That of Her Colleagues in the Golf Sector
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Heather Mackinnon is Head Groundsman at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, the home of the Scottish Rugby Union. Here in this Learning Experience article she compares her work at one of the world's leading sporting arenas to that of her colleagues in the golf sector Thithast wawayy Above: Although the turf The Scottish team have just finished informed of a trainee greenkeeper through Beverly Stevens, one of my maintenance regimes are training and are packing their bags position at Ratho Park Golf Club. lecturers. She encouraged me to similar to golf, on match ready to travel to Italy for their very Walking up the drive for the first time attend the local branch meetings, days, Murrayfield gets some first Six Nations Championship was rather daunting but it looked very which is where I first met Bill Elwood, concentrated wear and tear match. It has been rather hectic for impressive. The straight lines on the the former Head Groundsman at the last few days with extra training greens, the general presentation, I was Murrayfield, now the Facilities sessions for the under 18's, under 19's, hooked, I wanted to learn all about it Manager. It was through attending under 21's, the A squad and the and do all the operations a green- meetings and showing an interest that National squad. It's a great challenge; keeper was expected to do. I was given a chance to continue my never did it occur to me when I was I worked at the golf course for a year career at Murrayfield after completing working at Ratho Park Golf Club as a and found the job extremely varied my studies at Oatridge. youth trainee greenkeeper that I and interesting. However I wanted to Working at Murrayfield I was able would aspire to such a prestigious job. gain more knowledge and after mak- to compare the practices that were car- When at school I detested the ing enquiries at my local college, ried out previously at Ratho and I thought of working in offices or any Oatridge, I elected to go on a full time found them to be very similar. form of indoor vocation. I wanted to course for a National Certificate in Demands are very similar, although work on turf, especially on a football Golf Course and Sportsground the games of rugby and golf are obvi- ground. Unfortunately when I left Maintenance and Management. ously very different; the principles of school, I could not find any opportu- While at Oatridge I was introduced to management, maintenance and pre- nities in groundsmanship but was the Institute of Groundsmanship sentation will be equally high on both April 2000 Greenkeeper International 15 Right: The immaculate playing surface at one of Scotland's premier sporting venues - Murrayfield the Head Greenkeeper's and the Head tenance with an appointment at King Groundsman's agenda. Both man- James VI Golf Course. agers will be striving to ensure that My time at Stewarts of Dalkieth was their turf is at its absolute best at cer- beneficial in realising the huge range tain times of the year. Perhaps for of materials that are available for our greenkeepers it revolves around the industry. It also emphasised the value club championship or the open week of communication and record keeping and for Groundsmen it may be which is vitally important in my pre- towards an important cup match. sent role. More often than not a rugby Murrayfield consists of 54 acres of Groundsman's life is spent trying to land near the centre of Edinburgh produce a quality pitch in the most where the climate is fairly dry com- adverse weather conditions, due to the pared with other parts of the country season in which the sport is played. At I returned to the stadium in November the end of the season there follows an last year and am enjoying the fresh set early summer renovation period, of challenges and problem solving. which is not without its difficulties. Since the introduction of professional The Greenkeepers event calendar, contracts there has been a huge however, mainly majors around a busy increase in the use of the training facil- summer with renovations in the spring ities, which in turn places increased and autumn. The principles and prac- demands on the staff. We regularly tice of aeration and feeding continue work many hours above a normal for both sets of managers throughout working week to meet the demands the year, although as you would expect placed upon the ground staff. differences have to be allowed for, such The work schedule includes the as sward composition, pH levels, soil maintenance of five rugby pitches plus Union, the pitch is to be used for the plete all our own pesticide control, type and so forth. an international pitch within the sta- Rugby League finals, American using a Hardi sprayer for fungicides, After three years at Murrayfield I