Acronyms the world is full of them! Some of them, are puzzling to the extreme. However I am sure all of you reading this will know what the above are. Greenkeeper's Associations did not start with BIGGA but did begin with the Scottish Greenkeeper's Association, then Scottish Golf Greenkeeper's Association, then Scottish and International Golf Greenkeeper's Association before we reached British and International Golf Greenkeeper's Association. Over the next few weeks I would like to take you through some of that history, how they were formed and some of the decisions made and the people involved in them.

The first mention we have of a gathering of greenkeepers in Scotland is courtesy of a photograph supplied to me by the late lan Forbes MD of Stewarts (Seedsmen) and father of the present MD Graeme Forbes. This photograph shows a group of 29 greenkeepers along with Mr JL Forbes (father of lan Forbes) described as the Secretary, this was probably taken at a course in the central belt and the photograph is circa 1904. Again from information supplied by lan Forbes a meeting was held in Broxburn to form a Scottish Greenkeeper's Association in the year 1908

Unfortunately any minutes or records between 1908 and the mid 1930's were thought to have been lost in a fire at Stewarts premises. The next mention we have of the formation of an association was in a speech given by Mr James Mark President of the SGGA at a lecture night in 1928 he referred to the fact that the SGGA was formed in 1911

So we have a problem in that as there are no minutes and also that whereas the SGGA is named as above, at dates in the 30.s we still have records of the SGA. One fact we do know is that in 1912 the GGA, Golf Greenkeeper's association was formed in England and they very quickly formed a Scottish section.

The GGA published a journal, each year I think, and in their journal of 1915 they had an Essay competition and the subject which in light of the first world war was "Economy in Golf Course Management". The 4 prize winners are published and they are excellent essays which any of our present day MG's would have been happy to write. Interestingly, the term Golf Course Management was used then and is not just a modern day term.

In the 1920 Golf Greenkeeper's Journal first issue, after the 1914 - 1919 war, the GGA committee welcomed the reformation of the Scottish section under its old chairman Mr W Thomson, Baberton and Hon Secretary Mr G Alexander, Prestwick. Unfortunately, even though we are pretty sure of the formation of the SGA before the GGA, we do not know whether the SGA continued between 1912 and 1920 or became a section of GGA.

We have a series of booklets from 1923,1926 and 1928 on lectures given to members of the SGGA both in Edinburgh and Glasgow, these lectures were on subjects such as Greenkeeping Problems of Today, Phosphatic Manures, Potassic manures, the Grasses, Seeds and Weeds of the Golf Course and Drainage. These were all well attended and people travelled from all over Scotland to hear them. Strange isn't it nowadays, if its more than half an hour or so to travel, people can't be bothered. Some of the names of guys from this era were W Moir from Canmore, G H Brown from Dunfermline, A Johnstone, Kirkcaldy, R McQueen and R Brown, Craigie Hill. The booklets of that period showed us that SGGA was very much alive in the 1920's. From these booklets we also learn that the SGGA had support from outside the greenkeeping profession. The president was a Mr James Mark who was actually the Green Convenor at Pollock Golf Club, the Secy/Treasurer was a Chartered Accountant and far from being names at the top of headed paper they actually attended lectures, annual general meetings and golf outings. One of the Honorary Presidents was the aforementioned Mr JL Forbes.

In 1934 in the minutes of the 23rd AGM of the Golf Greenkeeper's Association under a heading Scottish Section, was the following and I quote " Overtures were made to the SGA with a view to their amalgamation with the GGA. This was discussed at the SGA agm and did not meet with much favour. Your committee therefore considered that Scottish members of the GGA would be better served if a Scottish section was formed. Your Chairman and Secretary visited Scotland on the 30th June last and attended a meeting where it was unanimously resolved that a Scottish section be formed. Our membership in Scotland is now approximately 40" It would appear therefore that there were two groups of greenkeepers in Scotland at that time the SGA and a Scottish section of the GGA.

