A Name to Play with a Machine to Work With

MITSUBISHI E P Barrus Ltd., Launton Road, Bicester, Oxfordshire. 0X6 OUR Tel: 0869 253355. All models four-wheel-drive. Model Engine Cylinders Number of Wheelbase Price £ Power HP Gears (m) MT 372D-T 15 2 6F2R 0.96 3,850 MT180D-T 18.5 Diesel 3 6F2R 0.97 6,170 MT 180 HMD-T 18.5 Diesel 3 Hydrostatic 0.97 7,370 MT 250D-T 25 Diesel 3 9F3R 1.2 75 7,295 MT 300D-T 30 Diesel 3 9F3R 1.41 9,195

UNIVERSAL Bonhill Engineering Co. Ltd., 16 Ferry Road, South Cave, Brough, North Humberside. HU15 2JF Tel: 04302 3388. All models have four-wheel drive. Model Engine Cylinders Number of Wheelbase Price £ Power HP Gears (m) 532DT 59 (SAE) 3 8F 2R 1.85 8,720 603DT 59 (SAE) 3 8F 8R 1.97 9,350 642DT 70 (SAE) 4 8F 2R 1.99 9,820 704DT 70 (SAE) 4 8F 8R 2.11 10,550 YANMAR John Croft (Machinery) Ltd., Thorpe Willoughby, Selby, North Yorkshire. Y08 OSE Tel: 0757 210222. Model Engine Cylinders Number of Wheelbase Price £ Power HP Gears (m) 186A (2 W-D) 18 3 9F3R 1.35 5,510 169DA (4 W-D) 16 3 6F2R 1.25 5,400 186DA (4 W-D) 18 3 9F3R 1.35 6,675 226DA (4 W-D) 22 3 9F3R 1.55 7,075 276DA (4 W-D) 27 3 12F4R 1.6 7,415 336DA (4 W-D) 33 3 12F4R 1.75 9,925 A name to play with A machine to work with All good players need good clubs to play with, a variety of clubs to play different strokes, to play efficiently and successfully. The greenkeepers are no different, looking for the best in machinery to undertake jobs around the course. Rough cut, short cut, spiking, or draining, preparation, or conservation. More and more greenkeepers are looking to Iseki to provide the right machine for their course. Sure in the knowledge that it's one of the most effective clubs in your bag, to help you play, and work more efficiently all round.

Par Excellence

To: Mr Colin Gregory, Iseki UK Limited, Bydand Lane, Little Paxton, Cambs. PE19 4ES. Telephone (0480) 218100. "Please send me details of how Iseki can help my course" Name Address Application _ , SI/4/88/GGCM With the Floranid range of slow release fertilisers, needs, when it needs it. It also means you use less Floranid anyone can afford a pitch as good as Wembley's or greens as for any given turf area. good as Wentworth's. Whatever your budget, you can treat Floranid's high quality granules spread more easily your turf with Floranid at about the same cost per square and settle well in the turf. They don't lie lumpily around on the metre as apparently cheaper fertilisers. surface waiting to be picked up with the mower. You need This may surprise you if you haven't had the chance less mowing anyway. Floranid produces even growth without to take a closer look at Floranid, its high performance advan- the flushes that follow ordinary fertiliser applications. tages, and its comparative cost in actual use. Usually, you only need to use Floranid twice a year, The key is Floranid's slow release action. This but you still get all-year-round performance. That's a real sav- ensures that your grass consistently gets the nitrogen it ing in time and labour. And you don't have to worry about the I weather when you use it. Floranid is resistant to leaching, to use, easy to look after - look into the Floranid range. r reduces scorch risk, keeps grass growing for longer even in The facts make other fertilisers look expensive. 1 a drought, and helps bare patches recover beautifully. Independent trials have proved Floranid is more efficient to use. The results are more satisfying. And it's more cost-effective than you think, whether it's on the village green or in the national stadium. That's why Floranid is Europe's most successful amenity turf fertiliser. Floranid Europe's top-selling amenity turf fertiliser. If you want a tough, well-rooted sward - packed with strong, even growth, attractive to look at, hard-wearing BASF United Kingdom Limited, Lady Lane, Hadleigh, Ipswich. Tel: (0473) 822531.

