Section News

Congratulations!!! Congratulations must go to Gordon Moir for completing a torturous 3 mile run for Sport Relief. Here is a few words from Gordon........1 day later when he got his breath back! To everybody who sponsored me for the sports relief mile a huge thanks. I set out with the aim of raising a £100 and finished with a total of £1,085 thanks to all of you which once again proves what a great industry we work in. Included in that total was a anonymous donation of £75 form either a group of people or an individual ? To check out everyone who sponsored me you can go to Gordons Sponsors The donations credited to myself came from you technophobes who promised me cash which I did on my card so for those who haven’t paid me yet, I shall me round looking for the money ! You will be pleased to know that I ran the 3 miles in 24 minutes and due to my rigorous training regime (restricting myself to one glass of red wine on Saturday night) I felt fairly good so I ran a 4th mile and finished in 32 minutes and it only took me twice as long as that to recover. I was also fortunate that I had some good companions to encourage me along. The person who gave me the idea was Steve Isaac so I don’t know if I will ever speak to him again; see the photo of him attached. Thanks again, Gordon

Update from Canada To-day is a national family holiday in Canada,so I done the tourist thing and headed to Niagara Falls for the day. My escort for the day was Dr. Eric Lyons who is the Professor of Turfgrass at University of Guelph. Eric took me down to see one of the natural wonders of the world, The Niagara Falls. The Falls lie on the border withy US and there is falls on both the Canadian and US sides. Quite an experience to see this site. After that we headed off to find some of Ontario’s finest wineries ! On arrival we had look around and were persuaded to sample some fine wines. In Ontario they have a variety of wine known as “ iced wine “ which means that they harvest the wine when the grapes are frozen. I have to say it was absolutely fantastic. To-morrow it’s back to the reason that I am here to deliver the keynote address at The Ontario Turfgrass Symposium, www.open.uoguelph.ca/OTS which I am very much looking forward to. Afterwhich I shall see some other addresses by fellow delegates before I begin my journey back to the UK. Anyway hope you have enjoyed my updates from Canada. Gordon

Update from Canada Greetings from Canada. I have just arrived back from my trip to Toronto, which was pretty good. A city full of skyscrapers and snow! I spent the afternoon touring round and getting a feel for the place. ( some shopping for family ! ) Toronto itself lies on Lake Ontario which by the harbour side was frozen over. Getting around the city is very easy with a fantastic subway system with a stop outside my hotel. ( which was handy ) On Saturday night I had arranged to meet Drew Moyer who is the Owner/ General Manager of Bear Creek Golf Club in Ontario. Drew had offered to take me to see the Toronto Maple Leafs National Hockey League match. I was very privileged to be their with Drew as he is a season ticket holder and that was my only option of getting a ticket. Tickets are scarse to come by and cost about $200 a piece. We headed down to the Air Canada Centre to soak up the pre-match atmosphere, which means a few pre-match beers ! The whole build up to the game is amazing and one huge marketing machine. Anyway after a few beers ( which incidentally cost $15 a pint !!! about £7.50 ! ) it was up to our seats which were amazing as well. The leafs eventually ran out winners 4-3 in extra time, but boy it is fast and furiously stuff. The stadium holds around 20,000 and because it is closed in producesa great atmosphere. Disappointed we had no fights, which usually happens and the players are left to get on with it until someone goes to ground. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and big thanks to Drew for his hospitality! On Sunday it was back to the tourist thing and more looking around city before heading back to Guelph. To-morrow ( Monday ) I am off to Niagara Falls as this weekend is a holiday so no duties at University. But on Tuesday I address the Ontario Turfgrass Symposium before heading home. Will keep you posted. Gordon

