Golf Thread

sky tot said:
I’ve only been at Romiley for 2 years and the Head Green keeper has basically total control on what happens on the course . Also his decision when to close & open . Before my time there was a Greens committee who got sacked and by the looks and standard of the course since I’ve been there, it’s been the right decision. We have just done an England Golf survey on our club and course and the overriding feedback was the bunkers were poor and needed attention. So, to be fair to our Directors they have embarked on a £60k refurbishment of all the bunkers over a 2/3 yr period . This involves new drainage, lining and new type of sand . We did 2 experiment bunkers on the 1st hole a year ago with great success. But you can’t please everyone, my mate who’s a member at both Romiley & Stockport thinks we should do drainage on the greens first like they have at Stockport
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I played Romiley in September and it was in great shape.
 
give it to gordon said:
To be honest I have been out of greenkeeping for around 10 years now. I loved the science behind growing health awards. The problem I had was so much that I was being instructed to do by the heads of greens who were double glazing salesman, photo copier salesman etc was seriously damaging the course.

One tired to fire me because I wouldn't irrigate the greens at the back end of October ! I was signed of for 6 weeks because of his bullying. His qualification in greenkeeping played of 7 and a double glazing salesman.

I strongly believe that alot of course would be better if the head greenkeeper was allowed to manage.

The head greenkeepers at top clubs are allowed this, but even they have problems with nature !

The biggest crime heads of greens demand is more irrigation and more fertiliser. Irrigation because most golfers cant put back spin on the ball. More fertiliser because they think that's the answer to every problem that natural will throw.

I hated a cold sunny spring, hated it. The greens weren't growing because the soil temperatures were still cold. The plant was inactive, but the head of greens would be putting pressure on us to irrigate lol. That makes sense put cold water onto an already cold soil to make the growing conditions even colder delaying the warming up !. Same with fertiliser put as much as you want on the planet wont take it up until it warms up . But in the heads of heads of greens and members I should be putting on water and fertiliser !.
Leave them dry so they warm up quicker with natural rain.

I could write a book but no one would believe the way some members clubs are run ;)
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Interesting to hear your take on it. I think no one could predict the way weather patterns are making a greenkeepers job so difficult as a cycle of drought and flood has emerged. My Course suffers from greens that won't drain and a lack of investment over 10 years.
I am lucky to have been in Florida since October but go home in 2 weeks. I stay on a par 3 course here and a whole range of different problems has made it deteriorate year on year .
Failure to spray burrowing bugs have led to Sand cranes and wild pigs ripping up the course as they feed. Mole crickets leave damage trails on the greens and pre emergent weeds crab grass hasn't been sprayed.
This is down to a greenkeeper not strong enough to get the necessary investment from a Community Board that don't have a clue about a golf course.
 
nellyonthewing said:
Interesting to hear your take on it. I think no one could predict the way weather patterns are making a greenkeepers job so difficult as a cycle of drought and flood has emerged. My Course suffers from greens that won't drain and a lack of investment over 10 years.
I am lucky to have been in Florida since October but go home in 2 weeks. I stay on a par 3 course here and a whole range of different problems has made it deteriorate year on year .
Failure to spray burrowing bugs have led to Sand cranes and wild pigs ripping up the course as they feed. Mole crickets leave damage trails on the greens and pre emergent weeds crab grass hasn't been sprayed.
This is down to a greenkeeper not strong enough to get the necessary investment from a Community Board that don't have a clue about a golf course.
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Your last point is interesting. You blame the greenkeeper for not standing up to the Community Board. Would this be a Community Board that can sack the greenkeeper for not doing want the Community Board want ?

That happens here in the uk. Do you fight the greens committee, get stressed out, argue with the missus, hate going to work. Or just say fuck it and take the wage to pay your bills.

I gave up fighting like lots of other greenkeepers and quit. The best thing I have every done, now work were I am appreciative and I love it. I will never set foot on a golf course again.

I was level 3 City and Guilds an nvq assessor, read alot of books on greenkeeping attend seminars, even had an article published. But I would get things like ' I pay your wages' threaten with violence. As did other head greenkeepers

I didnt waste 30 years but i wish i had chose another career.
 
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give it to gordon said:
Your last point is interesting. You blame the greenkeeper for not standing up to the Community Board. Would this be a Community Board that can sack the greenkeeper for not doing want the Community Board want ?