Floranid is a BASF trademark. BASF Group REBUILDING AND CONSTRUCTING NEW TEES

Adrian Stiff, Head Greenkeeper at Tracy Park Golf Club, More important is the align- near Bristol, details the work that has taken place at his ment. If you prefer your tees to course over the past five years to improve the quality of conform to the traditional shape, the teeing areas. they must be straight. The easi- est method is to take the central Tracy Park Golf and Country ward and forward movements, axis of your fairway as the central Club, a 27 hole golf complex at with the added disadvantage of axis of the tee and mark out the Wick, between Bath and Bristol, considerable variation of the width equally on either side. was opened in 1976, less than a yardage to the green and in turn, Drainage and movement of air year after the initial layout was the degree of difficulty of the within the tee area are essential completed. hole. factors which must be consid- Like many new golf courses Wider tees offer the flexibility ered, particularly if the site is working to tight budgets, pres- of multiple lateral movement of prone to holding water or re- sure on initial finance led to cost markers, increasing the overall and forward positions can be accommodated using a three stricted by shadow from wood- cutting which unfortunately re- playing area, particularly the circle design. land, shutting out essential sun- flected in a lower than desirable area adjacent to the left marker, Overlapping circles give light. standard of construction. which in general, receives the shaped tees with rounded At Tracy Park we have found A further nine holes are soon least amount of turf abrasion. corners. internal tee drainage is not nec- to be added, which could contrib- essary as long as all four sides of ute to the club's ultimate ambi- Golfers spend the tee are elevated. tion to stage one of the first major last putting surface. Construction of new tees will tournaments in the West of Eng- as much time Where sufficent land is avail- no doubt vary in different loca- land. on the tees as able it is well worth considering tions of the course, but if the Back in the '70s few tees were an extra tee as an alternative, underlying soil is of good quality, constructed, with nothing for the they do on the which could be used during the strip the top layer and stock-pile lady members apart from a I greens | winter period, perhaps with the mown strip on the fairway, inclusion of a synthetic surface. though over the past five years The initial planning stage for The shape of the tee is another the club has undertaken a major tee construction is critical. Con- factor to take into consideration. tee building programme, total- sideration must be given to the It is not necessary, nor even ling eighty to date. siting, not only in relation to the desirable, to keep to the square Such is the rapid expansion of hole to be played, but to the or rectangular tee design. the game of golf, coupled with previous hole. Obstructions and Although design is a matter of the number of rounds demanded bunkers in line from the last preference and opinion, kidney by visitors and members alike, green to the next tee can create shaped, oval, overlapping the first batch are already prov- stressful conditions to the sur- circles or more intricate patterns ing inadequate in size and shape rounding turf, concentrating traf- can add appeal and interest to tees offer more for our daily needs. fic within narrow areas. the golf course. marker positions. Tracy Park is not alone in this New tee building, should Future maintenance must it to be used later. situation of inadequate teeing whenever possible allow ease of always be a primary factor and if We apply Glyphosate to the areas, an aspect of golf course exit from the previous green, it is decided to cut the tees with a teeing area and the surrounding construction that has been taking into consideration safety greens triplex, rounding off the banks prior to the initial construc- grossly underestimated on and flexibility of movement in the corners will make the mowing tion and after two or three weeks many of the courses in the way golfers disperse from the that much easier. United Kingdom. Tees for a rotovate to a suitable depth of six progessive