Horses and Hang Gliders Add to the Hazards on Baildon Moor John Lelean Meets David Hannam, the Inventive Greenkeeper with Plenty of Problems to Solve
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Horses and hang gliders add to the hazards on Baildon Moor John Lelean meets David Hannam, the inventive greenkeeper with plenty of problems to solve. radford, the heart of the wool- structed on common land on fairways. len industry, was one of the Baildon Moor. It is still common Baildon's most famous neighbour Bwealthiest parts of the coun- land despite the private golf club. is show jumper Harvey Smith, try just before the turn of the century Adjoining land-owners have the whose extensive stables overlook so it was inevitable that areas of right to graze cattle and sheep, dog the ninth green. He exercises his sheep grazing on the residential out- owners are free to wander at will, horses across the golf course daily, skirts, but still in sight of the satanic horses are ridden daily and on a but keeps away from the playing mills would become, what was then warm Bank Holiday it is not surfaces as far as possible. the rich man's hobby - golf courses. unusual to find a family picknick- Nine courses were constructed ing on one of the greens. Fortunately he custody of the course is in within a ten mile radius of the city there are not too many warm week- the capable hands of the new between 1891 and 1900 among ends on Baildon Moor. TNorthern Regional Adminis- them Baildon Golf Club, once The latest hazard for golfers are trator, 40 year old David Hannam, known as Bradford Golf Club until trainee hang gliders who use the ele- for many years secretary of the the accolade was transferred to their vated slopes to launch themselves Northern Section. neighbour across the valley at into space in the hope of making a He came to Baildon as Head Hawksworth. soft landing in the moor mat grass or Greenkeeper nine years ago from The Baildon course was con- thick sedge at the edge of the the Sports Turf Research Institute MANAGEMENT where he was an experiment ground superintendent, following six years at Ilkley Golf Club as an assistant greenkeeper. David is one of the few green- keepers in the country with man- agement qualifications obtaining a NEBSS certificate in Supervisory Studies in 1975, together with a City and Guilds Supervisory Management. He also holds an Intermediate National Diploma from the Institute of Groundsmanship and obtained a distinction at the Cheshire College of Agriculture, where he was voted best student of the year. Latterly he has lectured part-time at Wakefield and Shipley Colleges. We met out on the tenth green where he was re-modelling the bunker to the front of this par three. As my arrival on foot across the Stripping turf prior to re-modelling Baildon's eighth green. moor, guided by distant landmarks, coincided with the onset of rain, There are around 700 altogether and cost of £120,000. Part of the original neither of us needed a great deal of their fees have to finance most of the wooden building clad in masonry persuasion to adjourn to the com- expenditure as the surrounding still remains, brought it is said, at parative comfort of the tractor cab. courses cream off much of the green dead of night by horse drawn wagon David said his club, founded in fee paying visiting parties. from the Leeds Golf Club at Cobble 1898, has never been regarded as Last Easter, a fire gutted most of Hall. No one is sure whether the wealthy, but always well supported the interior of the club-house, but journey during the hours of dark- by a mainly artisan membership. this has now been refurbished at a ness was to disguise its eventual MANAGEMENT destination or to facilitate the move. times of severe stress, that is why he Most of the greens, regarded as puts such emphasis on deep green the driest in Bradford, have a pre- aeration to increase the root growth. dominance of bent, some annual All the greens at Baildon are cut meadow grass with fescue on the with hand operated mowers, adjust- better drained greens. One, the ing the height of cut and mowing newly constructed fourth, has more frequency consistent with the pre- fescue than any other because it was vailing climatic conditions, the sown that way and now after strug- amount of play and current green gling for a couple of seaons has pro- treatment. duced a fine sward. David has four Lloyds Paladins, The greens drain well throughout with two Ransomes Marquis to cut the year despite a lack of con- tees. Last year the club invested in a structed drainage. David puts this Beaver 508 with floating heads to down to a programme of intensive