The Golf Club Manager: March 2020

THE GOLF CLUB

MANAGER ISSUE 34 | MARCH 2020

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION

ECTURE THE ARCHITE ISSU LOOK AT -D IN AN EPTH O ABOUT HOW CLUBS GG THEIR RE-SHAPIN S COURSE

SPECIAL INSIGHT

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

WHY YOUR SHORT GAME AREA COULD BE THE KEY TO SUR VIVAL THE BIG INTERVIEW

RENOVATING A NATIONAL TREASURE

W O O D H A L L S PA’ S R I C H A R D L AT H A M O N H O W R E S TO R I N G T H E ICONIC HOTCHKIN COURSE SUCCEEDED AGAINST THE ODDS

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E ‘

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CONTENTS ISSUE 34 | MARCH 2020

ARCHITECTURE

GOOD PRACTICE

15

Whittington Heath’s HS2 masterplan

49 The man on a mission to improve your practice area

20

The story behind Scotland’s newest links

56 From the helpdesk

ARCHITECTURE

GRASS ROOTS

24

Transforming Burnham & Berrow’s Church hole

60 How Ripon brought new blood into the club

29

How Stoke Park changed their sand traps

62 Meet Fulwell’s Ese Okperin

THE BIG INTERVIEW 35

Woodhall Spa’s GM on renovating the Hotchkin

15

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THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION GCMA Bristol & Clifton Golf Club, Beggar Bush Lane, Failand, Bristol, BS8 3TH Tel: 01275 391153 | hq@gcma.org.uk CHIEF EXECUTIVE Bob Williams - bob@gcma.org.uk GOLF MANAGEMENT RESEARCHER Jim Cunning - jim@gcma.org.uk FINANCE ADMINISTRATOR Shirley Edmondson - shirley@gcma.org.uk COMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE Marie Taylor - marie@gcma.org.uk MEMBERSHIP SERVICES Julie Knight - julie@gcma.org.uk PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Gavin Robinson- gavin@gcma.org.uk PRESIDENT JR (John) Jones 2019/20 CAPTAIN Ian Symington BOARD OF DIRECTORS Phil Grice, Amy Yeates, Andrew Rankin, Judy Barker, Stuart Leech, Brad McLean THE GOLF CLUB MANAGER IS PUBLISHED BY: SPORTS PUBLICATIONS LTD 2 Arena Park, Tarn Lane, Scarcroft, West Yorkshire, LS17 9BF, UK Tel: 0113 289 3979 | info@sportspub.co.uk PUBLISHER Tom Irwin - t.irwin@sportspub.co.uk EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Dan Murphy - d.murphy@sportspub.co.uk EDITOR Steve Carroll - s.carroll@sportspub.co.uk PRODUCTION EDITOR James Broadhurst - j.broadhurst@sportspub.co.uk CHIEF DESIGNER Andrew Kenworthy - a.kenworthy@sportspub.co.uk DESIGNERS Emmi Parry - e.parry@sportspub.co.uk Becky Clark - b.clark@sportspub.co.uk Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, but the publishers cannot accept responsibility for omissions and errors. All material in this publication is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved.The views expressed in The Golf Club Manager do not necessarily represent the views of the company or the editor. Every care is taken in compiling the contents but the publishers assume no responsibility for any damage, loss or injury arising from participation in any offer, competition or advertising contained within The Golf Club Manager.

THE GOLF CLUB

MANAGER ISSUE 34 | MARCH 2020

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE GOLF CLUB MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION

URE THE ARCHITECT ISSUE LOOK AT AN IN-DEPTH ABOUT HOW CLUBS GOTHEIR RE-SHAPING COURSES

SPECIAL INSIGHT

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

WHY YOUR SHORT GAME AREA COULD BE THE KEY TO SUR VIVAL THE BIG INTERVIEW

RENOVATING A NATIONAL TREASURE

W O O D H A L L S PA’ S R I C H A R D L AT H A M O N H O W R E S TO R I N G T H E ICONIC HOTCHKIN COURSE SUCCEEDED AGAINST THE ODDS

ED U C AT E | I N FO RM | I N S P I RE ‘

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ON THE COVER: Woodhall Spa general manager Richard Latham

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WELCOME

ISSUE 34 | MARCH 2020

W

hile last month’s welcome note began with a big hello to Gavin Robinson, this month’s combines both farewells with greetings. The team at HQ has now seen the addition of Craig Cotterill, who will fulfil the role of Business Partnerships Manager.

Craig joins us after working in a similar role of business development within the world of sport as well as golf.

Finally, the newest addition is Lianne Banks, who started with us at the beginning of the month while she undertakes a handover from our long time finance officer Shirley Edmondson. Shirley has been with the GCMA for the last 20 years and will be missed but we wish her well in retirement and sincerely thank her for her dedicated service.

I am sure you will now be aware of my decision to move on as Chief Executive of the Association. It is not a decision I have taken lightly and I have thoroughly enjoyed my seven-and-a-half years at the helm.

That is not to say it hasn’t been without its trials and tribulations but, like all of us who work within the people industry, there will always be the continual challenges and the unexpected. It seems a lifetime ago I accepted the role and moved into the hot seat at the Weston-super-Mare office. Since then there has certainly been a lot of change -– though mainly for the better I would like to think.

I will be working with the Board

to pave the way for my successor but would like to take this opportunity to thank all members, past and present, for your support over the years. I have made many good friends throughout the industry, who no doubt I will bump into on a golf course somewhere. I will be here until the summer and will take a short break before continuing to work in the golf industry.

Finally, the 2020 AGM will be held at Moortown, in Leeds, on April 20. There will be at least one vacancy on the Board. Should any member wish to understand more, do not hesitate to give me a call.

The National Golf Day is at Bristol & Clifton on June 8.

Bob Williams – chief executive

“It is not a decision I have taken lightly and I have thoroughly enjoyed my seven-and-a-half years at the helm”

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INDUSTRY The latest news, insightful opinions and in-depth features from the golf industry

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In the

LOOP

The news you need to know from the last month in the golf industry…

R&A-USGA pledge to tackle distance in golf Is golf now at a turning point? The R&A and USGA’s much anticipated review of distances in golf revealed the 100-year trend of increased hitting, and a corresponding rise in the length of golf courses was a continuing cycle that is “detrimental to the game’s longterm future”.

They concluded the inherent strategic challenge presented was compromised, expressed concern that many courses could become less challenging, or obsolete, and said longer distances, courses, tees and longer times to play were taking the sport in the wrong direction.

Martin Slumbers, chief executive of The R&A, said:“We believe we have reached a pivotal moment in golf. The publication of this report is highly significant.

“The impact of long-term hitting distance in some of golf’s essential elements are now clear – including changing the strategic challenge of the sport, altering the balance of skills needed to be successful and risking courses being less challenging or obsolete.

“Our objective as governing bodies is to work with the key stakeholders in golf to address this issue in a way that brings the sport together and which ensures it continues to thrive for many years to come.”

While expressing no views on solutions at this stage, the two governing bodies will now enter

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the next phase and consider potentials to help “end the cycle of increased distance”.

That would look at assessing and possibly changing the equipment rules, along with looking into the effects of course design, conditions and setup on hitting distances.

The review is also expected to include a “broad review of both clubs and balls” as well as: * The assessment of the potential use of a Local Rule option specifying the use of reduceddistance equipment. * Guidance on the availability of short enough forward tees and the appropriate tee-to-hole playing distances for golfers of all levels. * Several other topics, including equipment testing processes and potential guidance on how design, agronomy and set-up can affect hitting distance.

The specific topics for further research, and input from manufacturers and golf stakeholders, are expected to be published imminently, with the gathering process than taking around nine months to a year.

