Section News

Around the Green Report - July

There was a disappointing turnout for the seminar on Nitrogen fixing bacteria on May 19th by William Murphy but those who did attend heard a very interesting and educational presentation and our thanks to William of Terralift and Blair Young of Aitkens for making their time available for us. There was a much bigger crowd on the course walk of the Old Course on 23rd June, with over 50 greenkeepers in attendance with many BIGGA members from sections out with the Central one also coming along. I hope those people who took the time to listen to Gordon McKie and I explain the preparations for the Open Championship enjoyable.

By all accounts Derek Scott is making a good recovery from his recent illness. Although he is still off work he has (allegedly) been spotted on the golf course at Slaley Hall and is currently convalescing in the Highlands so all those greenkeepers from Newtonmore to Brora, watch out for someone in a wide wheeled hospital wheelchair on your course.

Andy O Hara is also recovery well from his recent argument with a golf ball. Apparently his nose in now straighter than ever but there is no truth in the rumour than he has changed his football alliance just because it has been a lovely colour of red and blue for the last few weeks!

Regards,

Gordon Moir

Open Championship Preparations on The Old Course

Road Hole Re-Built !

The warm weather continues, so the dry conditions are still with us ! We have spent quite a bit of time this week handwatering various areas of the course including greens,tees & bunker tops to keep them hydrated during this dry spell. Automatic irrigation is still ion use from time to time as I feel it is still too early to dry things out for the tournament, once we get a better forecast we shall be able to start drying things out for the Open week itself.

This week I have finalised all staff rotas and informed everybody of what tasks they will be carrying out through the week.

Big job this week was to re-build Road Hole bunker, the bunker takes a lot of play and the face becomes very eroded with sand and the feeling was that it would not survive full practice sessions in a few weeks. On Tuesday morning 4 guys went down and removed the face and re-built the bunker in a day, which was great and I must say that it is looking in top condition now, we have been running a sprinkler at it through the day to keep moist and allow turf to knit together.

Course conditioning continues with regular mowing taking place on all areas, rolling of greens as I try to achieve 10’ plus on greens for next week when we will start to look at hole locations. All fairways were sprayed with wetting agent & seaweed to help retain moisture in the drying surface.

Today we brushed greens to pick up some lateral growing bentgrass and followed up with a cut and roll to smooth out and speed surfaces back up.

3rd green grandstand is complete and work has started on 16th green/17th tee grandstand, which looks likely to finish over weekend.

All staff in over the weekend to continue the hard work and preparations.

Gordon

Open Championship Preparations on The Old Course

Busy, busy

With all internal tournaments over we are now turning our focus to preparations for the ‘Main Event ‘in July. This week has involved more constant mowing of all areas to keep things in trim and to standard that we are trying to achieve at moment.

Has been a busy week with plenty of verti cutting taking place on greens & tees which has helped to clean up the appearance of the surface. Work on fairways continues and having dropped height of cut earlier in week we are starting to tighten up surfaces further and when the sun has shined this week they have looked in great condition. Expecting some of the loan mowers we are getting from Toro this afternoon which will allow us to put more staff at this task as we now start to look at fine tuning everything to major championship standard.

Busy week off course as well with grandstand build and TV towers appearing all over the course perimeters. Work has started on stand behind 1st green and contractors due to go behind 2nd green later today. We have had to carry out some needed turfing works around some of the stands to allow easier access for spectators, which means extra watering to keep alive.

This morning the Golf Channel were out and about early filming some scenes for their coverage during the Open week. Frank Nobilo, an ex tour pro has been explaining how to play some of the shots you come across on the Old.

Going to try and get a day off on Sunday this week before things start to get really busy when course closes on 19 June!

Gordon

Open Championship Preparations on The Old Course

Wet end to week

The end of the week finished rather damp, yesterday afternoon and last night we had around 4mm of rain fell during the final round of the Links Trophy. The rain was welcome as we were starting to dry out and it has helped re-hydrate things.

This morning it was back to course preparations, I decided to verti cut greens this morning to remove some lateral growth and thin out coarser grasses, which has worked a treat and really smoothed up surfaces after clean we took with pedestrians. Plan to carry out same operation on tees tomorrow and we shall brush surrounds to save stressing higher spots with verti cuts.

With only 2 weeks to we close we are aiming to work hard on keeping the fairways tight, so with that in mind we dropped height of cut of fairway mowers to 7.75mm this morning and will star cutting them in morning, we also have to finish of some herbicide treatment to fairways to suppress weeds. Later in week we plan to apply a light liquid seaweed feed to greens and surrounds to strengthen grass sward, this will be our last treatment to these areas before the Open.

The tees are showing slight signs of stress, so maybe we shall apply something on there to get them strong prior to event.

Grandstands and tented village taking shape, 9th green completed and work has started on 14th greenside. Work on village at Bruce Embankment is taking shape and also at GPC.

Another media interview this morning for a piece which will be in the Open Championship magazine on preparations for the Open – it’s all go at the moment !

STRI are popping in this afternoon for a look at things, so will get the expert opinion from Richard this afternoon, but going by the data I took yesterday we seem to be on the right road for July !

Around Green Report – June

Hands up, I got well caught out last month saying how good the Stan Zontek/USGA seminar was when in the end it had to be cancelled because of the volcanic ash situation. Unfortunately they were stuck in the States but as I write they are busy trying to reschedule for September so watch this space. Saying that, as I write this at the beginning of May, Irish and some Scottish airports are shut again which can have a huge impact on Scottish tourism and as a result financial implications for a lot of golf clubs. Luckily I was much more accurate predicting the winners of the spring outing and got them all correct! Well done to Kevin Muir and his staff for getting the course so good following the recent floods he had to cope with. Things are well under way on the Old Course in preparation for the Open. A number of stands are already up and the tents begin to go up towards the end of May. The Central section has organised a course walk with Gordon McKie and me on 23rd June, meet at the Jubilee greenkeeping sheds at 4pm, and members from other sections are also welcome.

Gordon Moir

Open Championship Preparations on The Old Course

Links Trophy Week

This week sees us preparing for the St Andrews Links Trophy which will be held on the Old Course on Sunday, yesterday we hosted the final two rounds of the St Rule Trophy which is a high profile ladies competition, unfortunately we had around 15mm of rain which fell during the night and early morning which we all felt yesterday morning ! Fortunately it did not stop our preparations too much and was completed as scheduled yesterday evening.

This week now sees us preparing for the final two rounds of the Links Trophy which we will host on Sunday, so another busy week ahead with more course presentation planned on fairways. This morning we started to spray off semi roughs which have seen a bit of the usual weed infestation we normally see at this time of year, so we applied a selective herbicide which helps to eradicate this in our new sprayer which arrived last week. Forecast is rain to-morrow so we will probably not get back to that until later in week.

The main focus this week will be on presenting the course for the tournament at the weekend. We are closed on Saturday so that will allow us to get some extra work done on fairways and planning brushing rough as well that day.

Grandstand build is on schedule with stand to left of 6th fairway completed and contractors back on site to-morrow and heading to 9th greenside. Have a meeting with them to-morrow morning. Tented village build will pick up this week with work starting on press tent on Bruce Embankment and hospitality area on practice range.

Later in week I have a photo call for an advert in the official Open programme on behalf of our Global Partner – Allianz.

With us losing one of our staff last week to pastures new I have seconded a member of staff from the New Course to assist us for the next 6 weeks or so in our preparations, so all numbers back to normal in what is going to be a busy 6 weeks or so !

Gordon

Course Walk Around The Old Course, St Andrews

Scottish Region - Central Section

‘Open Preparations’

Wednesday 23rd June 2010,

Meet at Jubilee Greenkeeping Centre West Sands Rd, St Andrews 3.30pm for 4pm start

It is intended to be an informal walk around The Old Course with Gordon McKie, Course Manager – The Old Course & Gordon Moir, Director of Greenkeeping – St Andrews Links.

To register your interest please email Gordon McKie - gordon.mckie@standrews.org.uk or Gordon Moir – gordon.moir@standrews.org.uk to confirm your attendance.

We hope that you will be able to support this event.

Click Here to download this flyer.

Gordon

Open Championship Preparations on The Old Course

50 days and counting !

Well we are now into the last 50 days of preparations and so much to do !

Sunday was a bit of a wash out with around 13mm of rain falling within a couple of hours, some localised flooding to fairways was the problem which slowed down our plans to verti cut and cut fairways. With that amount of rain and the high temperatures we have been receiving over the last week it has produced a considerable amount of growth ! On Monday when we were cutting greens we were averaging around a box of grass per green, which is a lot – happy to report that we are now back to a normal ½ box.

Early part of week we have been busy with routine cutting and trying to get back on top of cutting fairways with the 3250 greens triples, this has been preceded by verti cutting to a depth of 1mm to remove the lateral growth, then followed up by a cut with the 5410 fairway mowers to remove the excess grass then a final cut with the smaller mowers. The finish we are achieving is great and we are starting to get that polished finish we are looking for. Aim to continue this through to end of week.

Been a busy week as far as media is concerned, I had a couple of interviews to do regarding the Open, one for Bunkered magazine which will run in their Open preview edition. Later this week I shall be speaking to Greenkeeper International, a industry journal on my preparations for the Open.

Have been out with the Chief Marshall this week looking at crossing points around course and where we intend placing them, so as I can start to make plans to cut them out sometime in near future.

Get Well Soon Andy !

Former Chairman and current committee member Andy O’Hara is laid low at moment after an accident at work recently. Andy was unfortunately hit by a golf ball while working on the course at Leven and has a broken nose ! Sounds like it could have been a lot worse.

Hope you are doing well and are back at work shortly.

Gordon

Educational Seminar

Scottish Region - Central Section

19th May 2010,7pm Elmwood Golf Course,Maintenance Facility Training Room

Topic: Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria and You

Presented by William Murphy – Terralift

The 2005 isolation and patenting of a symbiotic group of ‘non-nodulating’ Nitrogen fixing bacteria presented Terralift with the opportunity to investigate their application in fine turf.A four year research and field trial program completed in 2009 has shown that with specific support materials these bacteria have a real capacity to optimise fine turf growth, with very little need for conventional N P K applications. The presentation will identify the needs of these bacteria in ‘fine turf situations’ –detail the field work results and present the Terralift N-Force products developed from the research.

1 hour presentation, 1 hour networking!!

We hope that you will be able to support this event.