course catering for inches. The soil now becames an increasing number of rounds friable and easily pushed around Fig. 1 should be of similar proportion to or collected using a blade or Overlapping circles the size of the greens. bucket. give shaped tees Pegging and staking is the Certainly, in my experience, with rounded next stage, followed by the plac- the par 3's should have a teeing corners. ing of the infill material into the area of 500 square metres and base to the required depth. We even at this size can still become use a three man team for this very worn, unless they are regu- part of the operation, two hauling larly divotted, oversown and in- and one to judge and spread the tensively maintained. positioning of each load. Long thin tees often satisfy the criteria in terms of area, but re- Five years ago we were able to strict the markers to only back- buy at auction our own digger for

14 © GOLF GREENKEEPING April. 1988 a mere £195 and fingers soil mixture should not be ap- crossed, it has cost us very little plied until the subgrade material When laying turf on a new tee, work to keep it running. has fully settled and this can take The height of the new tees will a full season. forwards to avoid disturbing the depend very much on the topo- When we apply our top mix we prepared bed. Use a plank laid on the graphic conditions, but even on a ameliorate one part sand with flat site, raising the level by just two parts of top soil; this not only turf for each new piece twelve inches is sufficient to add improves the quality and depth definition as well as creating the (now 9 inches), but also helps impression that the golfer is playing from the tee, not just a piece of mown fairway. Higher elevations can of course add to appearance, opening up the view to the green and bringing bunkers, ponds, streams and other features into a much more desirable perspec- tive. Consolidation of the base layer is very important in the initial stage of construction. Access to the right type of mechanical equipment can reduce the waiting period otherwise it is a matter of time to allow natural settle- ment. Certainly on the larger tee constructions, the root zone top

the final grading, which we achieve by raking and heeling several times until a satisfactory level surface is ready to receive seed or turf. Again the decision to use seed or turf will depend on need, time and location. Shrub planting, timberwork or wall building can all add to the presentation of both the tee and the aesthetic aspect of the course. There is also the addi- tional benefit of financial saving in maintenance cost where con- tainment can prevent golfers dragging trolleys on to the tees, breaking down banks and taking short cuts across tee corners. Smart neat tee markers, rather than painted flower pots, con- crete filled drink cans and wood blocks, add to the general appearance of neatness. Func- tional ballwashers, unobtrusive rubbish containers, seats and directional plans of the hole, all help to improve the environment of the tee. Fig. 5 Square tees create centre wear, with consider- Golfers spend almost as much Fig. 4 able wasted space. time on the tee as they do on the Elongated tees only allow forward and backward move- green. We all devote many hours ments of markers, often caring for our greens, but do we affecting standard scratch spend sufficient time looking af- distances. ter our tees?

©GOLFGREENKEEPING April 1988 15 Do you think of Watermation as Europe's leading TURF IRRIGATION CONTRACTOR the one with systems in all the best places?

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WATERMATION LTD. Monument Way E., Woking, Surrey GU21 5LY. Telex 859224 FLEXON G. Telephone Woking (04862) 70303/21009 or Stirling (0786) 70252, or Dublin (0001) 760964 or Paris (010 331) 47 06 04 19 This year the British Wildlife Appeal and the Royal Society for Nature Conservancy are combining to sponsor the British Wild Life Classic in which every club will be invited to hold competitions leading to the Regional Finals.

Fred Hawtree took nature conservancy as the theme in his lecture to Northern Greenkeepers at Askham Bryan College last year. As you will read, his thoughts on the subject extend somewhat further than the birds and the bees.

