December 2013 (9th Steps)

Re-design of the steps leading up to the men's 9th tee..
We firstly took the old sleepers out without damaging them, we pulled the old borders up as they we're rotting away, we then re shaped the steps and got the levels right using pegs, lines and a spirit level, we then secured the new borders in place and cut the old sleepers down in to shape before securing them to our borders, once in place it was then ready to concrete.
Once the concrete was set we astro turfed the steps making sure they we're screwed tight to each sleeper.. Then finally we soiled, levelled and turfed along the steps ready for play!

Please let us know your thoughts on the astro turf as it could be possible to use this on other areas of the course if successful

Drainage Nov 28th 2013

Drainage work now complete on holes 14 and 12, pipe and gravel in place and now re turfed and back in play.. We will be hopefully be starting hole 13 over the next few weeks weather permitting..

More photos from drainage work - we've put two new pipes around the 16th green area and are currently working on the left hand side of the 14th green.

Over the past few weeks we've started abit of drainage work on a few areas of the course, we're hoping this should help dry up areas in the coming wet winter months .. We started on 10 as you can see with the photos.. Please feel free to ask rusty about the tractor :)

Nov 2013 Greens verti drained down to 11inches, solid tined (3inches) after to help close up the holes.. We then ironed and cut after to get the greens straight back in play! This should help dry them out through the winter months!

Team profiles - Brett Moggridge

Brett Moggridge - Course Manager
Qualifications - BSc (Hons) in agriculture, spraying certificates pa1 and pa2, also currently in his second year of gaining his cpd diploma in Greenkeeping.
Interests - golf, poker, country file, Indian food and most importantly the Bigga website :)
Nicknames - Sinclair, Brett Dog, Luca modric, Brettal's, garlic man and known to the team as the 'gaffer'
Brett aka the MAIN MAN around this place and all round handy man (bodge it and scarper sometimes more like :) has been with the club since day dot, if he was anymore laid back he would be horizontal.
He specialises in machine maintenance, irrigation and green speed, his least favourite job is cutting grass!
Brett can usually found in the works van, in the shed, in the clubhouse or on the odd occasion driving around the course on a buggy with his knee hanging out and note pad in hand! Note this is between Monday to Thursday!! On a Friday he is like Paul Daniels and can not be found anywhere whilst the lads are raking all the bunkers :)
Brett is famous for a few things including - somehow seeing a completely different weather forecast from us all.. Drinking like a fish (but can't keep it down)
Favourite sayings include - it will be ok, voujon tonight ain't I and the most common one - ' I've done 1 and 2 can you do 3 to 18.

Brett has great respect from all the boys and is a joy to work under!!

Team profiles - Steve Hirons

Steve Hirons - deputy head greenkeeper
Qualifications - NVQ level's 1-2-3 in sports turf management, diploma in horticulture, spraying certificates pa1, pa2a and currently in his second year of gaining his cpd Greenkeeping diploma..
Nicknames - scroggsy, joe swash, O2, hobbit, Luke Donald, and jacamo.
Work experiences and ex clubs - Chipping Norton gc, Banbury gc, Pierpont gc (Belgium) mk dons fc and oxford utd fc.

Interests - football, pool, fishing, organising.
Steve deputy head Greenkeeper has been here now for nearly 11 years and has all the responsibility's brett can't be bothered to do :)  Steve specializes in spraying, organising, turfing and cutting aprons. His dislikes are - tees, rough, fairways,holes, bunkers, hand tools, mechanics, cold and wet weather, washing up, heights and spiders (probably shouldn't be a Greenkeeper)
This summer Steve done a couple of months work experience at a championship course in Belgium but came back early because he missed brett and the boys too much, steve is constantly saying he's going on a fitness regime starting Monday and is always fighting his waist size (usually losing)
His favourite sayings are - I hate that hole cutter, I don't do tractors, just got to see Pam quick, who s milk can I use, can I have some new boots please, who s used all my butter, I'm on a diet and my waist size is 32..
Famous for asking Pam if she's got 2 minutes free for a chat!!!

PLEASE note - most of this profile has been written by Brett, Ollie and Rusty!! Cheers guys!

Team profiles - Ollie Hemblen

Ollie Hemblen - First assistant

Qualifications - NVQ levels 1-2 in sports turf management
Nicknames - Hembo, babe, the tank, mouth, bbm, bt and hovis
Past clubs - Hartwell ford, Banbury golf club, Cherwell edge
Experiences - Mk Dons Fc, Rye Hill gc,
Interests - drinking, football, phones, and most importantly twitter
Babe (aka Hemblen) has been at the club now for ten years and is currently in the role of first assistant, he specialises in.... talking non stop from the time he wakes up to the time he sleeps (if he sleeps?) haha.. All round competent at his job and does actually specialise in fixing things (bbm - Brett's baby mechanic) loves to get his hands dirty, also great on the back arm! His least favourite job is hedge trimming!
His favourite sayings include - shall we? Beer? Pub? Fosters? Babe, one sugar in mine, and on a regular basis 'I'm skint'
Can usually be found in Brett's pocket :)
Once famous for winning an Owen Wilson lookalike competiton!!

