East Lothians Gold Coast...

Gullane Links, from Gullane Hill...

When friends visit here in East Lothian from south of the border they cannot believe how the coastline of  East Lothian is non stop Links Golf Courses (Links are fine turf  seaside Golf Courses)

The worlds oldest Golf Course is here in East Lothian at Musselburgh, Mary Queen of Scots played Golf there in 1567...

The County is steeped in Golfing History,
Home to the world famous Open Championship course at Muirfield on the east side of Gullane Village, And Gullane Clubs own 3 courses as well as Luffness further west, and  amongst the 22 Courses in our tiny County, so  easily missed by visitors as they speed up the  A1 on the East Coast to Edinburgh the County has become known as The Golf Coast

Loads of folk including myself grew up here on the East Lothian coast and played Golf,
As kids we played everywhere, from on the village green, the salt marshes on  the coast, the beach, and eventually if that keen a junior membership of a local Golf Club. Many of us as i did worked School holidays and weekends working as a caddie, you have all seen Caddie Shack,,, -:)



And we made very good (tax free!) money, i had the best BMX`s you could by at the time in the Mid 1980s, Haro, Skyway, SE Racing, Diamond Back to name a few, always buying and riding them a while then swapping and re selling... all payed for by caddie pay + tips -:)...

I was lucky enough to be given a summer job at Gullane Golf Course when i left school in May 1987,
Only 3 Summer jobs then each summer, one summer staff on each course,  the jobs were applied by many...
I was so excited and over the moon to get a job at Gullane on the famous Links and felt very proud when offered a job on No3 Course,
We learned basic Greenkeeping maintenance like bunker raking and other general duties.
A Greenkeeper leaving to take the position as a Head Greenkeeper elsewhere as many of us have went on to do from Gullane led to me being offered an apprenticeship and the skills taught in Greenkeeping that no collage can teach, I also did SVQ at Collage and i do not diss Collage but hands on experience is how the best learn...
We were taught to cut greens with hand mowers, (walk behind pedestrian mowers) then ride on triplex mowers, Then through the winter was taught the art of rebuilding Links style revetted bunkers, and that is a skill that takes on an art form...it is a very skilled job to do, looks easy?   it is not, the skill is in the sides blending into the surround landscape, also often the face is not all the same angle on a greenside bunker, it is often steeper in the centre at the faces highest point which should point to the centre of the green...

Our job is about presenting an immaculate Golf Course, groomed and perfect, with greens that are smooth and consistent in there putting speed on all 18 greens and putting green, these greens are often at different heights and exposure/shelter to the weather around a Golf Course,

If you have kids that play on the grass in your garden then you will find it very hard  to stop it dying as it is walked out by constantly being trampled in the warm summer months, and that is only warm weather temperatures most likely they are out on the grass and your average hover mower cuts at a height of about 40-50mm...

So imagine getting a fine cultivator of Fescue grass to grow at 4mm all year round...

And keep it alive and growing at 4mm while it is exposed to below zero Celsius winter temperatures,
Cold onshore Easterly Winds of salt air,   then scorching mid summer droughts,
Fine turf needs air and water and feeding to grow as there is little feeding in pure sand,  it needs airiation by machines to stop the sand based soil becoming compressed,  all the time the greens are being compacted as they are rolled daily by mowers and being trampled by hundreds of pairs of feet of golfers who compact the sands under the green, so  maybe then you will understand why we say that while Golf is an art, Greenkeeping is a science, and that is the bit that needs recognition for the skill and experience of Head Greenkeepers and the pay they deserve for that experience...

Gullane Links...

And that is the bit for people like myself, a trained Links Greenkeeper find very rewarding; producing a great quality of work with pride, with very little resources...friends in the trade know what i am on about...

Muirfield, Host of this years OPEN Championships in July...

Golf is still the biggest income to East Lothian and the Victorian inspired holidays to East Lothians coast when families stayed in the towns hotels and guest houses while the gents played the ancient game that began here on Scotland's East Coast...  
Tom Morris and Ben Sayers at The West Links, North Berwick...

Every Links Greenkeeper should have a set of Hickory shaft Scottish made clubs whether he plays Golf or not... i recently was given some, some are pre WW1, they are beautifully made, none are East Lothian made as many were in Musselburgh, Aberlady, Gullane, North Berwick and Dunbar, but are East Coast...

Oh they are not for sale!...

Today's Golfers from around the World still make the journey to Scotland,  from the west coast courses like Troon, Turnberry and Machrihanish, to Carnoustie and the St Andrews courses in Fife,  and here in East Lothian as No1 Golfing destinations in the world to visit and to play a game through history on the ancient turf......

Whitekirk

Having worked at Whitekirk for 15 years now and been the Head Greenkeeper the last 10 it has been a real struggle over the last 3 or 4 years as the place had basically been ran nearly into the ground...
We still took pride in what we did and put in the best effort with what we had to work with, it was hard when you look at the staff numbers, budget and equipment other neighbouring Courses have,

Friends in the trade often said `I don`t know how you do it`,  `Cause we have to` was always my reply, because we take pride in what we do... its what i have been taught to do...

Many members, friends in the trade, and close friends have been very supportive and told me to stick with it and i have a big thank you to say to all of them, no one needs unnecessary problems and stuff and should be given the support needed to do there job properly and with pride...
And we can now with our new owners...

I really  love it up there on the hill, that has without doubt some of the finest views from a Golf course in East Lothian...

Glad i have stuck it out now, and finally my career looks to be going where it should be going as intended when i started that summer job at Gullane 26 years ago,

Most of the large Victorian era Hotels have now gone here in East Lothian , redeveloped into private housing, And East Lothian needs modern accommodation for all visitors,

Having seen the proposed plans starting later this year for the redevelopment of Whitekirk Golf Course and building of the new 20 room 4 star Hotel by the new Whitekirk Consortium and the Golf Course redesign with Open Champion Paul Lawrie and Graeme Webster of Team Niblick,  and the local jobs to be created for the local community it is indeed exciting times to come...

Whitekirk...

Scotsman Newspaper article

If it means more cash for fat bikes too then that is a good thing...