GTC director David Golding retires from greenkeeping

By Alistair August 23, 2016 23:14 Updated

The education director of the Greenkeepers Training Committee (GTC), David Golding, has retired from his role after 50 years in the industry.

Leading the tributes to him was GTC chair Donald Steel (pictured left, with Golding right), who said: “Sad that David has saddled up his horse ready to ride off into the sunset even if he looks far too young to retire.

“Happy that we are celebrating the fact that he leaves behind a highly distinguished working legacy for training greenkeepers in which we have all been fortunate to have played some part.

“David has acted as education director of the GTC for 23 years and has presided over an industry that has been transformed thanks to his dedication, vision and persuasive example.

“Greenkeeping has always been hard graft and David’s practical background as a greenkeeper meant he could speak from experience. Greenkeepers never complain about their plight, they deal with the unexpected, they keep unsocial hours, and are driven to help others but David belonged to a generation of greenkeepers that wanted something better and, more poignantly, fought hard to achieve it.

“He was one of the campaigners in the creation of BIGGA and, the GTC. Today, greenkeeping has become the job of a lifetime, for a lifetime. Many have never thought of doing anything else, eager to learn their trade and to have the qualifications to enable them to master the responsibilities they face. And they are very good at it and, what is more, are delightful people.

“The training of young greenkeepers is perhaps the only thing from which all golfers, young or old, good or bad, man or woman, boy or girl, amateur or professional, benefit.

“Fiona Lyttle [GTC office manager] has always been a comforting presence at David’s side, a duo that have made my chairmanship an absolute joy and so it is with pride and delight that I present this print to David, to wish him a happy birthday and a long and happy retirement and to thank him on behalf of the game and several thousand of greenkeepers for his supreme contribution to its welfare, enjoyment and efficiency.”