Update from Canada Another snowy cold -6 day in Canada to-day. Good night last night with the Turf Club students who looked after me well ! First up this morning was Turf Management III with Dr Katerina Jordan ( who’s husband was actually an intern at St Andrews in 2000 ). The class was all about diseases and plant epidemics & IPM Management and how the disease cycle works, obviously over here there is major problems with disease and the management of them. Interestingly enough there is now moves to limit the application of chemicals, which may cause some greenkeepers problems. One thing apparent in our discussions is that even over here there is pressure on Superintendents to produce fast surfaces because of what is seen on tv week in, week out! I then was off to see the students in their greenhouse where they are simulating a green construction grow in. After a coffee and a chat with Dr Jordan I was off to sit in on my next class which was arboriculture ( basically trees ). The subject being tackled to-day was staking trees and mulching around them ( not a great subject for a links man ! ) but anyway was interesting to sit in on. This weekend is a holiday weekend in Canada so things wind down at lunch-time with students heading home for study week. For me, I’m off to Toronto to-morrow to see the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL game against Boston Bruins, which should be an experience. I shall be staying in Toronto on Saturday night to soak up the post match atmosphere! I will report back next week on my weekend in Toronto. Gordon

Online live debate on Modern Equipment

On Sunday 10th Feb at 8pm we will open our chatroom to all, for debate and discussion on Modern Equipment, Is it making some of our finest courses obsolete? Please attend and add whatever experience you may have re this subject.

Hope to see you there

Graeme

Organised Golf Outings

This years golf outings have been finalised and are posted on the golf section of our site with links to the relevant course.

New Record!

We have had a new record for the number of hits pers day on this site. We received 15050 hits on Friday 1st February! The forum, jobs, pictures and linked articles pages are the most popular for visitors. Thanks everyone, and keep coming.

Invitation

Dear BIGGA Member,

In association with the BIGGA East Section, Richard Windows and Henry Bechelet of STRI would like to invite you to a seminar on The Disturbance Theory and The Thrill of Real Golf on 20th February at Ratho Park Golf Club, Ratho, Edinburgh, Midlothian.

The full day programme will cover all aspects of The Disturbance Theory and how it relates to modern day greenkeeping in an interactive and informal style. The objective of the day is to give a complete understanding of the philosophy and approach required to achieve sward species progression without compromising playing quality.

Rigby Taylor have kindly agreed to sponsor the event, which means there is no charge for attendance or for the buffet lunch that will be provided.

As places are limited, please can you confirm your attendance by contacting Amy Crooks at the STRI Head Office by telephone (01274 567201) or email amycrooks@stri.co.uk

We look forward to seeing you on the day.

Kind regards

Richard Windows B.Sc (Hons) MBPR RIPTA
Turfgrass Agronomist

Online live debate on sustainability!

On Sunday 3rd Feb at 7pm we will open our chatroom to all, for debate and discussion on Sustainability and what it means to you Please attend and add whatever experience you may have re this subject.

Hope to see you there

Graeme

Leven grudge match

Leven links had an emphatic win over 'Royal' Scoonie ha ha, at the annual games day at Leven bowling club. this was against a desperate attempt by Scoonie to cordon off the club by using police crime scene tape. little did they know we were already inside the building filming their feeble skulldugery. a certain dez69 was grannied 5-0 at carpet bowls and photographed whilst listening to a resounding chorus of hawaii 5-0, this photo if posted should earn the victorious leven links social and games club a £25 M+S VOUCHER, if not i will post a photo of dez69 working (well appearing) on 'royal' scoonie that should clinch it. by the way we have cuffed them at least 3 times in a row and they will be appearing on our mantelpieces shortly

Andy O

100 000 Hits!!!!

For the first time since this website was created, we have crashed through the 100 000 hits barrier in one month! Well done everyone and keep coming, we have lots more pictures and articles to go onto the site but please contribute some yourself by sending to webadmin@biggacentralsection.org.uk Remember the new forum is also here for you to air your opinions, anonymously if you wish!

Thanks again for all your support

Graeme

New Members

We are delighted to announce that the entire team from Lundin Links has joined the Central Section! We look forward to seeing you at various events throughout the season, and to hear from you on our forum, as to how you keep such a wonderful course, in top condition.