We’ll take a more detailed look over the next few issues about what all this will potentially mean for club golf and for you.

We want to hear from you!

We want to hear from you!

Send your correspondence, on any subject, to letters@gcma.org.uk

Welcome to our newest GCMA members Deborah Barton, at Mold GC Mark Bleasdale, at Pleasington, in North West region Louis Booth, at Lincoln, in East Midlands region Lindsay Boyd, at Royal Guernsey, in Southern region Thomas Briggs, at Westhoughton, in North West region Irene Divine, at Rossendale, in North West region Amy Ellis, at Burghill Valley, in Midland region Tony Gooch, at Torrington, in South West region Stuart Goodman, at Dereham, in Norfolk region Thomas Gowers, at Addington Court, in London & Home Counties region Samantha Hall, at Woodham G&CC, in Northern region Jason Levermore, at Little Channels Golf Centre, in East Anglia region John Maddock, at Gorleston, in East Anglia region Ella McInerney, at Erewash Valley, in East Midlands region Alan Milton, at Backworth, in Northern region Edward Richardson, at Redlibbets, in South East region

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

From the

ARCHIVES We scour the GCMA magazine archives to find out what managers were saying in years gone by Ten years ago Driving distance was the focus of former R&A chief executive Peter Dawson’s column back in 2010.

The PGA Tour’s ShotLink data was providing all sorts of insights yet it’s incredible how things have turned around in just a decade.

Dawson cited the results of more 1.4 million tee shots, taken between 2003 and 2009, which revealed that average driving distance was static at 286 yards.

The R&A’s own research, in the amateur game, had shown that while more players were now using drivers – 90 per cent in fact – the average distance had fallen from 219 yards in 2003 to 212 yards last year.

“These simple statistics are growing into a body of evidence that in our regulation of golf equipment we are striking the right balance between technology and playing skill in the game.” Shows how much the position has changed that in just a decade we could go from that to the whole subject being classed as undesirable.

25 years ago “Golfers often ask the question ‘Why do we have to aerate the

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greens and create unnecessary disruption to the members for weeks on end?’,” wrote Alistair Beggs, then turfgrass agronomist at The Sports Turf Research Institute, of the age-old argument.

He explained that wherever a course was, and whatever lay under the greens, there was a need to consider regular aeration

treatments. After spelling out the agronomical and environmental arguments, Beggs got to the crux of his argument, one which still holds sway today.“There is a necessity for disruption at all UK golf clubs – the sooner this is accepted the better. It is the aim of all concerned i.e. the green

committee, the greenstaff and agronomists to try and minimise the inconvenience to golfers. Don’t put the problem off and pretend it will go away – it won’t. Good organisation and planning of competitions and an acceptance that the work needs to be carried out will help to maximise the potential of the course and at the same time create minimum disruption to the members.”

50 years ago Hands up if you’ve heard this one before?

“The Committee of the Association of Golf Club Secretaries is concerned by the inescapable fact that many Secretaries are both overworked and underpaid.” They looked at the widening trend from clubs of calling their secretaries ‘managers’.

Clubs could call their staff what they wished but:“The title ‘manager’ should only be applied where the ‘secretary’ is responsible only and directly to the ‘governing body’.”

“Where as ‘manager’ has to accept instructions and account to a Greens, House or Finance Committee, he is a SECRETARY within the meaning of this article.”

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Why Whittington Heath weren’t derailed

BY HS2 DOUBTS

There may have been concerns over the nation’s new high-speed rail line, but bulldozers ploughed on regardless at this historic Staffordshire club

From left: Jonathan Gaunt, golf course architect, Colin White, general manager at Whittington Heath and Tony Rundle, chairman of Whittington Heath’s HS2 sub committee E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

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I

t was the project that divided the nation – setting opponents wringing their hands in consternation. But though its future seemed in doubt, any concerns over HS2 barely raised an eyebrow at Whittington Heath.

There was no talk of costs here.

Instead you can measure the reality of the scheme and its impact the moment you arrive in the Staffordshire club’s car park.

The timbers of a huge new clubhouse continue to rise with every passing day and, a short walk from that burgeoning building,

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five new holes – already laid out, seeded and bunkered – give more than just the impression of how a radically altered layout is going to look.

The builders and bulldozers bring certainty to Whittington Heath, who feared for their existence after modified HS2 plans saw the line carve a path right through the centre of the course.

The club’s been around since 1887, playing out of a clubhouse that was once an old racecourse stand and around a course that Harry Colt remoulded in the 1920s.

The new railway line threatened

all that and only a radical redesign, put together with the help of HS2, prevented Whittington Heath from becoming a casualty of progress.

Architect Jonathan Gaunt was brought in not only to construct the new holes but also align the existing course to fit.

The first stage of that was the transformation of every bunker on the current layout.

Now with the countdown to the opening of the new clubhouse and course well under way, there is not the sense of looking back and lamenting what’s lost from those shepherding through the changes.

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There is optimism about what the future's going to bring.

“I was a junior member here, just over 20 years ago, and when I heard the train track was coming through it was really devastating for me as a former member,”said recently installed general manager Colin White.“A lot of the members were devastated at the prospect of closing but they’ve turned that round and the atmosphere now is phenomenal.

“Everyone is so excited. They can see the new course, the new building going up, the change and the future of the club.

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“It’s development, isn’t it? It’s moving forward. Change is good.

It’s sad to lose some of the history but we have to look to the future.

“That’s what our members and golfers want and that’s what we will deliver.”

Rebuilding Whittington Heath has probably been one of Gaunt’s biggest design challenges.

The course’s heathland characteristics have been gradually eroded through the decades and, in places, the prevalence of trees makes the feel far more parkland.

While the land for the new holes was conveniently found right

next door to the existing course, integrating what was essentially wide-open farmland into a heavily wooded environment has been far from easy.

“There is very little that we can do about the first five holes, they are on the new land and you’ll be playing out in an open landscape,” he said.“That’s going to be the case for a long time into the future.

We’re going to try to create more of an open landscape within the existing golf course.

“Work has been done already and it’s going to be an ongoing regime to create some clearings,

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vistas and more open areas.

“The fields [on the new land] are free draining sand and we had an opportunity there to recreate heathland.

“When you look at the old historical maps, it was part of Whittington Heath. And by creating the new holes on the new land, we’re going to be integrating mitigation for lost heathland along the railway line.

“We’ve finished construction of the five holes on the new land. It has involved new construction from start to finish – from tee to green.

“The work started on that land back in April and it was completed at the end of October. Prior to that, it was work on the existing golf course, where we remodelled

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existing bunkers, built new tees and new fairways for some of the remodelled holes and realigned holes.

“After the work on the new land, we went back on the existing land to build the new 8th green and that has been turfed.”

Gaunt went back through the archives, looking at photographs going back to the 1940s to get an idea of bunker shapes and greens complexes before incorporating those into his five new creations.

The new 1st is a particular highlight for him, with an elevated tee and a slight right to left dogleg into a raised green.

He's hoping the spectacular landscape – you can see as much as 20 miles around you from the panorama – will make that

opening stretch a fine addition to Whittington Heath, rather than a necessary adjunct when the revamped layout is fully in play next year.

“It’s been a real pleasure and a challenge,”he said of the project.

“With the history associated with Whittington Heath and the work Harry Colt did back in the 1920s and 30s, there are some amazing green and tee complexes, some fabulous landscapes that the golf course currently plays through.

“We’ve tried to use that as an influence within the design – not necessarily replicate it but try to create similarities in the characteristics to fairways, approaches to greens and surrounds and make it fun to play.”

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How golf’s newest links sprang up

IN RECORD TIME

K

“

nowing what you know now, would you take the job on?” The question lingered in the air as Paul Kimber hesitated for just a fraction.