In the 1935 minutes of the 24th AGM of the BGGA (note the change of name from GGA), under the heading Scottish section, I quote, "your committee are pleased to report the amalgamation of the SGA to the BGGA" This had been decided at the AGM of SGA or SGGA in February 1935

Mixed UP!!! So between 1934 and 1935 there was obviously a change of mind in SGGA and in July 1935 at a meeting in the Station Hotel, Larbert the East and West sections of the BGGA were formed

An interesting item from BGGA was that in 1939 a 3 day Golf Tournament and Symposium was held at Ayr Belleisle GC. (In 1988 the first BIGGA 3 day Tournament and Conference was also held at Ayr Belleisle)

Of course the 1939 - 45 war curtailed activities in all aspects of life and greenkeeping was no different. During the war food parcels were sent via the Red Cross from contributions from the greenkeeper associations to any greenkeeper in the prisoner of war camps. One such recipient was John Campbell who eventually became Links Superintendent at St Andrews Information that I had from John Campbell when he first joined the SGGA in 1935, he recalled that Assistant greenkeepers had their own separate golf tournaments from Head greenkeepers.

Even in those days trade firms were involved with SGGA, not nearly as many as now of course. I have already mentioned Stewarts of Edinburgh and the Forbes family who through JL Forbes were involved from the beginning. Others at that time were of course Ransomes and the Morton Engineering Co in Edinburgh. In the West the firm of Austin McAuslan was well known to greenkeepers. This company later became another great stalwart supporter as Richard Aitkens.

On the 5th December 1945 an ExtraordinaryAGM of the East and West sections (Scotland) of BGGA was held where it was decided to break away from BGGA and reform the SGA or SGGA. It is likely that this was not carried 100% and that there were more West section than East members there, as for some time it would appear that the West were on their own. However on the 8th May 1946 the SGGA was reformed with a constitution and subs set at 10 shillings ( 50 new pence for you young ones) On 18th June 1946 a Mr Woods ( not Walter he was still in short pants then!) proposed that a national Secretary be appointed and Mr Alec Pringle (HGK, Glasgow GC) was duly elected.

In 1946 it was noted that the Scottish President Mr Mathieson (not a GK) had made an exceedingly generous donation of £10 to the West Section At a meeting in November 1946 Mr W McGregor (HGK Royal Burgess) proposed a name change to the Scottish Golf Superintendents Association, This was subsequently defeated at the AGM. This is a proposal that has been suggested on quite a few occasions over the years and has always been defeated. Perhaps even then we were being influenced by the Americans.

In the next instalment we should cover the 50's and 60's where SGGA was trying it's best to improve the lot of the greenkeeper but having to battle every inch against the Secretary's association and the Golf Unions.

In 1947 there was a proposal to form a section of SGGA in the North talks were held but nothing came of them. First official SGGA golf tournament was held at Gleneagles and was a great success with 116 entries. The SGGA executive received a letter from the East section raising concerns re greens staff wages and conditions.

From the minutes of 1948 two points were of interest firstly a letter from a Mr Johnstone of Dumfries informing the Executive that the greenkeepers in that area intended to form their own association. ( this obviously died a fairly quick death as only cursory mention is made in future minutes) and at the AGM in October that year Mr Ritchie proposed that the SGGA should amalgamate with the BGGA. This was defeated.

In 1949 MR W McGregor (HGK Royal Burgess) was elected the first Chairmanof SGGA. At last after a couple of years a new section had been formed to cover the area north of the Tay and would be called the Midland and North Eastern section. Members in Fife would have the option of joining this one or the east.

1950 and the old chestnut of the name arose again when Mr McGregor proposed changing the name to a Superintendents association. Defeated again. A decision was made that all members in the forces should have free membership.

By 1951 the membership was 218 (almost the same as we had in 1986) In 1952 the treasurer reported that there was only £4-12/6 in the funds and only that as the retiring treasurer had foregone his honorarium and at the AGM in 1953 in September there were not enough people present to make a quorum. It was also noted in this year that MR Simpson Secretary of what was now the North and Midland section had died.

