Temping - To be or not to be?

Head Greenkeeper Tom Barnett has been at Stourbridge Golf Club for just five months. He aims to implement gradual changes over time and has been deliberating about the use of temporary greens.

The course has tried using temporary greens and tees in the past; however, it has never stuck.

Tom explained why: "The course is very dry and free-draining, and the club likes to define itself by that. The greens might be a little wet at this time of year, but the club sees it as - once they’re dry, they’re ready to be played on again. There are occasions when it can be tough to manage. When the weather is against you, it can be hard. It was minus five degrees last week; we are now three days into the thaw, and a few greens still won’t take a screwdriver. Unfortunately, because of this, we are currently closed. That is partly because we don’t have a temporary green policy."

He reflected on how this differs from his previous experiences: "My previous places of work had temporary greens and tees as a policy. It meant we could protect the greens. However, it also meant that the approaches had to be maintained to a high level in the summer because those temporary greens were in place throughout the winter. It’s a bit of a give-and-take situation."

Tom expressed his view on the use of temporary greens: "It’s a tough one. When the rain eases and the water levels drop, the course is very playable due to the good drainage. It’s when you have leaf frost or severe wet weather that you want to give the greens a rest and use a temporary. Unfortunately, here, that isn’t possible, so you have to consider closing the whole course. As a professional, you want to protect the course as much as possible. It’s in very good condition in most parts, and if we had the option of temporary greens, we’d probably be open today. It’s something I want to discuss with the club, but I’ve only been here for a brief time, and it’s about introducing new ideas slowly. People often want to enjoy the golf, and they don’t really notice whether it’s a temporary green or not."

"There are benefits to not using temporary greens. When they’re ready, they’re good to go. The golfers pay a lot of money, and we appreciate that they want to play on proper greens. We are a sand-based course surrounded by a lot of clay-based courses. So, when other places are shut and we are open, we get that footfall."

He also touched on the effects of the recent extreme weather conditions: "We are getting mild, wet autumns with a few cold snaps here and there. It’s site-specific; the clay courses are probably looking better because they close to protect the course. We try to stay open as much as possible, but we also need to manage the traffic on the course because of the long-term damage it can cause."

Working in a new team

Tom expressed his gratitude towards the team at Stourbridge for welcoming his ideas and changes: "There’s myself, and four others working under me at the moment, and we are hoping to add one more in the future. They’ve been great and very receptive to the new ideas I’ve tried to implement.”

“I’ve never had a change of boss at a workplace before, and I didn’t really know how the team would feel about me coming in, but they’ve been very understanding. You can’t make big changes straight away; you have to take your time. I always have a calm process of managing people. You have to build relationships and learn about the different personalities."

With this being his first head greenkeeper role, Tom reflected on how this has challenged him: "It’s the exposure you get as the ‘boss’. You don’t really have that when you’re further down the ladder. You appreciate what course managers have to do a lot more when you’re in the position. It’s been a tough start, but very enjoyable."

Educating others about our industry

"If I didn’t play golf when I was a kid, I wouldn’t know about greenkeeping. You never see it at careers fairs, on billboards or advertised online. There’s a big space for us to push the industry into people’s view. It doesn’t have to just be young people; it can be those who want a career change. We just need to recruit."

"There’s always a misconception of what we do. I’ll tell someone my job, and they’ll say, ‘You cut grass.’ In reality, a lot of us are greenkeepers, mechanics, agronomists and naturalists. We need to change the stereotype."

Career so far

Tom started his greenkeeping journey at Hagley Golf Club, just a stone’s throw from Stourbridge. He told us why greenkeeping was for him: "I’ve played golf throughout my life. Even as a child, I always had a keen eye for how the course was managed - seeing the mowers out and watching the team working on the course. In the summer holidays, I would be playing golf and would always ask if they needed a hand. Often, they did, and I sort of fell in love with it."

With five months under his belt as Head Greenkeeper, Tom reflected on his career so far: "To be a head greenkeeper in my early thirties, I’m pretty happy. I joined Stourbridge from Drayton Park Golf Club, where I was a deputy course manager for two and a half years. I was at Moor Hall before that for six years, with brief spells at other clubs in between. I feel like I’ve gained a lot of experience working with a wide range of personalities and skill sets. Working under different management, you learn a lot of techniques about managing turf, people, and the golf element."

Tom reflected on the usefulness of role models in turfcare: "I was lucky in college; I had a lot of good tutors at Rodbaston. Kevin McAdams used to be at the Belfry, and he helped me through my level 3, which was great. To work in this job, you have to have a passion for it. Everything you do could have a positive or negative result. If you love the game of golf, it’s a brilliant career."

I want to keep striving to get better at the job. I want to put Stourbridge on the map. I’ll always be proactive and try to display what I can do."