Stood in front of an audience of greenkeepers, as he evaluated what’s probably been

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one of the more challenging projects of his career, the pause was instructive.

“Yes,” he intoned, before later striking a warning note of advice.“It’s something that if you care passionately about what you do, you’ve got to leave a few things at the door before you go to work.”

There is little causing more of a stir in the golf world at the moment than the imminent arrival of Dumbarnie Golf Links.

Clive Clark’s design, project managed by Kimber on the ground, took a mammoth 350 acres of flat pasture land hugging the Firth of Forth at Leven and transformed it

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Scotland’s latest course is creating quite a buzz but the story behind Dumbarnie Golf Links is just as dramatic into a links paradise – with holes sweeping through the manufactured landscape in a scene reminiscent of Irish golf at its wildest.

But getting Dumbarnie off the ground, and to the point where it will open in just a matter of weeks, took will and grit.

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It was four years before the investment was secured and when Kimber finally arrived to start work in the spring of 2018, he had just fiveand-a-half months to create something out of nothing.

The challenges were endless, not least those imposed by dozens of planning

restrictions.

A major gas pipeline from Scotland to England ran right through the middle of the site – with the authorities flying regular sorties to make sure no one was doing anything they shouldn’t around that precious infrastructure.

“It was a huge restriction on

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the construction,” Kimber told his audience at BTME in Harrogate, but it was far from the only constraint.

Get down below the surface of the sandy site and there was water everywhere. The construction team had to shift half a million cubic yards of earth in just 14 weeks, right in the middle of one of the hottest summers for decades.

Then, when seeding got under way, Dumbarnie was struck by three successive days of winds that topped 100mph.

“It was horrendous conditions.

Everyone had to just carry on and keep working. We were just desperate to get the project done.”

Yet the construction was still blink and you’ll miss it stuff. For a 2020 opening, which required the newly laid turf to have a year of bedding in, those building the course had the tightest of timetables.

It might take six months for a

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club to renovate a set of bunkers.

Kimber’s team built an entire course in less than that time – construction, shaping, irrigation, the lot.

“They (the team) all worked hard and worked diligently to achieve what I think is pretty incredible to build a new golf course from scratch – take it from a flat landscape to what we’ve created in five-and-a-half months,” he remembered.“It was pretty special.”

What that hard work has left general manager David Scott and his emerging team in the countdown to opening on May 16 is breathtaking.

Whether it’s the showpiece par 3 8th, which looks out to the water and a green guarded by bunkers, or the 5th with a split fairway to draw out the risk-and-reward player, the course is sure to feature on many golfers’ must-play lists.

“We’re super excited and we’re confident people will enjoy the golf course when we open,” Scott said as he looked forward to D-Day. “The golf course covers a massive 346 acres. Most links courses run alongside, or parallel to the sea. At Dumbarnie, due to the size of the site, we have eight holes that play directly towards the sea, and so the magnificent backdrop is in full view behind fairways and greens. This is certainly not unique, but quite unusual.

“Golfers will likely feel optimistic standing on our tees. We have spacious fairways and large welcoming greens sites. Designer Clive Clark has laid out a course that will be fun to play, even when the wind is blowing pretty strongly.

“Key to our success will also be the welcome. We envisage golfers leaving having not only enjoyed the course, but having received

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friendly and professional service throughout their time with us.”

The build up is a situation with which Scott is familiar, having been director of golf when Kingsbarns burst onto the scene at the turn of the century. The parallels with Dumbarnie are obvious, right down to the aspirations of high quality service and attracting American visitors and tour markets.

Fun, whether that’s from the wide fairways or the feeling of being cradled between the dunes as golfers make their way round, is fundamental to the experience.

Scott explained:“Even if players don’t bring their A-game they will still have a fun time. The fairways are pretty wide and greens are welcoming with a lot of embracing slopes. If you hit some of your shots a little long you’ll find some have backboards so the ball will meander back onto the green.

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“It’s not a penal golf course that really kicks your backside if you hit the odd poor shot. If you find the ball, you’ve got the opportunity to recover.

“A lot of holes offer a classic risk and reward, where you are asked on the tee ‘is the left side of the fairway better than the right?’ – giving you a better angle into the green. If you’ve got a preferred angle, quite often you’ve got the opportunity to play a low running shot as well. It’s not just a one-dimensional up and down approach.

“When the wind is whistling, you might wish to play a low running 5-iron into the green, where the contours will pull the ball towards the middle of the green.

“You are rewarded for good play from the tee. We’ve also got three par 4s that are driveable for the stronger hitter from the regular

or back tees. If the wind’s not too tough, they’ve got that opportunity but it comes at a risk. If you don’t quite middle your tee shot, you can be looking at a 5 or 6. If you get it right out of the sweet spot, you can be looking at eagle or an easy birdie, or do you take the safe play, to the wide part of the fairway, pitch on and make an easy par or birdie that way?”

Dumbarnie will certainly open with a bang, with thousands of rounds already pre-booked, and as they look to the future Scott is confident a trio of positives will keep the course in the spotlight in an area full of world-class links.

“It’s probably down to three points: a great layout that is hugely enjoyable and memorable, wonderful views that are, to some, breath-taking and a heartfelt service where our guests are made to feel most special.” ”

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The heavenly changes at Burnham’s

CHURCH HOLE

T

he scale of renovation can often seem daunting for many clubs.

Faced with a course full of troublesome bunkers, or a masterplan that could mean a new mortgage, the temptation in these difficult days can be to leave well alone.

But architectural projects need not be all encompassing, expensive

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and require the graft of contractors and greenkeepers for many years.

They can be piecemeal and yet still have a significant impact on the experience of your members and visitors.

Burnham & Berrow have been working with internationally renowned architect Martin Ebert for a number of years.

In the past, he’s helped the club

enlarge their 16th green and rework the putting surface at the 6th.

Now the current attention of the Somerset club, a fixture of top 100 England and GB&I lists and led by GCMA South West regional manager Karen Drake, has fallen on just one hole.

“The members and the board felt that the 12th was an architecturally weak hole and

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Renovations don’t have to be course wide. At Burnham & Berrow, they’re transforming just one hole. But clubs chief reckon it will have a big impact didn’t play particularly well,” explained Burnham & Berrow’s course director Andy Birkett.

Known as ‘Church’ it was constructed four decades ago when the club had to replace an original hole that played right up to the historic 13th century building.

A par 4, it spans 402 yards off the tips and doglegs slightly to the right. The problem, though, was the fairway, which cambered in the opposite direction.

“That took balls away from the left hand side to a very open area of rough, which was also relatively featureless,”Birkett added.

“And although the hole had been completed in its current state approximately 40 years ago, the right hand side had never been particularly well finished.

“That is all humps, hollows and rough. It doesn’t look all that good and is quite unappealing. That will be adjusted as well.”

Ebert was brought in to take a look and the designer behind the critically acclaimed transformation of Turnberry and Royal Portrush produced an outline that will see the fairway re-shaped and profiled.

A large pile of infill, currently sitting on the left hand side of the hole, will be moulded to create quite an imposing artificial dune all along that stretch, while a new elevated tee should also give it far more profile for players and make the experience all the more inspiring.

While the green will remain intact, the changes should prevent golfers having to play a blind approach to

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a putting surface that was guarded by a steep slope at the front.

Although it’s a project small in its overall scale – the club aren’t taking on redesigns all over the course at this stage – Birkett still estimated it was a task with a total lifespan of around 18 months to two years.

He explained:“We’re very much looking forward to the finish and trying to get the fairway open for the autumn/winter of this year, with the creation of the dune and the remainder of the work will happen behind the dune that’s been created.

