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EDITOR'S BLOG

A CRISIS IN GOLF
Turf professionals treated as second class citizens
by TurfPro Editor, Laurence Gale MSC, MBPR

It is staggering to me that in the eyes of outsiders turf professionals are mostly viewed as purely grass cutters - and worse still, continue to be poorly paid.

As an ex greenkeeper and in my role of editor of a magazine that promotes the work of professional groundsmen, greenkeepers, gardeners and estate managers, it is staggering to me that in the eyes of others we are mostly viewed as purely grass cutters - and often treated as second class citizens. Worse still, we continue to be paid poorly compared to other industry’s professionals.

I have witnessed this attitude for the best part of my fifty years working in this industry, and yet we are still tarred with the same brush and generally receive little recognition for the work we do.

A recent conversation with a course manager enlightened me to the many current problems that are still having a major effect on the wellbeing and mental health of those who dedicate their lives to maintaining golf courses.

I read with interest that a recent BIGGA survey also showed the mental health struggles facing greenkeepers in a relatively lonely job where pressures of course conditions are high along with the anti-social hours and low entry level pay. The survey showed that 7% of greenkeepers constantly worry about their own mental health, while another 20% frequently worry and 41% admit to sometimes worrying about their mental state. 80% said they had worried about the mental health of someone they work with.

BIGGA Chief Executive Officer Jim Croxton said, “With the ongoing cost of living crisis at the forefront of our minds and the Covid-19 pandemic having caused many people to consider their priorities, the golf industry faces a very real challenge to engage sufficient staff at club level, to effectively deliver the sport to the nation’s five million regular golfers. Participation in the sport is booming at just the time that recruiting and retaining greenkeeping staff is at its most challenging.”

Having spoken to many industry professionals across all land-based sectors there is, without doubt, difficulty in recruiting staff. Whether it be an apprentice or a qualified person, attracting them to come and work is nigh on impossible. The biggest factors being low pay plus having to work overtime and weekends.

The very nature of our work, especially looking after sports facilities, entails that preparation and post-match activities often require people to work weekends and evenings. Something the younger generation are not interested in or prepared to do.

The other worrying fact is we are also seeing a lot of experienced turf professionals leaving the industry due to the exceptional work loads being put on them - and more importantly, not being treated with the respect they deserve.

The role and duties of any greenkeeping team is immense. The work they achieve week in and week out, is staggering to say the least. It doesn’t matter what the weather throws at them, they are still expected to deliver a high-quality playing surface for their members.

The costs involved

For me, this can only continue to be achieved if the club understands the complexities of maintaining a typical 18-hole golf course and comprehends the true costs required to fund their expectations. More importantly, they must invest and work in harmony with the course manager and their team.

To build a new golf course, taking into account the buying of the land, will set you back in the region of £10,000,000, if not more, at today’s prices. If you were to then add the ecological value of the course over time, it is priceless in my opinion.

By the very nature of an outside natural environment, golf courses can contribute to wildlife conservation, species protection and have the potential to play a role in mitigating the effects of climate change.

Sustainable agronomy practices contribute to good quality playing surfaces that can reduce the consumption of natural resources such as water; reduce the usage of fertiliser and pesticides and increase the biodiversity value.

It would seem from reading around the subject (here and here for example), the average cost to maintain an 18-hole golf course is in the region of £1,000.000.

And that’s a conservative estimate, not taking into account any significant capitol works that may need doing such as drainage work, irrigation systems, bunker refurbishments and the buying of new fleet of machinery.

So, all in all, running and managing an 18 hole golf complex comes at a cost.

A good question to ask would be, what should the annual membership fees be to cover the maintenance costs of the club? Well, you would need at least 500 paying members paying £2000 a year to cover this level of annual investment. That equates to around £40 per week per member.

Considering everything, I believe this is a reasonable cost for what you get as a member. Obviously this cost could come down if you had a larger membership. 1000 members would halve these costs.

The most important thing for me, is the investment in employing an experienced head greenkeeper and giving them the right resources, equipment, and authority to manage and build a team that can deliver the expectations of the membership and golf club.

Unfortunately, in many instances, this is not the case - especially when clubs are run on a committee led management structures. Often these will dictate what the HG / course manager can and cannot do - quite often only looking at short term gains.

