An Interview with Gordon McKie, Course Manager of the Old Course, St Andrews.Ian Butcher, July 2010.

2010年7月采访老球场总经理Gordon McKie先生

St Andrews. Ian Butcher先生随记

It is now July 7th, exactly one week before the Open Championship of 2010 begins in St Andrews on the Old Course, the most famous links course in the world, and host to arguably the most prestigious and important of the four major tournaments in the golf calendar. Elmwood decided to meet up with the St Andrews Links Trust responsible for the Golf Course behind the scenes.

今天是7月7号，恰巧距2010年圣德·安鲁斯老球场公开赛开幕还有一周时间，这座老球场曾以Links经典风格而闻名于世，并在整个球场生涯中举办过4次最有声望且家喻户晓的重要赛事。Elmwoo学校决定前往采访负责老球场幕后准备工作的圣安德鲁斯林克斯St Andrews Links Trust。

Ian Butcher and Gordon McKie on 18th Green

Ian Butcher先生 和 Gordon McKie先生在18号果岭前合影留念

Preparing the conditions for such a worldwide media event is obviously a demanding and exciting challenge. The man responsible for leading the team of greenkeepers who meet that challenge is Gordon McKie; Gordon is no stranger to China, having attended the Elmwood/Toro Best Practice Seminar held at Spring City in Kunming in December 2009. At the Seminar, Gordon outlined the maintenance philosophy behind preparation for the Open. As he stands on the 18th green he reaffirms his belief in traditional practice.

显而易见，要准备这样一场全球媒体关注事件是一次高水准且激动人心的挑战。负责草坪维护的Gordon Mckie先生满足了我们这一要求；他非常熟悉中国，曾于2009年12月参加了昆明春城举办的Elmwood/Toro最佳球场讨论会。在会上，他还为公开赛提出了自己独特的草坪维护理念。当他站在18号果岭上时，他再度坚信自己传统理念的正确性。

“Keep it simple. Good cultural practices are absolutely key, by that I mean a combination of Nutrition, Top Dressing, Mowing, Irrigation and above all Aeration. Plenty of aeration, which encourages healthy root development and oxygen exchange in the soil. Our overall policy is to encourage the correct grass species; for us in our environment and situation, this means traditional fescue/bent grasses, [festuca rubra/ agrostis tenuis] and we want to encourage ever more fescue grasses. We do have undesirable annual meadow grass [ poa annua], and we also have some weed grasses such as perennial rye [lolium perenne]  and crested dogstail, [Cynosurus cristatus L].but gradually we are overcoming them with continued overseeding, while also minimising nutrition and irrigation inputs.”

“草坪养护当然越简单越好，丰富的养护经验则是一把良匙，但也要在打孔的基础上结合施肥、铺沙、剪草和喷灌。充足的打孔数量，有助于草坪根系的生长和土壤中的氧份交换。我们的整体策略是选择适合的草种；就我们当地环境和情况而言，无疑是选择传统高羊茅和本特草[Festuca rubra/ Agrostis tenuis]，可我们更鼓励采用高羊茅。我们当然不希望有一年生早熟禾[ Poa annua]而且我们确实有如多年生黑麦草[Lolium perenne]和洋狗尾草[Cynosurus cristatus]之类的杂草，但我们已逐渐采用多次播种、同时减少施肥和喷灌的措施来抑制这种情况的发生。

Gordon was keen to emphasise good timing of maintenance practices as an essential part of successful greenkeeping. “For example, our first application of fertiliser was a Slow Release 16:0:16 applied at a low rate of 15 grams per sq metre, that coincided with early spring growth in April. By the time that had run its cycle after 6 weeks we were ready with a very gently liquid application of seaweed product and nitrogen, just to continue moderate growth and colour, in tune with the soil temperature and moisture levels at that time. The greens have needed no other nutrition application this year. We want to avoid any flush or excessive growth rates on the greens, as this will affect ball roll with the different species amongst the sward. A strong healthy plant relying on its root system gives us control; if we want to lower the heights we can without any negative affect on the grass plant itself. The greens can cope with whatever we choose to do prior to the tournament, and remain in condition for the local golfers and visitors that follow”.

Gordon一直强调制定恰当的养护计划对于草坪管理至关重要。“比如：我们第一次施用的是N:P:K 比例为16:0:16的缓释肥，按每平方米15g的低比率施用。正好与四月份的早春生长结合。而6周后当这些缓释肥恰好释放完毕后，我们又准备开始施用一种很轻效的液态海草肥料和氮肥来促进草种的生长，延长绿期，并在此时与土壤温度和湿度保持一致。果岭今年不需要增加其它的营养了。我们之所以想避免果岭球速和草种生长过快是因为这将影响高尔夫球在不同草种上的滚动速度。我们会控制依赖于根系的强壮健康草种，如若想降低草高，这将不会对草本身有任何负面影响。在开赛前，不管我们如何选择，都会对果岭重新调整，便于当地球手和来访者击球。”

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