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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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 to course we're going to go
00:53out in a minute follow them around season their stuff doing some of our own stuff what am i going
00:58to be getting up to today so dan i think we're going to have you uh repositioning a pin this
01:02morning exciting that's what i mainly came here for going to be ironing a green yes um mowing an
01:07approach 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
01:46mate
01:46it's a real field thing in it to get the idea of it i mean you know i've had new guys it takes
02:14some 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 coating 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
02:52reading later i think but what have we got them at today so day to day i'd say they're probably
02:55around nine nine and a half yeah uh i'm probably playing that safe just in case they're a little
02:59bit slower and our members see some of this uh on that day actually wasn't yeah yeah
03:03right jake my freshly ironed green yep now time for a stint measurement and you'll do this every
03:09morning uh once the greens have been ironed or cut depending on the day yeah absolutely so this
03:14just gives us an idea where we're at 10's ideal perfect for our day-to-day membership nine's a
03:19little bit slow but we have just raised the height of cut slightly on the greens um so i expect it to
03:23be around probably nine nine and a half um so what i've done is i've laid a marker down with a t-peg
03:28um i'm going to throw roll three balls this way yeah we'll take the middle golf ball out of the
03:34three we'll measure with a measuring tape from this point to there and then we'll repeat the
03:40process coming back taking average of those two readings beautiful right let's do it let's see
03:45what we're on that today so this device you just sort of let that rise yeah so you just sit a ball
03:52in the groove on the bar and then there it is just let it roll away like that so what are we at so we
04:00are at 10.3 in this direction 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 straight 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 there 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 so i'm going to
05:03give 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's 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
05:15sit there sort of six feet in from the edge of a green okay day to day we try and go for six pins
05:20at the front six pins and six pins in the middle and six pins at the back we keep things relatively
05:25easy if you're day-to-day golf you know how many options would you say there are on a green of this
05:29size uh so i'd say around here we've got plate 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
05:58uh we paint our holes daily oh good oh 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 down 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 around
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
06:28gee whiz yeah you keep going and you'll feel it when it hits the board i should go to the gym
06:36hello luna and that that's perfect that's in there okay and then next go back to that pin
06:45yeah uh put it back into the other back in notch there uh then if you spin the handles around
06:52keep 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 just so you've got yeah so you've got the plug the uh
07:16where the new cup's going to go and then we'll go and replace that now into the into the old hole
07:20yeah there you go there it is awesome so i've got the hole there and then it just take it to the
07:26side of the grain down and give it a tap with the uh with the metal just to clear any mud off it
07:30and then if you want to put that in there oh i see so this is filling that back up there
07:37just literally as i see it yeah it's special so i'll pop it back in give it a bit of a wiggle
07:44round in sort of a circular motion give it a tap there you go um and then if you pull
07:52this lever out so push and then it should pop out there you go and then if you wind it round
07:58there's a that way yeah no other way that's it keep going that's perfect and then uh roll that
08:12keep going and tuck it back behind perfect so if you have a look here yeah you might see some
08:18little straggly bits of turf oh wow yeah so if you just give him a clip
08:21so clear the hole and then if you swap those yeah if you put the hole in
08:31just leave it sort of halfway proud about there yeah and then we have a depth set area so let's
08:38make sure we get the correct depth every time oh okay so this is an it 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 it should
08:48slide in yeah and then give it a spin a couple of times and then just lift it off perfect hey
08:55beautiful easy buddy so final touches then jake yeah that's the paint yeah that's that
09:01so this is uh some clubs do this some clubs don't like i said earlier you know we find it's a a nice
09:07touch for the members i think so i think you always notice when a hole's painted you go that's a that's
09:11a classy club yeah so if you take this so this this stops the paint getting into the actual hole cup
09:17yeah and keeps it from sort of building up around we're just painting this soiled edge here it'll
09:22sit on top of the cup that will so like that there yeah and then the the painting board here has a
09:28has a lip on it as well to sort of stop yeah anything coming on this area of the turf around
09:34around the edge yeah so i'll place that down for you there dan
09:38and then we'll get you some paint yeah and the the best thing to remember when you're painting holes
09:45is little is more so if you put loads on it tends to crack and peel away so a light layer seems to
09:51work a lot better okay right now i see
09:55can have a look at that 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 i thought it'd be an easy in and out but um
10:14this is an important job very satisfying job i would agree yeah uh thank you that we're going
