Also nominated in the same category
were Andrew Kerr MG and the team at
Surbiton Golf Club and Robert George
and the team at Thorndon Park Golf Club.
For the first time, a new set of prizes
were introduced at the BIGGA Welcome
Celebration. The BIGGA Excellence in
Communication Awards sponsored
by Campey Turf Care Systems seek
to recognise those BIGGA members
who have embraced communication
as a vital tool available to the modern
greenkeeper. Awards for the best use of
social media and work in the community
will be handed on the second day BTME
on the Campey Turf Care stand, but at
the BIGGA Welcome Celebration, the
winner of the Innovation and Thought
Leadership Award was unveiled.
The award is given to the BIGGA member
who had written the most thought-
provoking article for BIGGA’s monthly
magazine, Greenkeeper International,
with Ryun Holden of Golf Club Wylihof
in Switzerland claiming the inaugural
prize for his feature discussing the
importance of conveying a positive
message from the greenkeeping team to
golfers at their club.
Ryun received a £750 cash prize and
all-expenses paid trip to Florida, where
BIGGA Welcome Celebration sponsor Ian Pogson of Campey Turf Care Systems alongside
Ryun Holden, winner of the Innovation and Thought Leadership Award
he will visit the Campey Air2g2 factory,
Daytona International Speedway, TPC
Sawgrass and TIAA Bank Field, the home
of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.
BIGGA Chief Executive Jim Croxton
said: “I take immense pride in the
BIGGA Welcome Celebration as it is
the opportunity for our association to
recognise the unbelievable hard work
and dedication that BIGGA members all
over the world demonstrate every day of
their working lives.
“As we saw once again through Michael’s
story, it can become all too easy to
get caught up in all the negativity
that surrounds the golf industry. Yet
the BIGGA Welcome Celebration is an
opportunity to show that there are
many passionate and hardworking
greenkeepers who have dedicated their
careers to ensuring this great industry
has a strong and vibrant future. BIGGA
is nothing if not a community where
members can come together to support
each other through the bad times and
the good. Thank you to all our sponsors
and to everyone who came along to
support this brilliant event.”
BTME 2020 continues until Thursday 23
January at the Harrogate Convention
Centre in North Yorkshire.
The British and International Golf
Greenkeepers Association was created
in January 1987. Today BIGGA has around
5,900 greenkeepers and turf professionals
as members. BIGGA is dedicated to the
continuing professional development of its
members, and in serving their needs will
strive through education and training.
Hazel Grove head greenkeeper Michael Davie alongside Jacobsen’s Will Carr
GroundskeepingJournal.co.uk | Sept/Oct 2019
BIGGA
www.bigga.org.uk
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