cut the fairways to replace the aeration throughout the winter star- mounted triple set. ting with hollow tining in October, A newly delivered Lloyds Paladin adds This has been a wise buy as the credit to Baildon's new fourth green. leaving the holes open. course can be cut weekly in just over He then deep slits about five of the soil, micro flora and a healthy the day compared to the two days of times with a "home made" 12in sward. work a fortnight it took previously. converted Sisis DP48 split in half, All agree the fairways have never just one of the pieces of mainten- looked better. ance equipment he has invented for ertilizers are applied twice in David has been a firm believer in use with a compact tractor. During the year, a spring dressing of the compact tractor since it was first the playing season aeration con- FSlow Release Nitrogen, fol- introduced to the market, Baildon tinues with a 7in slitter, as fre- lowed by a later application of the being the first course in the UK to go quently as possible. same feed. "compact" for total greens mainten- The soil is acid with a predomi- f Like most other Yorkshire green- ance. He bought his first in 1980 and nantely clay sub-strata, though keepers David needs to watch for a second three years later. He said David believes it is a "friendly" fusarium. As a preventative he alter- "As a general workhorse for this structure, allowing roots to penetr- nates between Vinclozolin and course there is nothing better." ate quite deeply through the Iprodione and gives his greens a Power is regarded as essential at fissures. periodic iron spray. Baildon and as well as the 12.5hp During the season he aims to There is no irrigation system at compact he has one 4WD-17hp, apply four top dressing applications Baildon, but plenty of water is close another of 37hp and a 4WD-60hp for with his own mixture of two to one at hand, a whole reservoir full, back- heavy duty haulage. sand and compost, supplemented ing on to the greenkeeper's sheds! with ground peat and a touch of When necessary he can dose 400 charcoal. gallons on every green in a day by As a traditionalist, Hannam filling a tank on a trailer, driving out inter construction projects makes his own compost from an on the course and pumping it on involve the building of at abundance of local horse "muck" with a petrol engine. Wleast three tees each year and quality top soil, in the firm Naturally time consuming, very despite the limitations of only three belief that a good organic balance labour intensive, hardly to be rec- greenstaff other than himself, but must be maintained for the benefit ommended, though a lifesaver in this has not stopped him building a Prime Watermen ltd IRRIGATION SYSTEMS - DESIGN - SUPPLY - INSTALLATION Dependable custom designed irrigation systems that will work for you day Wangford and night unsupervised, and keep working year after year. Beccles i A PRIME system using WEATHER-MATIC integrated components jrepresents a value for money investment allowing for future expansion Suffolk [together with economy of use. NR34 8AX Let us undertake a study to answer your questions or give a free estimate on the system that really works. Tel: (0502 78) 481 Tlx: 975731 PRIME G THE AUTOMATIC CHOICE FOR IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT 1 OBITUARY aew fourth green from scratch on holds a full City and Guilds certifi- Mr John Field, one otthe most respected ground previously in the category of cate in greenkeeping, another Step- members of the golf course distributive scrub, as well as remodelling hen Gardner an ex-YTS student industry died at the end of January after a sh rt ,llnes a ed 66 another. from nearby Otley golf club, is on ° f' 9 " # . # XT. -iir x- iL p. x i n i Amonyg the mourners at his funeral Nmety-six loads of rooting mix he first year course at Shipley Col- were ma py frjends frQm the WQr|d Qf gQ|f> went into the area, pulled across the lege. His tirst assistant Nick b aram including greenkeepers, business associ- course by tractor and trailer. It was has been at Baildon for 13 years. All ates, fellow members of local golf clubs as sown at the beginning of October are encouraged to attend greenkeep- well as a large number of personal friends with an 80/20 fescue/bent mixture ing lectures and exhibitions. and relatives. rather later than planned because of David's new role within the Asso- As a young man John represented bad weather, but now in its third ciation as Regional Administrator is Franks Keeps an old established firm sup- vear is developing a thick and expected to be even more time con- plying golf and sports clubs in the South healthy sward.