dium. The outside pitches were rebuilt Football and concerts. Indeed, insecticides and herbicides. thought I needed to broaden my in 1995 using the Netlon reinforced between March and May, out of nine The responsibility of the interna- knowledge and gain experience in turf system to facilitate car parking on weekends, only two see the tional pitch is a big challenge but I am varying aspects of the industry. I have match days or when concerts are held International pitch not being used. very fortunate in having Bill Elwood, been very fortunate to work not only at the stadium. Three members of The variation of events requires a great the Facilities Manager, with his vast in maintenance of golf courses, but staff, including myself, maintain the deal of line marking and blanking out knowledge of groundsmanship and also in golf course construction and pitches. The maintenance staff for the depending upon the fixture. Posts especially Murrayfield, should I have had the opportunity to work with whole complex totals 14, made up of require erecting and removing due to any queries. In the run up to an inter- some very large equipment. I was plumbers, joiners and painters. the alternating games from week-to- national match we start preparing the involved with the development of The international pitch sits within a week between League, Union and pitch two weeks before by single Elmwood College golf course and the 67,500 all-seater stadium, which cre- American Football. The accuracy rolling every day, using the Ransomes initial maintenance of Strathmore ates its own problems such as shade, required for marking the American Mastiff mower. This operation pro- Golf Centre. I then returned to main- airflow and humidity. As well as Rugby football pitch will be very demanding duces a resilient surface suitable for but the final presentation of the the game of rugby The week before Below: Head Groundsman, Heather Mackinnon with members of her team marked out pitch, complete with the match the pitch is double rolled logos, will make it very worthwhile. each day. On the day before the match The available machinery and equip- the pitch is double rolled, as usual, and ment has recentiy been given a terrific then all the cross markings, solid and boost since the recent agreement broken lines are marked in. On the between the Scottish Rugby Union morning of the match a single roll is and Textron. This means that we have given across the pitch. The two touch- the latest range of equipment with lines and the five and fifteen broken modern technology and engineering at lines are marked in. All lines are put our fingertips. We have access to a full in using a string line to ensure accu- range of Textron equipment whenev- racy The broken lines are marked in er we require it. The machinery we with a board and strings. The pitch is keep at Murrayfield includes a 45 then flagged and the posts padded and BHP Iseki tractor; two 25 BHP Iseki sand buckets placed out for the kick- tractors, one with a front loader. Other ers and that completes the equipment includes a Jacobsen LF- preparation. 3810; a Jacobsen Triking; a Cushman Throughout the match we stay on Turf-Truckster with a range of attach- hand to deal with any emergency that ments; a number of E-Z-GOs; two new may occur. After a match there will be Ransomes Mastiffs and a range of aer- repairs to the pitch. This is complet- ation equipment. We also have a 55 ed immediately the match has finished BHP Renault tractor complete with so that the divots repair easier and heal turf tyres and loading bucket. We com- quicker, which is crucial with a busy Scorecards • Course Measurement • Yardage Books • Tee Signs Event Boards • Leaderboards • Notice Boards • Bag Tags • Green Fee Tickets Call Philip Mclnley on : 01883 344244 email us: [email protected] visit our website @ www.eaglepromotions.co.uk fixture list. On the day after the match always there and we have the chal- we will use the soil reliever onto the lenge to provide the best possible pitch pitch set to a depth of 150 mm (6 for every occasion. My job as Head inches) to ensure we do not reach the Groundsman to the Scottish Rugby under soil heating pipes. This will aid Union, like any groundsman or green- the recovery by removing the com- keeper, is extremely rewarding, though paction caused by the rolling. not without its pressures and difficul- I am very fortunate to be able to dri- ties. ve into work and feel a great sense of It has taken me a couple of days to pride, to be involved with the prepa- put this article together, the Scottish ration at an International stadium and team are back after a defeat in Italy - view the pitch in all its glory The con- I've heard it was the fault of the ball! tinuous increase in fixtures and I'm sure I have a great deal more to demands upon the pitch ensures that learn about rugby groundsmanship..