COVID-19 crisis: the impact on greenkeeping teams

22 May 2020 COVID-19
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Image by Ryan Norman, Stowmarket

 

BIGGA contacted every UK course manager and head greenkeeper member of the association last week to get an idea of how golf clubs have reacted and continue to react on a staffing level to the COVID-19 crisis. 

How did courses react when the news hit?

And what’s happening now that courses are reopening?

Firstly, a little bit of context. There are around 2,500 golf courses in the UK, with the majority of those (1,800) in England. The average number of greenstaff working on golf courses during the summer period is approximately 6.5, meaning that around 16,000 full time greenkeepers are responsible for maintaining the UK's courses. It should be noted that more affluent teams can have greenkeeping teams well in excess of that, while the more modest clubs may only have one or two members of the team.

Here's what our members told us...

How has the crisis been for you?

 

With golf clubs being forced to close at the start of the lockdown period in the UK, most golf clubs utilised the Government’s Job Retention Scheme to ensure they had a future.

The average number of greenkeepers furloughed per golf club during the lockdown period was 3.5. That’s more than half of all greenkeepers in the country asked to sit on the bench until needed, for the sake of financial security of their golf club.

Nearly 9,000 greenkeepers were unable to work at a time that is traditionally one of the busiest of the year on golf courses.

The furloughing of 3.5 full time greenkeepers at each club amounts to around 150 hours of work being lost every week on the golf course, having a huge impact on what can be achieved.

What have you learnt during this crisis?

 

With courses closed, staff who were at work were able to complete the most essential maintenance, as defined by BIGGA and The R&A, with personal safety the utmost priority. 

That guidance advised how some tasks, such as the maintenance and bunkers and areas of rough was not considered essential. For reduced teams of greenkeepers, that meant they could focus their efforts on maintaining the health of greens, tees and fairways.

BIGGA contacted every course manager and head greenkeeper member of the association this week to get an idea of how golf clubs are reacting on a staffing level to the COVID-19 crisis. 

Do you think the crisis will change the way you manage your course?

 

Also our research shows that despite courses being open across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and due to open soon in Scotland the majority of clubs are still utilising the Job Retention Scheme with an average of 1.9 greenkeepers per club still furloughed. The reasons for this are obvious, golf clubs can only permit two golfers to play per starting time, dramatically reducing capacity and, of course, clubhouses remain closed so revenue opportunities are severely limited. Golf clubs remain under significant financial pressure and that means fewer resources available to maintain the course. This will undoubtedly have a substantial impact on the ability of greenkeeping teams to manage the whole course to its usual summer standard as well as impacting on planned projects and developments and capital investment. 

The overwhelming feedback from golfers is they’re delighted to be out playing, with very little criticism so far. Hopefully golfers understand the challenges greenkeepers are facing and appreciate the incredible hard work that has gone in throughout the crisis to keep courses in such playable condition.

 

Author

BIGGA
BIGGA

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