Pete Newton knows a thing or two about golf greenkeeping, having earlier this year being lauded as a BIGGA Master Greenkeeper and, as course manager of the Rockliffe Hall Championship Golf Course, he played a key role in negotiating a preferred supplier agreement between the County Durham-based golf club and Rigby Taylor.

The deal will see the club being supplied with a comprehensive range of market-leading fertilisers, grass seed, speciality and chemical products, as well as aggregates and dressings. Rigby Taylor – the company at the forefront of supplying innovative products for the successful management and maintenance of turf surfaces – will also provide Pete and his nine-strong greenkeeping team [there is also an on-site mechanic] with technical advice, staff training and agronomic reports. It will also work with the club on trial plots for materials and products under development.

“I believe there is always room for improvement in the quality of the playing surfaces,” says Pete, “and with 21 greens and a turf nursery on site, we have plenty of scope for that. Grass quality and coverage, soil moisture levels and rootzone health are just some of the aspects that are paramount to every greenkeeper, and our agreement with Rigby Taylor will help ensure we continue to maintain what many visiting players are describing as an ‘amazing’ course and ‘the best putting surfaces we’ve ever played on’.”

Rockliffe Hall opened fully in June 2010 and has already hosted the PGA English Senior Open, the Matchplay Final of the William Hunt Trilby Tour and the Northern Golf Masters.

Pete joined the club in 2008 (when six of the 18 holes were completed) as head greenkeeper and was appointed course manager in October 2014. In the interim he played a key role in the development and growing-in of the 35-hectare site that now boasts an 18-hole championship course, one of Europe’s longest courses measuring 7,879 yards from the back tees, as well as wetland areas that include a number of reed beds and lakes.

The fairways, as well as tees, approaches and collars, are sown with a bent, fescue and 30 per cent ryegrass mixture, but the greens – often described as ‘slick’ – are sown using a creeping bent grass. This is a cultivar that, to say the least, is tested to the full in the north east region’s climate. In fact, it was this challenge of establishing and maintaining the creeping bent, a grass that Pete had never worked with before, that was one of the main reasons why he left the Brabazon Course at The Belfry, after previous spells at the Forest of Arden and Worsley Park – courses he worked at after gaining an HND in turf science and golf course management at Myerscough College.

“Everyone said ‘You won’t be able to grow creeping bent in the cold, wet north east’, so I set out to show them we could! One thing is for sure, it’s either cold or very cold here – but we’ve proved the doubters wrong.”

Pete is adamant that the added value of Rigby Taylor’s products and expertise will pay impressive dividends in his quest to main the surfaces as close to tournament standards “at all times” he insists.

He continues: “The ability to work with Rigby Taylor and to develop my own bespoke mixes of liquid fertilisers and soil drenchers is a big plus, as is the ability to add other elements to them. But I also feel that the course will reap rewards from a host of products from the company’s current comprehensive catalogue.”

For example, Rigby Taylor has developed a range of Special Mixes for improving the plant health and the rootzone/root growth. One mixture contains, for example, amino acids, phosphites and trace elements; another includes wetting agent, humic acid, seaweed and carbohydrates.

“The mixes – called ‘Taylor-made Special Mixes’ – have been specially formulated by Rigby Taylor to suit the Rockliffe Hall site’s environment and they are applied monthly. I understand other clubs (particularly football and rugby) use similar mixes but in different percentages of content to suit their particular demands. In our case, for instance, we wanted more humic acids to improve the root mass; and additional amino acids, phosphates and potassium for improved growth.

“The partnership will also enable me to look more closely at seaweed and humic acids, as well as manganese. It’s all about the ‘appliance of science’, and Rigby Taylor certainly demonstrates a ‘can do’ attitude that will allow me to do just that.”

However, after seven and a half years at the course, Pete will not be one to instigate massive changes in his greenkeeping regime. “It’s taken me a long time to get the fertiliser programme, for instance, where I want it in terms of nutrient levels, so any changes/additions will be just small tweaks, helped of course by expert input from Rigby Taylor, with which I envisage a lot of close co-operation and communication.”

As course manager, much of Pete’s time is understandably taken up by administrative duties: “I do, however, get out onto the course every morning to check that everything is OK. And I do play a bit; I don’t think I’d pick up a club if I wasn’t a greenkeeper – I have to see what’s happening to the course and it is true that you notice things when you’re playing that perhaps you wouldn’t usually see. It’s a fantastic feeling to be able to stand out there admiring the course and saying ‘that looks good’. There can be nothing better than knowing that you’re helping to shape a natural ‘product’.”

BIGGA’s Master Greenkeeper scheme involves the awarding of Continuing Professional Development credits for education, training and experience; plus an assessment of the candidate’s golf course, the completion of a case study and a technical exam.