United Kingdom
January 24, 2017
Rhys Butler is Links Manager at Royal St David’s Golf Club, a beautifully romantic and traditional links course in North Wales, overlooked by brooding medieval Harlech castle. It is a glorious setting to have spent three of his 17 years’ greenkeeping and unsurprisingly, Rhys is as enthusiastic about Sportsturf as ever.
A keen scratch golfer, Rhys caught the bug at the age of 12. But it’s not just the sport that’s propelled him forward—first with an NVQ in sportsturf, then an HNC in Golf Course Management; rather, his ongoing dedication to learning.
We caught up with Rhys to find out how his endless quest for knowledge has benefitted the course.
“In 2015, we won environmental golf course of the year. Conservation is a top priority for us and we’d completed a lot of restoration work, especially in scrub management. It was a massive job to reduce the scrub and return it to open sandy areas. But necessary for natural dune slack vegetation to develop—and vital for local wildlife.”
A fine balance
He continues: “Our main challenge therefore, is balancing that dedication to ecology… with presentation. After all, Royal St David’s is considered one of the best courses in the country. We’re dealing with changing weather patterns and a busy course, even in winter, yet we’re always looking for ways to minimise impact and artificial intervention.”
Rhys and his small but passionate team (six in total) work hard to maintain an acceptable balance between diversity of habitat, while improving playing surfaces and conserving the sandy links feel. He says:
“When I first came here I noticed a lot of the walk offs and walk ways were very weak. Turf quality was poor, very thin and worn, and rabbit holes were a problem. So we turned to the Barenbrug range. Using EXTREME RPR for the walkways and BAR MEDAL for walk-offs. Also, BAR FESCUE on greens and fairways.”
Great coverage: from tee to green
“RPR has given us much better quality and coverage. When visiting a lot of top links courses, like Royal Liverpool and Royal Portrush, they’ve got great coverage, from tee to green; and that’s something we strive for. Using RPR has definitely improved the presentation and grass coverage of the course.
Lack of irrigation can also be an issue, particularly on areas of wear and tear. So I was looking for a seed that would establish and survive on a very dry site in in the summer and after trialling Barenbrug, we saw the results we needed. It’s the main seed we use now.”
The greens maintenance programme at the club is typical for a links course. From monthly aerations using 8mm tines, to verti-draining and slitting pre-Christmas. In winter, the cut is kept as high as possible, and drops no lower than 4mm in the summer. The team does a lot of rolling to maintain surface smoothness and speed, without compromising fescue health.
This year: constant overseeding
Rhys adds: “We tend to overseed twice a year, discing it in to the fairways and walk-offs. But it’s been very wet year this year, so we’ve basically kept going all year round. Overseeding all the greens with BAR FESCUE and BAR ALL BENT, we saw superb germination within just one week.”
“Now, instead of constantly patching rabbit holes and the same areas all winter—which to me just didn’t seem cost effective—the Barenbrug range has enabled us to concentrate on other areas of the golf course. It’s saved a lot of man hours. Also, the bents and fescues in Barenbrug’s mixes promote much more sustainable grass. We use much less water, fertilisers and chemicals. “
On his advice to others
“I still visit courses all over the country, as a player. It’s invaluable to view other practices and I’d say essential to anyone’s development. So I’d recommend getting out there, and borrowing ideas from other greenkeepers. Most of us already do on this in the online forums, where regular discussions help spread knowledge. But don’t underestimate the power of getting out there and seeing real practices for yourself.”
Rhys says communication is also key to greenkeeping success. “We keep up to date with members via a club website blog and a Facebook page. It’s important to explain why we do things, via posts, images and links to other resources. Educating our members about things like repairing pitch marks communicates the science behind our choices, so they better understand the value of our work.”
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