Cernunnos
Journeyman Pro
Cernunnos,
Ok, the situation on the majority of British courses is this..
Every employee that sprays has a certificate of competence.
The Head greenkeeper will decide on that morning, if, the weather conditions are suitable to spray...ie is it windy, is it going to rain, will the chemical dry on the leaf before golf gets out, have I warned the starter about the spraying, have I carried out a risk assessment on the chemical that I am spraying, is every access point to the course got a sign to say I am spraying, have I chosen the least harmful chemical to do the job?.......
You see we try our best to minimise the risk to golfers and public coming onto our courses. To be honest the risk to you guys is minimal, if not negligible.
Britain has the highest standards in Europe re pesticide application, but this legislation implies that it is not good enough, it is like cutting off the nose to stop a cold.
Tommy
I understand this And I'm certainly glad to hear that these risk assesments are done. And I'm aware certain things must be done
Though at the end of the day doesn't make me feel much better, as I have had certain skin problems after playing occasionally. (this is the tip of the iceberg)
I can really see how after going to the trouble of getting the right certificates & obibing by all the regulations it may feel like a kick in the teeth & a lack of trust. Especially as after reading back through your posts it does seem that using really powerful pesticides etc is a last resort for you.
Especially where powerful pesticides & chemicals are still avilable to the general public. Well maybe not as many really bad ones as many years ago, but still worrying.
It does seem like double standards to allow the general public have access when someone properly trained does not have access.
I'm not embaressed to say I'd rather no-one used really powerful pesticides no matter what the certificates or training. Someone is bound to pipe up about crops yealds, food prices etc. But I stand firm in my objections in general wherever.
At the end of the day, if we have to putt on dodgy greens for a season or two then so be it. As any pro & greenkeeper worth his salt will keep the members up to date on the reasons for whatever they do or don't do.
I visited a coastal course a couple of years ago where the greenkeeper came up to our party & profusly appologised for completely scarifying the surface off a particular farway or two, he explained why to us. Now we assured him we understood & didn't mind. We didn't mind for three reasons. One was we were paying a reduced winter rate that day & he had taken the trouble to inform us what he was up to. Plus we understand maintainace has to happen from time to time.
We were quite touched as he seemed so embaressed about it. What made it for us was the fact he'd kept us informed.
The irony was the fairway he'd taken the surface off was still quite playable & certainly didn't spoil our enjoyment of the day.
Well kept greens are probably one of the things that golfers look for most in a course. But I played a course last year where there was an extremely bad desease effecting the greens, the irony even though there were great brown patches in the grass, the surface was still very puttable & still quick & true.
Actually I'm not so bothered about how fast or slow a green is, so long as its puttable & reasonably consistent (within reason) accross the course. Obviously there will be variations in pace especially on courses where tree cover varries. So this simply adds to the challenge.
Golf is meant to be a challenge.