1954 and greenkeepers were making a lot of noise about the poor wages and conditions all over Scotland and at a meeting in May a proposal was made that the SGGA should approach the SGU re raising the status of greenkeepers. A meeting with the SGU took place in November where the SGGA put forward three points that they wished the SGU to bring to the attention of golf clubs.
1 a form of superannuation
2 Wages £7-10/- for 1st Assistants and £7 for assistants
3 a form of Apprenticeship
The SGU replied at a later date that they could not intervene between club and employee. (this seemed to be the SGU’s attitude for mamy years) It was then proposed that Greenkeepers should join a union. Interestingly this is another subject that has been broached on numerous occasions over the years but greenkeepers seem to have an aversion to unions. An interesting note in minutes that year noted that the SGGA were indebted to the national press in putting forward the greenkeepers case for better wages and conditions and reports from some GK’s seemed to suggest that some wages had improved especially in the West.

During 1954 over 50 enquiries were received by the Employment Secretary of the SGGA for Scottish greenkeepers, these enquiries came from all over the world as well as the UK. This kind of enquiry was repeated annually during tis period and showed the high esteem that there was for Scottish greenkeepers. This never seemed tocut much ice with the golfing authorities as SGGA were constantly battling to improve wages and conditions.

In 1955 the membership was 187. One very interesting proposal that was made this year which I liked very much was made by Willie Bradford the Head Greenkeeper at Buchanan Castle, he proposed that SGGA should press for 1% of all prize money from professional tournaments held in Scotland should go to the SGGA to assist with the Education and Training of greenkeepers. Now just imagine if that had succeeded how much would we have made from all the tournaments held in Scotland in 2007. Well it was worth a try Willie but as we all know the only people that have helped greenkeepers have been the greenkeepers themselves. At the AGM this year only 15 people attended.

In 1956 Alec Pringle recently retired as Secretary of the SGGA donated the St Mungo Trophy for competition between the Sections . This is still played for today at the national tournament. During this year a proposal was made that the SGGA should have a permanent secretary, but it was felt they were not strong enough yet. S McKinlay a journalist in Glasgow and who held the position of President of the SGGA for some years drafted a letter for the association to send to clubs appealing for funds. Proposed wages by the SGGA at this time were HGK +house £12.00 HGK no house £14 1st Asst. £10.10/- Assts. £9.10/-

1957 and another meeting held with the SGU re wages and an Apprenticeship scheme. At the AGM in October great discontent was shown at the level of wages and the conditions greenkeepers were being asked to work under and it was noted how ineffective the SGU were in trying to assist. ( Nothing changed here then).

1958 and the SGGA tried a different tack, when in January they had a meeting with the Association of Golf Club Secretaries to discuss wages, conditions, apprenticeship scheme and superannuation. Now this is interesting, Mr Dakers of the AGCS said he thought the Superannuation idea would be possible if the large firms in the Golf Trade donated £4-5,000 to start off the fund as they had done for the PGA. Wasn’t much chance of that happening even though all these companies, golf unions, secretaries associations made their living off the hard work done by greenkeepers, none of them were prepared to help. The Secretaries replied at the meeting that the only thing they agreed with was the Apprenticeship scheme, but they would come back after discussion. Months later and it was noted that there had been no word from them, they are obviously evading the issue.

In 1960 at a meeting in April with the AGCS to discuss the Apprenticeship scheme , a letter was produced by them from St Andrews House, the Scottish Office in which some faceless bureaucrat advised the AGCS, ( this bit gets me every time I read it) I quote “PERHAPS IN THE NEAR FUTURE GREENKEEPING WOULD BECOME A TRADE “ Also at that meeting it was asked how long it should take to become a Head Greenkeeper, the answer was 4 years apprenticeship and 6 years as a journeyman. ( maybe I’m old fashioned but I would hold that that should be the minimum requirement even today). It was also suggested that apprentices should get 6 golf lessons free to enable them to understand the game ( I never found out if that ever happened) There were now 191 members.

With any association the success or failure often depends on volunteers, usually unpaid , people who are fervent in their desire to see their association go from strength to strength, this is still the case today and was certainly the case in years gone by. Many individuals have sat on all the various section and laterally region committees all wishing to do their bit to help their fellow greenkeeper and there are always the certain few who will do just that little bit extra and to all of them we should be eternally grateful.