Graeme

New Sponsors

We are delighted to announce 2 new sponsors for our website. Both Rufford and Scotts have taken the plunge in donating some cash to our Education and Website fund. This fund is used to organise and pay for Educational Events throughout the year. Topics for the coming season are being discussed at present and will be posted on this site when they have been organised.

If you have any ideas for required educational seminars / courses then feel free to communicate them in our forum or contact me directly at webadmin@biggacentralsection.org.uk

Thanks once again to Rufford and Scotts and I hope that you will have a look at their websites, links of which can be found at our sponsors page

Graeme

New Record!

We have had a new record for the number of hits pers day on this site. We received 9502 hits on Tuesday 8th January! The forum, jobs, pictures and linked articles pages are the most popular for visitors. Thanks everyone, and keep coming.

Spring meeting

The venue of the Spring meeting will be finalised in the immediate future, details of which will be available on our Golf page. Invites will be sent out to members in early March along with a newsletter similar to last year. If anyone has any news about ANYHING! happening in the area then please contact Gordon at gordonmoir@standrews.org.uk

Welcome

We welcome Steven Wilson, assistant greenkeeper at the Dukes to the Central Section. We hope to see you at many of the sections events.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Simon Connah, of the Jubilee Course, St Andrews and his partner Niki, on the birth of their second child. Hopefully not too many sleepness nights, seeing as we have still 6 bunkers to finish on the Jub then ALL THAT GORSE CLEARANCE!!!!

Ransomes Jacobsen delegation

Five members of the Central Section were part of a delegation taken to the Ransomes Jacobsen factory in Ipswich by Ian Bridges and Scottish dealers Fairways(GM). They had an interesting visit, looking at the latest additions to the RJ product range, the ongoing factory upgrades and the investment in training which included the progress on the recently commissioned three hole golf facility on site, designed by Howard Swan.

New Forum

We have installed a new forum to the site. To use it you will need to register a username and password, pictures and polls can be included in your post! **FORUM**

USGA Seminar report

A brief report and pictures of this excellent presentation can be found here

Central Section Win Norrie Whytock Trophy !

Members from Central Section won the Norrie Whytock Trophy at Auchterarder in August. The team which took the honours were Derek Scott, Andy O’Hara, David Simpson & Michael Love. The triumphant team retained the trophy which was won by our section last year as well. The winning points score was 104 pts. The course as usual was in excellent condition and thanks to all staff at Auchterarder for an excellent day. Thanks also to Peter Boyd for his organisation and all sections for participating in this worthy annual competition.

Well done again to Derek, Andy, David & Michael for an excellent victory !

Picture competition

All you budding David Baileys, get your fingers snapping for our photo competition.
We will give 25 pounds of Marks and Spencers vouchers to the best picture posted on the website from now until the end of February 2008.

Send your snaps to WEBADMIN@BIGGACENTRALSECTION.ORG.UK

New faces in the committee for 2008.

The AGM this year was well attended and the new committee is a follows.

Chairman – Derek Scott, Vice Chairman – Alan Sharp, Secretary/Treasurer – Andrew Mellon, Past Chairman – Andy O’Hara, Board – Archie Dunn,
Patron – Kevin Brunton, Trade – Jim Finlayson, Student – George Pendrich, General Committee – Gordon McKie, Brian Heggie, Gordon Moir, Derek Robson & Graeme Taylor.

Mugshots may be found here

Over the last year we have run two successful Golf Tournaments, and nine educational events. In total 255 members attended these and feedback has been very positive.
We hope to continue this success into 2008, and we would like to thank all the members for supporting the committee, and each other within the section.

On behalf of the committee we would like to extend seasons greetings to all and wish you the very best for 2008.

All the best,

Congratulations!

Congratulations go to Derek Scott who has become a grandfather to Keziah Lauren. Hope you are ready for all that extra babysitting!