10:18yeah no worries so for cutting you go into the tortoise i like how they've got animals that show
10:29the speed yeah it's like they knew i was coming uh so your revs need to be on full okay so when you
10:35come to cut your first line get a little bit on just be front to your cutting units yeah and then
10:41tap that down and your units will drop then and then when you get to the end pull it back towards
10:46you okay yeah so we'll i think we'll start from the team work up that sounds good uh so our team
10:52surfaces are cut eight millimeters in the in the summer uh we mode those three times a week wow
10:58so it's uh monday wednesday friday yeah approaches are the same so they're monday wednesday friday and
11:03they're also cut at eight millimeters keep going a bit at fairways they're cut at 13 millimeters
11:08keep going three times a week uh semi rough is at 22 millimeters uh that is cut twice a week
11:16our rough is at two and a half inches which is where we're still now quite nice to juice it this
11:20morning yeah that wet winter punitive the golfers have had a bit of a moan this year
11:25uh but the weather's sort of taking it out of our control absolutely yeah uh greens are currently
11:30sitting at three and a half mil yeah and so is mowing the most sort of labor intensive part of
11:34of a green keeper's life it's the you have to sort of keep on top of the most as it were
11:38uh yeah i'd say mowing is but bunkers is also a big big labor cost uh i know we're going to touch
11:44on that later yeah uh but yeah no besides uh besides the greens bunkers are our biggest labor cost
11:51and 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
12:06much as the actual physical part of it as well yeah so the club looked at installing a liner
12:10um so it's a rubber crumb liner uh what that does is it prevents sand contamination uh weeds coming
12:17through the through the surface and it also helps us during those rain events with washouts from a
12:23playability point of view it's it's great for the golfers uh and it should last us you know for a good
12:2820 25 years now well i've got you i've got to ask when i end up in a bunker and i come out of that
12:34and i'm playing with my mates i've got to rake it quickly how should i be raking it how do you want
12:38to see it raked by us by golfers when we're out on the course yeah so i mean typically um you know
12:44when golfers come into a bunker they either you know some clubs don't have members that rate the
12:49bunkers after themselves you know we've all seen it um but we always see a pull in motion
12:53really we need what we need to see working in a pushing motion pushing away like that and i'll
13:01leave a nice nice area if anybody was to land there after yourself and where should i leave the
13:07rake so oh is this club by club it's an opinion it is an opinion what's your opinion i like to see
13:13them in the 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 it's interesting what you
13:23said about the pushing motion i'm certainly when i'm busy raking it after i play i pull and so does
13:31that gather the sand up and that's not that's not what you want so generally we find you know
13:35if we if you have complaints about bunkers it's about the sand depth you know there's not enough
13:40sand in there that's what i all yes and when we go and spend some time checking where all the
13:44sand's gone because it doesn't disappear that quickly we find it all built up on the back edge
13:47yeah and how long does sand last in a bunker are you having to come and replace these very often
13:54uh with the new tech and uh you know with the liner we're finding a lot less blowout and this
13:59type of sand is quite coarse sand so it doesn't splash or blow out quite as bad so it allows you
14:05to stay there a bit long what type of sand is this so this is china clear sand it's called
14:08and is that just something that you guys chose that you want to do this course yeah there's different
14:12options right yeah it works quite well with the liner as well yeah so with it being quite
14:17of course it packs into packs very well i'll keep prepping it
14:21press it down to drop it and then when you get to end it i'll point up
14:35right then jake aeration yeah i think maybe one of the biggest bugbears of members but what we're
14:59going 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 aerate heavily during august
15:12yeah um space and what we're doing by aerating is we're allowing the plant to take up nutrients
15:18get 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 the when the soil structure is compact it makes the roots unable
15:34unable to spread and that stops growth yeah it stops growth the plant gets really unhealthy
15:39prone to disease so by aerating we get a better grass plant the reason we do it in august
15:46uh is because you know we just want the quick recovery yeah we want the quick recovery we do
15:52ours not long after club championships you know we get all the applaud it's a club championships and
15:56then you know the members turn up on a monday morning we do try and communicate the best we can
16:00yeah to them so they know it's coming as you said you've done them already we're filming in late august
16:04but you've allowed me to have a little go on the chipping areas there which is great talk us through
16:08this machine then is it just it looks kind of like a torture device yeah so this is a toro pro car
16:14um it's a pedestrian pedestrian machine so when we use this the guys walk around the golf course
16:19tying all the greens uh it leaves a great finish afterwards but yeah it's it's a very very good
16:25piece of machinery this so for our main aeration which we do twice a year we'd be bigger time size
16:31than this uh this is quite a small time so generally through the season we'll run these once a month
16:37or once every six weeks roughly so we use sand for two things really so it's for dilution of organic
16:43matter which is uh thatch people maybe know it as um so we're trying to break down that organic matter
16:49uh to allow for firmer surface which will obviously allow for better putting surfaces um we can also