It can take years to get the course into a condition that meets the expectations of its membership. For me, it is time that the sport’s governing bodies do more to ensure clubs begin to support and respect the work of the greenkeeping teams.

Far too many golf clubs expect a team of four or five greenkeepers to maintain a golf course, when you probably require eight to deliver their expectations.

Lack of respect

It is time we listened to and respected greenkeepers and turf professionals. A recent article in Golf Magic highlighted the concerns of many current working professionals.

One greenkeeper told the publication: "Sadly, there’s a lack of respect for the role we’re in, with many not even recognising it as a profession. I gave a lecture recently, speaking to golf club managers, and we went around the room and asked what a greenkeeper did.

"So many people just answered ‘they cut the grass’ and were amazed when I reeled off the list of actual duties that greenkeepers do. We’re politicians, agronomists, scientists, magicians, spray technicians, tree surgeons and the list goes on and on. We set budgets, deliver presentations, fight turf diseases and unfortunately that’s not recognised in the industry.

"As a golf club, your biggest asset is the course and the greenkeepers are responsible for looking after it. Yet they’re not given the same status as the club manager or the golf professional. Greenkeepers will speak to their members and there’ll be someone who may be a dentist, a doctor or an electrician, telling the greenkeeper how he should be maintaining the course, which is mind-blowing.

"I'd like to say that the solution is making golfers more aware of what greenkeepers do to maintain the course, but the golfer has to want to learn and that’s not always the case."

We have also seen a recent campaign by BIGGA known as Thank A Greenkeeper Day. I’m not sure how this will change the attitude though? Yes, I admire the concept behind it, but in reality we should be focussing on campaigns to encourage golf clubs to change the way they employ and look after their greenkeeping staff.

I find it a sad indictment that we still see, at some clubs, poor working facilities. Sheds and mess rooms being inadequate or fit for purpose. Would the club’s officials work in these conditions?

For me, it is not really all about the wage. We should be concentrating on the working conditions, working environment and culture of the club to embrace the greenkeeping staff. They should be treated as equals to all other members of staff and be welcomed and respected by club members.

We need to create a positive working environment with everyone buying into the goal of delivering a well-maintained golf facility.

NEWS

BRITISH GREENKEEPERS WHO WILL SUPPORT PGA FLAGSHIP EVENT REVEALED
Traveling to TPC Sawgrass

17th hole at TPC Sawgrass by Alex Brougham

In our first WEB ONLY story, six successful greenkeepers will head to the U.S to join the agronomy team for The Players Championship 2024.

PINTS PITCH IN!
Drinking beer funding grassroots

In our next WEB ONLY story, a giant billboard made from living turf has launched to support a grassroots funding scheme where 10p from pints of beer sold goes towards funding grassroots sports clubs.

NEWS

TURFPRO's SISTER MAG SHORTLISTED AS A FINALIST FOR BUSINESS PUBLICATON OF THE YEAR
At the PPA's Independent Publisher Awards

TurfPro is proud to announce that our sister magazine for the professional dealer sector, is one of only four finalists in the category at the high-profile awards.

TurfPro is proud to announce that our sister magazine for the professional dealer sector, Service Dealer, is one of only four finalists in the Business Publication of the Year category at the PPA ‘s Independent Publisher Awards.

The awards are a high-profile, prestigious competition who say their aim is to "celebrate the businesses, teams, and individuals who are delivering standout work, seeking new innovative approaches to best serve their audiences, and who have made a difference in their sector over the last 12 months." Over 40 publishing industry experts review the competition's entries to ultimately decide on the shortlist and winners in a two-step judging process.

TurfPro and Service Dealer owner Duncan Murray-Clarke said, "It is a great achievement for Service Dealer to be recognised again at this level, having previously been shortlisted for the same award in 2021."

Editor of the magazine, Steve Gibbs added, "Service Dealer is the definition of a team accomplishment, so it's wonderful for everyone who is involved with the title to have their hard work recognised in this way."

The winners of the awards will be announced at a ceremony in London on November 24th.

NEW ZONE FOR SALTEX UNVEILED
Grassroots visitors to be catered for

Organisers say the new zone will showcase machinery that will benefit grounds people at a recreational level and will highlight funding opportunities available.

Organisers of next week's SALTEX have unveiled the Community Sport Zone which they say will present a range of grass pitch maintenance machinery curated to be of specific interest to grassroots and community football, rugby union and rugby league clubs - all of which can be purchased through funding schemes.