Anthracnose disease - Oct 2013

Anthracnose disease (visually very similar to fusarium) is a fungal growth which effects thatch, it's common on most courses and often appears at certain points of the year, as this summer has been a very dry season it has affected most courses in a harder way and now needs to be kept a close eye on.. Fungicide's are available to use but there are also natural practises that also help..
After reading an article from a turf specialist on how anthracnose is slowly changing we come across a interesting sentence.....

Team profiles - Garratt Rusty Edwards Carter

Garratt Rusty Edwards Carter - (our trainee)
Nicknames - Rusty, Scuba Steve, the chef, Rusty bucket and Lewis Hamilton
Qualifications - level 2-3 in sports turf management
Interests - manga club, feeding his chicken, making fireworks, watching and reading animated programmes...... (hmmm we won't ask anymore on that subject hey rust?) oh and loves playing with his snake :)
Overall - Rusty had been with us for a couple of years now since making the big step up from hinksey heights, also had work experience at Bedford golf club.
Rusty specialises in 'speed' and somehow cuts the fairways in about 2 hours!! Rusty is capable of doing most jobs around the course now to a very good standard and can usually be found on the articulator wrapped up with just his eyes showing.. His least favourite jobs are changing holes and emptying the drain on our wash pad (can never be found when that needs doing)
Rusty always brings lots of lovely food in to work but normally just for himself (no team player here)
His favourite sayings include ' where are we again' ' what are we doing again'  ' yer but'
We would like to point out the rusty is one of the most committed team members and stays behind each day to read the paper ..
Also famous for being tired and a snappy little turtle on a Thursday morning so watch out everyone :)

Team profiles - Clive Moggridge

Clive Moggridge  (summer staff and now Sunday man)
Nicknames - Clyde, Sinca's senior, Clivos, chief and 'the top coffee maker'
Qualifications - fighter pilot in world war 1 :)  city and guilds in fruit and veg
Interests - golf golf and more golf oh and loves baby sitting..
Overall - Clivos our 'papa' of the team has also been with us for a few years now and is our tee's cutting expert' he also specialises in fixing rake handles and ironing the greens, also known to have turned his hand to abit of electrics around the place..
Oh and most importantly the best coffee maker in the team (makes them with love for sure)
Clivos also enjoys emptying the bins and changing the holes (in dodgy places your probably notice)
He can usually be found at tadmartin golf club coz he spends more time there than he does with us :)
If not at taddy you might find Clive stood having a good old gossip with Roy Buzzard..
And lastly his favourite sayings are ' suppose I'll do that then' ' I'm playing golf later' I played golf yesterday' and ' my next holiday I'm going to...... (Loves a holiday)

Team profiles - Damien Bush

Damien Bush (summer staff)
Nickname's - Dub , Bushy, Damo and ol Bob Nudd
Qualifications - NVQ 1-2-3 in carpentry (are you sure dub?)
Interests - fishing (Shame he never catches any tho), golf, pool, oh and (babe station lol)..
Overall - Dub has been with us now for 4-5 years, very good at his job and is now our rough cutting technician, you can normally find him feeding the fish or looking for golf balls in the rough he's just cut!!
His favourite sayings include - 'sure' 'that would be a right touch' 'I'm going for a walk around Kirtlington lake then I might get a KFC' ' chav 9' and 'I just don't get it'
Dub is famous for winning his first fishing comp at the age of 6 with a 2 inch stickle-back and also renowned for getting to work an hour before we even start and we still don't really know why he does this?? Ay night owl..

:)

Team Profiles - Wendy Moggridge

Wendy Moggridge (our Saturday girl) married to the gaffer with 4 lovely boys (the future of Kirtlington greens staff maybe?)
Nickname - wend or wendals
Qualifications - NVQ in feeding horses (quote from brett)
Interests - Golf, eBay
Overall - Wend has been part of our team now for many years, now up to speed and cut's greens to a high standard, her least favourite job is dewying greens and can usually be found on the 1st tee (that's playing and not working I must add) wend's favourite sayings are - shut up (with an aggressive tone on the odd occasion :) also ' brett said this' ' brett said do that' and lastly her famous words ' I've got to be finished by bla bla bla time coz I'm teeing off then!!
And finally Wendal's is famous for winning ' female Greenkeeper of the year in 2010 and also nicking all of our gloves and waterproof's on a Saturday morning :) (please buy her some of her own Pam)

This week we've been busy, weeding edging and tidying all the bunkers up. We've also been testing out our new rough machine on demo ' the lambazon' other courses around the country are also trying this out due to it thinning the grass out..