BTME , Harrogate - January 2008

Package available through Scottish Regional Administrator.
Package with seminars, 3 nights Bed & Breakfast, Twin rooms on 22,23 & 24 January 2008.
- £236.00
Accomodation only - £164.00
Banquet ticket ( optional ) - £38.00
Contact Peter Boyd, Scottish Region Administrator for further details

Scottish Conference - Tuesday 4 March 2008 - BLCC, Lauder College, Dunfermline

Speakers:
- Gerry Byrne, K Club, Dublin, Ireland
- Jonathan Smith, Chief Executive, Golf Environment, Europe
- Allan Patterson, Head Greenkeeper, Castle Course, St Andrews Links
- Steve Isaac, Royal & Ancient Golf Club, St Andrews
- Ron Alexander, President, R Alexander Associates, USA
- Archie Stewart, Landmaps, GPS

Scottish National Tournament 2008

Monday 23 June - Irvine Golf Club .

Seminar: 28th November, Elmwood Golf Course

Topic: USGA presentation

Presented by Mike Fidanza, John Kaminski & Stan Zontek – USGA Green Section.

Location : Elmwood Golf Course, Maintenance Training Room

Time: 6.30pm, 28th November

Hope to see you all there for an informative evenings education. .

Seminar: 30th May, Elmwood Golf Course

Topic: Rules presentation

Presented by Kevin Barker, R and A rules official.

A quick reminder to all that we shall be holding one of our many short seminars this Wednesday on the subject of Rules of Golf. Kevin shall do a short presentation on Rules followed by open forum where you can ask about your queries on course set up.

Hope to see as many people there as we have had in past.

Location : Elmwood Golf Course, Maintenance Training Room

Time: 6.30pm

Hope to see you all there for an informative evenings education. .

Visit to Barenbrug HQ in Falkirk - POSTPONED.

We have decided to postpone this trip to the Barenbrug HQ in Falkirk. We felt due to the busy schedule of successful seminars and the pressures of presenting golf courses to the highest standards at the moment, that this visit would be better rearranged for a quieter spell later in the season. Our apologies to those that showed an interest, and our thanks to Barenbrug for their offer of this extremely informative trip.

USGA Green Section Seminar – 11 April 2007

Presented by Stan Zontek – Director USGA Green Section – Mid Atlantic Region
Peter H Dernoeden ph.D – Professor Turfgrass Management – University of Maryland
Peter J Landschoot ph.D – Professor Turgrass Management – Penn State .

A great turn out for the seminar conducted by the USGA Green Section on Wednesday evening at Elmwood. Some interesting topics were discussed and everyone had an enjoyable evening and discussion with these very knowledgeable speakers. The section committee would like to thank Stan, Peter & Peter for taking time out to come along and pass on their experiences to us all. We look forward to seeing as big a turnout at future seminars.

In addition we would like make known that we would encourage to non members as well at seminars if they wish to attend in future

All the best Gordon

Scottish Education Conference - Dunfermline - 6th March 2007

Congratulations to our Regional Administrator for another well organised Education Conference - well done Peter! It was also good to see a good turnout from the Central Section membership on the day.

The speakers themselves were first class, and big thanks must go to them all for taking time out of their busy schedules to participate at Dunfermline. The variety of subjects which was covered were extremely interesting and I am sure that everyone will have left the day with a few new ideas and thoughts to take forward for the coming season.

The day was started with Ian Butcher, who took a look at greenkeeper education and was it any good, which I am, sure, will have got people talking! Graeme Francis then gave a very informative talk on water legislation and what it might mean to us in the future. The morning session was finished with Gordon Irvine giving us a session on sustainable golf and introducing the finer grasses into the sward.

In the afternoon we had the pleasure of listening to Jim Turner from the USA who gave a very interesting talk on soil surfactants of the future and how they could help manage our golf courses more efficiently. After Jim, we had Brian Robinson from Rigby Taylor, who gave an insight into research that was happening in the world of grass seed varieties.