That happens here in the uk. Do you fight the greens committee, get stressed out, argue with the missus, hate going to work. Or just say fuck it and take the wage to pay your bills.

I gave up fighting like lots of other greenkeepers and quit. The best thing I have every done, now work were I am appreciative and I love it. I will never set foot on a golf course again.

I was level 3 City and Guilds an nvq assessor, read alot of books on greenkeeping attend seminars, even had an article published. But I would get things like ' I pay your wages' threaten with violence. As did other head greenkeepers

I didnt waste 30 years but i wish i had chose another career.
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I respect your position and expertise. Golf course management is a science The guy we have has no qualifications and sits in the bar most of the day. He has buddies on the Board and they give him a free ride. Golf is a dying sport imo . We have 400 homes in our community and the number of golfers moving in or taking it up has dropped 30%.
 
nellyonthewing said:
I respect your position and expertise. Golf course management is a science The guy we have has no qualifications and sits in the bar most of the day. He has buddies on the Board and they give him a free ride. Golf is a dying sport imo . We have 400 homes in our community and the number of golfers moving in or taking it up has dropped 30%.
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Sounds like you have a numpty lol.

I agree that golf is dying for numerous, rounds taking over 6hrs, falling members due to cost of living. My budget just for materials was 75k, 13 odd years ago plus wages for 6 greenkeepers.

I was on 30k back than I bet my old golf course doesnt pay that now ! Clubs want highly qualified staff but dont want to pay a good skilled wage. The course budget is less now.
 
I disagree it’s a dying sport , our club has closed its new membership this year . The course is always busy in the summer . It might be just a boom after covid but at the moment I see no signs of the sport dying .
 
sky tot said:
I disagree it’s a dying sport , our club has closed its new membership this year . The course is always busy in the summer . It might be just a boom after covid but at the moment I see no signs of the sport dying .
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Totally agree, its great to see so many junior boys and girls getting into golf. The only issue is that in my area we have alot of golf courses and membership can go up and down. Overall golf more popular than ever and its not just about the game on course but friendships, day trips away, holidays and the banter!
 
tweety said:
I'm 60 now and I'm certain it's physical decline. Driver swing speed is currently 90mph and my target is to get near 100 if I can.
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I'm 60 in January and I can empathise! I joined a new club 3 years ago that has 2 courses that are both over 7000 yards off the back tees (one has a slope rating of 151!) and soon realised that my 92 mph swing speed was not going to cut it!
I had both my hips replaced a few years ago and think that restricted my speed, so looked into speed training, but it didn't help much. I decided to try and improve my technique instead - my takeaway is now much wider, I get my shoulders and hips open through impact and have managed to average about 100 mph now.
I carry it just over 240 now, so with roll I'm seeing 260-270 in the summer. There is one par 4 over water that is 460 yards and when I first played it I thought there was no way I would ever reach it in 2, but now I can hit drive and 8 iron if I get a good drive away.
If I can do it, I'm sure you can - your handicap is much better than mine!
 
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homerdog said:
I'm 60 in January and I can empathise! I joined a new club 3 years ago that has 2 courses that are both over 7000 yards off the back tees (one has a slope rating of 151!) and soon realised that my 92 mph swing speed was not going to cut it!
I had both my hips replaced a few years ago and think that restricted my speed, so looked into speed training, but it didn't help much. I decided to try and improve my technique instead - my takeaway is now much wider, I get my shoulders and hips open through impact and have managed to average about 100 mph now.
I carry it just over 240 now, so with roll I'm seeing 260-270 in the summer. There is one par 4 over water that is 460 yards and when I first played it I thought there was no way I would ever reach it in 2, but now I can hit drive and 8 iron if I get a good drive away.
If I can do it, I'm sure you can - your handicap is much better than mine!
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They're really good numbers especially after your surgery and I think I can do the same.
Finding the centre of the clubface is the most important thing in golf.
Unless you're a very good player and long hitter it's best to stay away from the back tees on championship courses. I remember playing Druids Glen in Ireland a few years ago off the back pegs, played quite well and shot 85. Colin Montgomery shot 64 to win the Irish open! For the average player always stick to the members tees and forget your ego.
Padraig Harrington on his YouTube channel says too many amateurs are worried about missing the fairway whereas the pros want to get as close to the green as possible, basically he's saying twat it.
 
tweety said:
Unless you're a very good player and long hitter it's best to stay away from the back tees on championship courses.
Padraig Harrington, basically he's saying twat it.
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True, although I enjoy the challenge of playing off the blue tees in the summer, it's definitely improved my all around game; it's still 6800 yards/slope 145/CR 73.6, but all the more satisfying when you do manage to shoot a decent score.
 
