Recollections from Working As an Assistant Greenkeeper in St. Andrews in the Summer of 1965

Recollections from working as an assistant greenkeeper in St. Andrews in the summer of 1965.

Tomas Svensson

Some winter sunday mornings in the beginning of the 1960s Bruce Grafton and I met up on a practice tee in a cold garage in the city of Landskrona, south Sweden. Bruce was new in town and had just got established as the first golf professional of the local club.

Of scottish origin, born in India, Bruce taught us young guys what it was all about, on and off course. I was 18 and I had been at it for three years.

Bruce much liked the idea that I should try go to St Andrews to learn some greenkeeping during school holidays.

"To whom it may concern", said the letter of introduction. I'm sure it made all the difference, very supportive and full of good will as it was. Bruce had good memories from St Andrews - as a 21 year old golfer from Edinburgh he made his first hole in one on the Old course. A thank you to Bruce, who passed away in 1991.

The concerned person in St Andrews was the Town Clerk, Mr. Neil C H Mackenzie. Mr Mackenzie also held the position as Secretary of the Joint Links Committee.

I soon had a reply from Mr.John Campbell, the Links Supervisor and Head Greenkeeper. He was prepared to give me a job as an assistant greenkeeper. The pay was to be £5/week. A work permit was granted - Mr. Mackenzie wrote "regulations appear to be rather strict" but under the Aliens Order of 1953 I was employed as a Student Trainee.

Upon arrival in St. Andrews I was to report to John Campbell, the Black Sheds.

The correspondence breathes with good will. I send a thought of gratitude to those "concerned" for that.

The Black Sheds are no more, but the teeshot line on the 17th, the Road hole, still is.

The Black Sheds were the greenkeeping works for the courses on St Andrews links. They were demolished in 1967 (a) only to emerge again as a replica - now built into the Old Course hotel. The stream of golfballs dropping into the yard of the works has ceased. They now land in more elegant surroundings. .

Above, image no.1.17th tee, Road hole, 1965. Also note the building in red sandstone to the right of the R&A Clubhouse. It was built in 1893-1895 as a hotel, the Grand Hotel, writes Helen Cook in St Andrews in the 50s, 60s and 70s.(a) In 1965 it was a student residence, called the Hamilton Hall. It has now been turned into an apartment building.

Above, image no 2. 17th tee, Road hole, 2014, with replica Black Sheds.

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Above, image no 3. Tee 3, Old course, 1954, E Dalton from South Africa. In the background the Black Sheds and the railway line. Dog.

Above, image no 4 .Same position in 2014. The Old Course Hotel with replica Black Sheds. No dog. In 1966 a hotel was built on the site of the present Old Course Hotel, the Transport Hotel.(a)

Helen Cook writes in "St Andrews in the 50s, 60s and 70s" :

"Between 1852 and 1887 the town's passenger station was situated near the 17th hole of the Old Course and was called the Links station."

In 1880-1887 a new station was built as part of the Anstruther & St Andrews Railway and "after it opened the original station became a goods station with offices, a coal depot and engine sheds." In 1969 after 117 years of service the railway line St Andrews / Leuchars Junction closed down.

Before that the Black Sheds had been demolished in 1967 and the greenkeeping works moved to the site where the Jubilee greenkeeping centre is now located, to the right of the 2nd green on the Jubilee course. See images below.

This image (no 5) shows John Campbell, his staff and machinery in 1970 on location of the present Jubilee greenkeeping centre.In the background, to the right, the R&A clubhouse.

On greenkeeping resources then and now.

St. Andrews links in 1965 counted four courses - the Old , the New, the Jubilee and the Eden. They were managed by John Campbell and his staff of 25-30 people.

Now, Gordon Moir, who has John Campbells position today, and his staff of 55 full time employees, 90 in total in the peak season, manages in all seven courses.

Of the additional three, the Strathtyrum and the Balgrove (9 holes) are located by the other courses in the links area. The Castle course which opened in 2008 overlooks the city from the coastal rocks in southeast.

Image no 6. Gordon Moir, Director of Greenkeeping, at the Jubilee greenkeeping centre. 2014.

Above. Image no 7. The Jubilee greenkeeping centre, 2014. Located by the 2nd green on Jubilee. There are satellite greenkeeping centres on the Eden and Castle courses.

Gordon estimates that in Campbell's days greens were mowed every 2nd day and fairways and tees every 3rd or 4th day. At times just once a week.

In our days the greens are normally cut seven days a week, tees three times and fairways twice a week , on the Old twice or three times a week depending on growth.

So, on the Old, New, Jubilee and Eden courses six riding greensmowers and half the staff as in 1970 makes double the job as the about eight pedestrian greensmowers on the picture from 1970.

"With greens now being cut each day they are so much smoother surfaces and probably cut closer as well", says Gordon.

Gordon also suggests that in 1965 they may have had dedicated cutting teams, so for example with regard to the greens, the team would first cut the Old course , then move to the New, then the Jubilee and then finish on the Eden. "These days we have three ride on mowers on the Old and one each on the other courses. If we are cutting with pedestrain mowers we would have six (sometimes eight) on the Old and three on each of the other three courses", says Gordon, and continues: "Generally we have better grass cover now and the greens probably don't dry out as much. Bunkers are raked daily which wouldn't have happened before and are rebuilt more often." "In general the courses would be a lot better these days, more consistent lies", concludes Gordon.