Click Here to download this flyer.

Gordon

Get Well Soon Derek!

Committee member and Past Chairman Derek Scott has been in hospital this week for a few days undergoing some tests, we wish Derek a speedy recovery and hopefully he is not giving the nurses to hard a time !

Gordon

Scottish National Tournament Entry form.

An application form for the Scottish National Tournament may be found here

Around The Green Report - May.

As I write this, I hope we are coming to the end of one of the worst winters most of us in the industry can remember, four months of snow, ice, rain and wind have kept courses closed with little or no income making it a difficult time for everyone. The inland courses such as Crieff, Auchterarder and Gleneagles have been open as little as 10 days since mid December, with a second fall of snow in March meaning some were still closed into April. Trees down, disease scars and ice damage have affected many courses while others, despite the snow cover, appear to have come through virtually unscathed. It was an appropriate time for Stan Zontek and friends to give a presentation on winter damage at Elmwood on 27th April which was very well attended. The coastal courses suffered as well with exceptional storms at the end of March combining one of the highest tides of the past 50 years with strong North East winds to leave many places damaged. Crail, Kingsbarns and others all lost a piece of the coastline to the sea or else had part of the beach washed up and deposited on a fairway along with tree trunks stones etc and similar stories can be heard from Aberdeen to the borders. At St Andrews, a sea wall on the Eden Estuary just beyond the boundary of the Eden course was washed away flooding three holes on the Eden and three on the Strathtyrum course every time the tide came in, while the Swilcan burst its banks and sea water spilled onto the 1st green and fairway of the Old Course. Fortunately the damage appears to just be discolouration to the grass where the water sat for a period although silt deposits on the Eden fairways from the neighbouring fields may yet prove more troublesome. Our next education evening is on 19th May at Elmwood training room (6.30) when Rex Kimberly of Terralift will talk on nitrogen fixing bacteria. Rex is an experienced speaker and I am sure it will be an entertaining evening as well as informative. Meanwhile Gordon McKie has started a blog on the Links trust website www.standrews.org.uk on the preparations for the Open Championship.

Main winners at the Spring outing are as follows

Best Scratch, Allan Patterson, The Castle Course – 71

Best Hcp. Dougie Barr, Caird Park - 67 nett.

Section 1, Archie Dunn, Auchterarder - 68 nett

Section 2, Derek Scott, Scoonie - 70 nett

Trade prize - Kenny Hunter of Fairways

Guest prize - Mike Horkan, Property Manager at St Andrews Links Full results are on the website www.biggacentralsection.org.uk

Gordon Moir

USGA Seminar – Tuesday 27th April 2010.

Due to travel disruptions around the world, we are sorry to announce that we will have to cancel our intended USGA Seminar, which was due to take place next week on Tuesday 27th April 2010.

Unfortunately Stan Zontek, Dr John Kaminski & Dr Peter Dernoeden are unable to make the trip over from the US due to the disruption to flights caused by volcanic dust.

We apologise for this inconvenience, but hope to arrange a future seminar with the USGA in the future.

Gordon

Education seminar.

Details of the next education seminar can be found here

Around the Green – April.

Gordon Moir

Spring Outing draw.

Around the Green – March 2010.

Congratulations from everyone in the section to Andy Mellon on being elected Vice Chairman of BIGGA, all on the committee realise this will be the start of a busy period for him and the hunt is on to find a replacement Sec/Treasurer for the end of this year. Committee member Donald Gardener from Scoonie GC braved the chilly waters of the Firth of Forth off Leven on Boxing Day for a sponsored swim and raised over £1,000 for the children’s cancer charity, Sergeant. Well done to Donald who at the time of writing this will be swimming again off St Andrews on Valentines Day. Twelve greenkeepers attended an excellent training day on managing performance which was held at Ladybank GC on 29 January. Organised by the CMAE, this was the first of what we hope will be an ongoing series of events where members of both associations can benefit from attending joint training seminars that are appropriate to Greenkeepers and Club Managers alike. This follows an agreement at National level between some of the different organisations in the industry and we would encourage CMAE, GCMA, and PGA members to attend some of our upcoming events arranged for the following months. At Elmwood on Wed. 17th March, Kenny Liddle of Bayercrop Sciences will talk on the future of pesticides and on Tues. 27th April, Stan Zontek of the USGA and John Kaminski of Penn State will talk on winter damage to turf. Both talks will be at the training room at the golf course and begin at 7pm, lasting for an hour approx. Details will be on the website www.biggacentralsection.org.uk and members should shortly be getting their entry form for the spring outing which will be held at St Andrews on Tuesday 6 April over the Eden Course. Numbers are restricted slightly so return your entry form quickly to guarantee a place.

Gordon Moir

The Future of Pesticides.

Course management software presentation - Punctus.

Diary of Events 2010 - updated.

Diary of Events 2010

23 February – Andy Russell, Headland Amenity – Turf Fertilisers – What’s in the Bag ? – Elmwood Golf Course – Training Room – 7pm

2 March – Scottish Conference, Carnegie Conference Centre, Dunfermline

17 March – Kenny Liddell – Bayer Crop Science – Presentation on the Future of Pesticides – Elmwood Golf Course – Training Room – 7pm

6 April – Spring Outing – Eden Course, St Andrews

27 April – USGA Seminar – Stan Zontek – Elmwood Golf Course – Training Room – 7pm

19 May – Rex Kimberley/William Murphy, Terralift – Terralift – Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria & You - Elmwood Golf Course – Training Room – 6.30pm

17 June – Scottish National Tournament – Murcar Golf Club, Aberdeen

23 June – Course Walk – Old Course, St Andrews – 4pm

19 August – Norrie Whytock Trophy – Auchterarder Golf Club

Charity Greenkeepers Tournament.

A charity golfing event has been organised by Emwood college. Please find the relevant application forms below.

Flyer.

Application form.

Invitation letter.

Gordon Mckie

Around the Green – February 2010.

What a winter ! As I sit here writing this I still hope to see many old friends at BTME in the middle of January but given the amount of snow and ice currently covering the St Andrews Courses at the moment, I have reservations about being away for a number of days when (or if) the thaw starts. Speaking to many of the more experienced members of staff and people in the industry you have to go back to the winter of 82 to have seen these conditions before on the coastal courses in this area. It’s at times like these you appreciate the friends and contacts you have built up over the years that you can ask for advice.

On the educational front, the CMAE and BIGGA held a one day training seminar on 29 Jan at Ladybank GC on managing staff and appraisal training. This was hopefully the first of many joint ventures and I hope to be able to report on it more fully in the next report. The section is planning to run an evening seminar in early April when Stan Zontek of the USGA and a couple of friends will be in the area. Again, more details to follow or on the website www.biggacentralsection.org.uk If anyone would like Stan to talk on a specific subject then please contact myself or Gordon McKie. The spring outing is on the Eden Course on Tuesday 6 April (if the snow has gone!).

Gordon Moir

Diary of Events 2010.

23 February – Andy Russell, Headland Amenity – Turf Fertilisers – What’s in the Bag ? – Elmwood Golf Course – Training Room – 7pm

2 March – Scottish Conference, Carnegie Conference Centre, Dunfermline

17 March – Kenny Liddell – Bayer – Presentation on the Future of Pesticides – 7pm

6 April – Spring Outing – Eden Course, St Andrews

27 April – USGA Seminar – Stan Zontek – Elmwood Golf Course – Training Room – 7pm

17 June – Scottish National Tournament – Murcar Golf Club, Aberdeen

23 June – Course Walk – Old Course, St Andrews – 4pm

19 August (TBC ) – Norrie Whytock Trophy – Auchterarder Golf Club

Visit to China.

Gordon McKie has recently visited China, please click HERE for a report about the trip

Scottish Conference 2010.

Please click on the link to see details of this Conference.Scottish Conference 2010

Gordon

Managing Performance.

Please click on the link to see details of this course on appraisals.CMAE appraisal seminar

Gordon

Around the Green Report – January 2010.

I trust everyone had a good Christmas and New Year and are now looking forward to BTME. In December, the section had an interesting evening seminar at Elmwood with Martin Ward of Symbio talking about Compost teas. This was hastily arranged due to the short notice of Martins availability and we are fortunate to have good email communication along with the info on our website, www.biggacentralsection.org.uk which allows us to contact people in this way. To stay in the loop it is vital members keep us informed of any changes to their contact details. This took the place of the appraisal training which has now been postponed until the New Year, it is hoped that we will run this course sometime in February in association with the CMAE at the same venue ( Old Course Hotel, St Andrews ). Further details will appear on website in near future. In early December I was fortunate to visit the Manitoba Turf Conference in Winnipeg, Canada, to give a couple of presentations. Including myself there were only three speakers to cover the three days and it was fascinating to discover that although from different fields we were all advocating the practical, cultural approach and also that the Canadians face the same problems as we do in the UK. You may think Winnipeg in December may have been a difficult (and cold) gig but I found the 100 attendees to be extremely motivated and enthusiastic which made the whole trip very enjoyable. At the time of writing Gordon McKie is doing a similar gig in China along with Elmwood College, a report on that next month.

A presentation by Stan Zontek of the USGA green section sometime in April is on the cards, more details later,

Gordon Moir

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We are delighted to announce a new sponsor for our website. LeisureTec Surfaces 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 to any member of committee or contact me directly at gordon.mckie@standrews.org.uk.

Thanks once again to LeisureTec Surfaces and I hope that you will have a look at their website, links of which can be found at our sponsors page.

Gordon

Around the Green Report – December 2009.

The section held their agm on 26 October where the turnout was slightly disappointing.

A quiet affair, it was reported that the section membership stands at 239, a decrease of 8 on the previous year.

Gordon McKie was re elected as Chairman and during his report paid thanks to Brian Heggie who is standing down from the Committee as he is taking up a new position in the south of England. Those present wished Brian all the best on his move and I am sure that is echoed from all who know him. Derek Robson was re elected as Vice Chairman and Andy Mellon as Secretary/Treasurer. The Committee remains the same with the exception of Brian standing down and his place has been taken by Charlie MacDonald of Crieff GC. The Chairman also thanked all of the patrons for their continued support.

On the morning of the agm, the section held a successful training course on disciplinary procedures which again had a slightly poor attendance. Our thanks go to Jason Rudgley of Pitchblue who delivered this on a very professional but relaxed manner.