Once upon a time if you age. course architects. However natural environment arose wanted to build a golf course But even in those days, as we leave the Commons when the untold benefits of you got a piece of land, a they had trouble with the local and move forward to new in- the game of golf to character, scythe, and forty sheep and pressure groups and resi- land clubs, in England, we physique and society be- set about it. There was no dents' associations. The find that the earliest profes- came so sought after that a Town and Country Planning whole history of golf and of sional golfers were con- few odd games on a seaside Act 1947 (as amended), the St. Andrew's Links in sulted. They would visit the links during the summer holi- there were no Planning Offi- particular, is sprinkled with site, express enthusiasm, days no longer satisfied the cers; there were no conser- incidents where golfers fell walk over it and put in 36 pegs growing army of recruits. vation groups and no socie- foul of other legitimate uses before retiring with a cheque They wanted golf courses in ties for the protection of en- of the land whether it was the for 5 Guineas and mutual the suburbs, in the shires, in dangered species; there bleaching of sheets in the expressions of esteem. the stockbroker belts. And were not even any golf sun, the extraction of shell, Layout was indeed at the they got them to the tune of course architects (a rare the culture of rabbits, the very heart of golf course some fifty new courses every species which has come from exercise or welfare of other architecture and has re- year. But they paid a price. nothing to being at risk of beasts suitable eventually for mained so ever since; to such Firstly the landscape had to extinction in just over 100 the table, or the pursuit of an extent that there are still be altered because the game years — the fastest piece of other pastimes whether war- green committees who think was not designed for evolution on record). I will tell like or not. All these tended to that golf course architecture meadow, marsh or moor. I you why it is endangered later occasion disturbance be- stops at the point when a con- have quoted before what on. yond what the golfer can sultant says "We will have a Gordon G. Smith (once an For the moment let us stay reasonably be expected to tee here and a green there." editor of Golf Illustrated) said tolerate. Similar troubles at in those carefree days when Today that is no more than on this subject in his book planning consent had still not Bruntsfield Links (now in the "The World of Golf" at the end heart of Edinburgh), at Leith, the first stage and from then been invented. on arise the problems of of the 19th Century. If neces- Golf courses were simple. and later at Musselburgh on sary I shall quote it again at the outskirts, eventually conservation which I have Their impact on the ecologi- travelled 150 miles to discuss; the end of the 20th. He ex- cal structure of their neigh- drove golfers elsewhere to pressed his opinion as fol- private territory. with you, expelling into the bourhood was negligible. It atmosphere on the way, in lows with the confident assur- might in fact have been bene- St. Andrews worked out a common with another million ance which was a notable ficial. It removed from the compromise and has ad- or so road users, brain dam- virtue in Victorians: town a number of gentlemen hered to it ever since. But in aging lead compounds, 'It is quite certain', he said, who might otherwise have London the Blackheath golf- heaven knows how much 'that, had the ground, on been engaged in drinking, ers had to move to Eltham carbon monoxide, acidifer- which ordinary inland golf as gambling and smoking clay and the Prince's Club went ous sulphates, carcinogens played today, been the only pipes — and sent them out from Mitcham Common to and other lethal substances.: available ground for the pur- into the fresh air for two or Sandwich (though it left the pose, the game would never three hours on the links be- I mention these matters have been invented at all.' course behind for others). solely in order to remind you fore they retired to the near- That is the crux of much of A number of other clubs on that there is more to conser- est establishment suitable for our problem. We have to London commons like Toot- vation than meets the eye, drinking, gambling and change things to make the ing and Clapham, simply dis- and that most of those who smoking clay pipes. game possible. If we change appeared though Wimbledon make most noise at the pro- All they had done to the en- too much we shall risk de- split and only half became as test meetings, turn up in a vironment in the interval was stroying the precious heri- it were, privatised. machine whose exhaust is at tread down a certain area of tage which natural processes once toxic, anti-social and of- turf helping it to keep free of I have dawdled perhaps have passed on to us. If we do fensive. But just you try and coarse weeds and improving too long in those early days not change it enough the club get them to walk a mile to the the grazing while making it but I wanted to show how the inquiry. members will set about de- more suitable for the matches earliest courses were not in- stroying their precious of golfers following. imical to the natural environ- Now golfers do walk and I greenkeeper. They had also taken a cer- ment but only came into con- hope they always will. So that The second price exacted tain number of divots but flict with aspects of the hu- is one up to us for a start, at by the move inland was even since the clubs they used man environment surround- least in the matter of personal heavier. The requirements of were mostly of wood, that ing them. conservation. altering landscapes, placing was unlikely to have done I said earlier — that origi- The problems of conserva- bunkers and producing put- more than superficial dam- nally there were no golf tion of other features of the ting greens which demanded