To conclude the day on a lighter note, was our past national chairman Kerran Daly who gave us a presentation on presenting golf courses and some of the tools available to us to help in our battles with memberships, and if that was not enough Kerran even sang a self composed song! Well done to Kerran for bringing to an end a very informative day.

A big thank you to all members of the Scottish Region for making time to attend this very important event in the Scottish Education calendar.

Gordon

Congratulations!

Congratulations to one of my Greenkeepers Mike Lindsay who has become a dad again with a boy "Cambell John Lindsay" a brother to Jack , from the Scoonie boys..

DISTURBANCE THEORY & THE THRILL OF REAL GOLF

Presented by Richard Windows and Henry Bechelet, STRI Agronomists.

A well turned out audience of 32 gathered on Thursday afternoon in St. Andrews to listen to two respected agronomists from the STRI in Richard and Henry, who delivered a very interesting afternoon’s education and debate.

Richard started proceedings with a look at The Thrill of Real Golf followed by Henry who gave us an explanation of the Disturbance Theory and what it all meant, we then ventured out to look at the role of the agronomist on the golf course with discussion about some of the issues which were facing our greenkeepers today.

On return we finished up with a look at Changing the Nature of Our Greens with a look at case studies from Panmure & Haggs Castle who were having successful results in this area. To finish the afternoon off Henry addressed us on The Disturbance Theory vs. JA’s Practical Greenkeeping and the similarities and differences of both theories.

We were very privileged to have Richard & Henry deliver the inaugural presentations on this subject which they will be taking on the road in due course. I am sure you will join me in thanking them both for a very informative afternoon..

All papers on which they covered can be found on the website in the articles section. If anybody has any feedback they wish to share then please do contact us.

Soil analysis evening seminar

With some fantastic excuses coming in, for example “don`t you realise it is Valentines Day” or “don`t you realise that Rangers are playing in Europe”, it was a decent turn out of seven hardy greenkeepers with a thirst for the knowledge that Kevin Brunton may impart on his loyal students. In reality it was not the best day and the turn out reflected this. Soil analysis is a fascinating subject that if understood can be thoroughly revolutionary in your maintenance of soils and turf.

The section committee thank Kevin for his time and effort in putting together an evening seminar during what is a remarkably busy time for himself and Greentech Sportsturf. Shame the Anna Kournikova video clip did not live up to the much awaited expectations.

Perhaps this is a subject that could be revisited at the back end of the year. Anna or soil analysis I hear you say! Soil analysis obviously. Anyone organising an evening seminar for Valentines Day is obviously more loyal to his soil composition.

See as many of you as possible at the coming sessions.

Congratulations

Congratulations and all the very best wishes to Alan Sharp, Course Manager at Scotscraig GC for his marriage last Friday, 16th February in Cupar registry office to Lesley.

Sly dog, kept that one quiet. Enjoy the honeymoon.

Adrian Mortram

Adrian Mortram B.Sc (hons) Irrigation Consultant and Director of Robin Hume Associates is to teach a 1 day course on the 22nd March Using Water Wisely, Every Drop Counts.

The course will include various aspects of looking to improve the efficacy of your irrigation systems by improving water scheduling and run time calculations based upon the water balance sheet. Adrian intends to make this a proactive workshop style programme which should allow for any specific questions relating to your course to be answered.

The location of the course will be at Elmwood GC and the BIGGA subsidised cost of the course will be £65, to include coffee / tea throughout the day and lunch.

Frank Newberry

Frank Newberry is to run a 2 day supervisory management course on 12th & 13th April in the area. Leadership and Management Skills Workshop to be held at Elmwood GC on the 12th & 13th April.

Frank`s programme will include:

Leadership & delegation

Motivating Individuals to take Ownership & Responsibility

Leading the team to meet the highest standards

Team Development

Managing Conflict

Giving & receiving Feedback on issues and performance

Managing Change

Problem Solving & Decision Making

Frank gave a highly entertaining and educational presentation of his own time to the central section recently which we hope gave a taster of what may be available should you attend this 2 day course.

