Scott MacCallum visits Fortrose & Rosemarkie, a golf course with water on three sides which also boasts some flippered friends... Coast to

Picture the scene. You arrive at the ply their trade off the Florida Keys, course early on a sunny morning with the coast of Queensland or some oth- just a hint of breeze in the air. Half er tropical paradise, it happens on a an hour later you're sitting aboard a regular basis to Stuart Hogg and his triple, cutting a tee out at the far end team at Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf of the course and something catches Club, a few miles north of Inverness. your eye. You look up and there, not The dolphins, which are taking 40 yards from you, is a dolphin advantage of the Gulf Stream which splashing and diving about in the passes right by the course, are not the water. only reason to mark Fortrose & Now such an experience is not Rosemarkie out from the ordinary. exclusive to those greenkeepers who No, it is also one of the few, if not

April 2000 Greenkeeper International 23 coasCoast to t,

the only club, to claim an entire BIGGA Board of Management mem- peninsula as its own. The 18 holes, ber Jim Paton at West Kilbride Golf designed by James Braid, have been Club on the west coast of Scotland. fitted into the 90 acres available and Having the Gulf Stream dispels one is about 600 yards at its widest point of the myths about the North of and 160 at its narrowest. Scotland - that the further north you "The dolphins are the icing on the head the colder it gets. cake," explained Stuart Hogg, 28, "One thing we are blessed with is who has worked at the club for the good weather. We're in the Gulf past eight years and been Head Stream, which comes up the west Greenkeeper for five. coast and down the Moray Firth, so "To go out onto the course, see the the water temperatures are warmer sea, the sea views and then, all of a and it has an impact on the weather. Above: Stuart Hogg sudden, have a dolphin pop up makes I've seen it rain in Inverness, along it so special. It's nature and how lucky the coast towards Nairn, even up the Below: The Fortrose & am I to experience it. When people street, but it would be sunny on the Rosemarkie team come to see the course they always golf course," he explained. say they would love to work up here," "We've already got a top dressing said Stuart, who started his career down and guys couldn't believe we much further south, working with were doing it. I was on the phone to to a colleague in the west of Scotland "Carriage is expensive," explained who said he'd just got the frost com- Stuart. ing out of the ground and I was telling "I try to order all my needs at once him that we'd just cut our greens," to get a good deal and cut down on said Stuart, as he spoke in tne mid- the delivery costs. For example I per- dle of February haps order a tonne of fertiliser "We've cut our greens every week because I know roughly what I'm and tees every six weeks through the going to need." winter and even cut my fairways this If such an approach is to be taken year which we've never done before. decent storage is essential and There's been a big change in the cli- Fortrose & Rosemarkie's - the name mate," he said. comes because the public road which So, we've identified great scenery bisects the course down the middle and dolphins, we've talked about the is also the boundary of the two vil- great weather. What's the down side lages - maintenance facilities are of life at Fortrose & Rosemarkie? second to none. Well, it goes without saying that the "The club used its VAT money on golf club is a little detached from huge the sheds and they speak for them- population centres. Sure Inverness is selves," said Stuart, as we sat in the only 20 minutes but most deliveries mess room of the stone built, pine must come from Aberdeen and clad, building. Glasgow, which are quite some dis- "We now hold our greens meetings tance away. in here and I'm quite proud of that fact. I believe if you have tidy sheds ders and they lend us machinery in height and check if they can cut a sin- greens, six pure soil greens and six it sets the tone. exchange. It's all about saving mon- gle piece of paper. If they can't, they shingle, gravelly greens. The soil "The club has done us proud and ey as I don't have a big budget," said are back lapped, if they still can't, a greens are there because they were hopefully we can do them proud by Stuart, who along with First front edge will be put on the sole plate rebuilt after the war - the course producing a golf course that is up to Assistant, Chris Gumming, and and if then they still can't they are boasts some tank turrets along the standard," said Stuart, only the sev- Assistant, Kevin Fowler, are all qual- put in the grinder." left hand side as well as an under- enth Head Greenkeeper at the club ified to use the grinder. Working to a budget means that it ground concrete bunker - while the since the early 1900s. Having sharp olades is fundamen- has taken about 10 years to build up fact we are on what is essentially a As well as the need to be well organ- tal to Stuart's approach to the machinery stock and replacement raised beach means we've got one side ised when it comes ordering materials greenkeeping. of key kit must fit into the club's of the course which is pure sand and the club's geography has led to oth- "I have always told the boys that if financial constraints. the other shingle. It's down to the er innovative thinking when it comes the blades aren't sharp to get them The servicing is also done by Stuart tidal effect," said Stuart, who added to cutting costs. done because it makes such a differ- who, topping up a longstanding inter- that at particularly windy times the "We bought a Juno grinder in 1995 ence. Cut yourself with a Stanley est in cars and engines, attended a peninsula grows by about 10 to 15 because ever time we sent away a knife and you get a clean cut but use Toro course on greens mower main- metres in length purely by sand and cylinder it cost us £100 because it a bread knife you get a hellish cut. tenance. shingle being washed up by the tide. had to go Aberdeen and we could lose That's the way I look at it and I Having the sea on three sides of the "We've got to manage the greens in it for up to a week. believe it has a bearing on the fact course does give ideal vantage points a sensitive manner to get the speed "We've got something like 24 cylin- that we don't get much disease here." for dolphin spotting but it also has the same. I'm a firm believer that ders which we do at least once a year The team use a four stage plan to added course maintenance complica- speed is not a necessity as long as so at £100 a cylinder it paid off with- keep their blades sharp. tions. you've got a consistency and a true in two years. "We will go out with sharp units "We have a difficult golf course to putting surface. We get the wind here "We also take in other club's cylin- and regularly recheck and reset the manage because we have six sand and its never up and down the course, coasCoast to t.

