• Toro Student of the Year 2008 • Health & Safety: Noise Awareness • BIGGA National Championship, sponsored by Kubota £5.00 • Your Drainage on Your Golf Course NOVEMBER | 2008 Chipco 08 (new approval) 28/10/08 09:50 Page 1 APPRONVEW AL! Not using Chipco® Green? Fast, reliable CONTACT turf fungicide. Rainfast within the hour. Prevents dew build-up reducing the need for switching. The perfect partner for Dedicate® . Don’t ignore it, Chipco® Green it. Bayer Environmental Science 230 Cambridge Science Park Milton Road Cambridge CB4 0WB Tel: 00800 1214 9451 Fax: 01223 226635 www.escience.bayercropscience.co.uk CHIPCO® GREEN contains 250 g/l iprodione. ALWAYS READ THE LABEL.USE PESTICIDES SAFELY (MAPP 13843) (PCS 02714). CHIPCO is a registered trademark of Bayer. © Bayer Environmental Science 2008. BIGGA President Sir Michael Bonallack, OBE Board of Management November 2008 Chairman – Kenny Mackay Vice Chairman – Peter Todd Past Chairman – Billy McMillan Board Members Regulars Jeff Mills, Gavin Robson, Archie Dunn, Ian Willett, Tony Smith, Elliott Small, Mark Dobell 4 - 8 News Chief Executive – John Pemberton 9 GTC Email – [email protected] 10-11 Industry Update Communications Manager / Editor – Scott MacCallum 12 Membership [email protected] Email – An update on Membership matters Sales Manager – Rosie McGilvray Email – [email protected] 13 Education Sami Collins updates us on Learning and Head of Learning & Development – Sami Collins Development matters Email – [email protected] 14-15 Learning & Development: Membership Department – Tracey Maddison Improving A Native Prairie Grass For Turf Email – [email protected] By Eric Watkins Contact Us 46-47 New Products Post – BIGGA House, Aldwark, Alne, York, YO61 1UF Email – [email protected] 49 What’s Your Number Website – www.bigga.org.uk Tel – 01347 833800 | Fax – 01347 833801 50 Human Resources Tip 51 In the Shed Greenkeeper International’s Puzzle Page The official monthly magazine of the British 52 News from the Chief Executive & International Golf Greenkeepers Association 52-59 Around the Green Editorial Communications Manager / Editor – Scott MacCallum 66 As I See It… Tel – 01347 833800 | Fax – 01347 833801 National Chairman Kenny Mackay’s monthly column Email – [email protected] Assistant Editor – Melissa Jones Tel – 01347 833800 | Fax – 01347 833801 Features Email – [email protected] 16-18 Splish, Splash. I Was…Er, Playing Golf? Design The National Championship, sponsored by Kubota, didn’t Design and Production Editor - Tom Campbell enjoy the best of weather but when it came to the golf the Tel – 01347 833800 | Fax – 01347 833801 cream certainly rose to the top. By Scott MacCallum. Email – [email protected] 20-22 The Final: Toro Student Of The Year 2008 Advertising Sales Executive – Kirstin Smith Once again, the level of entrants for this year’s Toro Student Tel – 01347 833800 | Fax – 01347 833802 of the Year competition surpassed all expectations. Email – [email protected] Melissa Jones reports… Printing 24-25 Looking To The Future Warners Midlands Plc, The Maltings, Manor Lane, By John Pemberton Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH Tel – 01778 391000 | Fax – 01778 394269 26-27 Team Work And Team Building: Rudding Park Golf Club By Melissa Jones Contents may not be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission. Return postage must accompany all materials 29-31 Noise Induced Hearing Loss: submitted if return is requested. Raising Awareness For Greenkeepers No responsibility can be assumed for unsolicited materials. The By Herbert Barker right is reserved to edit submissions before publication. 32-35 Living On The Edge Although every care will be taken, no responsibility is accepted for Scott MacCallum travelled all the way to the eastern edge of loss of manuscripts, photographs or artwork. England to a golf club which has a history of producing fine greenkeepers – North Foreland. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Association, and no responsibility is accepted for such content, advertising or 36-37 Making The ‘Appliance Of Science’ Simple product information that may appear. Scott MacCallum visited Scotts’ Levington Research Station and learned just how much goes into producing the products Circulation is by subscription. Subscription rate: UK £47 per year, you use on the golf course. Europe and Eire £60. The magazine is also distributed to BIGGA members, golf clubs, local authorities, the turf industry, libraries and central government. 