© GOLF GREENKEEPING April 1988 17 golfing skills like those walls and hedges very within ten miles. The same point I made earlier. The golf needed at the seaside, led to quickly, and could uproot might be said of a large course architect came into the appearance of a special- trees. It is fortunate that the number of golf courses, es- conservation because it was ist consultant, generally an philosophy of golf course pecially those within sight of the most economical and sat- observant amateur golfer, architecture was still re- the town dweller. isfactory way of producing who with the assistance of strained by tradition and, I This bonus was largely be- character in a golf course. specialist seed-firms like suppose, money. stowed by good fortune be- Preserving the actual fea- Suttons or Carters or civil The earliest designers had cause the golf course archi- tures gave each layout its engineering firms like Franks always sought to use natural tects of those days were not own set of fingerprints. He did Harris could produce plans feature in their layouts just as trained in landscape or any not have to manufacture and translate them into real- they found it. Indeed a large botanical discipline. them, although on a smaller ity. part of their skills lay in iden- Harry Colt, who did work at scale he made a lot of inter- These people were called tifying what existing features Ganton, designed Wen- esting experiments with his golf course architects and of their site would contribute tworth, the New Course at hazards. their status was recognised to golfing interest, how best to Sunningdale and a host of It is in fact a characteristic when an Act of Parliament use them, and then working others, began his life as a of the early architects that specifically forbade, with two them into the pattern of 18 Hastings solicitor until the they envisaged a general exceptions, the use of the holes. new course at Rye nearby form for the ideal layout but word architect to describe a This tradition carried on be- caused him to change from they never let that ideal im- person not qualified in that tween the wars and indeed is the law. He became a golf pose on their adaptation of profession by training. The still alive and kicking. club secretary at Sun- the contours which they exceptions were "landscape The new applications of the ningdale and then a golf found. architect" and "golf course combustion engine were course architect of great skill. Modification of the site was architect" and both have therefore restricted to im- However I want to concen- held to the minimum neces- been recorded in favourable proved green modelling, bet- trate less on Colt than on his sary to secure visibility and a situations ever since, though ter looking bunkers, and big- pupil, Dr. Alister Mackenzie, logical pattern of play. But not always with favourable ger tees. True there were with whom he stayed when they were even prepared to comment. trees and hedges to remove he was invited up to Alwoo- sacrifice a logical pattern if It is no accident, therefore, but there were plenty of trees dley near Leeds. Mackenzie the site produced something that the term golf course put back. Moreover, many of was doctoring at the time but different. Short holes might architecture dates from the these new courses were laid had already taken a great pop up at unusual moments beginnings of golf's problems out on farmland so there was interest in the design of in orderto use some dramatic with conservation. Up to the a nett gain in habitat for the courses and his models of feature as a transition be- Twerfties, golfers would ac- sort of wild life one could greens so impressed Colt tween two plainer neigh- cept the stone walls of North expect to find. that he eventually left him in bours. Berwick, the roads of St. A large number of courses charge of the shaping of the It is still my belief that one Andrews, the quarries of were built on the Bagshot whole layout. can enjoy and grow fonder of Blackheath. But the internal sands to the west of London Mackenzie was also the a golf course conceived in combustion engine began to and pine trees had to be first course designer to lec- this way than of those manu- be applied to other machinery removed and drainage car- ture the Northern Section of factured nearer our time in than the motor-car. ried out. But here again, pine the Golf Greenkeepers' As- which feature, length, plant- The Ruston Bucyrus firm woods being what they are, sociation which he did at ing, water, and contour are began to produce mechani- the mingling