- 2 days ago
Golf Monthly's Dan Parker gets a very early alarm call to join Jake Field and his team at Edgbaston Golf Club to see what it's like to be a greenkeeper! Dan gets properly hands on for a day, trying out various jobs including changing holes, bunker raking, measuring green speed, mowing approaches and ironing greens to see what it's like but also discover how techniques have become far more modern to ensure courses can be maintained to a high standard.
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SportsTranscript
00:00right good morning it is ten past five in the morning we're here at edgbaston golf club in
00:13the middle of birmingham today i'm going to be experiencing a day in the life as a green keeper
00:17hence that early start i'm going to get hands on with some of the stuff they do finding out
00:21what they do why they do it asking all the questions i'm sure you and i have about
00:26their day-to-day lives um it's early and that's fine i'm excited to get stuck in uh this is a good
00:31start
00:32right good morning i'm here with jake course my name is jake nice to meet you thank you for having
00:49us pal it's bright and early just seen the uh staff heading out into course we're going to go
00:53out in a minute follow them around see some of their stuff doing some of our own stuff what am
00:57i going to be getting up to today so dan i think we're going to have you uh repositioning a pin
01:01this morning exciting that's what i mainly came here for going to be ironing a green yes um mowing
01:07an approach and we're going to get you to do some bunker work for us which will hopefully get you
01:11sweating a little bit that's it i'm here to labor today but i'm here to find out a lot about how
01:15green keeping works you're going to be here to tell us you know the whys and the whats of what you
01:19guys do as well as some of the cutting edge uh technology that you guys use to uh sort of
01:23monitor the course and keep it in perfect condition it is now 10 to 6 which is fine it's a great time
01:29of day to start uh we're going to let it get a little bit lighter i think and then head on to
01:33the course awesome let's do it left out how do i get like that way so i turn to the left so that
01:39yeah and that will just send me yeah in that general direction yeah if you hit me got you yeah got you
01:46it's a real field thing isn't it to get the idea of it i mean you know i've had new guys it takes
02:14for quite a while to get to get used to it yeah so especially this time of year dan we're using it
02:20sort of alternative days so say we cut on a monday we'll roll on a tuesday and then work our way through
02:24the week like that just to help mitigate some turf stress this time of year during competition busy
02:30schedule times we generally cut and roll to help promote speed and ball roll it's a great bit of
02:35kit you know especially in the winter months when we're not really cutting so much but we still want
02:39to present a surface with the members and the visitors um yeah it's it's great for that time
02:44and so you'll use that on all the greens today instead of cutting so you'll cut tomorrow
02:47yeah absolutely and what will you have these guys rolling at today we'll do a bit of stint reading
02:52later i think but what have we got them at today so day to day i'd say they're probably around nine
02:56nine and a half yeah uh i'm probably playing that safe just in case they're a little bit slower
02:59and our members see some of this on that day yeah right jake my freshly ironed green yep now time
03:07for a stint measurement and you'll do this every morning uh once the greens have been ironed or cut
03:12depending on the day yeah absolutely so this just gives us an idea where we're at 10's ideal perfect
03:16for our day-to-day membership nine's a little bit slow but we have just raised the height of cut
03:21slightly on the greens um so i expect it to be around probably nine nine and a half um so what i've done
03:26is i've laid a marker down with a t-peg um i'm going to throw roll three balls this way yeah
03:32we'll take the middle golf ball out of the three we'll measure with the measuring tape from this
03:38point to there and then we'll repeat the process coming back taking average of those two readings
03:43beautiful right let's do it let's see what we're on that today
03:45so this device you just sort of let that rise yeah so you just sit sit a ball in the groove on the bar
03:53and then there it is just let it roll away like that so what are we at so we are at 10.3 in this
04:02direction so we'll head back up now yeah should we leave that marker there yeah
04:06see we're a touch uphill here aren't we yeah slightly just why you do two readings yeah it's
04:16just uh just so we can take an average there it goes uh can you get a read there that is
