BTME REVIEW
Protect greenkeepers is message sent home after BTME 2022
BTME the annual education conference and exhibition for greenkeepers opened its doors once again in late March, after having to postpone its usual January dates due to the Omicron variant of Covid. The Harrogate conference organised by the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) saw 2,577 unique visitors attend the trade show. Although this represented a drop of around 40% on the 2020 event, the organisers says that over 70% of the visitors to the show were senior ‘decision makers’, such as course managers and head greenkeepers. Even thought numbers were down, the event was enjoyed by those in attendance with many exhibitors reporting valuable business done, as echoed by Jimmy Sandison Regional Golf Sales Manager at Rainbird who was there to introduce CIRRUSPRO, Rain Bird’s new Central Control platform. “Whilst the visitor numbers were perhaps lower than what we would usually expect for BTME the quality and value of your visits were high,” he said soon after the event. A common topic of discussion in the conference halls was the challenges currently facing the industry, as noted by BIGGA CEO Jim Croxton. “When the pandemic hit, the industry came together to form a ‘wartime cabinet’ that supported the game through extremis,” he says. “With fewer high-profile crises facing the sport, the emergency footing has abated. However, there remain a number of serious
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challenges, such as the supply chain issues for machinery and equipment and the cost and availability of water, fuel and raw materials such as fertilisers and sands. The labour crisis is another major issue that we simply must address to keep the sport healthy. “For many years the main focus of the game has been growing the number of people playing golf. The pandemic effectively gave us 2 million extra golfers in the UK and that has brought significant additional revenue into the game. It’s now time for clubs to focus on the importance of their workforce, without whom the sport would wither on the vine. And now as the UK golfing industry prepares itself for another bumper summer, Jim issued a rallying cry at BTME for the game to reinvest in golf club staff who make the game possible. “The success of this year’s Continue to Learn education programme at BTME has proved once again that BIGGA members continue to rise to the challenge that managing a golf course in the 21st Century brings. Today’s greenkeepers are better educated than ever before, overcoming the challenges they face each day to present stunning golf courses for their members to enjoy. Greenkeepers have held up their end of the bargain and now it is time for the golf industry to do the same,” he says. Among key areas of concern for Jim and the BIGGA team are the conditions that greenkeepers are expected