Unfortunately, due to the poor interest shown, the committee felt it had no option but to cancel the two day environmental course planned for Gleneagles on 17/18 November which was going to be staged in conjunction with the STRI and Gleneagles Hotel. The lack of support and commitment from members for any course we have tried to stage over the past 3 years which would cost money has caused the committee to rethink it’s strategy and in future we will likely stick to only staging the free evening seminars where we can utilise particular speakers who may be coming to the area. For more formal training such as the disciplinary course, we will work in partnership with the Club Managers Association of Europe.

The Spring outing in 2010 will be held on the Eden Course at St Andrews in early April, more details of this and other matters on the website, www.biggacentralsection.co.uk

Gordon Moir

Symbio seminar.

Please find details of a Central section seminar dealing with Compost teas.

Appraisal Training Course

Appraisal Training Course – 2 December 2009

This course has now been postponed until the New Year, it is hoped that we will run this course sometime in February in association with the CMAE at the same venue ( Old Course Hotel, St Andrews ). Further details will appear on website in near future.

Many Thanks

Gordon

November Around Green Report

The Section held a very enjoyable outing at Crieff GC on Sept 17. The course was presented in excellent condition by Charlie MacDonald and his staff and for once this year the weather waskind to us, it was just unfortunate that the turnout was poor with only 17 greenkeepers in a total of 34 attendees. Principal prize winners were, Best Scratch David Simpson, Crieff. Best Nett, Paul Murphy, Downfield. Best Nett, Class 1, Sandy Reid, Carnoustie,. Best Nett, Class 2, Gordon McKie, St Andrews. Best Nett, Spring and Autumn combined, G. McKie, St Andrews. For the full list of prizewinners, check out the website www.biggacentralsection.org.uk

The golfing season is over for another year so I hope the weather is kind to us all as we spend the next few months, repairing the damage done this year and preparing for next season. It always amazes me when golfers think that this is our quiet time when it is anything but. At St Andrews the winter is always our busiest time with all the renovations and winter projects or improvements going on, even more so this winter as we complete final preparations for The Open next July. .

Gordon Moir

STRI course

STRI Ecology Course – 17 & 18 November 2009

Due to lack of interest, this course has now been cancelled.

Gordon

Around the Green

The section AGM will take place in the training rooms at Elmwood Golf Course on Monday 26th October. Full details are available on the website. That morning the section will be holding a seminar on disciplinary training at the same venue and at the time of going to press we still have a couple of spaces available. This is an ideal course for Course Managers or Head Greenkeepers and their Deputies who have to deal with staffing issues. It will take people through the correct procedure in carrying out disciplinary investigations and hearings, thereby avoiding costly mistakes to both the employee and the employer. Subsidised by BIGGA HQ, the ½ day course costs £55. To secure one of the remaining places contact me on gmoir@standrews.org.uk asap. More details are available on the website www.biggacentralsection.org.uk along with details of the STRI ecology course in November for which we are starting to receives some names for. The Section autumn outing will have been held by the time you read this and the results will be on the website and appear in the next edition of the magazine.

Gordon Moir

Annual General Meeting

Dear Central Section Member,

The sections Annual General Meeting will take place on Monday 26th October 2009 at Elmwood College Golf Course Training Room, which is located within the Maintenance Facility at 3pm.

If any member wishes to stand for election to committee if they can contact the Secretary Andrew Mellon by Wednesday 21st October.

A copy of the previous minutes and accounts will be available on the day.

Kind Regards

Gordon

Golf Course Environment Awards 2009

Congratulations to all the squads at St Andrews Links Trust who have won the overall achievement award in this years Golf Course Environment Awards.

All the staff have worked hard over the past few years in promoting sustainable management of the courses at St Andrews. In particular there has been a lot of work carried out on gorse removal and control across the dunes on the Jubilee Course, Graeme Taylor and his team have also introduced a reedbed wash down facility in the past few months which has been seen as an impressive environmental project.

Congratulations to the competition representative, Graeme and indeed all of the staff for achieving such a high accolade.

As part of the award Graeme will embark on a study tour in the States early next year.

Well Done from all in Central Section !

Gordon.

September Around Green Report

By now I hope that everyone is through the worst of the summer growth ! This summer has produced some fine dry weather but lots of heavier showers which along with the heat has produced some testing growing conditions for us all in the area.

This month will see our Autumn Outing visiting Crieff Golf Club on 17th September and by now you should have received your invitation to this event and we look forward to seeing you all in the middle of the month for what will be another great golfing day at a fabulous course.

We now can confirm a date and venue for the STRI Ecology Course, which will be held at Gleneagles on 17 & 18 November 2009. The course will include sessions on grassland management, heather management, ponds 7 water features as well as trees and woodlands, so there is plenty there to interest all golf courses. Anyone interesting in attending this course can find more details on the website www.biggacentralsection.org.uk . Coming up on 2nd December we will have another course looking at how to carry out effective staff appraisals, this course will be held in the Old Course Hotel.

Gordon Moir

Norrie Whittock Trophy 2009

STRI Ecology Course - UPDATE.

Please find updated details of our STRI Ecology Course below, you will notice that there has been a change to the cost per delegate which is due to the costings for lunch & refreshments through the duration of the 2 days. I believe this still represents good value for money in allowing us to bring a very reputable organisation to our section to deliver this course.

Gordon McKie

Integrating Ecology Into Your Golf Course Management

17th & 18th November 2009,

Gleneagles Hotel, Perth-shire

This one & a half day training workshop is aimed at greenkeepers and golf course committee members who have an interest in ecology. The workshop includes both classroom based learning and an outdoor practical session on one of the golf courses at Gleneagles. Subject topics which will be covered during the workshop will include:

Intoducing Rough

Scrub Control

Woodland Management

Heathland Management

Water Feature Management

Waste Management and Energy Efficiency

Cost: £200 per delegate

Price includes all training materials and lunch / refreshments on both days.

Anyone interested in attending please contact gordon.mckie@standrews.org.uk or gordon.moir@standrews.org.uk to register their interest.

Disciplinary training.

To download the flyer for the above course please go HERE

August Report.

Congratulations to George Brown and the team for a great Open and everyone in the Central Section wishes both George all the best for his future and Euan Grant, his successor, the same. I’m sure we’ll still see and hear of George for a few years yet despite him being put out to (green and stripey) grass!

The main focus of the report this month is the education events the section is running for you, the members. We really need your support for these to be a success as we cannot afford to run them at a loss, therefore if we cannot get adequate names we will have to pull the plug on them. We appreciate times are tough on the economic front but we have secured subsidies from the BIGGA education fund and the cost of attending these events have been dramatically reduced from what people would normally have to pay. Training is often the first thing to be shelved when money is tight but the most successful companies don’t take that view and realise the long term benefit providing good education to their staff brings.

We have training on how to conduct investigations and disciplinary meetings in October on the morning of the AGM, a two day environmental course in November and how to carry out staff appraisals in December.

Full details are on the website www.biggacentralsection.com please support us and make the events a success by enrolling for these classes now.

Gordon Moir

Education details.

Details of future educational events, may be found on our Education page.

July Report.

Hopefully by the time you read this the weather and the season has been kind to you and everything is picking up. I know the rough really shot up on our courses towards the end of May so that’s the current cry from golfers at the moment. Communication is a funny thing, we are often accused of not giving our members enough information about what we are doing so recently at the Links Trust we started to email a database of our season ticket holders work which we thought they might find interesting and when they so something out of the ordinary they would know what it was and why we were doing it. One such email explained why we were cutting the rough back and scarifying it on part of the 17th of the Old Course. Within 2 hours, one season ticket holder had called the Daily Mail, but of course not with the correct facts. The result was the Mail ran an incorrect story on the Saturday and most of the Sunday papers ran the same incorrect story the next day. At the time of writing another has contacted a golf magazine complaining because he doesn’t want to understand the facts. Sometimes it makes you wonder if it is worth it.

Back on the hickory golf and some of the staff at St Andrews had an outing to the Kingarrock course near Cupar where for your £20 green fee you get a set of hickory clubs, 3 golf balls, a history lesson, a dram, ginger beer, shortbread and 9 holes of golf. Great fun, more info on www.biggacentralsection.org.uk where you will also find Jon Wood won the winter photo competition and more details about the education courses we are running this coming winter

Gordon Moir

2 day golf ecology course.

Details of this excellent course can be found on our education page.

Gordon

Scottish National Tournament results

SCOTTISH NATIONAL TOURNAMENT CATHKIN BRAES GOLF CLUB THURSDAY 11 JUNE 2009.

PRIZE LIST

SGGA Challenge Cup Scratch Champion

Name; Gordon Sangster Club; Cathkin Braes GC Score; 70

Friendship Trophy Best Net Handicap Champion Name; Elliott Gaughan Club; Haggs Castle GC Score: 65

Ransomes Trophy First Class Name; Archie Dunn Club; Auchterarder GC Score 71 (BIH)

2nd William McMeiken Club; Turnberry Hotel Score 71

3rd Kenneth Stirling Club; Kingsbarns Score 71

Pattison Trophy Second Class Name; Duncan Gray Club; Pines GC Score 67

2nd Gary Semple Club; St. Andrews Links Score 72

3rd Jim Wilson Club; Langlands GC Score 73 (BIH)

STRI Trophy Third Class Name; Gordon McKie Club; St.Andrews Links Score; 73

2nd William Kelly Club; Haggs Castle GC Score; 75

3rd Kevin Cross Club; Williamwood GC Score; 77 (BIH)

Dick Aitken Trophy Best Head Greenkeeper Name; Alan Patterson Club; St.Andrews Links Score; 72 (BIH)

M & M Trophy Best Assistant Name; Craig Wylie Club; Glasgow GC Score; 70

Souter Trophy Best Apprentice Name; Brian Ramsay Club; Glasgow GC Score; 75

SIGGA Trophy Best Veteran Name; Kenneth Mitchell Club; St.Andrews Links Score; 73

St.Mungo Trophy Team Trophy (Best 4 net scores) Section; West

Name; Elliott Gaughan Club; Haggs Castle GC Score; 65 Name; Craig Wylie Club; Glasgow GC Score; 70 Name; Gordon Sangster Club; Cathkin Braes GC Score 71 Name; Douglas McIntosh Club; Cathkin Braes GC Score 72 Total; 278

Patrons/Trade Name; Alistair Eccles British Seed Houses Score; 66

Qualifiers National Tournament; Scratch ; Gordon Sangster Club; Cathkin Braes GC Handicap; Elliott Gaughan Club; Haggs Castle GC.

