The BIGGA Podcast

Our guest this time on The BIGGA Podcast is a leading expert in turfgrass health and integrated disease management.

Sean Loakes is Syngenta’s Technical Manager for Europe, bringing a background in biology, environmental science and decades of research into pesticide efficacy, biological controls, and best practice for turf and landscape management.

So what is the role of ITM and how can clubs develop a proactive programme? How is climate change altering the disease landscape and is dollar spot the biggest threat right now on our golf courses?

How do we inspire the next generation to see golf courses as a place of opportunity and a rewarding career?

Jenny Bledge, BIGGA’s Workforce and Careers Lead, is responsible for the First Green initiative that’s becoming a powerful tool for introducing young people into careers in the turf industry.

With a background in education and information governance, she is helping to connect classrooms with golf courses and show people how STEM subjects come to live in the real world.

Jenny is our guest on The BIGGA Podcast and she discusses the origins of First Green and the impact the programme is having on clubs, schools and on the wider turf industry.

What does a typical First Green day look like at a golf course? How have new greenkeepers been inspired to join the profession because of First Green? And how can clubs and schools get involved?

For this episode, we are joined by a hugely respected greenkeeper – one of the few to be awarded the profession’s ultimate accolade: Master Greenkeeper status.

From starting out straight from school at Nairn Dunbar, Richard Johnstone now leads the team as Course Manager at one of the world’s great links in Royal Aberdeen.

His career has been built on learning, volunteering and a commitment to excellence, and we’ve seen all these qualities displayed in a huge project to preserve the Balgownie links from the threat of coastal erosion.

Richard reveals the work that has been done at Royal Aberdeen, why continuing to learn is so important and why he always strives to develop and improve.

If you haven’t been to Royal Birkdale since Jordan Spieth’s back-9 heroics won The Open in 2017, you’ll be surprised how much has changed.

Over the past couple of years, the Southport Links has been through a massive redevelopment project which has transformed the soon-to-be 11-time host of golf’s oldest major championship.

Leading that work has been Royal Birkdale Course Manager Sean McLean, whose team has balanced the demands of construction with the day-to-day requirements of maintaining one of the world’s best golf courses.

He joins us to give valuable insight into how to handle a significant renovation and construction project, and what it takes to prepare one of golf’s most iconic venues for one of the sport’s biggest events.