Leopard Creek experience ‘a real eye-opener’ for Banchory’s Adam Lindsay

Volunteering at the Alfred Dunhill Championship afforded Banchory’s course manager a close-up look at how things are done at the stunning Leopard Creek in South Africa

When you’re on your hands and knees with sheep shears making sure bunker edges are pristine, you know you’re working on a golf course with exceptionally high standards.

That was one of Adam Lindsay’s tasks when he joined the Leopard Creek greenkeeping team as a volunteer for the Alfred Dunhill Championship in December.

We caught up with Banchory’s course manager to see how he got on and what he learned during his visit to a world-renowned venue that sits on the fringes of South Africa’s Kruger National Park.

How did you land a volunteering spot at the event?

When I did my SVQ Level 3, I was at college with the son of the course manager at Kingsbarns [Innes Knight], which is one of the courses where the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is played. Since then, I have helped out every year at that event.

There’s a close community of about six or seven of us who go back every year and we were chatting one night back at the accommodation when I mentioned I wanted to go out to South Africa for the Dunhill Championship. I emailed Leopard Creek the next day and got a reply a couple of days later from Course Superintendent Frikkie [Potgieter], who told me the positions were all filled for the year. This was for 2023 and I hadn’t made it clear I was asking about volunteering the following year, so when I explained that he said it was no problem and we took it from there.

Did anyone else you know come along?

I let a few guys know there was potentially an opportunity to go out there and three of them were keen to come along – Matthew Knight at Kingsbarns, Andrea Sozio at Skibo Castle and Pawel Wasalski, who is Polish but works in Finland.

Luckily, they all got accepted as well. It’s quite a long way to go without having someone else you know there, so to have a group of us together was brilliant. We know each other, we’ve worked together, we all get on well and I think that makes it easier for everyone. We arrived a couple of days early and did a safari tour and some other things, just to give ourselves some time before the work started.

How and when were tasks delegated?

I got an email from their admin team about a week before asking what roles I was capable of doing and what I’d like to do.

Whenever I do volunteer roles like this, I’ll always let them know I can do all of the elements of greenkeeping and handling machinery but I don’t state a preference – I just want the course manager or superintendent to be able to use my help as they see fit. If there’s something that needs doing, I’m more than happy to get it done, whatever it might be.

What did they have you doing?

On the Monday morning, before the start of the tournament, we were allocated jobs. I was supervising hole changing and going around the greens repairing pitch marks, repairing old hole plugs and so on. Matthew from Kingsbarns was doing the front nine and I was doing the back nine. We stayed like that on the Thursday and Friday when the tournament started, then on the weekend I was in charge of all 18 holes with a staff of two, checking pin positions, ensuring the hole was spraypainted correctly, cleaning the flags, sorting pitch marks and generally getting everything tidy.

How big is the home greenkeeping team?

Because Leopard Creek is so big, they’ve got 55 full-time members of staff on the golf course, which is colossal considering around Scotland the average size is five or six. Because of the prestige of the course, it has to be maintained at a certain level 365 days of the year. It’s not allowed to slip up at all.

It was a real eye-opener because I’ve never really worked with a place that’s got that many staff and has to maintain such a high level constantly. When I was supervising the hole changes, we were also going out with sheep shears and edging and trimming noses of bunkers on our hands and knees. That was the attention to detail required to keep the presentation at such a high level.

Did you see anything new or surprising?

One thing I noticed and asked about was why they roll the greens before they cut them. They explained that, three years ago, they went from using bentgrass on the greens to a type of Bermuda grass because the bentgrass couldn’t survive the extreme temperatures – on the Friday it was 50.5 degrees! Trying to keep a playing surface at such a high level without getting burnouts is a frightening task, so they made this change.

Now, whereas in Scotland you’d cut the putting surface and roll it afterwards, over there they roll it first and then cut because the extreme temperatures mean the leaf swells, so if you cut it without compressing it, you just tear the plant and it leaves scalp marks.

Do you look at a place like Leopard Creek with a degree of envy?

Having that level manpower and machinery to call upon would be great, but then I look at it from the point of view of managing a team of that size and keeping everyone happy. I’ve got a team of five that I manage, including myself, but times that by 10 and you get a sense of how much tougher that would be and you begin to understand why only a few people can actually do it. So, would I be jealous of that aspect? No.

Are you hoping to be involved in more experiences like this?

Without a doubt. Every year I try and go somewhere different in the world. I’ll always do Kingsbarns because I’ve got such a good relationship with Innes down there, but I like to get to new places as well. In 2023, I was in San Antonio and the year before I was at Adare Manor, which is hosting the Ryder Cup in 2027, for the JP McManus Pro-Am. I told my wife I’d be taking this year off but who knows what will come up.

I’d like to do the HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi as I’ve got a contact there and there’s a couple in Europe which I think would be very good, like the Italian Open or the Swiss Open.

Why do these opportunities appeal to you?

Every day is a school day in greenkeeping and I don’t think you can ever master it or know everything. To pick other people’s brains and learn how they deal with certain issues just expands your own knowledge and understanding.

Travelling is part of it as well. I spent four years in America on a golf scholarship and I’ve always wanted to see as many places as possible. If I can volunteer my time to go somewhere and educate myself further and meet guys in the industry who are just as keen, I will keep doing that. GI

Just ask the question...

There are plenty of opportunities out there to experience new things and get involved at different courses and events. You just have to ask the question – the worst anyone can say is, ‘No, we’re full – maybe next year’.

Greenkeeping is a profession where we’re all in the same boat and we look out for each other. If you’re in the industry, you’ll never have another greenkeeper as an enemy. If you ask the question and someone can help, they will welcome you with open arms.