Gordon

June Report

The section held a very enjoyable spring outing at Scotscraig GC on 30 April and would wish to thanks Scotscraig for allowing us to be their guests for the day and congratulate Course MAnager George Pendrich for having the course in such fine condition. 48 players competed including 4 retired greenkeepers from Sweden who happened to be in the area for the week and came along as guests. The principal prizewinners were:- Scratch, Archie Dunn, Auchterarder 74. Best handicap, Iain Sinclair, St Andrews, 75-8= 67. Caterory 1 hcp winner, Gordon Moir, St Andrews, 77-4-73 and category 2 hcp winner, Gordon McKie St Andrews, 89-16=73. Messers Sinclair and McKie won the best two combined scores from the same club and Quentin Allardice from TIS Scotland won the trade prize. The full results can be found on our website www.biggacentralsection.org.uk Finally, a special thanks to Siobhan Allardice for helping get the players off and with the cards at the finish.

The section have a couple of educational events played for the autumn where we really require the support of the members. First up is a half day disciplinary training course for course managers, head greenkeepers or deputies and this will take place at Elmwood on 26 October, prior to the agm. It will take you through the process of investigating an incident and determining if disciplinary action is required and how to follow the correct procedure.The trainers, Pitchblue Int, offer practical, easy to follow and essential advice, vital skills to those managing staff. Then in November we plan to stage a two day ecology management course run my Bob Taylor and other staff from the ecology unit of the STRI. This will be on exactly the same lines as the ones they run at Bingley every year which would cost an attendee something in the region of £700 to attend by the time they pay course fees, travel and accommodation. If we can get 20 to 25 people to commit, we would hope to run it for a cost of around £150. Graeme Taylor, course manager of the Jubilee course was an attendee last year and found it to be one of the best training courses he had been on with a lot of practical examples which he has been able to transfer on his golf course. More details of both courses will appear on the website shortly.

Gordon Moir

Hickory Golf

Last week myself along with 5 other colleagues from St Andrews went along to Hill of Tarvit on the outskirts of Cupar to experience the challenge of playing with traditional hickory clubs.

Kingarrock is part of the Hill of Tarvit estate and has it's own 9 hole course within the grounds.

Before our venture out on the course David Anderson who looks after the project gave us a very enthusiastic run through on the history of the project and what was trying to be achieved, when you play here you have to imagine you’re a guest of the Sharp family who owned the estate and enjoy the experience as if it were back in the early 1900's. You get to choose 5 clubs (a Spoon, 3 irons and a putter) and are loaned 3 balls which are specially made to replicate the distance the ball went in 1924, then we supped a quick dram to get us on our way.

I think it took us all a hole or two to get used to the clubs, but got there in the end and enjoyed a great afternoon’s experience.

On completion of our round we enjoyed a glass of ginger beer and shortbread, compliments of ' Daw Anderson' !

I would recommend everyone to give this a try at sometime !

More details about Kingarrock Hickory Golf can be found at Golf and Thistle

Gordon McKie

Spring Picture Competition

Congratulations to Jon Wood from St Andrews who has the Spring Photographic Competition with his picture of a sunrise over the Old Course on a winters morning.

Jon will be receiving his prize in the post shortly.

Thank you to everyone who submitted a picture and better luck next time.

Gordon

Visby GC.

A group from Visby GC, a redesigned course on the island of Gotland in the Baltic sea, visited Fife in early May on a study tour to gain knowledge of maintaining fescue grasses. Check out this wonderful course on Visby golf club

In the party was Petter Lindblad, the course manager and his head greenkeeper, Thomas Sjogern. They were accompanied by Matz Bengtsson the general manager of the club, Mikael Frisk the clubs agronomist and the designers who developed the reconstruction, 2002 Ryder Cup player, Pierre Fulke and former European Tour Adam Mednick, winner of the 2002 NW Ireland Open.

As well as meeting with Gordon Moir and Gordon McKie at St Andrews and John Philp and Sandy Reid at Carnoustie to discuss the maintenance programmes used on these courses they found some time to fit in a few games of golf at The Castle Course, the Old Course and at Carnoustie. The thing that was different though was the two professionals played all three rounds using hickory clubs and old style titlist wound balata balls (the oldest balls readily available today). At The Castle Course they managed a best ball of 3 over par in a match against Matz Bengtsson and Gordon Moir while at Carnoustie, Adam went round in 76 and on the Old Course Pierre 3 putted both 17 and 18 also for a 76, all pretty creditable scores in the stiff breezes that they encountered

The picture shows Petter Lindblad, Matz Bengtsson, Pierre Fulke and Adam Mednick as they prepare to tee of on the Old Course.

Gordon Moir

London Marathon.

Congratulations must go to a fellow greenkeeper and friend - Alan Strachan, Course Manager at Royal County Down who entered the London Marathon for the first time this year and completed the course in an amazing 3 hrs 5 mins and 52 secs ! Well done Alan - you are putting us all to shame. On top of that Alan managed to raise £4600 for charity.

Alan deserves a well earned rest now!

Gordon

May report.

The season is now well underway and at the time of writing, the weather through early spring has been with us for once so far in this part of the country. Although dry, it has probably been warmer than average with soil temperatures slightly ahead of normal. For the third year in succession we have had to apply water earlier than we would have ideally liked, purely to prevent the surfaces drying out too much. However, all indications are that it looks like it is going to be a tough year financially, with advance bookings of visitors down at many Clubs. Many Course Managers have reported their budgets at best have been frozen if not cut and I know a few courses where greens staff have left for various reasons and have not been replaced.

The section held an interesting seminar in March where Geoffrey Davison explained the principals of drainage, this was fairly well attended and I am sure everyone went away having learned something of value. I found his advice on the critical tension of sands particularly interesting. In April, we were also fortunate to be entertained and educated by Stan Zontek of the USGA Greens section, John Kaminski of Penn State and Lane Tredway of North Carolina State. Stan is a regular visitor to this area and we are fortunate to have someone of his experience and knowledge willing to come and present to us.

Finally, our best wishes go to Roddy Barron, Course Manager of the Strathtyrum Course at St Andrews Links who accepted voluntary redundancy in April after 35 years working for the Links Trust. Roddy is now hoping to spend more time with his other love, (no not Lorna) piping. An excellent piper, he plans to increase his teaching but I'm sure he will also manage to fit in a little bit more fishing, gardening as well as seeing more of Lorna !

Gordon Moir

April report.

Over 50 Course Managers, Greenkeepers, Golf Club Committees and members from some Trade organisations attended a seminar at The Castle Course organised by STRI and supported by The Scotts Company. Entitled “ The Art of Objective Greenkeeping” those present heard some excellent deliveries from Richard Windows, Henry Bechelet, Andy Cole, Alistair Beggs, Lee Penrose and Kelly Harmar. As well as a brief course walk at the end of the day there was also a demonstration and explanation of a few new tools which will shortly be available to help put objective figures to turf firmness and surface smoothness.

The next event we have planned is an evening seminar from Stan Zontek of the USGA greens section, John Kaminski of Penn State and Lane Tredway of North Carolina State Uni. They are over in the UK on a fact finding study tour (it involves beer and golf) and have kindly agreed to come along to the training room at Elmwood College at 7pm on the 23rd April. These three have a wealth of knowledge in research and experience and some of the subjects they hope to cover would be how putting green management influences disease activity, how management has changed over the past 20 years and the effect climate change is having on our greens. This should be a great night with plenty of opportunity for questions.

You should shortly receive our annual newsletter (if you haven’t already done so) along with the entry form for the Spring Outing at Scotscraig. The Committee would again ask you reply quickly if to plan to attend the outing and please send your cheque with your entry form as we will not accept money on the day, no pay = no play !

Finally, we have a number of events lined up for the autumn. On 26 October on the morning of the AGM we have a training course on disciplinary procedures, how to structure them and follow the correct procedure. On 17 and 18 November we plan a two day Ecology Course with assistance from STRI, and on 2nd Dec a half day course on carrying out staff appraisals. We are hoping to secure some funding for some of these but most of all we need your support.

Gordon Moir

USGA Green Section Seminar.

Please goto our Education page to find details of the latest USGA Green section seminar.

Gordon

Construction of the Railway sleeper bunker on Balcomie Links.

In the 1930’s this bunker used to be a railway sleeper bunker and their has always been talk of reinstating the bunker to something how it used to look, so we took on this job in house with over 150 Railway sleepers used to build the bunker and 2 new chains for the chainsaw.

As you can see we had a lot of digging and preparation work to do .

All the sandy soil that has been dug out will be reused for other winter programs far too good to waste.

The digging work completed

That’s us got a start to getting the sleepers in place and all the sleepers will be strapped to each other top and bottom to help secure them in place.

The ends were a bit tricky to turn the sleepers so to keep the same angle on the face, as you can see we had to cut sleepers into wedge shape to create the curve.

That’s the front of the face complete which was the hard work now it’s to complete the rear of the bunker with smaller cut sleepers.

At the planning stage it was asked to keep the bunker as two to stop sand blowing through, so we built a sleeper bridge and steps through the middle of the bunker which acts as another walkway.

To the left of the bunker we added in sprinklers as this area was always very dry.

Bunker completed

Bob

Old Course Staff Visit Turnberry.

With The Open coming to St Andrews next year one of my staff training plans for this winter was to get my staff down to Turnberry for a look around the facilities and speak to George Brown and his staff about preparations for this year’s Open in July.

We all set off bright and early from St Andrews with a few pick ups on the way and arrived in Turnberry just before 10am.

When we arrived we were duly greeted by firstly Euan Grant and then George joined us as everyone was getting ready for the overcast weather above and kitting themselves out with waterproofs etc. We all gathered in George & Euan’s office where George told a few stories and briefed us on developments at Turnberry and we were able to ask questions on what has been going on around course and the developments with the facilties as well

Turnberry was taken over by Leisurecorp and Troon Golf towards the end of last year and has seen them invest heavily in the hotel with £35M being earmarked to bring the hotel alone up to the standard that the new owners would expect. The Ailsa Course, which hosts this years 138th Open Championship has been closed since November and will remain closed until July, the only golf the course will see is the odd committee match and sponsors day. One interesting fact from a greenkeepers perspective is the fact is that Leisurecorp and Troon Golf have there own agronomists and obviously the R&A work with STRI, 3 agronomical opinions for the price of 1!