“Having dug out all our sand, and we have vast amounts of sand, the infill will make approximately two thirds of the artificial dune all the way back to the tee and then we will top it with our own material and marram sprig it so it will look very much a natural feature.”

Clubs are often looking for solutions with renovations – changes that either recreate what’s been before or ‘correct’ perceived abnormalities that have come into focus through the life of a course.

Birkett is cautious when asked whether the redesign of the 12th will solve the playing issues – noting that when the hole was originally constructed it would have been seen in a similar light.

“I don’t think you ever get anything finally as you would want,”he explained.“Golf fashions change but we should have a better slight dogleg playing up and just turning left slightly. Players will play more from the right and have a better approach than they currently have.

“It will improve that back nine and it certainly should add to the course.”

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How Stoke Park found their place among

GOLF’S A-LISTERS

Three years, and more than 100 bunkers, the project to renovate every trap at Stoke Park was a huge one. So how did they do it and what can we learn?

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Y

ou’ve got one of golf’s iconic clubhouses, food and beverage options to die for and a hotel ranked with the world’s best.

But while everything else was worthy of an Oscar at Stoke Park, the 300-acre country estate that’s played host to so many of Hollywood’s movie A-listers, something wasn’t quite living up to the same billing.

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It was the golf course or, more specifically, the bunkers.

Harry Colt first realised Nick ‘Pa’ Lane Jackson’s dreams of a Buckinghamshire retreat in the first decade of the 20th century.

Over the last 100 years, one thing has remained constant about the golf course, which currently stands at 27 holes in three loops of nine – plentiful sand.

But as many clubs know, bunkers can change dramatically over the years as greenkeepers and

committees move, alter or install new ones.

It was no exception at Stoke Park.

But when the principle of design relied so much upon them, a century of tinkering had taken its toll.

“The inconsistency of shapes was the problem,”explained director of golf Stuart Collier.“Once you really started to delve into the project and focus on it, there must have been about six different styles and shapes.

“There was legacy work from different greenkeepers, or

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committees in the past dating back to when it was a private members’ club.

“There were so many different looks on the course that there was no flow or consistency to it at all.”

It wasn’t just an aesthetic issue.

When the weather turned, the deteriorating bunkers gave Collier and the greenkeeping team major headaches.

He added:“On a number of holes water would come running off the green and just dump straight into

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the greenside bunker.

“The 4th was a classic example.

The left hand corner of the greenside bunker would just wash out permanently.

“If there was a weekend medal, and we’d had rain on Friday night, when we came in on Saturday morning before the members’ competition we knew which traps we would immediately need to get to.

“Some days the decision would be to take these out of play if we couldn’t find a suitable area to take relief. That simply hasn’t happened once since we’ve carried out the project.”

Just as pertinently, the bunkers kept coming up as a red flag when the club talked to customers.

Whether it was member surveys, or visitor feedback from casual golf or corporate days, a consistent message emerged.

For Collier, that was important. It provided impetus and direction when it came to setting future strategy.

“It gave us the justification to sit down with the owners and say ‘when we are in the position to invest in the golf course, that’s going to be the primary area for us to tackle’.”

They brought in John Greasley Limited to do the work over three winters, with nine holes closed and completed each year on a sixmonth turnaround.

That began with the Colt 9 in the winter of 2015/16, moved on to the Alison layout and finished with the Lane Jackson complex in the spring of 2018.

“We had a blueprint in our head of how we wanted the bunkers to look,” described Collier of the project.

“They’re a big feature of the golf course now and a statement of what’s out there. They were just so uninspiring before. Location wise, they were great.

“We’ve simplified areas and we’ve

made bunkers smaller. There were collections, like the left hand side of the 3rd green, where there were four small saucer shaped bunkers and a lot of maintenance required.

“Quite often, they were so small you had one foot in and one foot out. It just made perfect sense to clean that area up – one trap only.

“There were a lot of things that were very straightforward. We didn’t need to tinker with the positioning too much. It also gave us an opportunity to review some of the locations for driving distances and modernise that as carry distances are quite different now. For us, though, it was much more about the look and the shapes than altering the actual layout too much.”

With a seven-figure budget to play with, you might be wondering what your club could learn from Stoke Park’s example as you consider your own bunker renovations on tighter finances.

But their challenges arose from issues that are universal to us all. How they dealt with them is instructive.

“The first year was the wettest and key was managing the movement of their (Greasley’s) vehicles,”Collier said.

“Which hole would we start on?

How were they going to work their way back out? At the 6th, for example, which is a long par 4 up the hill, the whole of the right hand side was pretty much mud with all the tracks going through there.

“We were very quickly onto managing what route they’ve got and how not to affect golfers going forward. That was a big part of the plan for which order we were doing holes on the other 9s so as to get the course reinstated as quickly as possible.

“One element we are learning a lot more about post work, that we

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never considered at all, is how to manage moisture levels in a bunker.

“Everything we’ve built is designed to help move the water off the greens and away from the bunkers. With the liner product, and fresh drainage, any water coming into the bunkers passes straight through. We’ve had no washout whatsoever. The problem then is that you start to get a product that is maybe more powdery than you’d wish.

“We’ve now had to start looking at how we manage irrigation around and into the bunkers.

So considering moisture levels, and thinking about irrigation as part of that project, was certainly something we hadn’t anticipated.”

Managing customer expectation, both positive and negative, also proved important once the diggers had left, as Collier also explained.

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“It’s not something everyone loves because everyone is looking for something different from the golf course. The golf course is certainly tougher for the higher handicapper and older golfer, the player who hasn’t got as much speed, can’t control, or isn’t as aware of where their club is impacting the sand.

“In the older bunkers, because they were very stony, compacted and flat, you could pretty much hit any club out of any trap.

“Now you’ve got to strike it properly and to get the correct elevation you’ve got to make sure you’ve chosen the right club.

“Some golfers have found that harder and a bit more challenging but, around the green, you certainly know how it is going to react all the time now. You’ve got a consistent amount of sand. There’s

never any challenge of having enough loft to get it up and out.

“Previously, you’d settle your feet in and say ‘okay, a bit of sand underneath the ball’ and then the club would get to impact and there’s nothing there.”

The effect of the work has been remarkable. Stand on the tee of the 8th, for example, and while the shot looks formidable as your eye tries to thread a way through what seems like a sea of sand, the consistent and attractive shaping lifts the experience.

It’s the same hole, only better.

“Visually now you stand on any hole and you understand how you need to play it and what the choices are,”concluded Collier.

“What has been achieved is to bring the course up to date while retaining all the qualities in the original course.”

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HEART TO

HEART

Steve Robinson visits Mid Herts Golf Club and speaks with General Manager Joy Pickard

J

oy, you have been using rijo42 for a number of years now, from your experience what is it that sets us apart from other coffee providers?

Having been a customer of rijo42 at my previous golf club, on joining Mid Herts as the new General Manager I was able to convince the Board of Management to dispense with the basic coffee machine from behind the bar. The selling points that sets rijo42 apart from other coffee providers that won over not just the board, but also the members, is the consistent quality of the coffee and the ease of use with the machine.

Members and visitors alike enjoy the opportunity of selecting their coffee option and being in control. The 10oz serving combined with the attractive crockery was also a winner and from a customer point of view, the prompt delivery service and efficiency of the technical team plays an important part in being able to provide the level of service the members expect.

I’m sure over the past few years you have witnessed a significant increase in sales of coffee, what’s your advice

to anyone when it comes to maximising the potential in this area and how significant is it in maintaining a busy clubhouse?

To encourage people into the clubhouse they need a reason and the idea of meeting up with friends for a ‘coffee morning’ is something that rijo42 allows us to offer. By situating our coffee machine in a prominent position within the club, with easy access at all times, people are encouraged to make use of it.