of light and air Leeds in 1913. I still have a produced artificially at cal shovels which could ro- and some grass would have copy of that lecture as it was enormous cost according to tate quickly and reach to a tol- been a benefit in conserva- printed in the journal of the some abstract notion of what erable radius although they tion terms. association, which was a a golf course should offer in moved very slowly. Applied to Golf courses therefore be- technical year book pub- order to attract an adequate, golf course construction, they came havens for wild life in lished annually and certainly if ignorant, clientele to recoup ended the gangs of forty or the twenties and thirties as the first endeavour in this the investment. fifty men hitherto needed and bricks and mortar invaded country to circulate helpful A golf course which needs could level out and feature a the suburban and rural articles and suggestions publicity to make its way is green in a couple of days. scenes — and indeed they amongst greenkeepers. generally the one which has You can still identify the still are. We now apparently need paid scant heed to conserva- greens which were cut and Last month in Cambridge- five publications to do the tion. At the risk of causing you filled by a machine like this. shire I heard from a golf club same job. sleepless nights I will try to They did not travel like a bull- secretary how he had been Mackenzie's greatest me- describe to you the risks we dozer, consolidating as it harangued by local govern- morials are abroad, Cypress are running not only in the goes, but stood still in two or ment officers on the need to Point and Royal Melbourne damage to our golfing heri- three suitable locations. The preserve certain rare species amongst them. But the near- tage but also in the antago- greens which they made in which they had found in the est examples to this room are nism which will undoubtedly the Twenties have all sunk on rough. He listened patiently Alwoodley, St. Ives at injure our future peace of the fill side and stayed up on but was finally obliged to indi- Bingley, Fulford, Moortown, mind. the 'cut'. But on the whole cate the bleak tracts of arable Oakdale, Scarborough, Today's problem, as I see they are still acceptable for land all round him and point Southcliff and Sitwell Park it, is this. (And this is why the putting even if holing space is out to the experts that if it had and Wheatley. pure golf course architect a problem. not been for the golf course I do not know all of those may be an endangered spe- But, more pertinently, they would not have found courses but those with which cies). There are certainly a these machines could shift anything worth conserving I am familiar, illustrate justthe number of projects which are

18 © GOLF GREENKEEPING April. 1988 initiated by a group of enthu- briefed on progress and to the new golf course architec- fit into the natural pattern and siasts who want the best they dazzle them with the vast ture chiefly practised by pro- suit both site and golfer best can afford and provided they sums that are being spent. fessional golfers. Planning of all. The bizarre productions engage a competent de- Now that is all very well in a authorities will become sus- of recent years come from the signer will get it. big country and in the parts of picious of new golf courses if need for publicity, instant Most of the economies he that country where even the they have seen or heard how fame, and instant fortune. will make will be due to con- Red Indians never pene- others have turned land- They also make it impossible servation factors because trated but it is not right for us. scape inside out. for you to maintain except in a bizarre, immaculate artificial the less he disturbs, the less The number of so-called The community spirit on fashion, the sort of style he is spending. prestige developments that which many golf courses we can take are strictly lim- which public parks used to Then there are farmers and thrive will disappear. Nobody ited commercially and there demonstrate but happily no landowners who see a golf will be able to afford to play on are other dangers. longer. club as alternative income. them because the construc- Your technique will best Here, also, I think we are rela- Firstly, in order to achieve tional costs and maintenance steer a way between the tively safe because there will this transmogrification (it's all costs on top can only lead to demands of golfers and of not be a lot of money to right— I looked it up) there is a prohibitive green fee. And conservationists if you plant splash about and a compe- an unfortunate tendency to the men in the white coats will your feet firmly in tradition tent golf course architect will strip the top soil off upwards be coming to take away the (and the greenkeepers of this produce a plan which will of fifty acres, remodel the head greenkeeper for a ses- kingdom are more familiar ensure that the golf course contours in a way that is for- sion with his psychiatrist on a with golf's tradition than provides all the traditional re- eign to the district, plant trees regular basis. most). quirements without requiring which are unsuitable, drain Now you are part of a big or- an astronomical budget. marshes, dig lakes, and