We started our tour of the course on the 1st tee of The Ailsa and walked the first fairway and my first comment would be that considering all the rainfall in last few days and the course having been closed since November the conditions were still very firm underfoot. The further we got out the course the firmer the conditions became.

George and his team have re-built around 50 bunkers this winter in preparation for the tournament.

One project which has been implemented on the course for The Open was at the 16th hole where the whole fairway has been shifted to the left to create a dogleg and some length onto the hole as well as enable the staff to build a new 17th tee and some further length to this hole as well. The staff lifted all the previous fairways turf and transferred to new layout and the same with the rough and created a great hole.

Once our tour of the course was completed we enjoyed some lunch with George and Euan and a further few stories before we headed back to sheds where we said our goodbyes and wished them both a successful Open when it arrives.

I must thank both George & Euan for taking the time out of a busy time to show us around and pass on some inspirational knowledge to my staff who I know enjoyed the day.

Gordon

Education Events 2009 .

Please goto our Education page to find a list of this years educational seminars.

Gordon

Around the Green Notes – Scottish Region, Central Section .

I am sure you will all by now be coming to the end of your winter programmes and hopefully now looking forward to some more better weather this coming spring. Certainly at St Andrews it has been a busy winter period with the guys having done an excellent job in re-building our bunkers in preparation for next years Open.

My own staff and I will be heading down to Turnberry for a course visit to see how preparations are going for this years Open, check out the website to see how things went !

At the end of February many of the section members enjoyed a great and very informative day at The Castle Course where STRI held their latest seminar “ The Art of Objective Greenkeeping “, this was very well attended with over 50 members being in attendance, a big thanks to Richard Windows, Henry Bechelet, Andy Cole, Lee Penrose and Alastair Beggs for a great days education and also to Gary Smith from Scotts for so kindly sponsoring the day.

The committee has been working hard over the winter months putting together an educational programme for the coming year and hopefully full details will shortly be available on the website

You will shortly be receiving our annual newsletter along with the spring outing invitations to Scotscraig Golf Club on 30th April.

The annual Scottish Conference was held recently at Carnegie College in Dunfermline where we all again enjoyed some quality speakers, well done to all concerned and to Peter Boyd for organising such an excellent day and to some of the committee who assisted in organisation of the day in Peter’s absence.

Towards the end of March we shall be holding an evening seminar on drainage, look out for details nearer time on website.

Anyone who has any information which they would like included in the “ Around the Green “ section they can e mail Gordon Moir

Gordon

BIGGA Membership Categories streamlined .

From April 1, 2009 BIGGA will be streamlining the membership categories. Currently, a member has from over 20 fee structures to choose from and this will be simplified to 10. Why the change? To improve administration procedures within the BIGGA Membership Department, to help new and existing members when renewing and joining the Association and to help simplify the administration for employers who pay their greenkeepers subscriptions by reducing the number of categories. If you are a Greenkeeper member of BIGGA you can now access a new members benefit, the Greenkeepers Support Service, a stress helpline, 0800 174 319.

Full details can be found on BIGGA website on members page.

Gordon

Scottish Education Conference 2009.

Please goto our Education page for a report on this years Scottish Education Conference.

Gordon

BIGGA Links Up With CMAE.

BIGGA has signed an agreement with The Club Managers Association of Europe (CMAE) that could enable Course Managers to develop their careers and become Club Managers. The Certified Club Manager qualification is open to suitably experienced managers and involves a two-day review and examination focusing on key club management disciplines. To sit the CCM exam, greenkeepers must first attain a minimum number of CCM credits, for which membership of BIGGA plus previous professional education courses automatically counts. For more information about CCM, entry requirements and to download the registration form, visit: The Club Managers Association of Europe

Gordon

STRI Seminar.

About 50+ members from Central Section enjoyed a good days informative education at The Castle Course, St Andrews on Tuesday when STRI gave a days worth of talks on The Art of Objective Greenkeeping. A big thanks must go to Richard, Henry, Andy, Alastair, Lee & Kelly for a great days education and also to Gordon Moir, Allan Patterson & Trevor Harris for the course walk at the end of the day.

I think it would be fair to say that everyone who attended enjoyed the day and the passionate way in which all the speakers put their talks across.

Gordon

New Tower Sport ( Europe ) Distribution Agreement for Scotland.

Pictured are both David Goldstone of Tower Sport (Europe) Ltd and Alex Cruickshanks of Turftec Agronomy after agreeing an exclusive sole distribution agreement throughout Scotland.

Alex better know when wearing his Daval Industrial Products hat, but since setting up Turftec Agronomy, has enjoyed huge success in the Scottish amenity marketplace. To further enhance the product portfolio it was decided to utilise Tower's specialist knowledge when looking at wetting agents, as well as many other water management products developed and used successfully throughout Tower's European distribution network.

Alex said "this now gives our customer base the opportunity to have a one stop shop, with a technical back up thanks to Tower of being second to none. This also provides our customers with the most up to date and technologically advanced products in the market today"

A delighted David Goldstone enthused " having built up the some very prestigious clients throughout Scotland, Turftec are ideally placed to maximise the potential of the product range whilst providing a distribution service second to none.

Turftec can be contacted on 01563-521672.

Gordon

Another New Sponsor for Central Section .

We are delighted to announce a new sponsor for our website. RHA 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 gordon@biggacentralsection.org.uk.

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

Gordon

Magazine Report

There is very little to report from the Central section this month. We are holding a one day seminar which is likely to be on 24th February. This will be a follow up on the Disturbance Theory Seminar which we held in early 2007. Richard Windows, Henry Bechelet and Andy Cole will be the presenters and the purpose is to expand on the 2007 seminar with those attending providing feedback on their experiences, what has worked, what they would do a little differently, etc. believe a similar event took place at Cannington College at the end of 2008 and proved very successful and the West Section are holding one on the 25th February at Loch Lomond. Details for our one have still to be finalised, timings, meals, etc as well as the venue, although it will either be at Gleneagles or The Castle Course. By the time you read this, these details will be available on the website.Details here

Also, while you are freezing your bits off reading this, spare a though for those section members who are in sunnier climes, Willie Jardine and Scott Finlay, of St Andrews, will be in Australia where they have gone to work for a year starting with a placement at The Metropolitan Club.

Gordon Moir

Construction of the 7th medal tee on Balcomie Links

The 7th medal tee was in need of being enlarged to give us more teeing space for medal markers and on occasions the yellow markers. By putting the yellow's back on this tee, hopefully will help in speeding up play on the course, as this seems to be a continuous problem on busy days. We decided to use railway sleepers along the rear and side of the tee, this was to help support the tee because it is on a bank, and would allow us to widen the teeing area.

The railway sleepers were fastened together by used bottom blades from our cylinder mowers and we also used 6’ lengths of angle bar driven into the ground then fastened to the sleepers.

We have installed all the railway sleepers first to give us our level for the tee, which is 4” higher than the existing tee.

That’s all the sleepers in place; next job is to strip old turf away then drive soil to get the tee to a rough level before driving in screened topsoil. All the soil had to be driven out by small utility vehicles as the tee path is not wide enough for tractors or trailers, 50 tonnes of soil was required which took time to drive out and also we started to get wear and tear on the course by the utility vehicles.

Tee levelling nearly complete, just tramping and raking required.

We have had to add a small ramp at front for allowing golfers/machines on and off the tee, the tee will be cut by a hand mower only when it’s back in play.

Another job was to re-position the existing sprinkler and add another sprinkler to achieve a better water coverage over the new tee and walkway.

Job complete, it took us a total of 15 days to complete which included re-pointing the dyke that runs along side the tee.

Bob

Golf Trophies!

If any member has a golf trophy, which they have won at a section event, either at the Spring Outing, or Autumn Outings in 2008,then the committee are wishing that all trophies be returned. This is to allow us, to carry out an audit, and look into updating the engraving on these trophies.

If any member has any of these in their person, and if they can arrange to get it dropped off to a committee member before next Tuesday we would very much appreciate it.

Gordon

Scottish Conference

The 2009 BIGGA Scottish Region Conference will take place at the Carnegie Conference Centre, Carnegie College, Dunfermline on Tuesday 3 March, 2009.

This year’s speakers include :

• Mark Hunt, Technical Director, Headland Amenity; -
  Sustainability – there’s two sides to every coin
• David MacIndoe, Course Manager, Killarney G&FC, Ireland. –
  A Challenging form of Greenkeeping
• Steve Isaac, Director Golf Course Management,
  R&A; - Oh, no – not the S word
• Laurence Pithie, Group Golf Courses Manager, Crown Golf; -
  Managing golf courses more effectively
• Stuart Staples, International Technical Manager, Scotts International –
  Using integrated turf management to improve turf quality
• David Cole, Superintendent/Estate Manager, Loch Lomond. –
  Preparing, planning and carrying out actions in a Management Plan

Tickets cost £34, which includes Tea/Coffee on arrival, coffee/pastry at the mid morning break and buffet lunch.

Full details and booking from will be posted to all members in Scotland and further forms can be obtained by contacting Peter J. Boyd, Regional Administrator on Tel: 0141 616 3440 or email Peter Boyd

Gordon

E Mail Addresses !!

Do you have an e mail address ? If you do we are keen to send information on section events from seminars to golf outings to you by e mail.

Send your e mail address to Gordon McKie and we will add your address to our mailing list

Many Thanks

Gordon.

New Stress Helpline for BIGGA Members

BIGGA has launched a new Stress Helpline for its members.

The new phone line, which opened on January 1, gives direct access to trained counsellors who can offer support on matters that are causing concern to greenkeepers. These can range from employment worries to bullying in the workplace as well as any issue that can cause concern. This service can extend beyond a single telephone call to a series with further support available if required. The new service comes as part of the membership package for a full BIGGA member and does not involve any additional costs.

Gordon.

BIGGA AGM

The BIGGA AGM will be taking place during Harrogate Week, in the Queen’s Suite on Wednesday, January 21 at 5.15pm. The importance of your attendance cannot be voiced enough. By now you should have received a letter containing the Agenda for the AGM and information regarding a change to the Association’s constitution. If you haven’t received your letter you can contact BIGGA HOUSE Tel: 01347 833800 or visit the BIGGA Website .

If you are going to be in Harrogate on Wednesday it is your chance to voice any concerns you may have.

Gordon.

