf wear andwork wear, which win enable green-keepers to order, via direct mail,jackets, boots, golf shoes, fleecesetc, at reduced rates.

The next Tournament will be atHanbury Manor in November.

Peter Hopkinson

SussexFirstly let me apologise for a mis-

print in the account of the SussexSection's day at Slinfold Parle Thesponsors were Scatts AgriculturalMachines! Now on to the last dayat Mannings Heath Golf andCountry Club, where we played theWaterfall Course in the morningand the newer Kingfisher Course inthe afternoon.

Those Greenkeepers who knowMannings Heath and with theprospect of 36 holes in heat waveconditions very sensibly bookedbuggies for the day The morninground over Mountain Goat countrywas an extreme test of golf withsome very intimidating tee-shots. Amost beautiful golf course withstunning views and of course insuperb condition. Roy Jones, theCourse Manager, and his Staffshould be justifiably proud of bothof these courses.

WESA range ofsweepercollectors for CoifCourses. PublicAuthorities andPrivate Estateowners

"48 Greenkeeper International October 1998

• Green Pride~ SPECIALIST AMENITY PRODUCTS

The morning was sponsored byFarmura, represented on the day byBob Cook, who provided somegreat prizes. Results: Category 1. 1.Shaun Sturrock; 2. Ray Day;Category 2. 1. Stefan Antolik; 2.Les Shrubb; Category 3. 1. JohnBudd; 2. Carl Whyborne; Tradeand Guests, Winner, TonyEnglefield; Nearest the Pin,Winner, Roland Hughes; LongestDrive, Winner, Peter Beardmore.

For those without buggies andcould make the long climb from thel Sth green to the magnificentClubhouse a superb lunch wasmade available and with sufficientliquid replacement taken on boardthe Section tackled the equallydaunting Kingfisher Course, re-markably mature considering itsnewness and beautifully preparedby Michael Leggett. The afternoonwas sponsored by Pattissons repre-sented by Brian Willmott who pro-vided the prizes. Results: 1. TonyBremer, 2. John Budd, 3. RonanMcKeown; Trade and Guests, 1.Phil Grave, 2. Damion Simpson;Longest Drive, Ray Day; Nearestthe Pin, Ronan McKeown.

I should add that for those whoweren't lucky enough to have wonanything or clever enough to havepre-booked a buggy the highlight of

the day was probably the magnifi-cent Steam Room and PowerShowers that enabled us to feel atleast a little less than exhaustedand able to drag ourselves to thedining room for the evening meal,the quality of which as well as thetwo golf courses, is a trademark ofMannings Heath.

At the meal the newest memberof the section, Mark Shrubb (sonof Les) was welcomed andrresent-ed with his first prize in gol , that ofThe Longest Walk! We shouldwarn him that we are not alwaystreated to the George Barr Cabaretdurin~ the presentations as hedoesn t always turn up!

Derek Farrington

SurreyWelcome back to all of you who

have had a holiday in August orSeptember and to those who havedecided to take a late break inOctober and November please havea really great time.

As you may have guessed there isvery little to write about at themoment except to remind all thatas Bert Watson has at last said bonvoyage to his son James. Anyonelooking for good cheap digs shouldcontact Bert ASAP By the time youread this Surrey section will have

played for the Parker Salva atReigate Heath Golf Club and willbe looking forward to the AutumnTournament at the Drift Golf Clubon October 15. The results of bothwill appear in the November edi-tion. Good news for Andy Pullen,North Hants Golf Club, whose wifeMichelle recently gave birth to abonny daughter and to whom theyhave given the unusual but charm-ing name Amber.

From joy to sadness. DaveDolderfield's wife died recentlyafter a long illness and all fromSurrey Section send their deepestsympathy.

Brian Willmott

South CoastBy now you should have received

the details for our RegionalSeminar at Cannington, onNovember 25, 1998. To refreshyour memories, Ian McMillan willbe talking on his "Achievements atHankley Common".

John Mullins, of Superturf, will

be talking on 'Water Manage-ment". We then have FrankNewbury who will be telling us"How to make the Committeework for you".

After lunch, Phil Greenaway, fromRoffeys, will inform us about"What goes on Top".

We then have Dave Phillips, ofMommersteeg, on "Seed Selectionand its Implications". To round offthe day, Frank Newbury will be giv-ing one of his not to be missedWorkshops.

As you can see a very good selec-tion of speakers has been organisedfor you.

If you have not received your pro-gramme, contact our RegionalAdministrator; Paula Humphries,Truants Cottage, Zeal Monach-orum, Crediton, Devon, EX17 6DF,Tel 01363 82777.

For those of you who have madeup your mind to attend, Paularequires your name, Club/Company, address and telephonenumber.

Oh yes, and a cheque made out toBIGGA South West and SouthWales Region for £15 for membersand £22 for non members.

There is something for everyoneat this Seminar, so get those appli-cations in as soon as possible.

Tel:01858464346/433003 Fax: 01858 43473

THE ONLYBENTGRASS CHOICE

ON GREENS

~ Dense sward

~ Fine leaf

~ Excellent colour all year round

~ Very good wear tolerance ongreens

SHARPESOctober 1998 Greenkeeper International 49


Each month is getting nearer toBTME. Don't go leaving yourbookings to the last minute. Ifyou do, you may be unlucky, asthe coaches will be fully booked.Also Paula needs your names sothat she can organise the accom-modation. Remember a coachwill be running from the SouthCoast. So get your names anddeposits into Paula as soon aspossible. Any queries don't hesi-tate to phone any of your com-mittee members or Paula. We canthen point you in the right direc-tion.