gen- ganisation now speaking with To comfort you, I think we erally cause hackles to rise can all expect things to get The real danger comes one voice. We have not heard among the neighbours un- it much yet but you can speak easier. The World Wild Life from the financial groups, the less they are golfers (and Fund has just given up pure long-term investors, the big up for the future of golf in the probably on them too). way you work and proclaim conservation in favour of a developers, the hotel build- policy which takes account of ers, the diversifies. Very The old idea of using the the old virtues of your profes- natural feature God gives you sion. human needs. Mankind is naturally they wish to make now an endangered species. sure that their venture is suc- has gone — you produce Dr. Mackenzie produced a your own. In the old days, Just work on that thought, cessful. They only know one list of 13 points for the ideal otherwise, oddly enough, you way of doing this — engage a they used to give exagger- golf course. No. 7 reads as ated names to holes from may conserve yourself out of big name to sign the plans follows:— a job. whether or not he has pre- some local feature. The 'The course should have pared them himself. Himalayas' were some mod- And further comfort comes est sand hills at Sandwich. beautiful surroundings and from Sir David Attenborough Now the big name player Nowadays a name like that all the artificial features "Golf Courses," he is quoted has spent most of his life on would be 'for real'. should have so natural an as saying, not quite gram- the practice ground and has appearance that a stranger is So the new approach up- matically, "have always and probably not had much time unable to distinguish them sets the whole ecology of the will always provide splendid to study the finer points of from nature itself.' Well the site and the insensitive treat- wild life habitats for whatever landscaping. He will know all good golf course architect ment produces an unpleas- reason they are conserved." about greens and tees should have achieved the ant 'them and us' atmos- So next year the British though not necessarily how right shapes for you to work phere in the district. Wildlife Appeal and the Royal best they can be constructed on. Society for Nature Conser- He therefore takes unto him This will not be a very Henceforward you will find vancy combine in organising self an expert or two to see to happy situation for you gen- that if your maintenance only the British Wildlife World these details. tlemen as you laboriously try to recreate what has been de- emphasises that natural ap- Classic. But he has noticed as he stroyed. And what staff will be pearance, conservation will Competitions on your travelled the world how some required to deal with the follow as the night, the day. courses will precede regional of the crankier holes get maintenance. If you asked me to summa- finals. Two thirds of your talked about and he imposes rise all that in one paragraph course is probably rough. an overall requirement on his All I can tell you is that the I expect that it would read That's where the habitats are, underlings that every hole number employed on the something like this. mostly. You had better start should be memorable, the Muirfield Village golf course earlier this year was a modest Conservation is here to thinking about what you are total length 7,500 yards plus, going to do with it. there must be lakes at every 43. Yes you heard it right — stay and its proponents will hole, reinforced by ten acres 43 and the annual cost not get any quieter as popula- We seem to have got it right of sand, all green surfaces amounts to about £500,000. tion, money and other pollut- between us so far but it is up should roll like the ocean and This is one time you can ants increase. to the greenkeeper in the he should be provided with a believe what you read in the Both golf course architects end. five acre plot for a ten- papers. Donald Steel was and greenkeepers had better bedroomed villa by the first there and he is currently listen to these strident voices tee. Chairman of the British Asso and have an answer re&dy. He then flies off to sunnier ciation of Golf Course Archi- The answer for architects is climes but will appear twice tects. certainly not standing the more to provide an opportu- I therefore ask you to as whole site on its head. nity for the golfing press to be sess the consequences of A traditional golf course will TURFGRASS THE NATIONAL TURFGRASS EDUCATION IN COUNCIL ATTRACT THE '90s MORE PATRONS Big changes are taking place in the national system of training and The Jacobsen Division of Textron Ltd., based at King's Lynn, Norfolk, education, and the turfgrass industry is responding to the changes and one of the leading manufacturers of grass mowing equipment, and initiatives as eagerly as any. Leisure and recreation manage- has become yet another of the Council's Gold Patrons for the year ment is expanding in numbers and skills. The management of sports of 1988. Chris Smith, U.K. Sales Manager, in confirming the Patron- turf and amenity grass facilities, natural and synthetic, is an increas- age said, "We are delighted to support the Council in its work to ingly demanding profession. represent our industry and