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Back in the U.S.A.

An English superintendent returns to America and finds that the GIS is a veritable land of opportunity.

Glenn Kirby

The fifth hole at the London Golf Club, where Glenn Kirby is assistant course manager. Photos courtesy of Bernhard and Co.

Editor’s note: This story concerns a British greenkeeper’s visit to America for GCSAA’s Golf Industry Show. See "Turf man across the water" for a story of an American superintendent’s trip to England for the British Turfgrass Management Exposition.

I have paid close attention to the golf course maintenance industry in the United States for a long time. When I was given the opportunity to work and study in America back in 2000, I jumped at it. My 18 months were spread between interning at Westchester Country Club, Oak Hill Country Club and studying at Ohio State University. This was a huge learning curve for me, and I returned to England full of enthusiasm and ideas.

Five years later, having established myself at one of the larger venues back in the United Kingdom, I was given the opportunity to return to the States by Bernhard and Co. to represent BIGGA at the 2007 Golf Industry Show. Bernhard kindly took me and nine other British greenkeepers to Anaheim. Selection was a rigorous process, leading to a diverse yet fair representation of British greenkeepers.

To be selected, we first submitted an in-depth application form. I was fortunate enough to be selected from a large number of original applicants for an interview with BIGGA CEO John Pemberton and Sam McLean, sales director of Bernhard and Co. During the interview we discussed my aims, ambitions and reasons for wanting to visit the GIS and many other issues relating to our
industry.

The interviewing process took a bit of time as BIGGA and Bernhard tried to get the widest possible cross section of British greenkeepers to represent our organization at the GIS. I must say they did a great job; we ranged from fresh-faced assistant greenkeepers to more experienced course managers, from degree holders to students, from people who had worked in the States to some who had never even been outside the U.K., from smaller members’ clubs to large proprietary-run venues. The variety within the group showed how diverse an industry it is here in the U.K., and how much consideration must have been put into our selection.

The 2007 BIGGA delegates pose for a photo with the Los Angeles CC staff.

Learning from the leader
From my experience, golf in America is consistently setting the standards, constantly pushing the boundaries and raising the bar, while the rest of us try to keep up. In this modern day of air travel, satellite TV and the Internet, everybody has some way of accessing the greatest golf courses in the world, whether it’s being privileged enough to play them, watch them on TV or sit in front of their computers and view flyovers. This, in conjunction with improved standards at top venues, is leading to higher expectations for all of us from the average green fee payer. The opportunity to see how other people are dealing with similar problems while maintaining high standards was one of the main reasons for me wanting to visit the GIS.

What better way to raise our standards than visiting those with whom we are being compared?

My experiences working both sides of the Atlantic already had given me a good perspective on the two different approaches to the industry. Despite my time previously spent there, whenever I visit the U.S., the scale of its golf operations never fails to surprise me. The GIS is no exception. I was fortunate enough to attend the 2002 show in Orlando, so I thought I knew what to expect, but still I was amazed at the size of the event. It’s when you see this that you begin to realize what a massive industry golf is in America.

Impressive education
I found the amount of educational seminars available astounding. We are making big strides in the U.K. regarding education, but we have a lot to learn from the U.S. style of presentation, variety of subjects offered, educational formats and professionalism of those who take part. Contributions made by people in the audience also amazed me. Education attendees were prepared to contribute, and comments often easily turned into useful brainstorming sessions.

U.K. courses usually are run with small teams, and it’s important that everyone works to a high standard, is flexible and gets involved with all operations. This leads to an extremely practical education system that deals with hands-on aspects of golf course maintenance. The industry’s more scientific side tends to get left to full-time college courses, which can be time-consuming and expensive, and the wages commanded by British greenkeepers means that it’s difficult to justify expenses for these courses.

We are starting to see education get much more flexible in the U.K. with more online courses available. We’re starting to catch up. Several people in the U.K. have pushed themselves and gained education from Penn State, Rutgers and Ohio State.

We were fortunate enough in Anaheim to be present at the “Taking control of green speed” seminar presented by Michael Morris, CGCS, and Thomas Nikolai, Ph.D. The pressure our U.S. colleagues seem to be under to produce fast greens surprised us, as did the measures some take to produce them.

While we tend to have the odd member who constantly complains about greens being too slow, and the odd few avid golfers trying to sneak another advantage over their competitors, in the main we have avoided unreasonable pressure to produce fast greens. This could be because most U.K. memberships wouldn’t be prepared to cover the costs involved in producing these green speeds.

So was the seminar relevant? The huge membership pressure doesn’t exist in the U.K. and the money and labor isn’t available for most of the solutions that Americans have found to this problem. As I said earlier, you are raising the standards, and where you go we tend to follow, just a bit slower. Our memberships tend to be demanding higher quality, smoother surfaces — not necessarily faster ones — and generally at a reduced cost.

Some of the ideas presented during that seminar have already improved my control of my green speeds, which helps me keep different standards of golfers happy.

I have reduced the amount of time spent on my greens maintenance, leaving more time for other operations, and I’ve improved my levels of presentation. I’ve managed this all by simply replacing what used to be three cuts a week by my triple mower (or triplex) in between hand cuts (walk-behind) with three rolls a week. This is an idea generated at the seminar from Nikolai’s research and other people’s ideas. So, was it relevant? Definitely yes; it just needed tweaking for a different market.

One of the other treats Bernhard had lined up for us was an interesting presentation by Jerry Byrne, course manager at The K-Club in Ireland. Bernhard had arranged for Byrne to speak to all the delegates from the U.K. and also the American GCSAA delegates who traveled to our trade show in January 2007. He talked us through his preparation for the 2006 Ryder Cup. It was interesting to hear how much input Ian Woosnam, the European captain, had in the course
preparation.

