{"id":1702,"date":"2013-11-06T11:00:43","date_gmt":"2013-11-06T18:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toroadvantage.wpengine.com\/?p=1702"},"modified":"2023-05-08T15:00:35","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T15:00:35","slug":"keeper-of-the-greens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.toroadvantage.com\/en\/equipment\/keeper-of-the-greens\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeper of the Greens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Appointed just before the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews Links, Gordon McKie is responsible for the upkeep of the world\u0092s oldest golf course. Along with his dedicated team of green staff, the Glasgow-born greenkeeper is looking forward to the return of The Open in 2015 but insists there is a lot of work to do in the meantime. \u0093Preparing the course is foremost in our minds and getting it in the best possible condition,\u0094 says McKie. \u0093It\u0092s a huge event for St Andrews Links, the town, Fife and Scotland.\u0094<\/p>\n

\"St-Andrews-Story-Images-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Unusual weather not an issue<\/b><\/p>\n

Although this part of Scotland has recently suffered from some of the wettest weather on record, McKie says it hasn\u0092t affected preparations much. Drainage on the course is good, and everything has been greener than normal across the Links due to the high rainfall.<\/p>\n

With no snow and little frost the golf course wasn\u0092t closed much over the winter, but the course held up well. \u0093It was, overall, pretty mild and dry so it gave us a chance to do the work we had planned on lifting the levels of some of the major bunkers, including Shell bunker (7th), Hell (14th), Cottage (4th) and Cartgate (3rd and 15th),\u0094 McKie explains.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u0093We don\u0092t mess with history\u0094<\/b><\/p>\n

\"St-Andrews-Story-Images-2\"<\/p>\n

Lifting the levels of bunkers that have been in place for over 100 years without changing the character of the course or the hole is no small\u00a0challenge. But McKie\u0092s greenkeeping team is well trained for the job. \u0093We have four or five staff with special skills for building and revetting bunkers and who have around 75 years of work experience between them,\u0094 he says. \u0093It\u0092s not a process you can do in one go. It can take up to two months for the revetting of the faces and surrounds of each bunker to be completed.\u0094<\/p>\n

\u0093On a large bunker such as Hell, we lay six or seven layers of turf and have to allow for natural settlement for at least a couple of weeks as the layers of the face take shape, before adding the next batch,\u0094 he continues. \u0093Building or rebuilding a bunker is like building the foundations of a house. Turf is soft and pliable so needs to be treated with care. Get the foundations right and you shouldn\u0092t have too much of an issue.\u0094<\/p>\n

\u0093We make slight tweaks to the shape of a bunker to allow for condition and playability,\u0094 adds McKie. \u0093But we don\u0092t mess with history; we just want to carry it through to the modern era using the latest techniques, skills and technology.\u0094<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u0093It\u0092s all about teamwork here\u0094<\/b><\/p>\n

The Old Course has 15 full-time and four or five seasonal staff from around the world. For the Alfred Dunhill Links in October, a team of 45 will be working on the Old Course, utilizing greenkeepers from their other six courses. When The Open comes around, that number will rise to 60. Communication keeps them working like a finely tuned orchestra.<\/p>\n

\u0093It\u0092s all about teamwork here,\u0094 McKie says. \u0093I suppose I see myself as the manager of a football team. I have a lot of young guys \u0096 and girls \u0096 who are enthusiastic about what they do but I also need some old heads with experience. It makes me really proud that I don\u0092t have to brief the staff in the morning with too many detailed instructions; everyone knows what they\u0092re doing well in advance.\u0094<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u0093I have to pinch myself\u0094<\/b><\/p>\n

When asked how he likes being the modern-day Tom Morris, McKie says, \u0093I think about Old Tom almost every day when I\u0092m up at that first tee. He was the first recognized greenkeeper and sometimes I have to pinch myself that I\u0092ve been handed the opportunity to follow in his footsteps. As greenkeepers we respect him so much. He was the grandfather of our industry and for the many years modern greenkeeping has taken place on the Old Course we\u0092ve never tried to change much of what he did.\u0094<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Old Course Manager Gordon McKie talks about preparations for the return of the Open Championship and what it’s like to follow in the footsteps of Old Tom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,23,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equipment","category-general","category-other-golf"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKeeper of the Greens - Toro Advantage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.toroadvantage.com\/en\/equipment\/keeper-of-the-greens\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keeper of the Greens - 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