Some of the men that were involved in the SGGA in bygone years, their names have drifted into the past but mainly because of minute books and records they need not be forgotten completely. And I would say to all section and regions, please keep your minutes and records up to date and in good condition.

Some of the people that were so prominent in the years we have covered so far are as follows, to any who I have missed out my apologies. Wm McGregor who was HGK at Royal Burgess, Jimmy King HGK at Luffness recignised as one of the leading GK’s on links courses. It is said that Jimmy on being informed by the Club Captain that the club had decide to appoint a Green Convenor, Jimmy replied “ well you’ll no be needing me then” and offered his resignation. The decision to appoint a convenor was speedily quashed and at the last time of asking there was never a convenor at Luffness. Another stalwart was Willie Bradford HGK at Buchanan Castle, like Jimmy King in the East Willie commanded great respect in the West. Davie Paterson HGK at Fereneze and then The Bushes at Paisley another fighter for the association well known for his knowledge of hill and moorland courses. Alec Pringle HGK at Killermont who became the first greenkeeper secretary of the SGGA and who donated the St Mungo trophy for inter section competition. There were many others in that period who gave of their time for the SGGA. Hugh Lawrie, who was many years Pro/HGK at Redcar GC, Dave Hartley, Williamwood, Gibby Morris, Milngavie and Willir Ritchie of Kirriemuir.

To finish this extract the following was a speech made by Mr DM Mathieson the President of the SGGA on resigning at the AGM in 1947. I accepted the office of the Hon president with real pleasure because from out of my long associations with the game I fully realised that golfers owe a real debt of gratitude to those who look after and tend the links. I knew of their difficulties, that their anxieties are manifold and their responsibilities are heavy. The game is played outside the clubhouse and unless the course is in good order the club cannot prosper. The accomplishment and fulfilment of your duties demands special qualities, and qualities of a high order. A Scottish greenkeeper is accepted the whole world over as a man of ability and sterling character, and it is the duty of the Scottish Greenkeeper’s Association to maintain and strengthen that reputation. Tis an honour to belong to this association and I hope that every member is proud to be on the roll, and resolved to take his share in the purposeful endeavour to make their association fulfil its object. The Association was founded to enrich the activities, and forward the interests of Scottish Greenkeepers, but let the service be unselfish and remember to help the weaker brother, and if you can remove a stone from his path never falter, or fail to do so.

1961 At an Executive meeting it was reported that some clubs were advertising for Head Greenkeepers with the words that “ No experience necessary” It was also noted that in the Ryder Cup held that year that although the Americans almost always repaired their pitchmarks hardly any of the British team did. A letter to be sent to the R&A deploring their etiquette. During this year a poll was taken of members re their wages. There were now 195 members.

1962 W Ritchie of Kirriemuir suggested that there should be a Northern section around the Inverness area. Mr Ritchie to investigate. Again this year the SGGA wrote to the SGU re wages and conditions.

1963 Mr C George proposed that the Association should have a badge and a tie, this was agreed on. A meeting was held at Aberdeen to discuss forming a section in the Inverness area it would seem there was not a lot of backing for it.

1964 It was again proposed that the name of the Association should be changed to the “Golf Course Superintendents Association” and surprisingly at the AGM in November the motion was carried. An offer from the R&A for the SGGA to have a tent at the Open was gratefully accepted.

1965 At the AGM in this year the decision to change the name of the Association was rescinded, so back to SGGA.

1966 Once again attempts were made to organise a meeting with both the SGU and the Secretaries association re wages and conditions.

1967 A meeting was held with the SGU and the AGCS in Glasgow, grand words were spoken but usual lack of will. John Campbell, St Andrews Links, proposed and eventually got underway the first Scottish greenkeepers magazine.