The pavement sign has proven a useful tool in attracting the local rambling groups to stop by the clubhouse for a coffee along the way and we are now offering a ‘cake of the day’ to accompany their coffee, giving our franchise caterer a small revenue stream. The Pilates and Yoga groups who attend daily/weekly sessions at our purpose-built studio on the upper floor often finish their morning with a coffee knowing that it is only 55 calories a cup, meaning they don’t feel guilty after a hard workout!

The ‘take out’ cups are very popular with the early morning golfers who will purchase a few tokens in advance and can pop in and pick up a coffee – some even forgo the take out cup and fill up their own Thermos!

You have recently taken delivery of the new RSD Touch Brasil and cup warmer. Having used our equipment for many years, what’s the stand out features that impress you about the new model and how has it gone down with your members?

The new RSD Touch has given the option to offer decaffeinated coffee, which is proving popular and the touch screen operation has been a real winner. With the addition of the Cup Warmer, members are finding their coffee stays hot for longer, especially in the winter months. The RSD screen has given us another opportunity for advertising and as we become more familiar with the functionality, we look to maximise the use of the display. There is no better way to capture the attention of someone than when they are standing facing the coffee machine waiting for their coffee to be dispensed!

CONTACT STEVE ROBINSON FOR MORE INFO: 07977 244621 / STEVEROBINSON@RIJO42.CO.UK

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

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The interview...

RICHARD LATHAM Woodhall Spa’s general manager negotiated with world-renowned architect Tom Doak to renovate the iconic Hotchkin course. He tells Steve Carroll why the project was necessary and how it succeeded against the odds

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W

hy embark on a renovation project at Woodhall Spa? The course was losing its heathland characteristics and, basically, in the last 60 years no one wanted to cut a tree down.

You realise you have issues when you start having to play around trees that were not part of the original design. None of these had been planted and, indeed, early photographs confirm next to none.

The Hotchkin Course is a SSSI site, governed by Natural England because of its valuable heathland characteristics. They were particularly keen in supporting this restoration project because

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it provided the opportunity to remove trees and regenerate so many diverse heathland habitats.

During the work, we had other architects visiting to see Tom Doak in action. One said to me: ‘Richard, how did the golf course ever get into this state?’ Normally, I can answer most questions but I was struggling a little bit on that one. He said:‘Tell me, is it a case of benign neglect?’ I thought that was a wonderful expression and that’s what happens. People become attached to trees, they don’t appreciate they can be good and bad. In this case, they really weren’t helping the golf course.

The bunkers had also lost their original shape over the years, as they had been made deeper without a proper assessment of

Richard Latham Richard Latham has been general manager at Woodhall Spa for 22 years. A former aerospace engineer, he became a golf consultant and marketing expert before helping establish the National Golf Centre in 1998.

A talented golfer, he is a multiple winner of the English Senior Men’s Championship, an England player and has represented GB&I in the Concession Cup. He is also a highly regarded author, having written a number of historical and architectural books on Britain’s best courses, including definitive histories of the courses at Woodhall Spa, Muirfield and Royal County Down.

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landscaping the surrounding area. This resulted in some rather odd-looking bunkers and they were very difficult to play from.

From a playing perspective, a golf shot should be challenging from a hazard but not to the point where virtually every other bunker is unfair and almost impossible to play from.

The course had a certain notoriety because of the difficulty of the bunkers…

Very much so! The course has always been linked to vast expanses of sand and is probably one of the few courses in the world that has so many deep bunkers. The point I’m trying to make is about the shape of the bunker. If you have a bunker that

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is designed as a scrape and then you want it deeper you landscape around it. That didn’t happen here. It got to the point where it was ‘standing room only’ at the bottom.

I have witnessed championships with top players taking seven, eight and nine shots to get out.

When it gets to that point, it isn’t right. You can go and play in an Open Championship, get a bad break, get in one of those pot bunkers where you can hardly stand to it and that’s the way it goes. But you can’t have it where you walk into a bunker and you really can’t play out of it – because of the way they had deteriorated and collapsed.

Did you realise the renovation

project would be as extensive as it became?

Yes, I did. I knew it needed a huge amount of work. Perhaps the human element in terms of the effect on our own staff may have been underestimated. However, I always knew, that once we started, there was no going back.

How did you persuade Tom Doak? He’d designed Renaissance but hadn’t done a lot of work in the UK… When we said ‘it’s time to do something’, we were slipping down the world rankings – though that wasn’t the only reason for doing it. We just weren’t as good, or as tidy, as we should have been. We put feelers out there to architects and asked them to

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tender. I’m a massive fan of Tom Doak. I make no secret of that and I think he is a genius. I did have a little bit of inside information in that I knew Tom was a fan of Woodhall Spa. We all thought that ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get’.

That was our attitude and we rang Renaissance Golf.

He was excited about the project and appreciated our enthusiasm for renovating a unique and iconic course.

What’s he like?

He’s a genius, without question.

He’s thoughtful and only comments when he is ready to do so. He thinks very deeply about things. He gets the golf course and why they are as they are. His knowledge is just spectacularly good. You’d think that if you put him in front of people he wouldn’t talk very well, because he’s a quiet and reserved character, but he is one of the best orators. We held open evenings for members. We had interviews on film and his reaction, and his ability to talk, was second to none. He was just fantastic.

Everything is calculated to the millimetre in golf course architecture, but he works by eye…

I always thought that anyone who renovated this course would have to work like that. It wasn’t a surprise to me. I could tell that within 10 minutes of talking to Tom that he would need the opportunity to work freely. We managed to get the best of both worlds by having a development plan to work from but giving enough freedom to re-work areas that didn’t quite look right. We worked the project within budget, but we gave him enough artistic license to adjust on the go.

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There were some really classic examples. He’d be here, his guys would work a bunker, and he’d go back and wasn’t happy. He’d make them do it again and again.

There was one bunker and on the fourth attempt it was right.

What was interesting was they spent a day and a half on that bunker alone, with these different iterations, and if that had been drawn from a plan you wouldn’t have got that end product. So, from my perspective, that was the best possible way to work.

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For you, his idea of evolution and not revolution was of huge importance?

That was the crucial thing. No one is going to walk out there and think ‘this is a Tom Doak golf course’. This has been restored with such a level of historical interest, care and awareness of the surroundings. The work that has been done is so natural it looks like it has been there for 100 years. It doesn’t have anyone’s stamp on it.

That’s what I like – that it has been done in a most sensitive fashion.

What challenge does the restored course provide? It was previously seen as brutal in a lot of respects…

The challenge is still there – believe me! What has been interesting is that by clearing out trees and gorse that had affected so many holes, it looks like we have opened up some holes and made them easier. Ironically, quite the opposite has happened – on some of the doglegs the golfer now has options. That can be confusing and builds uncertainty

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in the mind.

Many of the gorse bushes and trees directly behind the greens were removed so that a loss of perspective was achieved. This makes judging the second shot harder. Some fairway bunkers were either moved or removed to be in keeping with how the modern game is played. The penal characteristics from the tee still exist because of the long carries over heather but we do have generous fairways.

It looks tight because the penalty

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for missing a fairway is very evident, but the fairway may be 40-50 yards wide. The design does con you a bit.

Previously, if you’d driven into a fairway bunker you couldn’t get more than 20 yards out of it. That’s not the case now. There are certain fairway bunkers that, if you get the right lie and the right conditions, you can hit it 150 yards.

Around the greens, we’ve widened and lengthened them by going back to the original shapes.

We’ve added a significant amount

of green area back in and many of the championship pin positions of previous years can now be reintroduced.

We’ve altered the maintenance regime of the green collars, so the first cut is shaved a bit. We now have some interesting run-off areas.