16:55use sand to try and make sand channels into pipe drainage which is below the surface so if we can get
17:01our percolation rates up it allows the greens again to be drier and firmer uh especially through
17:06the winter that's what we want right jake we're doing a lot of sort of things i think a lot of
17:13people see green keep us doing with the equipment mowing greens but i want to talk technology now and
17:18sort of the cutting edge stuff that you guys are using to help you better maintain a golf course really
17:22now i didn't hear about this before we spoke a couple of days ago about it but it's it's sensors
17:26underneath the greens now talk me through what they are and what they help you guys do
17:31so what maya does it's a under soil sensor um it feeds me data on soil temperature moisture salinity
17:41and various other things but where it was really sort of crucial for me is the disease forecasting
17:49okay so how it works is if we see a small outbreak of disease i can send a whatsapp message to
17:56buyer and using an ai basically they build it builds data from throughout the year and it allows
18:04it allows it to predict disease outbreaks wow so i'll get a notification on my phone if you know
18:10the weather conditions are all lining for a for a disease outbreak and it just gives me that few days
18:16ahead of an outbreak so we want to be preventative rather than curative so as you can see here we've got
18:22a graph chart so that's given me the last four days and it's predicting the next 24 hours so if i see a
18:29spike on this graph here of a value over 40 i know we need to go and apply a product so at the minute
18:35we have had a slight bit of anthracnose activity so you can see that sort of spike in the graph yeah
18:41and this would be just a godsend for you what what was the sort of process before you had this
18:45information was it a lot of guesswork was it a lot of presumption now now with some data behind you you
18:50can confidently go out and do what you're doing and use your labor more efficiently yeah yeah
18:55absolutely so before you know we were looking at um just the weather forecasts yeah which is on the
19:01office yeah which is so you know so unpredictable so yeah you know having it and being able to track
19:07it all on here yeah manually rather than the old paper diary is is fantastic yeah much more efficient
19:13i'm sure and uh i guess this is where it all happens isn't it yeah the heartbeat of edgbaston's uh green
19:18keeping it it's brilliant we love it jake now this is one i've not heard of before green firmness and
19:28we talk about green firm is kind of anecdotally all those greens are a bit firm today or soft or
19:31whatever here's a device that can give you an actual number yeah yeah how does this work so yeah
19:36we normally you know we take readings across the green and take an average yeah uh you'll see these
19:41quite used quite frequently at the open british open um links courses obviously have a tendency of getting
19:46almost too firm i guess they don't want it where there's ball if it's windy especially that ball
19:50starts oscillating a bit yeah so the rna using this quite a lot uh the club's been edgbaston golf club's
19:55been using it probably three or four years now okay and what's the actual unit of measurement uh
20:00so we're measuring a in a unit called gravities never heard of that before yeah there's a ballpark
20:06figure um i think sort of day to day through the summer we're aiming for 100 to 110 gravities okay
20:12okay let's have a little go with it then shall we so you showed me this before off camera blue
20:17pizza style but i'm gonna hold this sort of what would you call that a plunger probe probe good yeah
20:23don't mind that so hold it about level to there keep going a bit higher yeah there you go and then
20:29just let go yeah there we go 99 so we're saying that's about right for you we did 111 earlier just
20:36off camera but you do this on different points around the green yeah take an average and that would be the
20:41same presumably for all 18 grains yeah we generally so what we'll do is we'll do six grains a week
20:46um we'll continue monitoring those grains throughout the week and then move on to another six and then
20:50and do it on the cycle over three weeks brilliant and gravity is a brand new unit of measurement i've
20:54never heard of uh lastly then we're going to do moisture and talk us through this sort of contraption
20:59you've got here and why you guys are using it at the minute yeah so this probe here um will give us
21:05quick data on what the soil is doing underneath in terms of moisture content gone are the days where we
21:10have a lot of disposable water um golf clubs are trying to now be more sustainable and prevent
21:15over watering and things like that this year has been exceptionally wet yeah so we've not had much
21:20need to use water but this uh moisture probe will allow me to apply water to areas specific areas
21:28with a hose rather than running a sprinkler which isn't as accurate uh let's have a little look at this
21:32then let's just see what sort of data this gives us i'm sure it's pretty self-explanatory just so yeah
21:36if you just stab into the ground and 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
22:01coming days uh well there we go jake i think we're about done for the day really appreciate you
22:10showing the ropes i want to thank bigger for setting this opportunity up to sort of teach you guys a
22:13little bit about what uh greenkeepers like jake up and down the country across the world uh are up to
22:19um i've enjoyed it jake this is do you enjoy this sort of lifestyle you've been living looking after
22:23this beautiful golf course yeah i think it's a fantastic career done it's you know you get the beauty
22:29you've been outdoors all day although the weather can be bad at times you know days like today
22:33make it worth 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
22:49but 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 uh thank
23:07you for watching hope you enjoyed it and uh coffee i think yeah absolutely