1968 At a meeting of the Executive and asked for by S.A.I. their representatives outlined their proposals for a Greenkeeper of the Year Award. It was agreed to go ahead with this. The Executive proposed that each section should make a donation to the Commonwealth Games Fund. At the AGM it was agreed to drop the BGGA magazine and make every effort to improve Turfcraft the magazine started by J Campbell. The winner of the S.A.I. Greenkeeper of the Year Award was Wm McKelvie HGK at Dumfries and County GC

1969 A meeting had eventually taken place in November with the SGU and the AGCS, unfortunately no one from the AGCS turned up. SGGA had prepared a wage scale they wished to be circulated to all clubs. SGU not keen. It was decided that if the SGU did not inform the clubs of the wage scale SGGA would do it themselves. Again joining a Union was raised and discussed, not many for it. At AGM in December the secretary was told to purchase an Addressing machine to make his job easier.

1970 S.A.I. intimated that they would not run the Greenkeeper of the Year Award again but would present a Trophy to be played for at the Scottish tournament. A Trophy sent to SGGA from the GCSAA was being held at customs and would require £20 to clear it, sections were to be asked to contribute to this sum. A meeting was held with a Trade Union rep to explore possibilities.

1971 At the AGM in December a letter was read out from the International Greenkeepers Association (an association started up in Europe by Donald Harradine a well known Course Architect ) where they asked if they could be affiliated to the SGGA. This was agreed on and if they were agreeable we would change our name to the Scottish and International Golf Greenkeepers Association. A golf match was held during the year against the Secretaries Association, this was the first match between the two associations which is still played every year. Worries about the financial position of the Association led to suggestions that golf club members be asked to donate five pence per head or golf clubs be asked to donate £10 per club to help the association. So once again the association was struggling financially but not down and out.

1972 The International Association replied favourably and at the AGM in December it was agreed to change the name to the Scottish and International Golf Greenkeepers Association. And so SIGGA was born. Cecil George attended an International Conference in Switzerland on behalf of SIGGA. A letter sent to clubs asking for donations showed a return of £105 from 21 clubs. Another meeting was held with the SGU and AGCS re wages and conditions. At the AGM in December the membership was listed as East 97 North 80 West unknown. It was decided to have a membership for the Trade

Education, At this point I would like to reflect back on Education and Training of Greenkeepers over all these years. Many people have made great efforts to help greenkeepers to farther education and training, but it took a long time for authorities to recognise and become involved. So over the years greenkeepers have been responsible for training themselves. City and Guilds Qualifications for trades were first founded in 1878 and it took nearly 100 years before they recognised turfcraft. So in Scotland the first mention we have is of a series of lectures which were held between we think 1920 and 1928. There were 6 lectures each year attended by greenkeepers from all over Scotland. These lectures were put into booklet form and given to all members of the SGGA and at the end of the year an examination was held. This by all accounts was pretty stiff but there was over a 60% pass rate.

As you will have noted from this history after the 2nd World War the various SGGA committees made many attempts to try and have an apprenticeship scheme set up but it wasn’t until 1963 that the Joint Council for Golf Greenkeeper Apprenticeship was set up. The Council consisted of representatives from the BGGA, SGGA, BGGA Wales, EGU, SGU, WGU and the STRI. The aim was to provide for the systematic recruitment and training of greenkeepers on golf courses.

The first registered apprentice in Scotland to gain qualifications was David Gall from Buchanan Castle who eventually finished up as Course Manager at Cardross GC. In December 1966 Charles Crossan of Woodburn House College wrote to the Council suggesting an approach be made to City and Guilds to run a course in greenkeeping. After meetings this course was eventually started in 1967 and included among the first class was Chris Kennedy now Courses and Estate Manager at Wentworth and Richard Aitken who is now MD of Aitkens Seedsmen.

Involved in all the meetings leading up to the setting up of these courses along with Mr Crossan were Cecil George and Bob Moffat and these three were responsible for drawing up the syllabus. Cecil was Head Greenkeeper at Lenzie GC and Bob HGK at Cathkin Braes, Bob was also Secretary of SGGA at that time. Not only did they do all the preparatory work but both men were involved in lecturing to some of the classes. That was the start of officially recognised courses for greenkeepers. Some of you older guys will probably remember some of the first years of courses run for greenkeepers in that they were based firstly on Horticultural courses and in many cases the first tutors were Horticultural teachers, I can well remember some of my apprentices coming back and asking do I really need to know how to prune roses. Funnily enough in these days where there are more private developments and more attention is paid to entrances and car park surrounds in golf clubs, some horticultural knowledge is very beneficial. However it was a start. In 1974 the Golf Development Council recognised that there was a shortage of well qualified greenkeepers and this was adversely affecting the game and in 1975 a Standing Conference for Golf Greenkeeping was formed, its aim to “ achieve a fully qualified Greenkeepers service in the future to standardise the training of greenkeepers and to establish a register of qualified greenkeepers,” but this would only be possible with the full co-operation of all clubs.