times harder," said Stuart, whose four

country s most respected greenkeep- ers making the trip north. Machinery Inventory "We've had respected guys like 1 Allman 200 sprayer Jimmy Nielson, Walter Woods, Cecil 1 Huxley Soil Retriever George and the late Harry Diamond 1 John Deere Gator 4x2 up here and I've learned from them 1 Hydraulic 5 all while after Walter had judged the 1 Kubota 2150 with cutting course for the final of the Toro deck and front bucket Excellence Award he brought George 1 Sisis, Powaspread Brown up for a weekend.' Topdresser across every hole bar two, so that's from George to mould myself into a It is that sort of contact that ensures 1 Royer 30 Powascreen tough enough." Head Greenkeeper." close touch isn't lost with the rest of 3 Super Certes 51cm As you would expect the course He has obviously been a good stu- the country, while Stuart and his dent because last year was an team are keen BIGGA members. 1 Juno Grinder does suffer from spray burn and the risk of being so close to the sea nev- excellent one for Stuart and the club "I was given the opportunity to 1 Ford 2120 er leaves. with him representing Scotland in the organise the Bunker Support Team at 1 GM 3100 Greens "We could easily lose a couple of National Final of the Toro Excellence the Walker Cup in Nairn last year 1 GM 300 tees and aprons tees if we were to have a bad storm in Greenkeeping Award and his work using experience I gained from the 1 GM 3 verticut so to counter that some rock has been on the environment being recognised Open Championship Support Team 4 Flymos installed to act as defence." by the club being Highly while I was at Harrogate as usual this 2 Stimmers Stuart attributes his greenkeeping Commended in the BIGGA Golf year taking Chris Cumming with me style to the two Head Greenkeepers Environment Competition, in associ- for the first time." 1 Hedge Trimmer he has worked under in his career, Jim ation with Amazone and Grass Despite being an incomer to a close 1 Sisis Autorake Paton at West Kilbride and George Roots. knit community Stuart and his fam- 1 Amazone Groundkeeper 150 Paterson, who was his boss at Fortrose "The entire team should be proud ily are well settled into the slow Various spikers and tractor & Rosemarkie before going off to of what we achieved in the Toro relaxed life in Fortrose and where else attachments County Sligo Golf Club. award. I'm proud of them because could you have Flipper as an early "I've taken a bit from Jim and a bit without them my job would be ten morning companion?