The most fascinating part of the talk was not the run-up to the event but the scale of damage left by the crowds after that extremely wet week. Byrne’s presentation was most interesting and it was nice to have him talk to such a small group as we all managed to pose questions, which led to several thought-provoking discussions.
An L.A. lesson on image

One of the highlights of the week was a visit to Los Angeles Country Club. Most of us were amazed at the scale of the venue and the resources available to maintain the courses.

While the course’s turf was still dormant, which was a new experience for most of our cool-season group, the quality of the venue was obvious. Bruce R. Williams, CGCS, was extremely generous with his time and made sure we all had a thorough and interesting tour of both courses and all his facilities.

It was interesting to hear Williams’ thoughts on the industry. What stands out in my mind was his determination to keep the quality of the courses as high as possible while trying to reduce costs. Although his budget may be on a very different scale to all of us here in the U.K., it was a particularly relevant comment at a time when we need to be winning people’s business while controlling costs. We were all treated to lunch in the clubhouse and walked away enthused and in awe.

I was so impressed with the professional attitude shown by Williams that I made a point of attending one of his networking sessions. U.K. greenkeepers aren’t renowned for presenting the same level of professionalism as some American superintendents. Head U.K. greenkeepers usually don’t have great resources. Our staffing levels tend to be much lower and a fair proportion of our working day will be “hands-on.”

But listening to Williams made me realize there are many things we can do to raise our profile, increase our worth and improve our communication with both members and other head greenkeepers. And we can do this while retaining one of the British head greenkeepers’ greatest attributes — being hands-on and spending a significant amount of time working on the golf course.

Glenn Kirby, assistant course manager at the London Golf Club, encourages American superintendents to visit. “You would find our ecological, efficient and responsible maintenance practices interesting.”

A look at ‘real’ U.S. golf
Wednesday was spent visiting four other venues, Alta Vista Country Club, Coyote Hills, Westridge and the Home Depot Center. After visiting LACC, these clubs had a lot to live up to.

While not every facility has LACC’s resources, they were very impressive in their own way. In some ways this field trip was more relevant than many of the other things we had done that week.

Whenever we think of golf courses in the States, we think of the large venues, the exclusive ones that you would like to visit but can’t. These are generally the ones with large budgets, high numbers of staff and nothing but the best equipment. This isn’t a fair representation of golf courses in the area we toured, which is why this tour was so interesting; it gave us an opportunity to see what “real” golf courses in the area look like.

We also gained an interesting insight into how you are dealing with water quality issues and Poa annua invasions, both problems that are relevant to many of us in the U.K. Seeing where our own David Beckham will be playing for the foreseeable future was also something that will stick in my mind for a long time.

Perceptions, realities
We in the U.K. are facing serious issues at the moment. Hard as it may be for you to believe, the south of England is facing serious water restrictions. The summer droughts of 2004, 2005 and 2006, coupled with continued housing developments in the South, means that water is becoming an extremely valuable resource.

During peak summer months in 2006 many golf courses had complete irrigation bans placed upon them, leaving them no option other than to buy effluent water in tankers. Fortunately, 2007 was a wet year and replenished many of the South’s aquifers, but it’s only a matter of time before we face those problems again. Most courses are now looking into reservoir construction or recycled water, both of which present numerous challenges.

Outside of the show and the seminars, the hospitality extended to us was fantastic. Everyone we spoke to showed genuine interest in what we were doing and in our greenkeeping experiences. I always find it fascinating to hear U.S. perceptions of U.K. golf courses and our industry. Many are shocked at our staffing levels, usually five or six for an 18-hole course.

The climate in the U.K. is suitable for golf year-round, and courses need to be ready 365 days a year. This, coupled with the free-draining soils and excellent golfing terrain, has over the last century led to a host of excellent low-maintenance golf courses that in turn offer club members/owners year-round high quality golf at a low cost.

This in turn means those of us with courses built on lower quality soils (generally land made available in more recent years; poor quality agricultural land) cannot spend huge sums on courses without green fees becoming out of sync with the rest of the industry. The U.K. golfing climate can support only so many exclusive/high-end clubs that charge high membership fees.

A final misconception is that the majority of courses in the U.K. are links-style. Unfortunately, this is not the case. These courses are the jewels in our crown but make up a small percentage of our courses.

Another issue we face is decreasing memberships. The large number of golf courses available in the U.K. coupled with ever-increasing demands on people’s time means annual membership fees are becoming harder and harder to justify. Many clubs are examining their business model in order to be more flexible.

Change can be slow here, and some clubs will begin to feel the pressure soon. This is all coupled with the continual expectation of better quality golf courses.

I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to return to the States and attend the GIS. One of my expectations of the trip was that of meeting and learning from many American colleagues, which I did. The benefit I underestimated was spending quality one-on-one time with my British counterparts, as they didn’t have 101 other British greenkeepers vying for their time.

I had a great week, I made many acquaintances, both American and from home, and I am extremely grateful to both Bernard and Co. and BIGGA for giving me that opportunity.

I hope my British counterparts continue to make the journey to your show and experience your excellent science-based education, research presentations and high standards. I encourage you to visit us. I think you would find our ecological, efficient and responsible maintenance practices interesting. We have so much to learn from each other, and it’s important to keep communicating.

Glenn Kirby, a one-year international GCSAA member, is the assistant course manager at the London Golf Club.

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December 2007	November 2007