The costs are to be in the region of £90 depending upon number of delegates, to include coffee / tea and lunch on both days. This is heavily subsidised by the BIGGA regional educational fund plus local funding from your section.

BIGGA and IOG Discuss Potential of Strategic Merger

The BIGGA Board of Management is delighted to announce that it has entered into discussions with the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) with a view to exploring the advantages of a strategic merger of the two organisations.

A meeting of representatives from both Boards of Management was held on January 18, and unanimously agreed to explore in depth, the potential advantages and structure of such a merger, for the benefit of their members and the Sports Turf Industry.

“I believe that the current talks open the way to an exciting future for turf professionals. A successful merger will secure a positive future for the members of the new organisation, which will have a significantly greater influence commercially and politically, and will facilitate the development of membership benefits,” said BIGGA`s Chief Executive, John Pemberton.

Further meetings will be held during the course of 2007, and BIGGA members will be kept informed of developments at every stage

To comment on this development please go to our latest thread.

First things first I hope you all had a good Christmas and a happy New Year. It’s the time of year when we all have our Christmas nights out, go for a meal and a drink and thank your staff for their support and commitment over the past season. This year we ( The Scoonie Boys ) met up with the Leven Links Lads for a games night, pool, darts, and bowls, Scoonie went down 2-1, I think we were at a disadvantage as I have heard that the Leven lads have a pool table and darts board in there bothy, true or not?, mind you there’s always next year.

By the time you read this BTME will have come and gone a great place to meet old friends, make new ones, eat good food, and have a few shandies. There is a great opportunity to learn something new from the excellent workshops and seminars on offer. Anyone that hasn’t been to BTME should make a point of planning a trip down next year.

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Alistair Tough, (Auchterarder Golf Club), James Wilson, (St Andrews Links Trust) and Stuart Harley, (Royal Burgess), who all joined the section recently. I look forward to meeting you at future events.

As for section news the spring outing this year is at Panmure, A qualifying course for the 2007 open at Carnoustie, to be granted permission to play prior to the qualifying is a major coup for the section. Many thanks to all involved in achieving this. This will be a superb test of golf for all and places will be on a first come first served basis, so please return forms as soon as you receive them. The Central Section looks forward to seeing you on the day.

The evening seminar at Elmwood last month, was presented by Frank Newberry, who many of you may know already. Fourteen guys turned out to listen to Frank’s enthusiastic presentation which kept everyone entertained, and the topic (The Influential Greenkeeper) was of great interest to us all.

The section are arranging various workshops in 2007 dates and time can be found on this website, If there are any subjects you think we haven’t covered and would like to have , please get in touch and the committee will endeavour to arrange one. The website is growing all the time with good articles and interesting pictures, but we need your help , please send anything you would like added to the site i.e. pics, articles, any news you want to share with the section, Lets get involved its your section .

Well that’s me I better go dry off my wet clothes, this rain! When will it snow? (Just joking)

Barenbrug visit.

Supervisory course.

Frank Newberry is to run a 2 day supervisory management course on 12th & 13th April in the area. The content of the course is to be decided and is open to suggestion!

If funding is available from HQ (and catering is required),and if we manage to get 12 delegates then the total cost for the two day course will be in the region of £90 (non-residential, however that can also be arranged at a cost). Not bad for one of the most influential speakers in our industry!

We would like to welcome Nicholas Horsefield, Assistant Head Greenkeeper at Crail golfing Society to the section. We look forward to meeting you Nicholas at a future event.

The AGM was the best attended for quite a few years, (28 members) and it was good to see so many taking an interest in the running of the section. The new committee is as follows; Derek Scott – Chairman, Euan Grant – Vice-chairman, Andy O’Hara – Past Chairman, Andrew Mellon – Secretary/Treasurer, Archie Dunn – Board Member, Brian Heggie, Gordon McKie, and Alan Sharp – Greenkeeper Members, Kevin Brunton – Patron Member, and Jim Finlayson – Associate Member. I know that all of these guys will work to represent your best interests and are only to keen to hear from you with any matter you wish the committee to consider.

