Getting Personal with Brian Mckendrick
Who are you? Brian Innes Mckendrick, Head Greenkeeper at Craigielaw Golf Club - not too tall, not too short, but stuck in the middle somewhere. Been greenkeeping now for twenty-five years, the last two as Head at Craigielaw.
Family status? Married to a woman I drive round the bend at times. And two grown up boys.
Who's your hero and why? I don't have heroes as such, just experiences from a wide variety of family and friends and those I have worked with. The trick is to take the best out of it all and use it to the best of your ability and experience. If this is bad, learn from it and use it as part of life's lessons and, if good, cherish it and pass it down the line.
What would you change about yourself? Being only 5' 6", this impacts on my B-M-I {body mass index} a bit, so a couple more inches and I wouldn't be overweight or be on a DIET.
What's your guilty pleasure? Anything with an F in it - mainly 'FOOD', that's why I'm on that DIET.
What's been the highlight of your career so far? Being given this opportunity to lead a great squad of lads. I am fortunate to work alongside people who understand the direction we are going in and put up with me.
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? My mum, I miss the laughs; my wife's dad, as I never got the chance to know him, and Kevin Bridges because, being Scottish, I get the humour.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? A senior, for if it was raining I'd put my feet up, relax and have a coffee.
Do you have any bad habits? My missus says I have loads of bad ones and I have never achieved any brownie points yet. Good ones are so far apart, I can't remember any.
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day's workload? Not exactly, but I will wake up in the morning planning changes if anyone calls in sick or not able to make it in.
What are you reading at the moment? Pitchcare magazine, of course.
What are your pet peeves? The list is slowly growing, especially when you're in this position. The days are gone when I would see something I'd like to change and couldn't. Now I have a bit of artistic licence, but within reason.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? In a Chop bar (restaurant) in Accra, Ghana.
What's the best and worst part of your job? On those occasions when getting soaked, frozen, covered in mud, and with cold feet, leads to a sense of satisfaction. The worst is forgetting to dry my gear!
Do you have a lifetime ambition? To try and reach the light at the end of the tunnel and not move the goal posts - also to achieve some of those brownie points.
Favourite record, and why? Simon & Garfunkel's Mrs Robinson; great movie, great song.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? Mi daw (my love) with a bowl of tilapia+tomato, onion chilli sauce with sardine, Kenqui with a spot of Shito - it's the dog's nuts, but it's not the dog's nuts, if you know what I mean. If not, Naga Munchetty would be a close second. She's easy on the eye and has a great smile.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Take a cake in; the lads would kill me if I didn't!
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? A one man band, because I could make as much noise as possible without offending the instruments that I couldn't play, which would be all of them.
What's the best advice you have ever been given? I wouldn't do that too often, you'll go blind.
What's your favourite smell? Peanut butter soup; it's the best ever.
What do you do in your spare time? What's that?
What's the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? Not a question, as such, but a comment: An apprentice who did work for us cut a fairway left to right instead of right to left - it happens - though his reasoning made our day let alone that year. "Sorry for that, I got my hands mixed up. I thought my right was my left and my left was my right, then I remembered what hand I wrote with and, by then, it was to late." Some things you just can't make up.
What's your favourite piece of kit? The other five in the squad.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Patient, caring, supportive - my wife's words, not mine.
What talent would you like to have? To speak Twi fluently. It's my wife's first language, so I would know if she was talking about me.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? Don't moan about the roped of areas on the course and the G.U.R signs if your own course is shut!