As I am sure you are all awarethe year 2000 is the start ofanother century "The Millenn-ium". I would like you all tothink about what we can do tocelebrate the Millennium. So getyour thinking caps on and let ushave some ideas. Your committeehas been discussing the subject,but we would like to hear fromyou the members with your sug-gestions. Ken Lodge

Devon & CornwallThe Devon Garden Machinery

meeting and Section AGM willbe held at Lanhydrock Golf Club,on Wednesday, November 11.The morning's golf will be of

foursome format for the ToroTrophy with the prizes beingkindly donated by Devon GardenMachinery and Lely. As usual thenon golfer's course walk willleave the club house at approxi-mately IO.30am, lunch will befrom Irm onwards followed bythe gol presentation and a shortcompany presentation by DevonGarden Machinery our sponsorfor the day. The Section's AGMwill conclude the day. I wouldlike to remind you that theRegion's annual seminar will beheld at Cannington College onWednesday November 25. Also,you should all have receiveddetails of the Region's package toHarrogate for the BTME show &seminar at the very low price of£95 per member, if you haven'talready booked your place for theseminar of BTME package andwish to attend, please contactour Region Administrator PaulaHumphries on 01363 82777 toreserve any places remaining.

Richard Whyman

South WestNot too much to report on this

month. I hope you have all had agood summer of mowing. At leastthe irrigation system has not

required too much maintenance.Looking ahead, we have theAutumn Tournament and AGMat the resplendent Saltford GolfClub. Please, please try and makethis one if you can so as we canget a representative sample of themembership for voting purposes.Saltford, under the expert handsof Ian McFarlane and his team,will I am sure be in excellent con-dition and the course itself is adelightful parkland layout remi-niscent of Augusta but withoutthe flowers, or water, or whitesand.

Remember also the Southwestseminar at Cannington. This willtake place on November 25 andpromises to be very informativeand with speakers of the qualityof Frank Newberry and IanMcMillan it should also be veryentertaining. If anyone wishes toattend then please give Paula aring; we need to see as manyfaces as possible for this one.

Now is the time when we mayhave a little bit of time on ourhands and so please give athought to the courses that theSection can run. There are a fewpeople ready for a refresher firstaid course, so if you think youmay be one or would like to takeit for the first time then pleasegive me a ring on 01380 828380and I will arrange everything foryou. In addition we can arrangefor spraying courses and chain-saw courses if required.

Talking of chainsaw courses, Irecently had an enquiry on thesetting up of a course onadvanced chainsaw use, such astree climbing and felling of largerdiameter trees. Having madeenquiries at colleges I wasinformed by the experts thatunless you are involved in thiswork full time it is not worth tak-ing the course as without con-stant practice in these techniquesthe skills that are gained in thecourse would be quickly lost. Sothe general advice would appearto be if in doubt, get the expertsin.

If anyone has any informationon the Section; appointments,weddings, new babies etc, thenplease, please let me know aboutthem so as I can get them in thisslot to keep everyone informed.For instance I recently read in heBB&O section of the impendingretirement of myoId friend JohnNudds, from Gerrards Cross Gc.John, a former BB&O countycaptain, was one of the oldschool, five minutes of water aweek in a drought and one appli-cation of 8:0:0 a year.Marvellous, and he ended upwith some of the best puttingsurfaces you can get. You could-n't pitch on the greens but thesurfaces were superb.

Marc Haring

AF45 ~aL~'iScR~~S:~.~~-FOR COMPACT TRACTORS FROM 20HP.Specifically designed for use on sportsturf; itcan be fitted with various digging chains or ahigh performance slitting wheel~The optional soil clear-up system folds up foreasy transport.

Neat and fast trenches from 4" wide and upto 4' deep or slits from less than 2" wide to18" deep.

AHordablel perfect drainage, cable laying etc.WlIIr~.• 1M#~ilW/MNl~/;~~'.~h~'!Ik\\\\i1ll~Wm'llIll/II,w~##fNt!I!, lijlltitlA.F.TRENCHERS.LTD. Edgworth Road, SUDBURY,Suffolk COlO 6TG. Tel: 01787 311811. Fax: 310888

North EastWe were very disappointed by

the number who attended ourAGM at Allen Park at the end ofAugust. A lot of time and effort bycommittee members went intoorganising this event. Membersdid not even take the time to fillin a small slip of paper out ofcommon courtesy to say whetheror not they would attend. This isno way for us to try and organiseevents. It's about time the mem-bers in Northern Ireland showedsome consideration.

We would like to take thisopportunity to thank those whotook the time and effort to attendour AGM and golf competition atAllen Park, also to Allen Park forthe use of their facilities.Members will be asked to comealong twice yearly to a meeting inwhich they will be able to partici-pate in a feed-back session, theywill have a chance to have someinput into what events they wouldlike to see taking place.

If anyone has any ideas or thereis something in particular theywould like to see taking placeplease feel free to phone on 01574276001. Members are remindedthat they must not turn up atcommittee meetings and partici-pate in committee decisions.

Eamonn Farrell

South EastBIGGA are holding a workshop

seminar on November 24 & 25,on Golf Course Design,Construction and Establishment,based on successful projects in thepast including some golf coursesin Northern Ireland. The seminarwill be held in the BurndaleHotel, Newcastle, (Co Down), fortwo days including all meals andone night's accommodation withfull use of hotel facilities. Theinformation will be beneficial andof interest to a lot of us and wewould encourage members fromboth sections to attend. For moredetails on the seminar contactBIGGA Education and Training orcontact our Chairman, GrahamWylie at Malone Golf Club.

Jonathan McCabe

See you all next month!

student greenkeeper of the year finalists - msu...

Documents