The EGU’s flagship educational event, the Greenkeeping Masterclass, continues to go from strength to strength and attracted eighty greenkeepers and course managers to Woodhall Spa on 4th & 5th December. The EGU were also pleased to welcome invited representatives from the R&A, BIGGA, the GTC and the Association of Golf Club Secretaries.
In his opening remarks, Colin Spurr, chairman of the Golf Services Committee, made it clear that the wealth of experience and knowledge in the audience combined with the guest speakers made the potential for learning enormous.
Conservation and ecology were the focus for the first sessions with guest speakers Tom Tew, regional director with English Nature and Bob Taylor, senior ecologist, STRI. This was followed by a complete change of direction with an interactive session on leadership and communication led by management consultant Annette Heritage.
The overnight stay and dinner provided a valuable opportunity for course managers and head greenkeepers to meet and share experiences – an important ingredient in events such as this.
On day two, independent turfgrass agronomist Robert Laycock took the class through the benefits and potential pitfalls of using soil and tissue analysis to help fine tune the management of greens. This was followed by an excellent paper on lake and pond management from Graeme Francis (Lely UK). The final session was on course preparation for tournaments with talks from Geoff Marks (R&A Championship Committee) and Peter Wisbey (EGU Courses Manager)
The aim of the Masterclass is to present a programme that is both technically challenging and imparts information on the wider issues affecting golf. The feedback from delegates confirmed this was achieved with some good suggestions for the next’Masterclass’.
For a more detailed report and photograph contact: Neil Cockbill, Golf Services Secretary ncockbill@englishgolfunion.org or see the Golf Services pages on the EGU website www.englishgolfunion.org