In 1976 Elmwood College formed a committee from industry members and the college to form an advisory board to provide the link between the two bodies. This was still not just greenkeeping as it included groundsmen reps as well.

In 1977 the Standing Conference was then changed to become The Greenkeepers Training Committee. In his final remarks the Chairman of the Standing Conference stated “ It is clear that although there is hard core of dedicated greenkeepers, the turnover of staff is very high.It also emerged that a very large number of clubs have shown little interest in the training of the greenkeeping staff”

So in January 1978 the GTC, Greenkeepers Training Committee came into being and appointed as Administrator and Secretary was Nick Bissett who was born in Fife and educated at Madras College in St Andrews who had worked at STRI for 9 years and was now Tutor on Greenkeeping at Askham Bryan College in Yorkshire.

The committee was composed of representatives from all the 4 Home Unions, the BGGA, SIGGA and IGGA (Irish), the Secretaries Association and the Golf Development Council. Their first problem was trying to persuade City and Guilds to alter their courses to allow more greenkeeping input as they were still horticulturally based. However in Scotland a Government decision that all courses would be run by Scotec and not City and Guilds meant that SIGGA and the GTC had more say in the course content.

In June 1981 Scotec examination for certificates in Greenkeeping and Groundmanship part 1 was started.

In 1982 the first ever Greenkeeper Management course was run by Elmwood College and in March in a joint effort by SIGGA and Elmwood 170 people attended a greenkeeping seminar. These were the start of future greenkeeping courses and Seminars.

In 1984 a Conference was held at Cambridge called Golf 84 and SIGGA had 4 speakers in Chris Kennedy, Jim Kidd, Alan McDougall and Walter Woods.

In 1987 SIGGA set up a Liaison committee with all the colleges in Scotland this was to prove one of the best moves made as it was very successful and paved the way for greenkeepers to be completely involved in the make up of the college courses and these courses were now completely greenkeeping based. This committee still meets today and whereas in the past courses could vary from college to college this committees most important first task was to make sure every college was teaching the same syllabus. The Scottish framework developed by this committee has been widely admired and most of it adopted by the GTC throughout the rest of the country. Thankfully all these problems from those days have been resolved and we have an excellent Education system which covers all aspects of Greenkeeper education and training.

The GTC is in good health and does an excellent job over Britain and BIGGA itself provide everything from local section training courses through regional seminars/conferences to all the seminars and Workshops held annually at Harrogate BIGGA can also provide financial assistance for those wishing to farther their education.

So from the early struggles of greenkeepers after the second world war through endless battles with golfing authorities during the 50’s and 60’s eventually by greenkeepers themselves putting in a lot of hard work and talking to colleges in Scotland an educational system was achieved which has led to the excellent comprehensive education and training we have today.

Over these years many people have been involved in pursuing our dreams of a complete greenkeeping education system,there are too many to mention here but one or two names must always be remembered. Probably one person who more than others devoted his time and energies to the education cause is Cecil George, retired from Lenzie GC. Cecil was probably the first greenkeeper after the war who enrolled on a course run by the Scottish Agriculture College to improve his knowledge of soils etc. He did this on his own paying for his own courses. Every greenkeeper who has gone through college course should thank Cecil for his great love of learning and greenkeeping. Others who spring to mind are Walter Woods who was responsible for much of the liaison work with Elmwood College. Jimmy Neilson, retired Murrayfield who spent many hours travelling to GTC meetings on behalf of SIGGA and Bob Moffat formerly Cathkin Braes who attended GTC meetings and helped Cecil set up courses at Woodburn House.

