Rebuilding a green, reviving a club at Berkhamsted Bowls Club

Spend five minutes talking turf with Colin Shortall and one phrase rises to the surface every time: “Volunteers, volunteers, volunteers.”

For Colin, Treasurer, Greens Manager and long-time custodian of Berkhamsted Bowls Club, that mantra isn’t a slogan. It’s the foundation of the club’s revival..

While machinery, agronomy and planning all play their part, Colin is clear about the real engine behind a thriving bowls green.

“You can have the plans and the knowledge,” he says. “But without volunteers, a bowls club simply doesn’t work.”

At Berkhamsted, those volunteers have helped transform a tired surface into one of the most admired greens in the region.

A turning point

The club’s transformation began with the retirement of a long-serving greenkeeper who had tended the surface for more than a decade, taking years of experience and local knowledge with him.

Colin Shortall Treasurer, Greens Manager 

Berkhamsted turned to cricket turf specialists Luke Hall and Mark Hobley from nearby Northchurch Cricket Club. Their expertise brought fresh thinking, although bowls presented its own challenges.

“We had all the knowledge about maintaining good grass,” Colin recalls, “but there was a bit of translation involved.”

Then came a season plagued by severe dry patch, uneven moisture levels and a surface that simply wouldn’t respond.

“That’s when we realised we needed to do far more to get the green back where it needed to be.”

From diagnosis to renovation

Working with agronomist Sam Sweetzer of Agrovista Amenity, the club commissioned a soil analysis - a deep dive into the profile, nutrient balance and physical structure of the green. It revealed moisture distribution issues within the profile and helped explain the recurring dry patch problems.

The findings shaped a renovation programme focused on improving surface consistency and rootzone health.

“We stopped making assumptions and started working from the evidence,” Colin says.

The programme included:

• Targeted topdressing applications
• Overseeding to improve sward density
• Tailored fertiliser inputs based on soil analysis
• Regular moisture monitoring
• Upgraded irrigation management and controls

Moisture readings enabled volunteers to identify developing dry areas before visible symptoms appeared, helping maintain more consistent conditions across the green.

“Before, you relied on what the surface looked like,” Colin explains. “Now we can see what’s happening below the surface and act much earlier.”

By the end of the programme, the green was showing improved density, colour and uniformity.

The quiet power of teamwork

Behind the scenes, Berkhamsted’s success is powered by a team of around ten volunteers who share mowing duties throughout the season. Greens are cut three times a week, with contractors brought in for specialist applications and technical maintenance.

“We split everyone into pairs,” Colin explains. “Partly for safety and partly because it keeps people involved.”

Cutting heights sit at around 8mm, dropping to 6mm for competitions, balancing pace, presentation and plant health.

Hard choices, clear priorities

As Treasurer, Colin is acutely aware of the financial pressures facing bowls clubs.

“We had to decide what we wanted to be,” he says. “Are we a bowls club or just a social club?”

Berkhamsted chose to put the green first.

Membership subscriptions fund turf maintenance, while bar takings and social events support the clubhouse.

“It’s a simple structure,” Colin says. “The subscriptions pay for the green. The social side pays for the clubhouse.”

That clarity has allowed the club to invest with purpose.

Chasing speed, not stress

For bowlers, speed is the language of quality.

“Nobody likes a slow green,” Colin says.

To keep pace consistent, one of the club’s volunteers built a homemade stimpmeter (left) that is used regularly throughout the season.

When visiting players describe the surface as “like Astroturf”, Colin smiles. “That tells us we’re doing something right.”

Looking ahead

Like many clubs across the UK, Berkhamsted continues to face challenges around membership and volunteer recruitment.

Colin believes the answer lies in attracting people with the time, energy and skills to support the club, both on and off the green.

But Berkhamsted’s story isn’t really about bowls. It’s about what can be achieved when a club combines good advice, clear priorities and a committed team of volunteers.

Because while soil analysis, irrigation upgrades and renovation programmes have all played their part, Colin knows the most important ingredient has remained the same:

“Volunteers, volunteers, volunteers.”