04:28that's quite strange there we go eight eight on the dot so there if we were 10.3 so we're around
04:37what 9.1 9.1 in the middle of that kind of what i thought pretty much what you said there
04:41okay jake as i said it's time to replace a hole i think this is the most this is the most exciting
04:49part uh i really enjoy this job setting up the golf course for the day uh you know we've put the
04:55club have actually posted some stuff on social media before and the amount of comments people
04:58love this stuff interaction we've got yeah golfers seem to find it really satisfying i'm going to
05:02give the people what they want today but before we actually get into the practical side of it
05:06talk me through how you figure out where a pin is going to be on a green are there a certain
05:10amount of possible options where can they go where can't they go let us know yeah so we always sit
05:15there sort of six feet in from the edge of a green okay day to day we try and go for six pins at the
05:20front six pins and six pins in the middle and six pins at the back we keep things relatively easy if
05:25you're day-to-day golf you know how many options would you say there are on a green of this size
05:29uh so i'd say around here we've we've got played this is a decent size green so we've probably got
05:34anywhere between sort of 15 and 20 positions on here right then so we're back right today here's the
05:40here's the equipment talk me through it and i'm gonna give this a bash so this blackboard here
05:45you can see that's the cutting board um this is just to stop sort of footprints and things like
05:50that the greens are pretty firm at the minute so you shouldn't have any issues anywhere it'll also
05:54help stop when you come to lift the plug out it'll stop that hole crowning a little bit uh we paint
06:00our holes daily oh good yeah just a nice little touch for the members that they like
06:05do you want to crack on let's just do it yeah let's have a go let's let's get it done so if
06:09if you come and pick this up dan uh then you put it in in that gap there stand on there yeah
06:14uh you see this pin here i do so pull that out and then slightly turn it sort of roll it round
06:21and it should catch on a notch there like that oh my god yeah got you and then if you lift up and
06:27like how use a hammer motion gee whiz yeah you keep going and you'll feel it when it hits the board
06:35i should go to the gym hello luna and that that's perfect that's in there okay and then next go back
06:44to that pin yeah uh put it back into the other backing notch there uh then if you spin the handles
06:52around keep going oh i can feel that give it maybe two or three
06:57and then just lift her up now so lift her up towards your chin
07:04and then pop it on the side of the board beautiful perfect hey there we go that was quite satisfying
07:12wasn't it so what have i got in here now so you've got yeah so you've got the plug the uh where the new
07:17cup's going to go and then we'll go and replace that now into the into the old hole yeah there you
07:22go awesome so i've got the hole there and then it just take it to the side of the grain down and give
07:27it a tap with the uh with the metal just to clear any mud off it and then if you want to put that in
07:34there oh i see so this is filling that back up there just literally as i see it yeah it's special
07:42so i'll pop it back in give it a bit of a wiggle round in sort of a circular motion
07:48give it a tap there you go um and then if you pull this lever out so push and then it should pop
07:56out there you go and then if you wind it round there's a that way yeah no other way that's it
08:08keep going that's perfect and then uh roll that keep going and tuck it back behind
08:14perfect so if you have a look here yeah you might see some little straggly bits of turf oh wow yeah
08:20so if you just give them a clip so clear the hole and then if you swap those yeah if you put the
08:30hole in just leave it sort of halfway proud back there yeah and then we have a depth set area so
08:38let's make sure we get the correct depth every time oh okay so this is an this should set an inch
08:42yeah so if you pop that on top of the cup yeah stamp it down just put your foot on it should slide in
08:48yeah and then give it a spin a couple of times and then just lift it off perfect hey beautiful
08:56easy buddy so final touches then jake yeah that's the paint yeah that's it so this is uh some clubs
09:03do this some clubs don't like i said earlier you know we find it's a a nice touch for the members
09:08i think so i think you always notice when a hole's painted you go that's a that's a classy club yeah
09:12so if you take this so this this stops the paint getting into the actual hole cup yeah and keeps
09:18it from sort of building up around we're just painting this soiled edge here it'll sit on top
