INTERVIEW
Keeping Green The British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association is Europe’s largest membership greenkeeping association. Chief Executive Jim Croxton tells Maggie Walsh how the organisation keeps abreast of the changing needs of the the golf industry and how its annual show furthers opportunities for its members through its education and conference programmes Now 31 years old, the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) is Europe’s largest membership greenkeeping association. Can you tell us a little bit more about what you do? BIGGA works hard to provide educational opportunities for our members, which today amounts to around 6,000 greenkeepers and turf professionals, including members in more than 25 countries. In addition to providing countless networking opportunities, BIGGA also provides a support network for members, including the BIGGA Greenkeepers Benevolent Fund for those in hard times. Last year threw up some rather strange weather patterns across the UK. How has this affected your members and the industry? 2018 had some serious extremes; the Beast from the East, practically no spring and then the most severe and extended drought for at least 40 years. I was so impressed with how our members overcame the challenges but there is no doubt a lot of golf courses suffered. Many clubs addressed drought damage (bare turf etc) in the autumn and should emerge from winter in good shape but others didn’t and I am very concerned that a lot of our members will be under pressure when we get to spring and the course is muddy and bare because of the lack of budget or remedial action pre-winter. The lack of long-term vision within golf club businesses is a major concern for us, as it places pressure on greenkeepers and golf courses themselves. The world is changing and golf clubs have to change as well. We’re working with the major industry bodies to modernise governance at golf clubs in an attempt to tackle this. What has BIGGA been able to do to help greenkeepers and course managers maintain momentum under these difficult conditions? As a business we are working incredibly hard to educate golf clubs and the wider industry so that our members have a better, more supportive environment to work. We are
24
www.landscapermagazine.com
endeavouring to educate golfers as well - we’ve got a couple of initiatives underway such as Your Course, a twice-yearly magazine sent to every golf club in the country, and we also produce information posters and leaflets to be posted up at clubhouses, as well as a fortnightly podcast. But it’s also important that our members understand the major role they can play in helping alter perceptions at their place of work. By ‘managing upwards’ effectively, communicating with golfers at the club and presenting a highly professional image perceptions can be shifted. Each year you hold the annual BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME) Harrogate, tell us a little more about the history of this exhibition & why it was set up. Soon after the formation of BIGGA, it was understood that there was a desire among the companies involved within the industry to have a platform where they could network with our members on a face-to-face basis. The first exhibition was held in Harrogate in 1989 and we’ve been doing it ever since! A latter development was the addition of the Continue to Learn education programme, which is now a key part of BTME. The programme attracts over 1,000 greenkeepers each year and ensures that the exhibiting companies have an engaged and educated audience to interact with. How many exhibitors do you have and how many visitors are you expecting? So far, 156 companies have signed up to exhibit at BTME 2019, which is an increase of 10% on 2018. Those companies are taking nearly 25% more exhibition space than last year. Last year we welcomed nearly 5,000 visitors into the Harrogate Convention Centre, an increase of 8.2% on the previous year. The number of overseas visitors grew from 274 in 2017 to 457 in 2018 and they came from Scandinavia, Europe and as far afield as Australia, Thailand and Australia. What have you introduced to BTME 2019 to make for a better visitor experience this year? In addition to expanding the exhibition space substantially,