An excellent display by the Central Section team competing in the Norrie Whytock Memorial Tournament yesterday, 21st August, at Auchterarder GC saw them taking away the Trophy as overall winners.

The best 3 scores from Derek Scott, Kenny Mitchell, Paul Armour and Brian Heggie (capt.) counted towards the total tally and respectfully defeated all other 4 sections in Scotland. It is always nice to get one over on the North!

Auchterarder GC was, I believe, in terrific order and not missing their headman one bit as he was away bathing himself in sunnier climes. The 2” rain over the weekend had really jumped the course into life and congratulations to Archie (in his absence) and the greenstaff for the presentation of the course.

Many thanks to Bayer, the Tournament Sponsors, and Peter Boyd, Regional Administrator, for the administration and organisation of the event which gets widespread support every year. Long may it continue. Especially when we are winning.

A belated congratulations to Brian Heggie who was crowned the Scottish National Champion over Leven Links late last month. This is the 3rd year in a row that Brian has taken the title, leaving Tiger Woods only 1 victory behind in claiming champion golfer of the year status.

Leven was in as linksy a condition as ever when the National Tournament was contended by a vast array of golfing greenkeepers from around Scotland and a stiff competition it was too. Congratulations to Andy O`Hara and his staff for turning out a great test of golf. The impressive new bunkering seems to have had a positive influence on the results.

Leven recently lost all use of the irrigation system for nearly a week, a problem being contended with in the South-East of England at the current time across many golf courses, and guess what? Andy O`Hara, Course manager, confirmed that the course hadn`t played as well in many, many years. For anyone that is privileged to know Andy they will appreciate that that is some statement. As greenkeepers we are known as being our own biggest critics, Andy is even bigger than that.

As well as the Central Section taking the Champion Golfer title, over home ground we also swept the team prize for best 4 scores on the day.

Well done to all from the section that participated.

Andy O`Hara has also been in the spotlight recently as he won the coveted title of LANTRA Modern Apprentice of the Year. The nomination came via Gordon Nimmo at Elmwood College not only for pushing himself through SVQ level III but also for the support he gave to many colleagues, on his own staff and elsewhere, in completing their NVQ qualifications.

Andy was also placed 3rd in the overall LANTRA Learner of the Year presentations for the entire land based industries throughout Scotland. This propels him to the national final to take place later this year for all industries. Congratulations to Andy for his support of education within the industry in achieving this recognition and all the best wishes for the national final. It would be great for a greenkeeper to win the title over all other industries and perhaps the profession could get some good press mileage out of that one. Good for encouraging youngsters into, what we within all know to be, a great career.

On the employment merry-go-round Andy O`Hara, Leven Links has recently appointed a Deputy Head Greenkeeper. Gordon McRae has moved to the position from the same role at Ratho Park GC. Also moving into a Deputy Head role is John Wood who has moved from Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links, Dublin to the Old Course, St Andrews. Best wishes to them both. Hope to see you at some of our educational evenings or golfing events in the near future.

If anyone has any educational ideas that they wish to see being run within the section then please give us the heads-up. This can be at any level of the industry and in any subject. Due to the generous sponsorship of this website by over a dozen companies, take note of who they are across the top of the screen, there will be some cash available for running some courses. I have heard it said more than once that nothing is ever run up here, north of the border, so lets prove this to be untrue. If you don`t let us know what would be of benefit to you or your staff then we will organise something that we believe to be of importance. Your education and therefore your personal development is in your hands.

On a sincere note, it is with regret that we inform you of the resignation from the committee of two stalwarts of the section. Ian Macmillan, Course manager at Murrayshall Hotel and GC, Vice Chairman of the section for the past year and committee man for 3 years previously and John Crawford, Course Manager at Stirling GC, Secretary / Treasurer of the section for well over 20 years and whose history goes back to well beyond the times of BIGGA, when Scottish greenkeepers ran their own organisation.

