Back on familiar ground Golding oldie...!

David Golding has been described as the unsung hero of greenkeeper education, but after being presented with the Outstanding Contribution Award sponsored by Baroness at BTME that’s no longer the case.

Hosted by BIGGA on the opening evening of BTME, the BIGGA Welcome Celebration sponsored by Origin Amenity Solutions also saw wins for Abridge Golf Club in Essex and Strathaven Golf Club in South Lanarkshire.

In a career spanning more than 50 years, David drove educational opportunities for greenkeepers to new heights. Possessing a passion for education and desire to improve development opportunities for his peers in greenkeeping, David’s encyclopaedic knowledge of the industry helped lay foundations that continue to bear fruit to this day as proven with the recent establishment of the Level 5 greenkeeping apprenticeship and the continued development of the Level 2 and 3 qualifications.

David began his career as an apprentice greenkeeper at Buxton & High Peak Golf Club in his home town. He spent two years as an assistant greenkeeper at Camberley Heath Golf Club in Surrey before returning north, firstly to Dore & Totley Golf Club in Sheffield. Aged just 21, he then got his first Head Greenkeeper role, working with Trafford Borough Council in a position that over the following 16 years would see him take responsibility for two busy municipal golf courses.

Upon the formation of BIGGA in 1987, David was appointed the association’s first Northern regional administrator. In 1989 he became BIGGA’s first education officer and then in 1993 he became Education Director of the GTC, a position he would hold until his retirement.

At the BIGGA Welcome Celebration, the winner of the Championship Greenkeeping Performance Award sponsored by Bernhard and Company was revealed to be Abridge Golf Club.

Abridge is a private members’ club in Essex, where Course Manager Geoff Smith and his team were tasked with preparing the course for its first ever EuroPro Tour event in June and July 2022.

In hosting the EuroPro Tour’s PDC Championship, the greenkeeping team overcame challenges including one of the driest summers on record, the ‘grow-in’ of a massive, newlyconstructed irrigation lake and working around general play during the continuing golf boom. PGA officials remarked they had never seen such dedication to producing a course for a championship and in his