Ben Cumberland, the course manager at Coxmoor Golf Club in Nottinghamshire, takes us through his average day.
What time do you arrive at the club and what is your morning routine?
We start work at 6am but arrive around 5:30am, to have a coffee and look at the morning tasks, which can sometimes change from the plan depending on the weather.
How many people are there in your team and do you share tasks?
We’re currently a team of nine. While some tasks are dependent on qualifications and abilities, I do try and share jobs out as much as possible so everyone has an understanding of every job and can benefit from variety in their work.
How do you motivate your colleagues?
As well as words of encouragement, the team thrive on enthusiasm and pride in their work which, more often than not, comes from members and visitors commenting on the quality of the course. As a ‘Top 100’ golf course, we always want to strive to take the course to the next level. We have a saying: “Good is not good enough, we can always do better”, which is applicable to many things. If we do a job, how can we do it better next time? Or if someone is doing a job for the first time, how did they find it and what would they do better in future? As a team we are always striving for improvement and it’s this that keeps us all motivated.
What aspects of your job give you the greatest satisfaction?
When you finish the week and leave the course set up in the best condition it can be for members to enjoy. As a club we are not focussed on competitions and, instead, have the course set up at its best all year round. Personally, I like to see sharp clean lines – that attention to detail is what makes the golf course stand out.
And the least satisfaction?
Wet days. It can be frustrating when you can’t do what you need to, but it’s important to just take a breath and adjust the schedule as required.
Have you attended any courses recently?
Unfortunately not recently – our winter construction work begins at the end of September and runs into the new year, so with this busy winter schedule and a busy summer of play it doesn’t allow us to get away for many training days. We do, however, attend BTME in Harrogate and sometimes SALTEX when time and schedules allow.
What is your favourite season of the year and why?
I couldn’t pick a favourite season, but I do have a favourite month! I love September, when the summer ends, the leaves turn and the heathland comes out in full flower. As a heathland course, this pop really brings everything to life and emphasises the natural beauty of the landscape.
Are you witnessing evidence of climate change and has your job had to adapt to changing weather patterns?
Over the last couple of years we have certainly seen extremes of wet and dry. This year has been one of the driest on record but last year was one of the wettest – this inconsistency causes issues with trying to produce a consistent playing surface. This fluctuation in growth hugely impacts whether the mowers are out all the time or whether they spend a lot of time parked up. Last year we experienced a flash flood in September, rainfall from the road flooded a hole for nearly six months and subsequently impacted bunkers and paths. No golf course can cope with flash floods – we just have to take every day as it comes, and deal with it!
Have you had to overcome issues with disease or pests?
Like lots of others, the biggest issue for us is worms and worm casts. We do extra top-dressing of sand regularly on surrounds approaches and tees to try and break them down, but on the fairways they are so slimy. We simply don’t have the budget to top-dress them to have a significant impact. Unfortunately, the impact doesn’t stop at the cast itself – when members walk on them the smearing can kill the grass, and their presence puts extra wear and tear on the mowers, blunting blades. We’d love to eradicate them but with the restrictions around chemical pest control, unfortunately, there’s not much we can do.
What piece of equipment would you say is the most popular and frequently used by you and your team?
Our favourite machines have to be the Baroness LM56 and LM66 hand mowers! The attention to detail and presentation we achieve with a hand mower on the greens and the tees is like nothing else.
With a growing focus on sustainability, do you deploy any sustainable practices in the management of your course?
We work with Paul Woodham from The R&A and are heavily involved with the Sherwood Forest Trust and forestry commission, trying to operate the course more sustainably and as free from pesticides as possible. Part of our work with the Sherwood Forest Trust has also been to re-introduce heather to the course, as part of the ‘sustainable future programme’ and larger heathland regeneration operations in the Sherwood Forest area.
I’ve been a member at the club for 31 years and during the 11 years since I became golf course manager, I’ve watched the course develop from what was once a lost heathland on the verge of transitioning into a parkland course, into a true heathland course. This resurgence has really accelerated since the reintroduction of heather which has come from creating the environment it requires by a heavy tree thinning programme over the last 10 years.
What do you do to support wildlife?
The main thing is the planting of 9,500 new trees on the fields adjacent to the golf course which began nearly two years ago. The trees were planted on the 42-acre site as part of the heathland regeneration scheme and our view is to transform the farming fields into a heathland mosaic to border the adjacent holes for a more sustainable environment and provide greater exposure of heath. We also try hard to create nice wildlife areas such as leaving eco piles for biodegrading, giving insects and beetles an area to thrive in.
What are the technological developments that you feel have been the most important in your career to date?
Some of the important developments are the simplest! When I was a young lad, we used to top-dress with a shovel, now we’re onto spinning disc spreaders and follow that with a range of methods of brushing that dress into a green. Lots of advancements come together to make the routine we all follow today.
We are very fortunate here at Coxmoor that the club will invest in anything to improve the way we work. The club recently invested in a weather station to help us with the monitoring of the course and the soil temperature, leaf wetness and so on. It’s a great asset to have and is accessible for our team to use to help with planning for spraying applications and making judgments based on the weather conditions. Members also benefit from the information it provides which is available to them via the club website.
Do you use social media professionally and what do you think this contributes to the industry?
The club actively uses social media as an information feed for members and guests, I personally only use it to keep an eye on what other teams are doing at various points of the year!
How would you improve the greenkeeping industry?
I believe we need a big push at getting young people back into greenkeeping. We’re looking for someone now and finding someone who is young and enthusiastic is very difficult. It’s an issue not just in greenkeeping but sports turf management as a whole, and it needs a big, concerted push to show people what the industry is all about!
What advice would you give to a young greenkeeper starting out today?
You’ve got to have enthusiasm and a passion for the sport you are moving into. Without this passion to succeed and heart for the profession, the job will get difficult. It’s also important to make a real effort to get on with your team. You spend a lot of time at work with your greenkeeping team so maintaining a good working environment is key.
How do you spend your leisure time?
I do enjoy a round of golf however I don’t play as much as I used to. Now I spend a lot of time with my family, walking my dogs and going to the gym regularly.