It presents a different challenge and I haven’t noticed a drop in scoring.

Has the very positive reaction to the project made the emotional toil worthwhile? Tell me about

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the challenges you and the team faced…

It was an emotional time. It still is emotional now! When I look back, and talk about it, it was a challenge – one of the biggest I have ever taken on.

There were times I felt a very lonely man, particularly when things were going wrong. There were times when the weather went against us. Maybe it was a big risk that we took, but we successfully came out the other side!

We decided that, given the age of the course and its importance to the country, we would carry out as much work as possible in-house.

We have 16 greenkeepers and it’s not a massive team for the scale of the site and the many areas that

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are required to be maintained.

We reckoned we could do it. We were originally going to do three holes a year for six years but it ended up being six holes a year for three years.

Tom produced a plan and agreed to oversee the shaping work but he wanted his own team to carry out the work. They shaped the ground, left site, and we would reinstate everything.

Maybe that was where we slightly underestimated what that meant. We were taking on a project to renovate six holes, starting on December 1 with the aim of having the course fully open by March 1.

That’s fine, if the weather stays good! If it goes bad, you’ve got a

problem.

The first year, we picked what we classed as the easiest holes to do. They were 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13. It was mainly bunker work. We weren’t taking greens up.

We were reshaping and slightly altering the angles and lengths.

That was apart from the 13th, as we moved the fairway 25 yards to the right, which meant we had to take a number of mature trees out and put the fairway where it used to be. That was a decision taken during the project and, in the middle of February, we were just about finished and ready to turf the fairway – knowing in the middle of May we were hosting the Brabazon Trophy. We got lucky.

The weather was perfect and

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the turf we put down took ever so quickly. We sailed through and thought ‘this is fairly straightforward’.

But it wasn’t…

We came to phase 2, picked the next six holes, which included two of the greens being taken up. The shapers came again at the beginning of December. The weather was pretty difficult while they were here.

They left a much bigger area to reinstate. As it was so wet, cold and snowy, the machinery did a little bit more damage than expected.

We had two greens up and, within four days of them leaving, the ground froze and it went down to minus 16. We couldn’t lay any turf for seven weeks. All the turf should have been down

by Christmas and the work didn’t really start until the end of January.

Then the weather was awful.

We’d have three or four days’ respite and it would freeze again.

Then it snowed.

You had some sleepless nights…

That was the worst time of my working life. We were not only involved in the restoration project, but we were having to prepare our second course for daily play, keep the extensive practice facilities open for squad coaching along with running the other aspects of the business.

The Hotchkin Course, truthfully, wasn’t quite ready for play by April 1 that year but we managed to open, after some difficult decisions.

We had experienced ‘the Beast from the East’ in March, and then when the end of April arrived it didn’t rain for three months.

We were all working long hours, often with lights on helmets in the dark to get the turf down.

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It was a very challenging time!

How did you come through that?

In fact, the whole of 2018 felt like it was never going to end with weather related issues.

It’s a pretty lonely time and you have to be very strong-minded and believe in what you are doing.

There were times I did have my doubts – we’ve just dug a national treasure up, we are trying to get it fixed and it’s gone against me.

There are so many parties to please – members, England Golf, thousands of visitors, a fair amount of repeat business and also to achieve the aims of the business.

We have our own status in the

world of golf. I have to juggle it all!

You come through it and you have to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and make it happen. That’s what we did.

We did lose staff along the way.

It wasn’t easy. We were working some very long hours and it was difficult to find qualified replacements.

The hardest thing for me was getting everyone motivated for the last phase.

We thought ‘if this happens again…’

But we got into November 2018, had perfect weather, and were so much savvier on how we did things.

We took the 15th green up, they

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Woodhall Spa The National Golf Centre, and the home of English Golf, Woodhall Spa has two magnificent courses.

The Hotchkin is rated as one of the world’s finest heathland golf experiences and is a fixture of global top 100 rankings.Tom Doak’s extensive three-year renovation project has only enhanced that reputation.

The Bracken was opened in 1998 and its contrasting landscape of woodland and farmland has established Donald Steel’s creation as a fine course in its own right.

The practice facilities were already renowned throughout the country but a recent upgrade has also brought an exceptional putting studio and strength and conditioning centre.

reshaped it and it went back down in three days. The experience of phase two made us very slick on phase three.

Ironically, phase three was the most dramatic because of the remaining holes had slight elevation changes.

The first four holes were returned to heathland and many of the old (huge) bunkers were reintroduced.

At the 15th we stripped the hole of scrub and re-shaped the green.

The 18th virtually became a new hole once many trees were taken down.

Renovations are common now at clubs. What advice would you

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give to managers about your experience?

We did it internally because it mattered to us (the management team), our courses manager and his team. They said very clearly they wanted to do it and didn’t want contractors on site.

It’s more cost effective but you have to understand the human parts of it.

We’re trying to make a film about it and the editor said there were two elements we must bring out: courage and human endeavour.

He said to have the guts to do it in the first place, to take on what we did, was very brave; appointing the right architect and then the human part of it and the effect it

had on all our lives. There was a bond built but it tested working relationships and friendships.

And now, a year on from completion, was it worth it?

Absolutely. We can say ‘mission accomplished’. We did everything we set out to do and probably more, actually. We created a golf course that’s a far better test.

That’s been recognised by us going up in all the ranking lists.

People have recognised what we’ve done.

Would I do it differently? Possibly.

But when you realise it has been recognised you feel it has been worthwhile.

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26/02/2020 10:25

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PRACTICE Advice on golf club management issues – from finance to clubhouse rules and employment law

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

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25/02/2020 17:00

The man on a mission to improve your

PRACTICE AREA

Ranges and short game areas can be among the most under-utilised areas at a course. Architect James Edwards, who has forged an international reputation in this field, says this must change if many clubs are to survive

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

I

t’s a mud-caked, churned up, patch of grass that’s best negotiated with a buggy as it’s so far away from the clubhouse.

Any of us who have played the game at all seriously, or just yearn to warm up before taking our tired joints out onto the course, will be able to perfectly picture this image of the archetypal beat-up club practice range.

James Edwards made a room full of course managers and greenkeepers sit bolt upright in their chairs at BTME in January when he mused that as many as 1,000 golf clubs could shut in the future as members, visitors and potential players turned away from those with poor facilities.

But he wasn’t trying to cause

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headlines – more shine a light on the paucity of options the average club offers customers.

There’s a myth players don’t enjoy hitting balls, that they simply want to turn up, have a bacon roll, and get straight out onto the 1st tee – save for rolling a few putts before they draw their driver from their bags.

But the burgeoning success of Topgolf, and driving ranges that offer clean bays, good quality balls and simulators, has shown that to be a fallacy.

“Golf, in my view, is getting stronger,”Edwards said.“Every one of my friends plays golf but not one of them is a member of a golf club.

“The facilities do not offer what they need anymore. What we’ve got to do now is make sure these

facilities are reverse engineering themselves into places where people want to turn up with their families. Clubs need to become inclusive.

“I turn up at Bristol Golf Centre, I’m not a member of a club, and I’ll spend £30 a week hitting balls.

They’re reduced distance balls on a cold range in Bristol.

“Why am I not spending that money with my family at a golf club? There’s clearly a disconnect.

It’s because member facilities are not responding to what I need personally.”

Edwards, a former professional golfer turned golf course architect, has become world renowned for his work transforming driving ranges, practice and short game areas for forward thinking clubs.

His portfolio includes a 1,000

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sq/m chipping and putting academy at Moor Park, a 9-hole par 3 course at Cumberwell Park with 1,700 sq/m short game academy, and a new range and short game area at Stoneham GC. His philosophy is gathered around a concept called ‘Make it Fit’, where the clubhouse, practice facilities and course all work together in harmony to give golfers an easy customer journey from the car park to the 1st tee.