09:22of the cup that will yeah and then the painting board here has a has a lip on it as well to sort
09:30of stop yeah anything coming on this area of the turf around around the edge yeah so i'll place that
09:37down for you there dan and then we'll get you some paint yeah and the the best thing to remember when
09:44you're painting holes is little is more so if you put loads on it tends to crack and peel away so a
09:50light layer seems to work a lot better okay right oh i see
09:54i can have a look at that i don't i don't overcook it that's perfect that's great easy money well
10:10it's quite a process actually isn't it yeah it'd be an easy in and out but um this is an important
10:14job very satisfying job i would agree yeah uh yeah no worries so for cutting you go into the tortoise
10:26i like how they've got the animals that show the speed yeah it's like they knew i was coming
10:32so your revs need to be on full okay so when you come to cut your first line get a little bit on
10:38just be front to you cutting units yeah and then tap that down and your units will drop then and
10:44then when you get to the end pull it back towards you okay yeah so we'll i think we'll start from
10:50the team work up that sounds good uh so our team surfaces are cut eight millimeters in the in the
10:55summer uh we moat those three times a week wow uh so it's uh monday wednesday friday yeah approaches
11:01are the same so they're monday wednesday friday and they are also cut at eight millimeters
11:05keep going a little bit at fairways they're cut at 13 millimeters three times a week yeah
11:10semi-rough is at 22 millimeters and that is cut twice a week our rough is at two and a half inches
11:18which is where we're still now quite nice to juice it this morning yeah that wet winter punitive the
11:23golfers have had a bit of a moan this year but the weather's sort of taking it out of our control
11:29greens are currently sitting at three and a half mil yeah and so is mowing the most sort of labor
11:33intensive part of of a green keeper's life it's the yeah you have to sort of keep on top of the
11:37most as it were uh yeah i'd say mowing is but bunkers is also a big big labor cost uh i know we're
11:43going to touch on that later yeah but yeah no besides uh besides the greens bunkers are our biggest labor cost
11:56and why is that just the maintenance of them yeah and you know during heavy rain events we have to
12:01we used to have to get like three or four guys out here and fix the washouts so it's manpower as much
12:06as the actual physical part of it as well yeah so the club looked at installing a liner um so it's a
12:11rubber crumb liner uh what that does is it prevents sand contamination uh weeds coming through the through
12:18the surface and it also helps us during those rain events with washouts from a playability point of
12:24view it's it's great for the golfers uh and it should last us you know for a good 20 25 years now
12:29while i've got you i've got to ask when i end up in a bunker and i come out of that and i'm playing
12:34with my mates i've got to rake it quickly how should i be raking it how do you want to see it
12:39raked by us by golfers when we're out on the course yeah so i mean typically um you know when
12:44golfers come into a bunker they either you know some clubs don't have members that rate the bunkers
12:49after themselves you know we've all seen it um but we always see a pull in motion really we need what
12:54we need to see working in a pushing motion pushing away like that and then i'll leave a nice nice
13:02area for if anybody was to land there after yourself and where should i leave the race so
13:08oh is this is club by club it's an opinion it is an opinion what's your opinion i like to see them in
13:13the bunker just all in in the bunker yeah um if they're outside the bunker and a ball hits it
13:19you know it could rest up behind it don't want that don't want that interesting what you said about
13:23the pushing motion i'm certainly when i'm busy raking it after i play i pull and so does that
13:31gather the sand up and that's not that's not what you want so generally we find you know if we if you
13:36have complaints about bunkers it's about the sand depth you know there's not enough sand in there
13:40that's what i all yes and when we go and spend some time checking where all the sounds gone because
13:44it doesn't disappear that quickly we find it all built up on the back edge yeah and how long does sand
13:50last in the bunker are you having to come and replace these very often uh with the new tech
13:55and uh you know with the liner we're finding a lot less blowout and this type of sand is quite coarse
14:00sand so it doesn't splash or blow out quite as bad so it allows you to stay there a bit long what