Spokespeople from the brands will be present alongside the GMA’s Regional Pitch Advisors to guide visitors through the features and benefits of the machinery, answer questions and explain how this machinery is available to purchase via funding that has been awarded through the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation to support grassroots football, as well as for Rugby League and Rugby Union in England.

In the zone, located alongside the GMA Hub, will be compact tractors from Campey Turf Care and Iseki, combination grooming tools such as Quadraplay, tractor mounted slitters from Greentek Solutions, tractor mounted fertiliser spreaders, cricket mowers, and line markers from Fleet Ltd.

The GMA say their Pitch Advisory Service is made up of grass pitch experts and works throughout the year to support sport’s National Governing Bodies in improving the quality of grass pitches across the country and at all levels of sport, with particular focus on community sport.

The machinery on display in the Community Sport Zone has been curated from Pitch Advisory Service recommendations in their grass pitch reports facilitated through the Football Foundation’s PitchPower web-based app.

Jason Booth, chief operating office at the GMA, said, “We’re always looking at new ways to bring value and valuable experiences to visitors at SALTEX, hence the introduction of the Community Sport Zone at this year’s event.

“It will showcase key machinery that will directly benefit grounds people at a recreational level and is an opportunity not to be missed for grassroots clubs needing an introduction to the machinery and the funding opportunities available.

“We are extremely proud of the work our Pitch Advisory Service does year-round to support community sport across the country in collaboration with our partners at the National Governing Bodies - the machinery on show wouldn’t be possible for community clubs to acquire if it wasn’t often funded through the Football Foundation’s Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund."

There will also be a guided tour with the GMA’s Regional Pitch Advisors taking visitors around the show floor to see the exhibitors displaying more specialised equipment.

LANDSCAPERS GATHER TO DISCUSS INDUSTRY CHALLENGES
Promote "unspoken about" hot topics

Over one hundred gardening and landscaping professionals came together to hear a series of presentations.

George Davies Turf recently welcomed over one hundred gardening and landscaping professionals to its site in Milton Keynes as part of the BALI regional event, ‘Riding the Waves of Business’.

The day included a line-up of presentations, inspirational speakers within the sector and Q&As covering mental health challenges in the industry, environmental changes, business recruitment, staff retention, personal development and more.

George Davies, founder and managing director of George Davies Turf said, “There’s no question our industry is shifting due to a number of external challenges such as climate change, recruitment and skills shortages and even mental health, so we were blown away by the success of this event which was all about these usually unspoken about topics."

Ben Parkinson, director of The Garden Project Co and BALI Midlands Regional Chair added, “The day was insightful, informative and inspiring, and a great opportunity to network and build deeper relationships with others in the industry. A massive thank you to George Davies Turf for hosting– they had the perfect site to be able to deliver our biggest ever regional event and the feedback from attendees was fantastic.”

EGO HOLD DISTRIBUTOR CONFERENCE
Euro network came together

The two-day event held in the UK served as a platform to showcase the manufacturer's 2024 product launches.

EGO Power Plus recently held its annual Distributor Conference, which saw its network of European distributors come together to find out about the brand's upcoming plans for the year ahead.

Peter Melrose addressing delegates

Described as a “resounding success” by EGO’s managing director Peter Melrose, the two-day event in the UK served as a platform to showcase the manufacturer's 2024 product launches - including its new-look PRO X range for commercial users and the unveiling of their first pressure washer.

Alongside product launches, networking and collaboration, the event also provided an opportunity for the EGO team to offer insights to its distributor network, sharing knowledge on industry challenges, the competitor landscape, aftersales care, and marketing.

Peter said: “We are thrilled that another of our Distributor events can be ticked off as a resounding success. An important event for the EGO calendar, we look forward to sharing this dedicated time with our distributor network as we are always eager to get their reactions to the new product lines that we put so much time and dedication into perfecting for our customers.”

The event included live demonstrations of the new PRO X range and the team were able to discuss how the tools have been carefully designed to cater to the evolving needs of its customers - with the brand unveiling its new charging solution and IoT-driven Bluetooth Integration technology.

To end, the company surprised the distributors with a trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tour at the Warner Bros. Studio, during which the guests were treated to a cinematic video showcase which brought the EGO brand to life in what the company described as "a captivating and immersive way".

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