Key to that is the ‘Golden 100’, the idea that nothing you’d want to do on the grounds should be more than 100 yards walk from the clubhouse.

“Our perception is that golfers don’t practice,”Edwards added.“But if that range is within 100 yards of your bacon sandwich in the morning would you practice more?

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“If you saw a pyramid of balls outside the window where you’re having your coffee, and the 1st tee is next to it, doesn’t it make good sense to say ‘I’m going to hit a few balls to warm up’?

“It is a logical customer journey to go from food, to warming up, to hitting balls. That’s why you see loads of guys on the putting green. The reason they are putting is because there is not a place to hit balls and they’re not chipping because there isn’t a place to chip.

“That sign I love – no chipping – and there’s always the one person that gets a few chips in. We all do it – because we all want to warm up.”

He continued:“The key word is proximity. Is that facility within the Golden 100? Is it within 100 yards walk? If it is I am going to use it.

“Clubs need to analyse what they’ve got and be honest with themselves. Do they want revenue out of a range?

“A lot of clubs say ‘no, it’s not part of our sales pitch to a member’. I think that’s wrong.

“We need to start saying ‘this is the club’. The 100 yards around the clubhouse needs to be reengineered and all the golden facilities placed in that circle.

Without exception.”

So when Edwards is called in to assess a club’s practice and short game facilities, and advise on improvements, everything starts from how far something is from that bacon roll.

What he largely finds, particularly at older clubs, is the range can be a considerable distance away from both clubhouse and tee.

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Edwards explained:“I want to practice. I want to get better. I don’t want to walk 400 yards to a field with no quality and waste an hour of my time when I could go to a range with a car park right next to it, a warm bay with TrackMan, and can work on my game, learn the data and go and have a coffee. It’s all in the same space.

“If you go to a range on an evening there are people of all types and abilities hitting balls.

“When they are walking out, they are buying more, because they have to walk through the shop to get back into their car.”

If Edwards seems passionate, almost zealous, it’s because he sees himself as a man on a mission – to create an environment that’s welcoming to everyone, whether that’s the serious player looking to carve out a career on a world-class practice range, or the youngster that’s got a putter in their hand for the first time and is knocking it round a small adventure golf course.

The customer journey, he insisted, should be welcoming to the point where the urge to become a member is almost irresistible.

He fears that at many clubs, providing the kind of facilities fit for the modern age is an afterthought.

“Has anyone actually spent any time on a world-class short game academy? I was lucky enough to hit 1,000 balls a day when I was practising and playing and so I spent my life on these poor facilities.

“I learned my trade on them.

But if you have facilities of a high standard that are nearer the clubhouse, I am going to work in front of the clubhouse on my short game.

“I am going to be five feet from the bar where I might want to buy another drink. The pro shop is right there too so the pro can come out

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and engage with you.

“It’s all related and you have the ability to communicate with the various stakeholders at the club.”

Where this can provoke discussion with clubs – particularly those whose courses have some history behind them – is whether to change what you’ve got to potentially improve the experience of customers.

Golf courses are not museum pieces, in Edwards’ view. They’re living things that have been adapted and altered – whether that was a new green here, or changes of bunkers there – from the day the earthmover first got to work.

“We don’t want to wrap these things in cotton wool. They’ve had their day and they’re amazing.

But we’re not going to bastardise the golf course,”he outlined.“The point is ‘what makes it better, more current?’

“I love classic Jaguars. I respect them but that doesn’t mean I have to drive around in one. I like to drive a modern car.

“That’s not a bad thing and golf

courses, in my opinion, are no different.

“If you just move ‘that to there’, you open up a world of opportunity for the club and offer something new.

“That doesn’t mean a short game academy in front of the clubhouse.

What’s ideal to me is an 18th green in front of the clubhouse, but I want the range going off in a northerly direction nearby.

“I’m looking for them in the Golden 100. If it’s all there we have a game and I’ve encouraged loads more people to join that golf club.

“That’s what golf has to change the clubhouses and the surrounds.

If they change the golf courses will never die.

“The club that has the facilities in 2030 will get the members. I know plenty of golfers who are members of clubs, good players all coming through the ranks, and they’ve joined those clubs because the practice facilities are better.”

Visit Edwards Design International at edi-golf.com to find out more

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

From the

HELPDESK This month: Flag protocol when a member dies and... what is my club’s carbon footprint?

Regarding a recent discussion concerning golf and wildlife habitat, do you have any suggestions for course management to provide golf and wildlife habitat?

There are three main bodies that will assist managers and course managers with the provision of wildlife habitats and general environmental issues, once the club has agreed to implement a policy.

The R&A: randa.org/en/ sustainability The Golf Environment Organisation (GEO): sustainable. golf The British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA): bigga.org.uk In addition, the GCMA will fully support their member managers in implementing those policies they and their clubs wish to pursue.

At my club the committee is proposing the role of general manager be managed by the committee and report to it. While I agree the role is directed by the committee, and its ‘published’ policies, the GM cannot be managed by a ‘committee’ on a practical level and there needs to be one point of referral, a club

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chairman, for example, who carries out the actual reporting line responsibilities. I’d be very interested in the GCMA’s opinion of this proposal...

Here at the GCMA we believe the clue is in the title. The manager should be allowed to manage without interference, and this is now accepted as best practice. As you say, there should be no micromanaging from the committee and further reinforcement of this can be found in the industry joint governance guide here: gcma.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2019/10/ClubGovernance-Guide-Version-2.0LINKS.pdf

news/fun-with-flags-countryetiquette/ The issue of when to recognise a death is a matter for the club itself and does vary from club to club.

Some clubs will only recognise current members while others will recognise past members who have done something of note for the club or the wider golf community.

It is normal to half-mast as soon as the death has been officially informed (there has been embarrassment in the past!). It is also common practice to raise the flag to full-mast again once the funeral and wake formalities have been concluded.

There has recently been debate at our club with regards to when and how the club flag should be flown in the event of the death of a member. I wonder if someone could help in clarifying the protocol in this regard?

Flag flying protocols have been discussed in two articles that can be found by following the links below.

The first article discusses the correct half-mast position and can be found at: mailchi. mp/e1ac2259d597/1sept172229541?e=b95badfebe Also consider: gcma.org.uk/

I am trying to measure the carbon footprint of our club.

Does the GCMA have any tools that do this?

The GCMA do not have any tools to do this, however there are plenty of calculators online that you could use such as: carboncalculator.org.uk/ Or: co2.myclimate.org/en/ company_calculators/new And: carbonfootprint.com/ calculator.aspx An online helpdesk offers an advisory service to members. Visit gcma.org.uk/members to find out more.

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25/02/2020 15:28

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

My success story...

NEIL RAMSAY

Sponsors of My Success Story

How do you build a junior team without a junior section? Ripon City general manager Neil Ramsay wrestled with that conundrum, but finding the answer has breathed new life into the club

P

eter Hixon had a bright idea. He wanted to bring new blood into Ripon City and put together a team of youngsters to take on the rest of the Harrogate & District Union.

But there was a problem.

The club didn’t have a junior section.

“It was slightly ambitious,” said club manager Neil Ramsay of his and Hixon’s Eureka moment 18 months ago.

“The position of junior organiser is usually headed up by a parent of a player and they do their term, the player goes off to university or whatever, and suddenly it disappears.

“Historically, the club had some good juniors but, suddenly, there’s an abyss.”

Hixon helped formed a committee, and there was nothing unusual about that, but where the duo’s plans differed from the norm was that Ramsay involved not only the professional team but the rest of the club office as well.