to co- The National Turfgrass Council ordinate effort, particularly in the is holding a workshop at Per- education and training field. We shore College, Worcs., on Friday ISEKI IS THE feel it important to join with our 17 June, to bring the industry up colleagues in the industry to to date on the latest develop- achieve the improvements we all ments. want to see, and this is a fine way The Education Committee of the GREENKEEPERS for us to do so". NTC has been closely con- cerned with several recent de- Jacobsen joins Toro, Ran- velopments that will be ex- CHOICE AT somes and Lely as major forces plained fully, including the in grass machinery supporting preparation of a BTEC Diploma the Council as Gold Patrons. in Turf Science and Sports Also confirming a Gold Patron- Ground Management; the pio- GLENEAGLES age to the Council is Kubota (UK) neering of a part-time route for Ltd., manufacturer of compact this in addition to the usual full- tractors and ancillary equipment time route; the integration into for turfgrass and the amenity managerial training of the new field. award. "Master of Sportsturf Management (IOG)" as the new The NTC Premier Patronage pinnacle of achievement within Scheme has also recruited re- the educational structure of the cent Silver Patrons for 1988 in Institute of Groundsmanship; Booker Seeds Ltd., W.W. and the creation of a Training Johnson and Son Ltd., and Information Base for amenity Howard Swan Ltd. The Sports horticulture. Council has pledged three-year support as Bronze Patrons, in Educationalists are particulary the company of three other welcome to the NTC Pershore newly-joined Bronze Patrons — meeting to get the inside infor- The Amenity Grass Marketing mation on all that has been hap- Association, Farmura Ltd., and pening in the NTC Education Mommersteeg International. Committee recently; to hear au- thoritative statements from NCVQ, NEB and BTEC on how NTC Chairman, Howard they see the future of turfgrass Swan, commenting on these training; and to put questions on Iseki is the Greenkeepers choice at The Gleneagles Hotel, where 3 contributions, said, "I am excep- any aspect of turfgrass educa- Iseki Tractors have recently been delivered by Reekie Plant, for use tionally pleased to see that, at tion. on their world famous Championship Golf Courses. last, true support is being formed upon which we may build for the The cost is £29.00 (inc. VAT). The Gleneagles Hotel and Gleneagles' Estates and Golf future. Our permanent Secretar- Application form & details from:- Golf Courses, Auchterarder, iat is being established in June The Secretary, NTC., Courses Manager, Jimmy Kidd, and this will enable us to stride 3 Ferrands Park Way, Perthshire, has recently taken left the choice of machinery open forward more purposefully. We Harden, Bingley, delivery of three Iseki Tractors to to each of his respective Head are indebted to the generosity of West Yorkshire. BD16 1 HZ work on their world famous Greenkeepers and it is they who our Patrons for their support Telephone: (0274) 565131. Courses. decide on the machinery most Over recent years, The Glene- suitable for their own Course. which is making all this possible. agles Hotel has grown both in According to Mr. Kidd "To have The Patronage Scheme has proved to be highly successful Last month in an article concern- stature and diversity with seven- all three Courses decide on the and I have no doubt will be devel- ing course alterations at Moor same make was rare indeed and teen sports being available on oped further for the future years. Allerton, sharp eyed readers was really for two reasons; noticed changes to the 17th the Estate and with new enter- There remain a few of our major green will approach over a small prises being available this year firstly, because of the complete UK companies who have not lake some 30 years from the including the Gleneagle Mark specification offered on the Trac- supported us and I would hope green. A number of wags have Phillips Equestrian Centre. tors and secondly, because of that they would still consider suggested golfers will be a bit The Iseki Tractors, two 30 the back up from Reekie Plant, supporting us as Patrons. late home for lunch! horsepower TE 4270's and a 40 Iseki's Scottish Distributors who It should have read 30 yards. horse power TE 4370, are now at supplied the Tractors". "My forthcoming meeting with We also don sackcloth and work on the Estates four champi- The three Tractors will be in- ashes over the stated venue for the Minister of Sport will, I be-, this year's Open Championship, onship 18 hole Courses in volved in a wide variety of work lieve, underline the Council's which was given as Royal Birk- preparation for such events as particularly for Vertidraining and role in our increasingly important dale. It should of course have the Bell's Scottish Open Cham- Power Gang Mowing, to prepare industry, both at home and in our been Royal Lytham & St. Annes. pionship, which takes place in the Courses for the many pres- exporting, and I look foward to At least we did get the right part July, plus a whole host of com- tigious Golf Tournaments which the Government's active support of the country. pany and pro-celebrity events Gleneagle hosts each year. to help us in future". planned for the year.