In the mornings during my three months stay I had the privilege of working with an elderly gentleman, fondly called Old Tom by his colleagues. Dressed in plus fours , jacket and a flat cap Tom swept the greens on the Old from dew and wormcasts with a long cane of bamboo. I was occupied with raking the bunkers, 112 of them as it was at the time. They are now 110.

It was important to keep up the pace so that we arrived to the shelter to the right of the 5th green in the right time. Not only for the tea and sandwich break butto meet up with the Ranger. And RANGER he was. In big, brass, letters in the front of his peaked cap. But above all he was quite a personality. He wore a thick woolen coat that reached down to his feet to keep the wind and cold out. On the course he moved around on a bicycle.

"His latterday colleagues , four of them on the Old in the high season, moves around the course in enclosed buggies and of course with radio contact between themselves and with the starters. A vast improvement since 1965", says Paul McGlynn, Players' Assistants Manager with St Andrews Links Trust.(d)

"On the the New, the Jubilee and the Eden we have one ranger on each course on a day shift and one which comes on duty at lunchtime and cover all three courses in the evening", adds Paul.

Friday afternoons on the Old were for reserved for repairing divots. We lined up over the width of the fairways, a jute sack with soil in it around your neck, and then handful by handful the divots were filled in. A tread and then on to the next. In good speed and with a tractor and carriage leading the way.

Around the Bruce Embankment putting green, the 1st tee and 18th green on the Old

Above. Image no 8. 1965. The Bruce Embankment putting green to the right of and parallell to the 1st hole on the Old course.This area is now used for grandstands and for the tented village by bigger events.

Of the original putting green only a small area in front of the light building to the right remains. This building, now a part of the British Golf Museum, used to be the first office of the St. Andrews Links Trust and was also used as changing rooms for golfers. Before that it was a tea room and you could sit on the roof and enjoy the views.(a) A round on the putting green to start with and then something to drink with a nice view on the West Sands?

The rain shelter to the center left by the sea is now gone.

The green building to the right in 1965 was the Bruce Embankment putting green office. After that it served as a caddy pavilion before it in 2014 was made into a pavilion for golfers that wait to tee off on the Old. It is now called the Old Pavilion.

I also recall that caddies used to stand waiting for jobs just behind the 18th green.The building behind the green, now a shop, used to be a pavilion for the caddies.

Above. 1955. Image no.9.The Bruce Embankment putting green and office and the West Sands. The starters box on the lower right.

My picture of the Starter is that of a man of impressive stature. In a voice that left nobody in doubt of who was in charge, he let passers-by on the road that crosses the fairway know that golf was in progress.

Let's turn our view towards the 1st tee and 18th green on the Old.

Above. Image no 10. 1965.18th green, Old course.

In the big white building the windows are all empty but for a sign in the top right window. This sign bears testimony of the end of an era of club making in St Andrews. "For sale", it says. Between floors, there is another sign: Robert Forgan & Son, est. 1819.

Clubmaking under the name of Forgan started here in 1860 but had its beginning already in 1819 (b). The factory was closed in 1963, the oldest factory for the manufacture of golf clubs in the world, according to the website.

“In March 1963, however, the clatter and the ringing finally ceased. The workforce was paid off and the machinery sold on. Spalding concentrated its club-making in Belfast”. “The disused factory was eventually turned into the original St Andrew’s Woollen Mill where visitors could enjoy tweed, free coffee and shortbread. Instead of caddies popping in to have their grip altered or a new wood knocked up, there were jumpers and scarves by the dozen."(b)

I have a trace of a memory that Tom, my colleague on our morning tour on the Old, had been employed with Forgans. Was it so, that Tom made the last years of his professional life before retiring working on the courses? And if so, when sweeping the 18th green what went through his mind when he saw that sign in the window? If so..

But let's turn back to the days when club making at Forgans prospered.

Above. Image no.11. 1890. The Forgan golf shop. This must be a special day. In the front door, in a white beard, is Robert Forgan. To the right, the staff have got some time off to watch the game. The match is about to conclude.

From the website:

“Robert Forgan, Philip’s nephew and protégé, took over the company. Under his reign, imported hickory was dried under cover by the side of the 17th fairway at St Andrews. In each of the Black Sheds,...... , there were rectangular stacks of square-cut shafts, each containing as many as 8,000 rods apiece. After a full 12 months’ seasoning they were deemed ready to be rounded off by hand and offered for sale."(b)

Above. Image no 12. The finishing room, upper floor, Forgan's Golf Club Works, St Andrews. 1900

Which brings me back to where I reported for duty in June 1965.

Tomas Svensson Stockholm, September, 2016

References:

(a) Helen Cook: St Andrews in the 50s, 60s and 70s., Stenlake Publishing Ltd, 2008

(b)

(c) Gordon Moir, Director of Greenkeeping, St Andrews Links Trust

(d) Paul McGlynn, Players' Assistants Manager, St Andrews Links Trust

Images:

Images 3,5,9,11,12 : Courtesy of the University of St Andrews Library, Photographic Collection

Images by the author: 1,2,4,6,7,8,10.

Version 1 / September 20161