It is with the thanks of every member both past and present that these two professional greenkeepers move on to help the greenkeepers of the current generation in their own ways.

I am sure that in the coming months much more will be written in relation to their influence in section affairs over the years gone by. As a section we wish them all the best.

Ian Somerville (committee member) has moved from Course Manager at Muckhart GC to Course Manager at Brocton Hall GC in his native England. Ian is a good member who devoted a great deal of personal time to the setting up of this website. Our best wishes send him on to finer things.

Peter Pattenden, Head Greenkeeper Gleneagles PGA Centenary, has left to take the position of Golf Courses and Estates Manager at De Vere Carden Park. He has been replaced by Donald Robb, previously Head Greenkeeper at Blairgowrie GC. The section wish both men all the best of luck in their respective new positions.

For the section`s first education evening at Elmwood Golf Course (1st Wednesday of every month at 7.30pm) 9 gents from across the area were entertained by Allan Patterson and Paul Kember, Head greenkeeper and Associate Architect respectively, of the St Andrews Links Trust 7th course. The talk ran through the various processes from feasibility studies, appointment of architect, the various planning stages and right through to the finishing works and seed specifications that will hopefully make the whole project a must play success. Our thanks go to Allan and Paul for giving freely of their time and wish them continued success with the construction. Attending the presentation were Haydn Chambers, Ian Butcher, Alan Sharp, Andrew Mellon, Archie Dunn, Craig Cameron, Gordon McKie, Euan Grant and Alistair Tough. Keep an eye on the education page for a final decision on the presentation to be given on the 5th July.

May's picture of the month has been decided....and the lucky winner of £20 of WH Smith vouchers is....surprise, surprise.... Graeme Taylor with his picture of the 1st hole at Aberdour.       Posted 13th June 2006
April's picture of the month has been decided....and the lucky winner of £20 of WH Smith vouchers is Graeme Taylor with his picture of early morning hand cutting of a green with heavy dew.     The best picture for May will be chosen shortly   Posted 30th May 2006
The full story, scores and pictures from the Spring meeting at Aberdour GC are available on our golf page   Posted 30th May 2006
The Central Section would like to offer a warm welcome to Alan Sharp who has recently taken up the position of Course Manager at Scotscraig G.C. We also wish George Patterson all the best in his move to Course Manager at The Moray, Lossiemouth Posted 5th April 2006 The Central Section would like to offer a warm welcome to Andy Campbell. Andy has moved to the Dukes course, St Andrews from his previous post at De Vere Carden Park. Also congratulations to Brian Heggie who has moved from Brucefield Golf Complex as Head greenkeeper to Piper Dam GC. Finally, congratulations to 5 Elmwood HND students who organised a very successful seminar at St Andrews Bay which addressed the expectations of the modern golfer, and whether it was possible to match their expectations whilst maintaining a sustainable golf course, in accordance with the club`s business plan. It was attended by 56 individuals from 10 different countries from Club Manager, Course Manager, Club Professional and Educator. Steve Isaacs chaired the session and George Brown , Course Manager Westin Turnberry resort, David Roy, General Manager Crail golfing society, Graeme McDowell, Club Professional Elmwood GC and member of PGA education committee and Paul Miller, Lecturer Elmwood College and Education Director of the Club Managers Association of Europe spoke eloquently on their invited subjects. After a fine lunch, Steve chaired a workshop session where much emotional debate followed. A comprehensive report will follow detailing the findings and any actions requiring attention by the various bodies. (Posted 23rd March)

New members this month are ;

• Chris Barnard
• David Cooper
• Anthony Marr
• Colin McKay
• Matthew McLean
• Kevin Muir
• Michael Petrie
• Robert Richards
• Andrew Richards
• Alan Russell
• Graham Winter

Posted 15th March 2006

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