GOLF COURSES
Head greenkeeper ’ s Christmas present was a Ventrac
ittingbourne &
S
Milton Regis Golf Club surprised their Head greenkeeper Paul Best in December last year , when he was called down to the maintenance facility on a fictious errand , only to find that he was the recipient of a brand new Ventrac all-terrain compact tractor and several attachments .
Although the Ventrac was on his wish-list , machinery procurement at the club normally takes place in the summer , so it was huge surprise when he saw the machine complete with Contour deck , Tough Cut deck and Turbine blower .
The surprise was organised by Steve Bootes , the club ’ s General Manager , who has a great relationship with Paul and the greenkeeping team .
Christmas came early for Head Greenkeeper , Paul Best
“ We ’ d already sat down together ”, said Steve , “ and drawn up the spec and rational for the purchase . We knew we wanted a machine that provided versatility and could work in wet weather . The Ventrac was the obvious choice . The board here were happy to provide the finance to pull the purchase forward from our usual summer machinery upgrading programme , so I went ahead with the order and ‘ forgot ’ to tell Paul or any of his team . The look on his face when he saw the machine was priceless , the expletives he uttered on video , not so !”
Steve and Paul have worked together in their current roles for almost seven years and have a close working relationship . Paul joined the club as a 17-year-old apprentice and has risen through the ranks over the intervening 25 years . He was assistant head greenkeeper in his early 20s and then shadowed former head greenkeeper David Horn for six months prior to his retirement . However , the step up to head greenkeeper was not a forgone conclusion and he beat 19 other applicants for the top job .
Commenting on the Ventrac , Paul said , “ To say I was gobsmacked when I saw the Ventrac is an understatement ; it was a massive surprise ; a brilliant Christmas present , not just for me , but the whole team !
“ It was a really wet season , but we managed to persuade the board that this was the piece of kit we needed going into the winter to enhance the playing surfaces and visual appearance . Usually we ’ d leave the fairways , as they were too wet to cut , but we striped them up all through the winter . We just
46 GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | November / December 2024