07 Jun Liv it up Patrick
Patrick Killen, our 2nd Year Apprentice Greenkeeper has had the time of his life at the recent LIV tournament. Here is his report.
For those who do not know me, my name is Patrick, Maroochy Rivers’ current apprentice. During the month of April, I volunteered for two weeks at the Grange Golf Club for the LIV Golf tournament held in Adelaide.
I arrived to a sea of contractors and construction as tournament preparation was well under way. I attended an induction and was introduced to the Grange staff, who had been working tirelessly since the tournament was announced. After that, I was lucky enough to spend time with the bunker team that had achieved a world-class standard.
The second day, I found out that I would have the privilege of mowing the LIV greens each morning. For those interested, I used a walk-behind, all electric, TORO Greensmaster eFlex 1021. Throughout the first week, I would mow a variety of tournament greens, followed by general course maintenance in the afternoon. This included multiple vegetation areas that were required to be aesthetically pleasing as they would be televised.
As the weekend of the tournament approached and other volunteers arrived, the mowing was narrowed down to specific greens for each operator. I was delegated holes 2, 4 & 5 for the remainder of the week, as well as the putting and chipping green when required. The mowing techniques varied and were dependent on the stimp-meter and firmness readings taken multiple times in the morning.
It was an incredible experience to help prepare the course for the first LIV tournament hosted in Australia. I met amazing people, gained invaluable knowledge, and witnessed golf like I had never seen before. I would also like to thank Stuart and MRGC for the opportunity.
Please feel free to ask any questions if you recognise me around our course and enjoy these photos of my time at the Grange GC.
Patrick