38-40 Keeping The Bits You Don’t Mow Trim By James de Havilland ISSN: 0961– 6977 42-44 Your Drainage On Your Golf Course © 2008 British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association By Geoffrey Davison Greenkeeper International 3 Why not drop us an email with any news, press releases or new product updates you have – Send them to Melissa ([email protected]) Welcome 10 YEARS ON… Earlier this week I was standing, camera in hand, taking a picture of Prince Edward unveiling the plaque to commemorate the opening of the new Bernhard NORRIE WHYTOCK TROPHY & Co offices in Rugby. It was 10 years ago, give a week, that I was standing, camera in hand, taking a picture of Prince Andrew, as he unveiled the plaque August saw BIGGA Scottish Region return to Auchterarder Golf Club for their to commemorate the opening of BIGGA HOUSE. annual Team Competition, featuring the five Sections within Scotland. Auchterarder was one of the few places in Scotland not affected by I remember the occasion because the Prince actually told me it was the weather and this must have delighted the organisers of the Johnnie the worst picture of a plaque unveiling he’d ever seen – he wasn’t looking Walker Tournament at Gleneagles only a sand wedge from the fairways of at the camera and the plaque was still covered - and we all trooped back Auchterarder Golf Club. to the plaque and did the picture again. In mitigation it was due to a The Central Section were hoping to make it three in a row, but with a borrowed, but unreliable, digital camera, but I genuinely felt that having blustery wind and tough pin positions, it took its toll on some of the teams. taken the worst picture of Prince Andrew in action ever was a great claim The ever-reliable North Section finished in 2nd place on a total of 100 points. to fame and have dined off the fact since. I’m currently awaiting comment The team comprised Hugh McLatchie, Peterhead GC; Warren Beveridge, from Prince Edward to discover if I’ve improved any! Ballindalloch GC; Muir Ross and Fraser Downie, both Peterculter GC. The worthy winners, after their one and only success 10 years ago, were the So much water had flown under the bridge since the opening of BIGGA West Section with a winning total of 105 points, Team Captain, Douglas HOUSE on October 21, 1998, not least that Neil Thomas, the Executive McIntosh, Cathkin Braes GC; Brian Hillen, Drumpellier GC; Alasdair Read Director of BIGGA, at the time is no longer with us. and Alan Syme, both Williamwood GC. The winning Captain Douglas thanked Bayer and their Scottish Neil had steered the Association from its inception in 1987 to the stage representative Kenny Liddell for their continued sponsorship of the event. that new offices were necessary and was extremely proud of the strides Thanks go to the Captain and officials of Auchterarder for the courtesy BIGGA had made. He continued at the helm until he was taken seriously and facilities of the golf club and to the Secretary Barry Johnston for his ill with a brain tumour in mid 2003 and died the following February. As assistance in organising the event. I write Seve Ballesteros is fighting a brain tumour, and our thoughts go Special thanks to Archie Dunn and his staff for all the hard work and out to Seve and his family, and this again brings back memories of Neil, congratulations in presenting the course in such excellent condition despite and his proudest day when the new offices were opened. the many days of rain they have had to endure this season. Next year’s event will once again be held at Auchterarder Golf Club on Two of the other honoured guests back then were former Deputy Prime Thursday, August, 20, 2009. Minister under Margaret Thatcher and BIGGA President Viscount Whitelaw and Secretary of the R&A Sir Michael Bonallack, who was to take over as Peter J.Boyd President when Viscount Whitelaw died the following year. Regional Administrator The magazine that marked BIGGA HOUSE’s opening, November 1998, contained a report of the Hayter International match held in Atlanta, Georgia; an article by Laurence Pithie MG on the benefits of having a dedicated Golf Course Mechanic; a piece on Ramside GC, in the North East, and an article by Roland Taylor - who, sadly, is also no longer with us, on gang mowers and how they are drawing towards retirement. National Chairman at the time was Gordon Child, who 10 years on, is still in fine fettle – using two new hips to propel him around the golf course, often in a score below his age! In many ways 1998 seems like only yesterday but in other ways it’s a lifetime away. Where will we all be on October 21st, 2018? is a question to be asked with quite a bit of trepidation bearing in mind the people mentioned above who are no longer with us. However we can all hope that we’ll be enjoying the fruits of our labours, lying back, soaking up the sun on some Caribbean island, safe in the knowledge that we are financially secure and that our savings and investments are locked away somewhere safe. There’s a novel thought for November, 2008. OUR APOLOGIES In the last issue (October) of GI, regrettably, some of the text was missing from the article ‘Making the Appliance of Science Simple’; because of this error, we have reprinted the story this month in full.