A day in the life: Neil Davey

By Alistair August 25, 2023 07:57

The head greenkeeper at Rookery Park Golf Club in Suffolk takes us through his average day.

What time do you arrive at the club and what is your morning routine?

I usually arrive at the club at 5.30am, ready for a 6am start. When the rest of the team arrive, we’ll have a brew and a chat about the upcoming day. I will tend to sort the work schedule out the day before, when my brain isn’t in ‘start-up’ mode!

How many people are there in your team and do you share tasks?

There are five of us in total in the team at the moment. We are all capable of 99 percent of the jobs (just select sprayers and chainsaw operatives) and with a small team, job rotation is a must. If staff members are off for any reason, we still need to cover all bases and complete the set up for golf.

How do you motivate your colleagues?

I’ve always been a practical person and enjoy what we do which hopefully motivates the others. I will also never ask the lads to complete a task I wouldn’t be comfortable doing. We are a team and I don’t see myself above them – I just get paid more to deal with the membership and club politics.

What aspects of your job give you the greatest satisfaction?

There is nothing more satisfying than aeration weeks! The hard work that goes on coring and solid tining and so on, knowing that the course will come out the other side in a better place.

And the least satisfaction?

Office work and meetings. Like I said before, I’m a practical person and am most comfortable when I’m out cutting and so on… meetings and paperwork aren’t really my forte.

Have you attended any courses recently, and if so, what did you take away?

At BTME this year, I did a one-day irrigation course learning about the importance of delivering the right amount of water across your course. We know that’s needed to achieve a great playing surface for the golfer, but it was interesting to see how new systems can deliver this in a more sustainable and precise way.

What’s your favourite season of the year and why?

Late summer into autumn. When surfaces have had a few months of good weather, presentation is easier to achieve – effectively just guiding the turf in the direction we want it to go instead of battling against the elements in winter.

Are you witnessing evidence of climate change and, if so, how has your job had to adapt to changing weather patterns?

Yeah, the season seems to have shifted out here on the east coast. Growth in spring is not really upon us until mid-May now due to the colder and drier springs, and summers are becoming warmer and drier than before. The flip side of that is the season runs through to October for golfers to enjoy.

Have you had to overcome any course issues with disease and / or pests?

The last few seasons have been hard for leather jacket damage over our greens. Bird pecking can be an issue, but we found that root damage was more evident when spring is dry or windy due to turf drought and root loss. Also, dollar spot seems to be my new enemy – it creeps in July / August-time and can last until the end of September.

What piece of equipment would you say is the most popular and frequently used by you and your team?

The team would say mine is the sprayer as I love to spray, but we have a GKB CombiTool in the shed which is out at least once a week over greens, tees or approaches. It’s such a versatile bit of kit and really easy to use.

With a growing focus on sustainability, do you deploy any sustainable practices in the management of your course?

We have been fungicide free for just under two years and have been working on overseeding with more disease resistant grass varieties to achieve a more sustainable greens sward. We are also maintaining height of cut at 5mm on greens which has reduced our inputs of fertiliser.

What do you do to support wildlife?

We like to leave long native areas of rough around the course for wildlife to make habitat. Bird and bat boxes have been dotted around the treelines and we have a few areas of woodland which have log-stacked bug houses. We have also started introducing wildflowers for bees and the aim will be beehives nearby once we have achieved good establishment.

What are the technological developments that you feel have been the most important in your career to date?

The refinement of ryegrass has been great for parkland golf. We have lots of old gnarly rye in some areas and we have been overseeding with dwarf ryes that are like fescues to play from, but give the colour and stress tolerance parkland golf requires.

Do you use social media professionally and what do you think this contributes to the industry?

I used to use it quite a bit and found it was really great for passing around ideas and keeping in touch with people across the world.

But it can have a massive impact on mental health when unnecessary / hurtful comments are made without perhaps knowing the whole story.

How would you improve the greenkeeping industry?

I think as a whole money needs to be better for assistants, with the aim of keeping hardworking people at the clubs they work for.

More work from clubs needs to be done to convey information between club and members on etiquette and course maintenance plans / work.

What advice would you give to a young greenkeeper starting out today?

Once you find a club, just work hard and take pride in everything you do. Hard work will always be recognised and head greenkeepers / course managers love individuals who are willing to learn.

Also try to get placements at other clubs to gain experience and take advantage of opportunities like the Ohio State Programme if you can.

How do you spend your leisure time?

I used to play golf to a decent level, so I still get the bats out every now and then!

With having a young family, I spend a lot of weekend time walking and on the bikes.