European quartet nearing end of six months on Ryder Cup course

Four young European greenkeepers are nearing the end of a unique six-month work experience at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, the host of this year’s Ryder Cup.

And their stay will culminate with the event itself.

The placement was organized by the Federation of European Golf Greenkeeping Associations (FEGGA) and sponsored by Toro and CapillaryFlow, which focuses on water, carbon dioxide, and oxygen management techniques for golf courses and other sports fields. This marks the second time Capillary and FEGGA have combined to give greenkeepers work experience at a Ryder Cup site, but this turn is very different to the one run at Le Golf National in Paris in 2018.

“In Paris, 10 greenkeepers came from Europe and 10 from the USA, but they were just there for tournament week,” FEGGA executive officer Dean Cleaver said. “Unlike all the other volunteers, who had to pay their own way to Paris, we took care of all our delegation’s costs for getting there and back. It worked really well, bringing greenkeepers from across the world together. But this program is on a completely different level.”

The four scholars, Oscar Gummesson of Sweden, Ciaran Killeen of Ireland, Michele Lazzeri of Italy, and Mathis Reboullot of France, have been part of the greenkeeping team at Marco Simone since April — including for the Italian Open in May — and will remain there through the end of the Ryder Cup.

“We’ve taken care of their accommodation, gave some help with flying in and out, and there has been regular education throughout the program,” Cleaver said. “Toro has delivered a course on irrigation, Kneale Diamond from CapillaryFlow is going to do one on bunkers, and Alejandro Reyes, who is serving as director of agronomy for Marco Simone, has been educating them on the grass choices that were made for the golf course. It has been a really great experience for them, and I’m confident that what the four of them have learned during the placement will help them go on to become leaders of the greenkeeping community in their countries.” 

CapillaryFlow CEO Martin Sternberg, himself a former golf course superintendent, said he and the company were “really happy to be involved with the program in Paris, and are even more so this year. As a company, our mission is to help improve the standard and economics of golf course — and other sports field — presentation, and improving the education of the greenkeepers who take care of those courses is a really important part of that. It’s been a fantastic program, and I hope our scholars will go home afterward and remember it as one of the highlights of their careers.”