WORK EXPERIENCE: The Celtic Manor greenkeepers

After the wettest Ryder Cup in history left the Celtic Manor’s 2010 course in a state not far off a mudbath, you would be hard pushed to find a blade of grass out of place.

NATALIE CROCKETT spent the morning with the event’s unsung heroes – the greenkeepers who made sure Newport and Wales delivered during the prestigious event.

I PREFER my sand on a beach, my tee in a cup – and the only golf I have played is the crazy kind.

So when my news editor suggested I spend a day with the greenkeepers at the Celtic Manor Resort I have to admit I wasn’t overly enthused at first.

I mean, how difficult can it be to cut grass? Well, more difficult than you may think, as it turns out. Just ask head greenkeeper Jim McKenzie, who will vouch for my below-par performance on the ride-on lawn mower.

But the man, whose hard work and commitment during the tournament won him an MBE in June, was good enough to give me a chance to try.

Sparing me the typical 6am start, Mr McKenzie met me in the 2010 Club House at 8.30am for a rundown of my duties for the day before taking me out on a tour of the 1,400-acre 2010 course.

It was hard to believe that this was the very same place that months earlier looked more like the muddy fields of Glastonbury during festival time.

But after re-laying enough grass to turf the Millennium Stadium four times over, the team successfully repaired the damage caused by a month’s rainfall in four days mixed with the footfall of 45,000 spectators.

As we moved around the course we came across pairs of greenkeepers halfway through their daily routine of making sure the greens and fairways are in pristine condition for the day’s golfers.

Every day the 28 workers tend all three courses,which includes cutting all 54 greens, raking every bunker, resetting the tees and re-cutting and replacing the holes to limit the wear and tear of the 2.75mm grass.

Once they have finished, they move on to spraying the greens with a chemical to make sure water is absorbed into the soil and does not sit on top of the grass, interrupting play.

Later in the day they get started on larger projects, which could include anything from recutting a bunker or making a new tee.

As well as the greenkeepers, there are four mechanics who service and repair all the equipment, four gardeners who look after the resort’s many flower beds and two irrigation engineers, who are responsible for the course’s water and drainage system.

And it was their expertise that paid dividends during October 2010’s rain-soaked tournament, ensuring the system, which draws water from the soil into the resort’s lakes and the river Usk, worked as it should.

So having seen the workers do the job first hand, it was my turn to have a go, and it was with a wide smile on my face that I took to the sit-on lawn mower.

Although I had lots of fun, I doubt my services will be called upon any time soon, given the fact that I found it difficult to cut in a straight line – raising some questions about my general driving ability and leaving a freshly mowed zig-zag across the green.

Next it was on to raking the bunkers – a relatively easy task, I thought, until I ended up ruining the good work of the people who had been there before me by leaving footprints in the sand.

Next was a chance to take out any inner frustrations as I had a go at cutting a new hole in a practice green using a cutting machine and a mallet.

I finished off the job by trimming the stray blades of grass around the edges.

Then there was the chance to brandish a telescopic switch – a tool taller than me, which is used to disperse any surface water or stray stones before cutting.

Last but not least was a chance to put the mechanic skills to the test in the machine store.

Needless to say, I left the professionals to it.

Ryder rain proved a nightmare

MR MCKENZIE, has lovingly tended to the resort’s Roman Road, Montgomerie and 2010 courses for the past 18 years.

A man of the outdoors, he has never done anything else, having enrolled on an apprentice greens keeping course in his home country of Scotland after leaving school aged 16. Despite years of preparing the resort for major tournaments, including the Wales Open, the team could not have forecast the circumstances they were up against when the weather turned on the opening day of the 2010 Ryder Cup.

“It was disappointing in so much as we had spent ten years looking forward to it. I’d looked forward to seeing the first tee shot and I think I saw three shots all week. “It was one of the most stressful things that I have ever been involved in and I cannot say it was the most enjoyable.”

Despite taking on an extra 70 staff to help manage the greens during the event, Mr McKenzie still had to rope in his wife Debbie and son Elliot to help with the clearout.

He said: “It was probably one of the most surreal experience of my life. Our industry is used to doing its best work very covertly and this was one of the few occasions where it was high-profile.”