We understand that Saturday is the busiest day of the week on most Golf Courses throughout the world. With this in mind we thought we should detail the work that we have to do and why the first tee time is normally 7 am.
The Greens Staff start work at 5 am and are 2 hours ahead, which is essential to keep ahead of play. A normal Saturday set-up on 1562 consists of mowing greens, rolling greens, raking bunkers, moving markers, picking up broken tees and fixing pitch marks.
Three Greens Staff operate on the 1562 Course and work as a team round each hole. One is mowing, one rolling and taking moisture readings and the 3rd raking bunkers with all three repairing pitch marks, marker moving and lifting broken tees.
One team member is on the Broomfield Course (mowing, raking and markers). The smaller Course represents less area therefore one staff member is sufficient. It should be noted no rolling is carried out at weekends on Broomfield Course.
We navigate the course with the least amount of disruption as possible to Saturday medal play, therefore holes 17, 16 & 15 are all actioned in the same section as 1, 2, 3 & 4. We cannot perform any work at all on the 18th until after 7 am due to respecting our neighbours at Grey Harlings and local houses; therefore this is the last green to get maintained.
Due to the section work carried out (17, 16 and 15 mown in first section) we require the two-hour head start as a minimum to keep well ahead of play. My rule of thumb is that the staff should be at holes 6 & 7 before golf commences for the day. We require this time to ensure all surfaces are maintained before the 1st group come through and have a little breathing space for any issues (breakdowns, missing flags markers etc or potential damage to the golf course).
It should be noted that we are only in a position to carry the work out to this standard due to the addition of volunteers at the weekend who are assisting with raking bunkers.
Kind regards,
Darren McLaughlan
Head Greenkeeper
Montrose Golf Links
Add Comment