Construction of a new burn on Balcomie Links

It was passed by Committee to open up a burn across the course from the middle of the 10th fairway, across the 11th & 12th fairways, along the rear of 1st green and along the rear of the 2nd tees in an old style Condie type drain, this would help toughen up these holes and add more character to the course, this job was under taken by ourselves ‘the greenkeeping’ team. The job will be done in 2 sections and over 2 winters, first section would be from the 10th fairway to the 12th fairway and the 2nd section would be from the 12th fairway to the beach.

The first job was to excavate down to the old Condie, half of the Condie has already been replaced with pipe over the years

The existing pipe had to be pulled out and another channel dug to allow water to flow to beach this will keep the new channel dry to allow us to build new Condie

As you can see we are building it from scratch, we are using old stone from which we retrieved from an old farm wall which will give the look that I’m looking for old and traditional. The floor of the Condie is 4” thick concrete which should make it easier to sweep out and maintain.

Condie walls were built from scratch

We shaped the burn banks so that railway sleepers could be used for bridges for Golfers to cross.

Instead of continuing the burn right to the beach we stopped short by 10 metres and added a pipe with a cape that will allow water to flow one way out to the beach and will stop any sea water and debris coming up the pipe when we get our high tides.

At last job complete, this area was kept ground under repair for 2 months to allow all turf to grow in.

Above - view from 12th bridge to beach and below - view from 12th fairway across to 11th fairway

Bob

EU pesticides proposals passed

Legislation that will mean stricter rules on the use of pesticides throughout the European Union has been passed on 13 January.

MEPs voted for the proposed pesticides legislation in the European Parliament today.

The European Parliament passed the proposals for a Regulation on the Placing on the Market of Plant Protection Products by 577 votes for and 61 votes against. The Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive was passed with 624 votes in favour, 13 against.

An amendment calling for an EU-wide impact assessment before the rules come into force, drafted by the HTA and CPA (Crop Protection Association) and proposed by UK MEP Robert Sturdy, was pulled from the vote late last night for procedural reasons.

Under the new Europe-wide rules, pesticide use will be either forbidden or severely reduced if close to schools, parks or near hospitals.

The new rules will outlaw substances that are potentially cancerous (carcinogenic), as well as ones that are harmful to human reproduction, to genes (genotoxic) or those that impact adversely on hormone production (endocrine-disrupting).

A temporary definition for endocrine-disruptors has been criticised by lobby groups, including the HTA, NFU and CPA.

The vote followed a debate in Strasbourg on 12 January, after compromise was reached on the rules following weeks of trialogue discussions between representatives from the European Commission, Council and Parliament.

Irish MEP Avril Doyle said: "We are bringing EU legislation into international disrepute by a lack of good science."

German Green MEP Hiltrud Breyer said: "It is a win-win for industry because in the future there will be better and safer products."

But UK MEP Robert Sturdy disagreed: "If we are going to ban these products in the EU, what are we going to do about imports coming in?"

The rules will come into force in 2010.

Gordon.

“The Art of Objective Greenkeeping & Environmental Management”

The STRI, in association with BIGGA Central Section and The Scotts Company, would like to invite you to a seminar at The Castle Course, St Andrews on the 24th February 2009.

Please follow the link to the education page where more details can be found.

This seminar will be limited to 50 attendees.

All interested members should contact Gordon Moir by e mail gordon.moir@standrews.org.uk or by phone 01334 466603 / 07850 139799 to book their place at this seminar.

Gordon.

New Toro Deal for St Andrews.

St Andrews Links has recently renewed its Toro agreement, with Links Superintendent, Gordon Moir, saying that the Toro equipment the 'Home of Golf' exclusively uses to maintain its greens and tees has "proved extremely reliable and allowed the Links Trust to present the golf courses to the standard golfers expect ."Comprising seven courses, the world-famous St Andrews Links in Fife sustains more than 200,000 rounds of golf a year and so it is crucial that the courses are immaculately maintained. "Many golfers view their trip to St Andrews as a pilgrimage and have very high expectations. It is vital, therefore, that we present the courses in the best condition we can every day of the year - not just for The Open or the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship."

St Andrews Links Superintendent Gordon Moir, left, and Lely's Jeff Anguige, with, standing, Links General Manager, Alan McGregor.

Gordon.

New Members.

A welcome to two new members this month. Connal McKenna from Scotscraig and Grant Peters from Loch Lomond have joined the section. We hope that we will see both Connal & Grant at section events in the future.

A warm welcome to you both from all in Central Section.

Gordon.

Letter from Canadian Student Greenkeeper of Year.

Hi, I just wanted to send out a big thank-you to everyone who went out of there way to make my trip to the UK an experience of a lifetime. I really appreciated everyone taking time out of their busy schedules to give me a chance to see what golf is all about in Scotland and Northern Ireland. It has also been a great learning experience as I have had the chance to learn how to revett a bunker, gain knowledge in growing fescues, and just seeing how golf courses are run on this side of the ocean. It was a privilege to meet all the great people in the turfgrass industry and have a chance to see some of the most beautiful golf courses in the world. Coming over here has been a big eye opener for me as sustainability is at the forefront of most golf course management plans. You guys have really shown me you can produce top playing conditions while using minimal inputs. It is something I am going to advocate and work towards promoting when I get home.

Thanks again for making this trip truly a chance of a lifetime. I look forward to keeping in touch with all of you, and I know I will be back sometime in the future.

Cheers
Mitch Davidson.

Canadian Student Greenkeeper of Year.

Photography Competition.

The Committee of the Central Section has decided to run a photographic competition once again. All photograph’s should be submitted in JPEG format as an attachment to either Web administrator or Gordon McKie.

Any photo of the golf course scene or a project you may be working on.

It is hoped that we will award a couple of prizes for best photograph with or without caption in April & again in October.

The winner from each will receive a £25 voucher.

Get clicking!

Gordon

Magazine report.

Hopefully everyone had a good Christmas and New Year and that many of you are now looking forward to Harrogate.

The Section had a committee meeting at Elmwood on December 3 where a number of items were discussed with regards to staging both educational and social events for members. The committee are willing to try and put on anything the members would like but we do require a commitment from people to attend because most things have a cost implication and we cannot afford to run anything at a loss. All we want to do is break even on each event. Many of the courses we are considering are pitched at different levels, from the practical ones such as chainsaw certification, vermin control, A1 assessors qualifications, irrigation repairs and manual handling to more managerial ones for deputies and head greenkeepers/course managers such as disciplinary training, writing risk assessments, team building or an environmental workshop, etc.

Some members would just like a social event so we are willing arrange a ten pin bowling evening or a curry night with a guest speaker, whatever is suggested – just contact your committee. Something we have re introduced are the two competitions last held a couple of years ago, a photo competition and a funny story competition. There will be a £25 prize in each category to be decided in April and again in October, full details of both, the rules and how to enter are on the website. Many of the trophy winners from last years golf outings will be contacted by members of the committee and asked to return the trophies to Andy Mellon at Elmwood as soon as possible. This is because many haven’t been engraved for a number of years and we would like to get them up to date as they are an important part of the sections history. Finally, we intend sending a newsletter out around the end of March along with the entry form for the spring outing which will be at Scotscraig GC on 30th April. Hopefully, by then we will have a list of events with dates and costs for next autumn and winter,

Gordon Moir

Local Greenkeepers off to pastures new.

2 local greenkeepers from the section are leaving the area and heading to Australia for a year. Willie Jardine & Scott Finlay have both decided to head down under to gain some experience in a different climate for a year. Both lads have been working with myself on The Old Course.

Best of luck to both

Gordon

Happy New Year.

Happy New Year to all in the Central Section from your committee, all the best for 2009.

Gordon

New Orleans Trip Postponed.

Unfortunately Derek Robson has informed me that his trip to New Orleans with Bernhard's has been postponed due to the current economic climate. It is hoped thgat the trip will be re-organised for 2010 when the GCSAA Show will be in San Diego.

Gordon

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all Central Section members, hope you all have a great holiday season.

Gordon

Central Section Member Wins trip to New Orleans .

Derek Robson from the Dukes Course in St Andrews has won a trip to the GCSAA Show in New Orleans in February next year. Derek will be a guest of one of the sections sponsors Bernhard's.

Well done to Derek and we look forward to hearing all about your trip when you return.

Gordon

Another New Sponsor for Central Section .

We are delighted to announce a new sponsor for our website. British Seed Houses 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 gordon@biggacentralsection.org.uk.

Thanks once again to British Seed Houses and I hope that you will have a look at their website, links of which can be found at our sponsors page.

Gordon

Work exchange to the USA .

My working trip to Brookfield Golf & Country Club in Atlanta was such a great experience for myself and the Green staff at Brookfield. We exchanged lots of tips and routines we do on the courses so it has been a great benefit to both clubs. There were a lot of similarities but on the other hand a lot of differences. The staff and members were so welcoming which made me feel at home. There was another 2 candidates from different courses from Fife that were on the exchange but were going to different courses but we got to meet up on our day off which was spent site seeing in Atlanta. We went to the World of Coca Cola Tour and the CNN Tour and I got a great surprise from Geff who I was staying with he invited me to a football game which we had to get a private jet to get to the match.

The course is 18 holes which is tree lined with a driving range. The Greens are USGA spec and made up of a creeping bent grass which is a high maintenance grass because of the nature it grows and spreads which means lots of aeration work. The fairways, tees and surrounds are made up of Bermuda grass which is a very strong grass which can cope with the summer temperatures. They only use hand mowers on the greens because of the very quick build up of thatch which makes the greens very soft this is one of the negatives of using creeping bent grass and this is why they core their greens at least 3 times per year with a 5/8” hollow tine and topdressings which cause problems with keeping the cutting units sharp so they try to sharpen the hand mowers every 4 weeks during the season. One major difference I saw was the cutting heights which they cut their greens at compared to us, which are a lot lower than us with the traditional grasses we use plus the temperatures here it is impossible to do, I was shocked to hear that they apply a fungicide every 10-14 days through out the season in case of an out break of disease. The machinery is all John Deere - 11 hand mowers, 2 fairway mowers, 3 semi-rough cutters, 11 utility vehicles, 4 triple mowers for surrounds & tees, 4 tractors & 2 diggers etc. .

There is 14 full time staff on the course with another 9 on landscapes (gardens) which may need to help on course if required. The staff which consists of 3 qualified and the rest are labourers; they also have 1 full time mechanic to look after the fleet of machines. They try to pay good wages to keep staff moral up and also have BBQ’s through out the year and outings to help with motivation plus they get 40% off any goods from Pro shop.