So whenever a junior organiser stepped down in the future, there was always going to be someone to ensure the newly revived section didn’t fall by the wayside

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once again.

Ramsay explained:“Peter puts in a lot of time and, ultimately, will give it up and someone else will come in.

“But at least if we’ve got the consistency from the office, it’s always going to have legs.

“We are leaving a world of fabulous volunteers. Volunteers have built golf clubs, but do those people exist any more?

“So we have to have more paid people within clubs to do the job.”

From nothing, Hixon and Ramsay brought together 16 juniors.

The team was inclusive, with players like Austin Ramsay, who suffers from a disability that causes pain and fatigue in his legs, becoming an integral part.

In a league of 10, Ripon City’s debut campaign among the Harrogate elite brought a midtable finish.

“The driving force in every golf club... is the senior section. People are retiring and living longer but...they are going to die”

They even won a couple of fixtures to boot.

Most impressively, at barely a month’s notice, the club also staged a Junior Open and welcomed a field of 28 players.

They want many more to come this year.

What Ramsay hopes their success will eventually do is shift the emphasis towards bringing more youngsters, the notoriously difficult to reach 20 to 30 age category, along with families into Ripon, and he insisted the members are right behind the initiative.

“The biggest driving force in every golf club, every manager I ever speak to, is the senior section,” he said.

“People are retiring and living

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The beautiful Tyneside Golf Club is a stiff test of golf

longer but, quite frankly, they are going to die.

“If I then look at the sections, such as 20s to 30s, we’ve got far fewer members in those sections and we’ve got to build them up.

“We’ve just started on a very long journey and I would like us as a club to become more involved within Ripon and the area to provide coaching to every school in the area.

“That’s going to get more people playing the game, and it’s not just the kids.

“It might bring in the parents as well.

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“We’ve got to look at family memberships.

“We want new people playing this game.

“We’ve got a lot of ground to make up.

“But there is a drive to bring in juniors.

“Having started this, the reaction of the rest of the club has been fabulous.

“They’re saying it’s great to see juniors playing again.

“We’re so proud. It’s a group and they’re getting together and spurring on each other.”

“We hope to expand the team

so we’ve got a bit of competition,” added Hixon, who also hopes the Regional Schools’ Association will come to Ripon later this year.

“The team picked itself a bit.

We want to get it from six to 10.

We’ve not had the problem yet of selecting from a bunch of kids.”

Concluded Ramsay:“Then it’s about making Ripon City the place you want to join as a junior.

“We’ve got a lot of coaching planned and we want kids who are not generally members to come along as well.

“We’re very excited about it. It’s growing.”

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

Meet the

MANAGER

Sponsor of the 2019 GCMA Manager of the Year award

With Ese Okperin, Assistant Secretary at Fulwell, in Middlesex

Fulwell

H

ow did you arrive in the world of golf club management?

I’ve been assistant secretary for about three years now. Before that, I was the administration assistant. It was my first proper job after university, I didn’t know much about golf or the industry but Fulwell seemed like a nice place to work and a nice environment. I love sport and

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I thought I would give it a try and see what it was like. I started in administration and the club really looked after me. It felt like home.

When the previous assistant secretary was promoted to secretary, they felt I was the right person to fill those shoes. It was a challenge for me.

After being in administration, I knew a little bit more about golf but there was a lot I didn’t know, so I had to learn the ropes quickly

and now I run all the competitions and events.

How do you find running competitions – you’re right at the sharp end there?

You are at the deep end and if there are problems, and people are unhappy, they let you know. That’s how you learn and how you get better.

But, by and large, things have gone very well and it’s lovely to

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be able to provide a really great experience for people.

Some of the best days to work are the member-guest days, because you welcome everyone when they come in and at the end they are so thankful and they’re showing the fun and joy about their experience. You feel like ‘yes, we nailed that today’.

“It was fantastic and I learned so much (Principles course). I had so many notes and filled a book full”

You clearly like people then, and giving them a memorable experience...

It’s a joy of the job to be able to do that for people.

How do you feel about the state of golf at the moment? It’s often portrayed as a sport in trouble.

Do you think it’s in better shape than that when judging it by your own experience?

I’m pretty focused on the world of Fulwell to be honest so I don’t worry too much about how others are doing. We’re doing well and we do feel like we are growing all the time.

I completed the Principles of Golf Club Management course at Harrogate, in January, and what was lovely earlier in the course was hearing from Jerry Kilby, the GM at Woodcote Park.

He was really great at opening our eyes to the fact that golf is great for people’s lives, not just in terms of enjoyment, but their health as well.

People get so much from walking, particularly in that older demographic, and it’s a great

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Ese Okperin

way to improve their health and fitness, their mental well-being, the stimulation of being out with friends for a couple of hours and being in the fresh outdoors.

There is that positive story that golf can tell and we can do better at telling it.

Was the course an enlightening experience for you and what did you learn?

It was fantastic and I learned so much. I had so many notes and filled a book full.

It goes through different areas of club management life – finances, marketing, customer service, the

legal aspect, food and beverage, committees and working with them.

F&B consultant Steven Brown was absolutely fantastic in showing us how to optimise our bar and catering operations and putting in processes and controls to make sure that you don’t get caught out.

There were lots of different areas that I liked and I’m conscious you can’t do everything straight away, but I feel there were lots of different things I could take back to the club.

Is it your ambition to be a golf club manager in the future?

It’s funny how that has emerged.

It’s not something that I was necessarily thinking of years ago. If someone had told then I might be a golf club manager, I would have said ‘really?’

But I’ve got a great boss, who is thinking ahead and thinking about specifics within our club, and he is introducing that area. The more I think about it, the more I think ‘why not?’

There are things I would like to do as a manager and, if I continue to develop myself, there are things I’ll be able to add to a club if I get there.

Get In Touch To contact Fulwell visit fulwellgolfclub.co.uk

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GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

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Partner Network

The GCMA’s Partner Network supports the association’s work to professionalise the industry and promote a culture of excellence in golf club management.

Thank you to all our partners who continue to support the association.

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P r e m i e r A l l - We a t h e r S u r f a c e s f o r G o l f

gcma.org.uk/partners GCMA Partner Network.indd 1

25/02/2020 16:39

GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS

January 2020

STATISTICS UK&I 8,604

Holes-in-one made during January competitions

Total competitions recorded

41

247,685

Total rounds of golf recorded

Total holes-in-one (all time)

15,505 186,344 Downloads of HowDidiDo app on Apple devices

2,081

eagles or better

66 | GCMA.ORG.UK

066 GCMA Month In Numbers.indd 66

87,618 birdies

770,228

Stats provided by HowdidIdo.com

pars

E D U C AT E | I N F O R M | I N S P I R E

26/02/2020 14:20

Join over 150,000 club golfers in downloading the HowDidiDo app for FREE

The largest, most engaging online golf community in Europe

12 GREENKEEPers.

900 MEMBERS. 500 ACRES. 45 HOLES. STIHL LIFE. ƒ

BR 800 BLOWER

FSA 130 CORDLESS BRUSHCUTTER

Golf Club Manager_Groundcare_Golf Course_Pro Range_255x185.indd 1

Hard work is par for the course in maintaining Warwickshire Golf Club. But STIHL’s professional range of petrol and cordless tools provides everything the Grounds Team needs to get the job done right.

Built to make the toughest jobs as easy as possible, whilst being reliable and robust, you can count on STIHL tools whenever you need to use them.

With brushcutters, hedge trimmers, chainsaws and more, whatever challenges your team come up against, the STIHL professional range helps you achieve the perfect finish.

AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL STIHL DEALER. STIHL.CO.UK

HS 82 T HEDGE TRIMMER

30/01/2020 15:18