14:05type of sand is this so this is china clear sand it's called is that just something that you guys chose
14:10that you want to do this course yeah there's different options right yeah it works quite well with the
14:14liner as well yeah so with it being quite coarse it packs into packs very well i'll keep prepping it
14:32press it down to drop it and then when you get to end it i'll point up
14:44all right then jake aeration yeah i think maybe one of the biggest bugbears of members but what
14:59we're going to chat about here is what it is and most importantly why it's so important so should we
15:04start with that why do you do aeration when you do it yeah so we typically air it heavily during august
15:12yeah um space and what we're doing by air rating is we're allowing the plant to take up nutrients
15:19get gas and air in and around the roots and break up some compaction in the soil if you can imagine
15:23you know we've got mowers turf irons rolling you know going over the turf all the time we do get
15:28quite compact greens and when they when the soil structure is compact it makes the roots unable
15:34unable to spread and that stops growing yeah it stops growth the plant gets really unhealthy prone to
15:39disease so by air rating we get a better grass plant the reason we do it in august uh is because
15:48you know we just want the quick recovery yeah we want the quick recovery we do ours not long after
15:52club championships you know we get all the applaud it's a club championships and then you know the
15:56members turn up on a monday morning we do try and communicate the best we can yeah to them so they
16:01know it's coming as you said you've done them already we're filming in late august but you've allowed me
16:05to have a little go on the chipping area today which is great talk us through this machine then
16:08is it just it looks kind of like a torture device yeah so this is a toro pro core um it's a pedestrian
16:16pedestrian machine so when we use this the guys walk around the golf course tying all the greens
16:20uh it leaves a great finish afterwards but yeah it's it's a very very good piece of machinery this
16:27so for our main aeration which we do twice a year we'd be bigger time size yeah than this uh this is
16:33quite a small time so generally through the season we'll run these once a month or once every six
16:38weeks roughly so we use sand for two things really so it's for dilution of organic matter which is uh
16:44thatch people maybe know it as um so we're trying to break down that organic matter uh to allow for
16:50firmer surface which will obviously allow for better putting surfaces um we can also use sand to try and
16:57make sand channels into pipe drainage which is below the surface so if we can get our percolation rates up
17:03allows the greens again to be drier and firmer and especially through the winter that's what we want
17:11right jake we're doing a lot of sort of things i think a lot of people see green keep us doing with
17:14the equipment mowing greens but i want to talk technology now sort of the cutting edge stuff
17:18that you guys are using to help you better maintain a golf course really now i didn't hear about
17:24this before we spoke a couple days ago about it but it's it's sensors underneath the greens now talk
17:28me through what they are and what they help you guys do so what maya does it's a under soil sensor
17:36it feeds me data on soil temperature moisture salinity various other things but where it was
17:45really sort of crucial for me is the disease forecasting okay so how it works is if we see a
17:53small outbreak of disease i can send a whatsapp message to via and using an ai basically they
18:00build it builds data from throughout the year and it allows it allows it to predict disease outbreaks
18:07wow so i'll get a notification on my phone if you know the weather conditions are all lining for
18:13for a disease outbreak and it just gives me that few days ahead of an outbreak so we want to be
18:19preventative rather than curative so as you can see here we've got a graph chart so that's given me
18:24the last four days and it's predicting the next 24 hours so if i see a spike on this graph here of a
18:30value over 40 i know we need to go and apply a product so at the minute we have had a slight bit of
18:36anthracnose activity so you can see that sort of spike in the graph yeah and this would be just a
18:42godsend for you what what was the sort of process before you had this information was it a lot of
18:46guesswork was it a lot of presumption now now with some data behind you you can confidently go out
18:51and do what you're doing and use your labor more efficiently yeah yeah absolutely so before you know
18:56we were looking at um just the weather forecasts you know which is the office yeah which is so you