Elliott Small

1973 During this year the first ever Ransomes International Golf Tournament for greenkeepers world wide was held at Woodbridge GC near Ipswich in which the following teams took part. Canada, Eire, England, Europe, Northern Ireland, Scotland, USA and Wales. I think it was wholly appropriate that the winning team was Scotland and the team consisted of John Campbell (St Andrews) Bob Moffat (Cathkin Braes) Charlie Newlands (Newbattle) Jack McMillan (Cardross) with Cecil George as the team manager. (A photograph of this team appeared in the last instalment) Interestingly a member of the English team that year was a certain Walter Woods (Hollinwell GC) yes the very same one, however after all this time I think we can forgive him?? During this year the East section reckoned they lost 30 members due to the increase in subscriptions.

1974 Membership West 90, East 50, North 50. At the AGM in December it was agreed to allow Bowling green greenkeepers to become members.

1975 Pattissons presented a trophy to be played for at the National Tournament

1976 Bob Moffat resigned as Secretary after 13 years service Jimmy Kidd produced a newsletter for the West section Ransomes held the 2nd International tournament won by the USA

1977 At AGM Jimmy Neilson was appointed the new Secretary Jim Kidd’s newsletter was extended to cover Scotland

1978 At this time the West section membership was growing quite rapidly due mainly to the hard work of their youngish and enthusiastic committee and it was decided that it would now be possible to have a new section to cover Ayrshire to Dumfries and after meetings between the Executive and members from Ayrshire on the 23rd February the new section was formed which now made 4 sections in SIGGA. The Fisons Finals tournament was held at Murrayfield GC Through the hard work of Walter Woods along with Elmwood College a Greenkeeper’s Symposium was held at Elmwood.

1979 SIGGA held a 2 day Symposium/National tournament at Stirling Fisons Finals again held this time at Crow Wood 3rd Ransomes International was held at Walsall GC

1980 At an Executive E Small who had moved to the Central Belt in 1977 after talking with fellow greenkeepers in that area proposed that a new section be formed to be called the Central section. This was agreed on and in April a meeting was held with E Small, C Kennedy and J Kidd with interested greenkeepers from the area, no decision was made then but after further work by E Small a meeting was held in Stirling GC on 20th November attended by 39 people and the Central section was formed then. The first Chairman was Joe Oliver and Secretary Elliott Small. The brief was that the section would cover an area between the Tay and Forth rivers from Cumbernauld to the Fife coast but that members from just over both rivers would have the option of joining the Central or the East or North sections. Now there are 5 sections.

1981 During this year the PGA made an informal approach to SIGGA and the Club Stewards association suggesting a possible tie up, to counteract moves being made by the Secretaries association for their members to be in complete control of all aspects of a golf club. This sounded fine but it was felt by SIGGA that the PGA were suggesting that the Pro would become the Golf Club manager, whereas SIGGA wanted a management team of Greenkeeper, Pro and Secretary all on the same level. Talks petered out. We were struggling to keep a reasonable newsletter going in Scotland and when the publishers of the BGGA magazine offered to fit a 4 page centre section supplement for SIGGA at a cost of £150 per issue it was decided to go ahead with this. A meeting was held between IOG and SIGGA where the IOG asked SIGGA to support their Scotsturf show which was struggling to survive. We had also had approaches from the Trade in the same vein. After discussion SIGGA went back to IOG to agree to include the show in their winter programme for each section and to encourage as many greenkeepers to attend as possible, in the first years the Ayrshire and North sections actually ran buses to the show. This was very successful and the show has gone from strength to strength. Perhaps SIGGA slipped up there in that we did not go into a partnership where expenses and profits were shared as it was certain the show would have finished without greenkeepers attending. A meeting was held on the 1st December at Turnhouse GC between SIGGA and Trade companies (17) where SIGGA proposed to the Trade that we should have a Patronage scheme whereby in return for SIGGA advertising those Patrons at every SIGGA event during the year and that Patrons would not be asked to donate prizes to all golf events, the prizes would come out of the SIGGA Central fund, the Patrons would pay one sum at the start of the year, this would help them to budget for these events . The Trade agreed to this and a sum of £150 per company per annum was agreed on. This turned out to be an excellent proposal which suited both parties and the Scheme is still in operation today and has been copied by regions and sections all over Britain. It was agreed at the AGM to appoint a Part time Secretary and Joe Mckean a retired schoolmaster accepted the position. Membership was now 492 full members, 19 life and 25 trade.