@give it to gordon Interested to hear your thoughts on greens drainage. My place now has flooded greens throughout the winter and the HG has the final say on whether it opens or not. from looking around there is the hydrowick option which looks like you can get the green back pretty quickly or the turfdry option which looks more invasive but has a longer lasting effect? Alternatively there's piped drainage, gravel/sand at 2metres. I guess they all have their pros/cons. Our board hasn't spent a bloody bean on greens drainage and now it's biting us on the arse.

Regarding club memberships, a lot of clubs brought in cheap memberships for the 18-30 brigade post Covid, I think numbers will drop back down again. Energy prices/water costs also hitting clubs hard.
 
bluemonkey71 said:
@give it to gordon Interested to hear your thoughts on greens drainage. My place now has flooded greens throughout the winter and the HG has the final say on whether it opens or not. from looking around there is the hydrowick option which looks like you can get the green back pretty quickly or the turfdry option which looks more invasive but has a longer lasting effect? Alternatively there's piped drainage, gravel/sand at 2metres. I guess they all have their pros/cons. Our board hasn't spent a bloody bean on greens drainage and now it's biting us on the arse.

Regarding club memberships, a lot of clubs brought in cheap memberships for the 18-30 brigade post Covid, I think numbers will drop back down again. Energy prices/water costs also hitting clubs hard.
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To be honest I havent been in greenkeeping for over 13 years now so dont know the methods you mentioned.

I'm guess your greens are old push up greens built from the local soil. These greens where built to hold water because irrigation only became common around the 70's. Also golf wasnt play in the winter was these greens were fine.

Nowadays these greens are being used for 365 days of the year, something they arent design for.

We put slit drainage filled with a drainage material which lead to the main drain on the apron. This worked if the green had a good slope along with alot of maintenance all year round. I would pencil tine more or less weekly in the wet months. Also use a machine that pumped air into the sub soil, both cause very little surface disruption.

For all this to help you have to keep the thatch layer to a minimum and well mixed so as not to cause a pan. It's all about keeping the surface as open as possible.

But most traditional British greens were built over 100 years ago to hold water and no winter play !

Each course is different so can only speak for where I worked.
 
I see Luke Donald has been re-appointed as the European Ryder Cup captain for the competition at Bethpage Black in 2025. I guess he was always likely to get the nod (once he didn't rule himself out) after the fantastic job he did in Rome back in September. And I presume he'll have the bulk of his team of assistants again, if they're available and willing.
 
New season approaching and it’s silly season for new releases. Is anybody looking to trade up? Anyone that buys new every year or are we all too sensible for that?
 
journolud said:
New season approaching and it’s silly season for new releases. Is anybody looking to trade up? Anyone that buys new every year or are we all too sensible for that?
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I always give it a year after they come out and pick up something for less than half price. Just started using a Stealth 2 driver and so far so good but keeping my M6 irons and Callaway Jaws wedges.

Will probably get a new Stealth 2 rescue 3 iron to replace my old Cleveland and then I’ll be good to go.
 
Broken Biscuits said:
I always give it a year after they come out and pick up something for less than half price. Just started using a Stealth 2 driver and so far so good but keeping my M6 irons and Callaway Jaws wedges.

Will probably get a new Stealth 2 rescue 3 iron to replace my old Cleveland and then I’ll be good to go.
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This is all well and good but does it come in any other colour than red..........? ;-)
 
journolud said:
New season approaching and it’s silly season for new releases. Is anybody looking to trade up? Anyone that buys new every year or are we all too sensible for that?
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My mate who is in our golf group won the first prize in the Pro’s Christmas raffle, a £500 driver, he only bought a new Ping last year but I reckon he’ll go for one of the new ones, the Callaway Smoke looks mint, he’s 4.5 so he’ll get good value, would be wasted on me.

However I won the £200 second prize in the raffle, a Lindeberg jacket, I’ve never paid that for a golf outer layer so I opted for a Footjoy Gillet at £110 and put £90 in the book, should keep me in balls for a month or so.
 
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