19:03know so unpredictable so yeah you know having it and being able to track it all on here yeah manually
19:08rather than the old paper diary is is fantastic yeah much more efficient i'm sure and uh i guess this is
19:14where it all happens isn't it yeah the heartbeat of edge baston's uh green keeping it's brilliant we
19:20love it jake now this is one i've not heard of before green firmness and we talk about green firm
19:29is kind of anecdotally all those greens are a bit firm today or soft or whatever here's a device that
19:33can give you an actual number yeah yeah how does this work so yeah we normally you know we take readings
19:38across the green and take an average yeah uh you'll see these quite used quite frequently at the open
19:43british open um links courses obviously have a tendency of getting almost too firm i guess they
19:47don't want it where there's ball it's windy especially that ball starts oscillating a bit
19:51yeah so the rna using this quite a lot uh the club's been edge baston golf club's been using it probably
19:56three or four years now okay and what's the actual unit of measurement uh so uh measuring a in a unit
20:02called gravities never heard of that before yeah there's a ballpark figure um i think sort of day
20:08today through the summer where we're aiming for 100 to 110 gravities okay let's have a little go
20:13with it then shall we so you showed me this before off camera blue pizza style but i'm going to hold
20:19this sort of what would you call that a plunger probe probe good yeah don't mind that so hold it about
20:25level to there keep going a bit higher yeah there you go and then just let go yeah there we go 99 so
20:33we're saying that's about right yeah we did 111 earlier just off camera but you do this on different
20:38points around the green yeah take an average and that would be the same presumably for all 18
20:42grains yeah we generally so what we'll do is we'll do six grains a week and we'll continue monitoring
20:48those grains throughout the week and then move on to another six and then and do it on the cycle
20:51over three weeks brilliant and gravity is a brand new unit of measurement i've never heard of uh lastly
20:56then we're going to do moisture and talk us through this sort of contraption you've got here and why
21:00you guys are using it at the minute yeah so this probe here um will give us a quick data on what
21:07the soil is doing underneath in terms of moisture content gone are the days where we have a lot
21:11of disposable water um golf clubs are trying to now be more sustainable and prevent over watering and
21:16things like that this year has been exceptionally wet yeah so we've not had much need to use water
21:22but this uh moisture probe will allow me to apply water to areas specific areas with a hose rather than
21:29running a sprinkler which isn't as accurate uh let's have a little look at this then just see what sort of
21:33data this gives us i'm sure it's pretty self-explanatory just so yeah if you just stab it into the ground
21:37and press read it'll give you a reading
21:42so we've got on there 33.0 yep a little bit too high yeah it's quite high it's quite wet what sort
21:49of number are you looking at for like a yeah between 20 and 25 percent um we did have a bit of rain last
21:56night yeah so yeah we're a little bit higher than we'd like to be but that number will drop over the coming
22:01days uh well there we go jake i think we're about done for the day really appreciate you showing
22:10the ropes i want to thank bigger for setting this opportunity up to sort of teach you guys a little
22:14bit about what uh greenkeepers like jake up and down the country across the world uh are up to um i've
22:20enjoyed it jake this is do you enjoy this sort of lifestyle you've been living looking after this
22:24beautiful golf course yeah i think it's a fantastic uh career done it's you know you get the beauty of
22:29been outdoors all day although the weather can be bad at times you know days like today make it
22:33worth it really yeah i think there's a huge misconception isn't there that green stuff all
22:37they do is more grass um you know i've heard it a few times from people outside of the industry
22:44you know i kind of laugh i wish i did only just cut grass it made my life a lot easier
22:49um but yeah i know there's a lot more to green keeping and the way technology is moving now
22:53it's uh it's definitely going to become more and more of a thing well it's jake thank you for having us
22:58really appreciate it got a beautiful golf course here um hopefully you've learned a little bit
23:02about what jake and his crew and teams up and down the country across the world get up to
23:06thank you for watching hope you enjoyed it and uh coffee i think yeah absolutely
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