Cold and wet but very educating
On Tuesday I had the pleasure of meeting Jonny our Course Mansger for a socially distanced walk around the course to look at various areas including -
- winter tees
- pathways
- storm / flood damage
- ground condition and outflow pipe observation
- tree plantation trimming
- 150 yds from the 2nd green
- putting surfaces
- machinery shed
- imagery of 2004 drainage profile
In just a short window of time, it was a huge learning curve for me. Wow! His knowledge, vision and reasoning are simply first class.
Jonnys passion and desire for the job is clear to see and I would encourage you to follow the greens twitter feed and look out for his quarterly updates. As we walked, he raises every single detail that is acceptable or requires attention, his eyes are fully focused to every single task. The drainage plan from 2004 when the last major drainage works were carried out on the course are very interesting to observe. Jonny educated me on a few drainage facts which opened my eyes and I'm sure would open yours too.
Standing at the 150 marker on hole 2, I think it looks great and certainly an improvement. The strong elevation change ensuring only a struck shot will the the green area.
Winter Tees, I think are superb and a great addition along with the access pathways. They are bedding in with the grass already starting to grow through, soon you won't even know they're there.
Jim was tidying up the copse on the right of eleven and seven, trimming back the lines so not to overhang play too much and clearing areas at the base of the trees. A quick guided tour of the machinery shed proved very interesting. Talk of the rolling machine replacement programme, in house repairs and maintenance by Dan our mechanic that save the club lots of money. it is safe to say this was a real eye opener for me, Staggering in fact, just imagine standing at any point of your workplace, doing a virtual 360, seeing everything you'd like to attend to but with restrictions at every turn, none more so than the weather... The enormity of the task is huge but this guy is on it, passionate and ready to roll.
How with just 5 full time staff members do they keep this course to the standard we wish? He must have a team of magicians! And just to finish off, a bit of humour came out, " it won't be long, the sun will be shining, the ground firm and all will be forgotten" | 
