“Greenkeeping is the perfect job and I love it”

By Alistair November 4, 2024 09:39

Paul Kendall’s fascination with football pitches and admiration for the work of greenkeepers at his local golf club inspired a career which has endured for over 30 years. Now, as head greenkeeper at Lutterworth Golf Club in Leicestershire, Paul talks about working around the weather, how the club has recovered from a devastating arson attack and why getting back to basics is the secret to consistent greens.

Can you give a brief description of your background and how you came to work at Lutterworth GC?

I’ve been a greenkeeper for 30 years now. I was a golfer at Whetstone Golf Club, which was local to me, and I just liked the idea of what the greenkeepers were doing there and thought it might suit me. I did four years there and four years at another club, including an apprenticeship scheme one day a week and then my Level 3. I’ve been at Lutterworth now for 23 years and became head greenkeeper two and a half years ago.

It’s going to sound really sad but I think my interest in greenkeeping comes from watching football, like the FA Cup, as a child. I’d be the one putting the football on just to look at the pitch! I was fascinated by the striping on the pitches; I thought it was incredible and wanted to know how they achieved that. I remember the first time I went to see Leicester City play when I was about six or seven, and the first time I went to Wembley, and the pitches were unbelievable to me. Greenkeeping is obviously the perfect job for me and I love it.

What size is your team and how do you share the workload between you?

There are five of us, including me. My deputy and I run a whiteboard at the beginning of the week and try to plan out as best we can, but there are so many variables at the moment with the weather. You can be down on the board to do something and not be able to do it. We’ve got a WhatsApp group so we can keep in contact with each other throughout the day and that’s really useful too.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

It’s a cliché, but being outside is the best thing. I love the early mornings when you feel like you’re the only person around and everyone else is still in bed. I love that feeling. Spring is my favourite season at work: when you see all the work you’ve been doing starting to come to life. It’s the best part of the year.

What’s the biggest challenge your team faces when maintaining the course?

The weather! The amount of rain we’re getting at the moment is ridiculous. You can have the best plans in the world and they are disrupted by heavy rain. We have to work around it and luckily there’s always something to do, like servicing machinery in the shed. Right now it’s all growing as if it’s the beginning of the season so we’re still focused on cutting. It’s pretty full-on out there! I’ve been greenkeeping for so long I remember when we used to get frost in November and now it’s so mild right up until Christmas. The seasons are really changing.

Your greens have the reputation of being among the best in England. What’s your secret?

They are pretty good. We’ve just done some maintenance on them so they’re currently recovering from that, but they are a lot more consistent than they used to be. We haven’t really got a secret but I think as long as you’re doing all the main cultural practices you can’t really go wrong. I don’t get too deeply into the science of it as I think you can get lost in it. As long as you’re aerating once a month, hollow coring, scarifying and feeding, that’s all it takes. Get the basics right and it’ll be fine. There are fads and fashions but it always goes back to basics in the end.

How has the club recovered from the catastrophic fire in 2021, which destroyed the historic clubhouse and also affected greenkeepers’ accommodation?

I took over as head greenkeeper about 13 months after the fire. We were working out of containers and it was such an enormous setback for us. It was a horrible time and we had a couple of people leave at that point because they couldn’t really cope with it. Our accommodation was joined onto the clubhouse and, although it was separated by a fire wall and wasn’t badly damaged, it still had to be demolished. Luckily we were able to get the kit out in time but when we were using the containers to work from the equipment was getting damp and we could only do the bare minimum throughout that period. It was very stressful.

We’ve got a new facility here now with a nice clean office, mess room and drying room, and things are back on track. We’re also installing a new bunker on the eighth, with a view to possibly implementing a bunker plan for the rest of the course, so everything is very positive now.

You purchased an AIR-EZE Dual Unit Fairway Golf Shoe Cleaner. Why did you decide to get one and what made you choose this model?

We decided on it for a few reasons. The price was very competitive because we were purchasing two units. Each machine had two air hoses, so it gave us a total of four airlines. We could also personalise the units with the club logo. Also, the service and maintenance agreement was good and we’ve found the sales (and after sales) customer care to be excellent.

What was the installation process like and have you found it easy to use?

The installation went completely smoothly and it’s very easy to learn to use. The thing that surprised me the most was how quiet it is. It’s next to the 18th green and you can’t hear it running at all.

I use it myself whenever I need to go into the clubhouse. It’s quick, quiet and easy and the gun has got a little defender on it so that you don’t get mud on you. It’s also oil-free, which appealed to us.

Have you had any feedback from members since the AIR-EZE unit was installed?

I know some of the female golfers were worried before they used it that it would spray mud in their eyes, but the defender on the blow gun completely stops that so they’re very happy with how safe it is. The members all comment on how quiet it is when it kicks in. We had a makeshift system before and I can tell you it was loud! This is the first proper shoe cleaner we’ve had and everyone’s very impressed with the difference.

What would your advice be to somebody hoping to start out in greenkeeping today?

I’d say if you’re just starting to get involved with greenkeeping try to go out and volunteer at a golf tournament. I still do it on a regular basis and it’s the best thing ever. To see how it all works on a bigger scale is absolutely priceless. I’ve probably done 12 European Tour events now and it’s an amazing opportunity. You’ll learn so much and they’re great for networking. Also I’d say to get all the training you can, pick everyone’s brains.