Q&A with Rotherham Golf Club course manager Andy Unwin

They’ve been fighting a seemingly never ending battle with the rain to try to keep courses open and playable and, in truth, it’s a battle they simply can’t win. Rain on top of rain on already wet ground leads to the inevitable closures and members wondering what the clubs are doing to try and make them more playable.

With the general climate getter ever wetter, I spoke to Rotherham Golf Club course manager Andrew Unwin to get a view from the inside looking out.

Andy, describe what it’s been like as a greenkeeper the last six months.

It's been a strange winter with obviously a lot of rain but not many frosts or snow.

What steps are the course taking to hopefully improve things moving forward?

We are in the process of purchasing a new trenching machine which will enable us to put new drainage on the course to improve its playability in the future.

How do you make a “course closed” decision, and what factors do you need to take into account?

The decision to close the course is never taken lightly because the last thing we want is to stop people playing, but sometimes we have no alternative. I genuinely think I give the golfers the benefit of the doubt when there's any decision to be made.

How do you keep your staff motivated through winter?

We always have plenty going off in the winter. We’re currently going though a bunker and green surround programme, so we've plenty to get our teeth into.

Apart from the weather, what other challenges does winter bring?

Over the past 20 years golfers’ expectations have gone though the roof in the winter and they expect a perfect course all year round. This can sometimes be difficult when there's little to no growth of grass to cope with the volume of golf.

As we move towards spring, what’s now your priority?

Our priority now is getting our bunker project completed, then our greens maintenance at the end of March .

If you had a crystal ball, how do the next eight months look?

Hopefully with some better weather where anyone coming to Rotherham Golf Club has a great experience.

What’s had more work this winter, the kettle or the chainsaw?

My main chainsaw operator Scott Fellows will definitely say the chainsaw as we had quite a bit of damage following the storms this winter.

ROTHERHAM Golf Club welcomed its new captains for the 2024 season back in January on a day when the weather was favourable and the course playable.

Richard Boor will be the gents’ captain, taking over from Steve Ghent, and has named Robert Norton as his vice.

For the ladies, Yvonne Blunt will take over from Carol Wilson-Ghent, with Jenny Allen (vice captain) set to take over in 2025.