Local clubs in the area and there staff levels:-

Cherokee Golf and Country Club – Green staff = 46 for 36 holes

Royal Lakes Golf and Country Club – Green staff = 10 full time with 4 seasonal for 18 holes .

Bob Meikle - Crail Golf Club

Patrons Lunch 2008 .

The Annual Patrons Lunch was held in Stirling on Thursday 4th December and two Central Section members were in attendance to collect their awards for the year. Kenny Mitchell ( Jubilee Course, St Andrews Links ) and Charlie MacDonald ( Crieff Golf Club ) were this years recipients from the Central Section. Kenny & Charlie receive 3 nights accomodation and travel expenses to BTME in Harrogate this coming January.

Congratulations to you both.

A big thank you must also go to all the Patrons from Scottish Region who support all the sections within the region on an annual basis. This support is very much appreciated, many thanks to all.

Gordon.

BIGGA National Golf Tournament - 2009 .

Next years BIGGA National Golf Tournament will be played at Burnham & Berrow Golf Club in Somerset on Monday 5th October & Tuesday 6th October 2009.

The last two years the event has been won by Central Section member David Simpson from Crieff, hopefully David will be able to defend his title and go for the "hat-trick" and maybe keep the trophy !.

Gordon.

New Chairman for BIGGA Scottish Board .

The Scottish Region has a new chairman, John Geddes ( North Section ) took over as Chairman on Tuesday with Stuart Taylor ( West Section ) taking over as John's Vice Chairman. Stepping down as Chairman is Stuart Greenwood from the East Section after his 2 year stint in office, Stuart will remain on the board as Past Chairman.

Archie Dunn remains as Board of Management member for the Scottish Region, Iain Barr ( Ayrshire ) will be Deputy Board Member. Iain MacLeod ( North ) stays as Education Officer with Fraser Ross ( West ) as Deputy Education Officer.

Congratulations to John on his appointment.

Gordon.

Toro Student Greenkeeper Finals .

Congratulations to Central Section member George Pendrich on reaching the Final of this years Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year. Unfortunately George did not win but what a great achievement on getting to that stage.

Well done George from all in the Central Section.

Gordon.

Two more awards for Castle Course .

The Castle Course in St Andrews has received two more prestigious international awards in its inaugural season.

The course has been recognised by Travel & Leisure Golf magazine in America as the New Course of the Year. It was also named International Development of the Year by Golf Inc magazine in America pipping the Els Club in Dubai to the title.

Well done to all concerned.

Gordon.

New Sponsor .

We are delighted to announce a new sponsor for our website. Farmura 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 gordon@biggacentralsection.org.uk.

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

Gordon.

BTME - Harrogate - January 2009 .

The Scottish Region is pleased to offer a package for the Holiday Inn, Harrogate. The accommodation is from Monday 19 January - Wednesday 21 January 2009 ( inclusive ) 3 nights Bed & Breakfast in en-suite rooms on 19, 20 & 21 January, 2009. Cost - £165.00.

All seminars are free of charge

Further details on .Harrogate Week website or in the 2009 Harrogate Week Booklet.

To obtain a booking form for the accommodation contact the Regional Administrator, Peter J Boyd on 0141 616 3440 / 07776 242120 or e-mail: pj.boyd@btinternet.com

Gordon.

National AGM Proposals .

During BTME at Harrogate in January, BIGGA Board of Management will put forward proposed changes to the constitution. The proposals are outlined by John Pemberton, BIGGA's Chief Executive in the two linked articles below.

GI article part 1

GI article part 2

(These files may take a few minutes to download.)

Please let us hear your feedback by E mail or through the forum

Gordon.

New Appointment at Turnberry .

Congratulations to former committee member Euan Grant on his appointment as Course Manager at Turnberry. Euan will be working alongside George Brown in the run up to next years Open Championship at Turnberry and will then take full responsibility for both The Ailsa & Kintyre Courses.

Welcome back to the club Euan !

Gordon .

Central Section Member Wins BIGGA National Championship.

Congratulations to David Simpson, of Crieff GC, who became the first man to successfully defend the BIGGA National Championship. David a +1 handicapper clinched the title in a rain-affected event at East Sussex National with a gross score of 74. David, also won the event at Dundonald and Kilmarnock Barassie last year.

Well done David from all in Central Section.

Gordon

Coastal Protection at St Andrews.

St Andrews Links have recently undertaken two fairly large projects related to coastal protection. In October, a beach nourishment programme was carried out by the Torith group where 14,000 cubic metres of sand was transported from a spit at the mouth of the Eden estuary a kilometre away and deposited adjacent the dune alongside the 8th fairway of the Jubilee Course to replace the material washed away by he tide over the past 7 years. This was very much a repeat of what was done in 2001 and to get 7 years out of the work, although costly, was a pleasant surprise because there was a feeling that it would all disappear in year one. The work took one week to complete. Using 2 x 13 tonne 360 machines to load 6 x 20 tonne Moxy’s and one dozer to spread the sand on the recipient site, Torith worked with the tide each day, waiting until the tide went out sufficiently to allow them to get to the spit where they scraped the sand from over a large area rather than dig a hole.

Carrying out the work by this method ensured that the tide returned the area each night to a stage where any work undertaken wasn’t noticeable. At the end of the project, a strip 3 metres wide was fenced off and marram grass transplanted from the neighbouring dunes by our own staff to help stabilise part of the area.

Carrying out the work was the easy part. Because the Eden estuary is an Area of Special Conservation and a SSSI, the planning process took almost 18 months to obtain. St Andrews Links had to commission consultants to provide various reports and get agreement from SNH, SEPA and FEPA amongst others before being granted planning permission. The School of Geography and Geosciences at St Andrews University have been monitoring this area by GPS every 3 months on behalf of the Links since around 1998 and because of the data they had collected we were able to provide a lot of the information required to help with the planning process. The whole project was paid for by St Andrews Links as we were unable to obtain a ny grants towards the work.

In early 2008, St Andrews Links also commissioned the School of Geography and Geosciences at St Andrews University to provide a report into coastal flooding and sea surges which could be caused by rising sea levels over the next 100 years. This was as a result of the Floodmap for Scotland published by SEPA in 2007 which predicted that large costal and rivermouth areas of Scotland would be under water in an extreme event in the next 50 years and was widely carried in various newspapers. SEPA subsequently acknowledged that their information was seriously flawed and out of date and the University’s report highlighted that and that the risk of flooding was minimal.

The other project undertaken was to replace a 220m section of gabion baskets which ran along the estuary immediately behind the 7th and 11th greens and 12th tee of the Old Course. These baskets were first installed in the early to mid 70’s to prevent erosion and after 30 odd years were coming to the end of their lifespan with much of the wire rotting and the stones falling out.

The work was undertaken by our own staff with Torith supplying a 360 digger and an operator along with one of their staff experienced in gabion construction to train our own people. This work is very labour intensive with each basket being made from a “flatpack” and packed mostly by hand to ensure a minimum amount of gaps within each basket to prevent settlement of the stones. How the basket itself is built is important as this is reflected in the finished shape. We tried to use as much of the existing stone as possible but when we began, we realised that a lot of it was too small to be ideal and larger stone was bought in and used on the front face with the smaller stuff going behind.

Fortunately, although we were required to meet certain criteria to satisfy SNH, because it was a maintenance job rather than a new project we did not require planning permission. In all the bulk of this work took 4 weeks with usually 7 or 8 people on the job, plus some tidying up to do at the finish. Next year we are scheduling in to do the remaining 350m in need of repair which runs alongside the 4th and 7th holes of the Eden Course.

Gordon Moir

Dates for the Diaries.

Scotsturf - 5 - 6 November 2008

BTME - 18 - 22 January 2008 ( Details of Scottish Region Package to follow shortly )

Scottish Conference - Carnegie College, Dunfermline - 4 March 2009

Spring Outing - Scotscraig Golf Club - 30 April 2009

Scottish National Golf Tournament - Cathkin Braes Golf Club - 11 June 2009

Gordon.

Castle Course award.

Congratulations to The Castle Course at St Andrews on a recent award !

The Castle Course was recently named 2008 Turf Professional Project of the Year for the quality of the greenkeeping work that was achieved in preparing the course for play. The award is decided by a panel from representatives from the Institute of Groundsman, BIGGA and leading turfcare journalists.

Well done to Allan Patterson and all the staff for a great achievement.

Gordon .

Annual General Meeting - Monday 27th October

The section AGM took place on Monday at Elmwood Golf Club.

Derek Scott stepped down from his time as section Chairman, a position he had held for the last 3 years. A big thanks to Derek for all his time and committment in this role.

The new Chairman is Gordon McKie from St Andrews Links, who accepted the role and proposed Derek Robson from The Dukes Course in St Andrews as his Vice Chairman.

Graeme Taylor has stepped from his role on committee but has agreed to continue to administer the website which we are very grateful for, also standing down is Alan Sharp who has left the area,we also thank Alan for the work he done in his time on committee.

Two members joined committee, Bob Meikle from Crail and Donald Gardner from Scoonie, we welcome both on board and hope they enjoy there time on the committee.

The full committee is as follows:

Gordon McKie - Chairman

Derek Robson - Vice Chairman

Andrew Mellon - Secretary/Treasurer

Derek Scott - Past Chairman

Archie Dunn - Board Member

Andy O'Hara

Gordon Moir

George Pendrich

Kevin Brunton

Brian Heggie

Bob Meikle

Donald Gardner

Gordon .

Aquadrop Seminar - 27th October 2008

Martin Heywood from Aquadrop was at Elmwood to-day to give our first seminar of the winter. Martin gave an informative talk on water quality issues and how they can be tackled.
A good turnout of members were there to hear all about what Quadrop can do to help reduce bi carbonate levels as well as adjusting pH levels in water to aid better performance of turfgrass.
Many Thanks to Martin for taking the time to come along to speak to us this afternoon.

Gordon .

AGM.

Please be aware that the central section AGM will be held at 1.30pm in the training room at Elmwood Golf Course on Monday 27th October. A seminar will also be presented by Martin Heywood.

Graeme

Road closure.

Please be aware that the A914 Cupar to Glenrothes road is currently closed for repairs (until Fri 29th August). Anyone attending the David Cole Seminar on Wed 20th should divert to the A91 St Andrews - Auchtermuchty road and turn off at the Springfield junction.