1982 First ever week long Management course was held at Elmwood College in February, this took place after much hard work by Walter Woods who as Chairman of the College Liaison committee put in a tremendous amount of time and effort on behalf of SIGGA not just with working with Elmwood but on his work with the GTC and other educational areas. The course was a success although the tutors were still geared towards horticultural thinking, but that first class were the guinea pigs and after voicing their opinions on the course, changes were made for the following years. A photo from that class was included in the last instalment. Note the young O’Hara in the front row. A one day seminar was also held in March at Elmwood again a partnership of the college and SIGGA. 170 people attended The 4th Ransomes International was held at Ipswich Scotland were 4th. A friendly match was played at St Andrews between a team from SIGGA and the GCSAA. It ended in a tie. A suggestion was made that SIGGA should run their own Pro Am SIGGA had their own stand at Scotsturf, it was noted the dramatic increase in attendance since SIGGA became involved. Also noted that the GTC were still in a poor financial state. The first issue of the SIGGA supplement came out in July printed by Greenkeeper magazine which was another step forward in providing a regular publication for our members. Jimmy Kidd and Elliott Small were the joint editors. 78 members attended the AGM.

1983 The Scottish PGA to be informed we were no longer interested in running a pro am A great deal of dissatisfaction expressed with the magazine

1984 A meeting was held at Haggs Castle in Glasgow between SIGGA, BGGA and EIGGA to discuss the possibility of amalgamating the three associations. The meeting was noted as being “constructive and harmonious” A second meeting was held in April at Heworth GC in York. These meetings were the first of many that took place over the next 3 years on the subject of amalgamation which eventually led to the formation of BIGGA in 1987. One of the interesting proposals that came from one of these meetings was that the name of the new association should be the “British and International Federation of Golf Greenkeepers Associations” or BIFGGA and you thought BIGGA was a mouthful!! At the AGM it was proposed that proxy votes be allowed. For the first time SIGGA were responsible for raking bunkers at the Open and the R&A provided a tent in the tented village for the use of greenkeepers. This was held at St Andrews and again Walter Woods was the driving force in making this possible and except for 1985 we have been supplying support teams to the Open ever since. At the Executive meeting in September it was proposed that SIGGA should have a permanent office. The Secretary to investigate further. At a conference called Golf 84 held in Cambridge Walter Woods, Chris Kennedy, Jimmy Kidd and Alan McDougall presented papers on behalf of SIGGA.

1985 At a meeting in January the Executive agreed to spend £1000 on setting up an office in the old ladies clubhouse at Haggs Castle and on 6th March the first executive meeting was held there. It may seem strange now that when talks were in process for amalgamation we in SIGGA were setting up office but the talks were still at early stages and we in SIGGA did not want to standstill in case the talks failed. The PGA again made proposals to both SIGGA and BGGA with a view to amalgamation but it was obvious we would be very much under the rule of the PGA and the offer was turned down. Ransomes held their 5th International tournament and also a 2 day conference at St Andrews. The tournament had an exciting finish with Scotland being pipped at the last hole in the dusk by 1 stroke by Canada.

1986 By this time the talks on amalgamation had continued and it was more and more certain that it would happen and so SIGGA whilst still keeping everything running as usual eventually came to an end at the end of 1986 and BIGGA came into being in 1987. So from 1904 to 1986 there had been some form of Scottish greenkeeper’s association operating. Over all those years there have been many people who have put in a lot of time and effort quite often at their own expense and in their own time and all to improve the lot of the Scottish Greenkeeper.

I hope you have enjoyed this brief history of greenkeeping associations in Scotland. Hopefully in 22 years time one of you will be writing the first 50 years of the Central Section.

Elliott Small

THE ROLL OF HONOUR