these Open Championship Clubs choose to relief grind - Pitchcare

easonable £12,000.
And so Parkstone has continued for
the last fifty-two five years. Perhaps the
most noticeable and important change in
this period was the decision, in 1996,
that ladies should become full members,
with the eminent good sense of this edict
being emphasised by the appointment of
one of Parkstone’s outstanding lady
golfers, Miss Jeanne Bisgood, as
President from 2001 to 2004; her father
having held the position from 1949 to
1969.
In 1996, English Nature (now Natural
England) used their statutory powers to
designate the course a Site of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSI) as part of the
wider South Dorset Heathland Project.
This controversial move proved a
blessing in disguise, as it enabled the
removal of thousands of pines that were
steadily choking the fine native grasses
essential to the wellbeing of the course.
In 2004, the club’s successful stewardship
was recognised with a rare award by
English Nature for Outstanding
Management of an SSSI.
Managing this stunning piece of real
estate is Course Manager, Steve
Richardson, who was appointed in July of
last year.
Steve was initially invited to Parkstone
Golf
“There wasn’t an awful lot I could do in
such a short space of time, so I decided
to tidy up the course to the best of my
ability, and to concentrate on the
performance of the greens”
for an informal interview by the club’s
General Manager, Gary Peddie, who was
looking to appoint a modern course
manager capable of undertaking much
needed renovation work within the strict
confines of an SSSI.
Steve’s CV is impressive, having
worked at over twenty-five televised golf
tournaments by the age of thirty. He
studied at Elmwood College, completing
NC and HNC. His first greenkeeping
position was at Bothwell Castle Golf Club
in Scotland. From there, he moved to
Wentworth, and then to Pinehurst, where
he worked for one and a half years as an
irrigation technician, looking after eight
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