THE COMMON SENSE COURSE MANAGER

TurfPro editor LAURENCE GALE writes  . . .

One of the Midlands longest serving greenkeepers, Kim Blake from Fulford Heath GC, will be leaving his beloved role of head greenkeeper later this year and retiring from the golf industry.  I managed to spend a morning with him and his staff at Fulford Heath to help collate and hear about his formidable greenkeeping career.

During our interview he highlighted several significant investments and activities that have helped improve the golf course since he started way back in 1988.

These included a £12,000 triple greens mower in 1989 and a £62,000 automatic irrigation system in 1996. Kim emphasised the importance of future-proofing with a £22,000 irrigation lake that allows for 1.2 million gallons of water with a cost of £160 annually. He discussed the club's drainage projects, using Shelton System 25 draianage systems at £5,800 per green completely finished. Kim also shared his innovative feeding program, reducing sand use on the greens and his reliance on common sense and practical experience in greenkeeping.

Kim entered the profession at a time when formal greenkeeping education was still developing. He gained a Distinction in Greenkeeping on what has been described as the first greenkeeping course held in the UK at Moreton Morrell College in 1976. 

He then worked and gained relevant experiences at Gay Hill Golf Club (now Hollywood Golf Club) and Broadway Golf Club.  

After about five years in greenkeeping he struggled to secure a first assistant position and temporarily left the industry. Taking the opportunity to go and work in agriculture, both on a dairy farm and later operating as an agricultural contractor around the Midlands. 

In fact, his time working in ag helped Kim secure many of his ideas, working practices and management styles that he put into practice when returning to the golf industry. 

Many of his later turf management ideas, particularly regarding seed establishment, soil management, economics, and practical experimentation came from this experience.

However, in 1988 Kim was persuaded by his wife that it was time to find a more settled job, with less traveling and working such long contractual hours for the sake of the family. So Kim returned to the golf industry, taking up the role of Course Manager at  Fulford Heath Golf Club – remaining there for nearly four decades. By the 30th November 2026 he will have completed 38 years as course manager at the club. 

Rather than simply following industry trends, Kim developed a reputation for testing ideas himself. Over the years he has implemented many innovative practices and ways of working. Examples include, long-term bent grass conversion programmes, extensive overseeding trials, reduced sand-input programmes, greater emphasis on biological management of thatch and organic matter and cost-effective machinery strategies. 

Kim also became particularly well known for habitat creation and conservation work, creating wildflower areas around the course using some of Limagrain early wildflower mixes. 

One recurring theme throughout his career has been extracting maximum value from limited budgets. A notable example was introducing composting systems that converted grass clippings and clubhouse waste into topsoil and divot material, reducing purchased material costs while still improving surface quality on tees, aprons and approaches.

Another one of Kim’s key strengths was evaluating efficiencies and working practices during his time working as an agricultural contractor. He learnt that machinery needed to be efficient and reliable and value for money.  When Kim became Course manager he knew he needed to address the golf club’s machinery needs, as he had inherited a club with outdated machinery and low expectations. Initial focus was on upgrading  equipment and infrastructure. This was achieved by successfully advocating the need for member levies to fund new machinery and an automatic irrigation system (installed in 1996), along with the building an irrigation lake for future-proofing water supply.

The club are now reaping the benefits of having their own water supply. 1.2 million gallons they can now take from a 5 million capacity irrigation lake, built 30 years ago. This provides significant cost savings and water security compared to mains water.

As for machinery, they tend to buy over a 5-year period (HP over 5 years), focusing on a tractor-based system for flexibility and cost control. After five years Kim may well sell on or keep a given machine.

Kim and one other member of staff are tasked with repairing and servicing all the machinery. Again, with his ag contracting background, Kim saw the opportunity for the club to earn additional income by offering up a fine turf renovation service to local sports clubs. Over the years he has built up quite a reputation with many local bowls, cricket, football and rugby clubs.

Not only bringing in some much-needed income, it also enables his staff to acquire new groundsmanship skills.  For a few years now he has undertaken the renovations of my former rugby club, Woodrush RFC, whose pitches have never been so good - benefiting from a regular end of season renovation programme and regular mowing of the pitches.

Fulford Heath GC is a very wet clay soil parkland course with clay pushed up greens. Kim has in recent years focused on further drainage improvements implementing the Shelton System 25 drainage system on some greens. Drainage of the course is being carry out in house with the Shelton equipment. A plan was drawn up by S.T.R.I in 2015 and we are 60% completed. In the next two years the plan will be completed and all the fairways, greens and bunkers will be drained.  The final ten greens will be completed this September/October. 

Kim’s maintenance practices have steadily evolved with reduced sand topdressings, shifted to a liquid biostimulant and biological feeding program, and focused on soil health and organic matter management. His feeding program is unconventional, using equal amounts of Nitrogen and potash for turf resilience and using all liquid products, with a focus on cost-effectiveness and sustainability.

Staff retention at the club is high and has been quite static for several years. However, Kim does talk of his concerns with future recruitment of staff for golf courses, saying their expectations and work ethics are very different from when he started out.

Building a strong dedicated greenkeeping team is key to producing a well-kept agronomically efficient golf course. Kim was keen to thank his current fellow greenkeepers Paul Witton (30 yrs), His daughter Rebecca Blake (15 yrs), Richard George (10 yrs), Ray Taylor (8 yrs), Mike Brewerton (2 yrs) and Harvey Raybould (2 yrs). 

In 2026 Kim was awarded Lifetime Membership of the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association, recognising decades of service and contribution to the profession. The award reflected both his longevity and standing within the greenkeeping community. 

Kim Blake's reputation rests less on working at a famous championship venue and more on demonstrating that:

• Good agronomy can outperform large budgets.
• Agricultural principles can improve turf management.
• Environmental stewardship and playing quality can coexist.
• Long-term experimentation often produces better results than blindly following trends. 

Among UK course managers and greenkeepers, he is often regarded as part of a generation that bridged the gap between the traditional head greenkeeper of the 1970s and the modern agronomic course manager of today. 

I asked Kim if anyone had been appointed to take over when he retires? He stated that several candidates had applied with a few finally interviewed for Kim’s job.  Kim was pleased to announce that Nick Bird HG from Kings Norton GC had successfully secured his position and will be starting later this year.