Graeme

Education / AGM update.

On Wednesday 10th September at 7pm we have Stan Kostka talking about wetting agent technology. Stan is Director of Research and Development with Aquatrols in the US and is on a visit to the UK. We are very fortunate to be able to attract people like Stan to come and share their knowledge with us and he comes on the recommendation of Richard Windows who recently attended a presentation by him. The event will be at the greenkeeping facility at Elmwood GC. This is also the venue for the Section agm which will be held on Monday 27th October at 1.30pm and will be held in conjunction with a presentation by Martin Heywood of Aquadrop who will talk on improving the quality of your irrigation water. There are a number of their installations across Scotland now including one at The Castle Course where we have been able to drop the bi carbonates from over 250mg/l to 150mg/l as well as lowering the ph.

The Committee will be proposing Gordon McKie of St Andrews Links as Chairman. Normally, Gordon would spend some time as Vice Chairman before taking the hot seat but with the departure of our current Vice, Alan Sharp, to Essex Gordon won’t have the luxury of easing himself into the job. The Committee are looking for nominations for a new Vice Chairman from October and would be pleased to receive nominations before the agm. Please contact the Secretary, Andy Mellon.

We would also be pleased top hear of any particular educational events you would like, particularly for late Feb/early March. The Committee were thinking of staging some management training on items such as Managing people, confidence building, assertiveness and team building. These courses are expensive to run so we would need some commitment before arranging them. We shall try and get some more exact costs and information and this will be posted on the website, where we would also be pleased to hear your thoughts and comments. The website has been quiet recently but hopefully it will pick up again now the golfing season is passing.

Seminar: 20th August 2008, 7pm Elmwood Golf Course.

Topic: Preparing for the Barclay’s Scottish Open

• History of the Scottish Open

Presented by David Cole – Golf Course Superintendent/Estate Manager, Loch Lomond Golf Club.

1 hour presentation, 1 hour networking!!

Castle Course Walk.

This event has unfortunately had to be cancelled.

Graeme

Results of Spring Outing.

Please goto our Golf Page to see the results of our Spring meeting to the excellent Lundin Links Golf Club

Castle Course Walk.

The next education event for members is a tour of The Castle Course at St Andrews Links which is due to open on 28th June and has been getting great reviews in many golf publications

The tour will take place on Tuesday 13th May starting at 4pm and will last approx 2 hours.

People attending should telephone 01334 466676 before the 13th to book their place as there is security on the entrance and unless we have a list of all the people coming they will not get entry to the site.

Once there, people should park at the maintenance facility. (directions from the security guard.) To get to the site take the A917 St Andrews – Crail road and it is approx 1.5 miles out of town.

Unfortunately, we have been unable to arrange for any play on the course but each Golf Club in Fife has been invited to send two people to a pre-opening day on Tuesday 24th June so there may be an opportunity for many of you to get a game through your golf club.

Gordon

Jim Finlayson

We are saddened to inform you that Jim Finlayson, a long serving committee member passed away on Sunday evening. Jim had been ill for quite some time, but despite this continued to work and present a brave and happy front to all his customers, and provided great support to the section, especially at our Golf outings. We would like to convey our condolences to Jim’s wife Margaret and his family at this difficult time. The funeral service will be held at Kirkcaldy Crematorium on Saturday 22nd March at 10.15am, and several committee members will be attending.

Andrew

Barenbrug Visit

Please visit our Education Page for a report on this excellent trip to the Barenbrug facility in Falkirk .

Graeme

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

Welcome

The Central Section Committee would like to welcome Ross Campbell to the association. We hope to see you supporting one of the many events on offer in the near future.

Graeme

Congratulations

Congratulations to Craig Wilson, the man mountain who works at St Andrews Links. Craig has been selected for the Scottish Under 20 Rugby squad.

Graeme

Barenbrug trip

All places have now been filled for the trip to the Barenbrug UK depot in Falkirk.

Graeme

Education Conference report

Please go to our Education page for a report on this years Scottish Conference

Graeme

Server change now complete!

We are pleased to inform you, that our site has now been successfully transferred over to a new server with more bandwidth. This will allow more people to access the site at one time and to prevent the site from crashing. I would like to extend a heartfelt thankyou to John Thomson, Managing Director of Roundtrip Solutions, for making this possible.

Graeme

New Sponsor

We are delighted to announce a new sponsor for our website. Aitkens 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 Aitkens and I hope that you will have a look at their websites, links of which can be found at our sponsors page

Graeme

200 000 Hits!!!!

For the first time since this website was created, we have crashed through the 200 000 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

Reminder for Barenbrug Falkirk visit.

Time is running out to register for this excellent educational opportunity. Barenbrug UK have kindly setup a visit and some presentations at Barenbrug Falkirk. Goto the Education page for more details and register your intention of going.

Graeme

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

Itinerary announced for Barenbrug Falkirk visit.

Barenbrug UK have kindly sent us the plan for the afternoon's events at Barenbrug Falkirk. Goto the Education page for more details and register your intention of going.

Graeme

New Sponsors

We are delighted to announce 2 new sponsors for our website. Both Headland Amenity and Symbio 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 Headland and Symbio and I hope that you will have a look at their websites, links of which can be found at our sponsors page

Graeme

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

Update from Canada

To-day was another busy day in the University of Guelph.

I started of with sitting in on a class on Human Resource Management which is fast becoming more and more of a job that greenkeepers need to gain knowledge on to help cover their backs. The class tutor to-day was a practicing Course Superintendent who like myself part - time lectures on various subjects. Dean Baker has had many experiences within the industry and a very experienced man on this subject. He was Course Superintendent at Glen Abbey Golf Club until 2000. During his time there he hosted the Canadian Open on 18 consecutive years.

I later sat in on a turf case study class where the 2nd year turf program students gave presentations on aspects of training issues within the golf club. I later attended a local golf club where I had lunch with the acting Dean of the University and the Chair of the Department of Agriculture.

After a relaxing and informative morning it was time for me to do some presenting myself. I took the Golf Design & Construction class for 1st & 2nd Year turf program students where we discussed the Evolution of the Old Course Bunkers.

After a short break I was off on my travels again, this time I had been invited out for dinner with the students Turf Club, which is basically a club where the Turf Program students meet every 2 weeks with a guest speaker is invited to talk a subject of relevance. After a enjoyable dinner with some beer we headed back to the classroom where I gave a presentation on my career development and passed on some tips on how they should get themselves into the industry shortly.

Tomorrow morning its back to classroom to attend the Turf Management III class and then I have a meeting with one of the turfgrass professors.

Gordon

Update from Canada

After a long and drawn out trip finally arrived in a snowy Canada.

The trip got off to a bad start when I was delayed in Edinburgh due to fog in London, sat on runaway for 11/2 hrs before getting off. Luckily when arrived in London not too much of a delay for onward trip. Finally got to Toronto around 5pm local time ( and that’s where the travel troubles started ) I would estimate the area has received around 40cm of snow in last 24 hrs, with temperature down around -10. Took us an estimated 2hrs to travel from airport (which is more than the expected norm) to my hotel in Guelph.

To-day Wednesday I start my real reason for being here which is to be part of an initiative Guelph University have implemented a couple of years ago which is a “ Greenkeper in Residence “ programme. So this morning I shall be attending the University and be sitting in on various turfgrass classes as well as giving some presentations to students. Topics of discussion with students to-day are Evolution of Old Course Bunkers & Environment - How we do it in UK. After all that I shall be giving a public lecture on Traditional Links Maintenance to members of the local community, students & staff of Guelph this evening.

Then I will need a beer !

Gordon

Sustainable water use

BIGGA Members

The HND course at Elmwood College is hosting a seminar on “Sustainable Water Use” at Piperdam Golf Resort on 12th March. Perhaps last year would have us think otherwise, but water is becoming a precious commodity and although the climate in Scotland is perceived to be a wet one there are issues relating to water use that bear discussion.

It is hoped to attract a mix of Greenkeepers, Club Committee Members and Students etc so please invite any interested parties at your club or venue to gain an understanding of one of the key challenges facing greenkeepers world-wide today.

If anyone has a question or issue that they would like raised at the seminar, they can forward it to the address or e-mail on the attached flyer. This can be done anonymously if necessary.

We hope you can take time out of your busy schedule to support this event and believe everyone can take something worthwhile away from it.

Hope to see you at Piperdam.

Regards

Elmwood HND Course

Barenbrug visit

Barenbrug have kindly offered to arrange a free visit to their depot in Falkirk. The lucky greenkeepers who attend this will be subject to a tour of the facility, followed by presentations from Barenbrug UK staff. The trip will start at 1.30pm on Wed 19th March at the Falkirk depot. Sandwiches and coffee's will be served during the visit. To register your interest please E mail myself at webadmin@biggacentralsection.org.uk Further details will be posted on this site.

Hope to see you there

Graeme

Golf Industry Show in the Sunshine State

George Pendrich, Student Member Central Section Committee

With Harrogate week over there was just time to repack the suitcase and head down to Gatwick along with the other two members from Scotland, Kerr Rowan and Ian Smith, to meet up with Kim Furnell of Bernhards and the rest of the BIGGA delegation.

The first day set the tone for the week with a visit to two venues that are at least temporary home to many players on the PGA Tour, Isleworth and Lake Nona Golf and Country Clubs. The staggering fleet of equipment and staff to man it seem a greenkeepers dream but to maintain a golf course as near to PGA Tour standard as possible all year round takes significant resources and failure to deliver is not an option.

After a full day seminar on preparing your course for tournaments including PGA Tour requirements, it was refreshing to get out on the field seminar on Wednesday to visit four more venues with Orange County National having 36 holes and the largest driving range in America all dedicated to returning reclaimed water to the water table with huge soak aways. Water management is fundamental to every superintendent operation in Florida and beyond.

The Golf Industry Show again showed the scale of the industry in USA with every conceivable part of the business demonstrated ten times over and all under one huge roof. The highlight of the week however was the Prestige Dinner where I had a phenomenal evening in the company of Troy Russell and Jim Haley both with new projects on the horizon.

Thanks to Bernhards, BIGGA and my nine colleagues, it was great.

Try it next year in New Orleans, it’s a trip of a lifetime!

George

We also wish George Patterson all the best in his move to Course Manager at The Moray, Lossiemouth

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)