New GAB board members let fresh air in

The brand-new board members Gaëtan Lits, Yana Batista Rodriguez, Dimitri Moerenhout and Pierre-Nicolas Zomers are bringing a breath of fresh air to the Greenkeepers' Association of Belgium (GAB). Their main goal is to organize additional training and networking opportunities, and to make the profession of golf course maintenance more attractive to the younger generation. 

Quest for environmentally friendly maintenance methods

Dimitri Moerenhout: "As a new board member, I want to put my shoulders to the wheel of training. Greenkeeping has evolved a lot in the past twenty years. We used to use a lot more chemical, invasive products. With those, we kept almost everything under control. Today, as a greenkeeper, you need much more knowledge to fertilize, mow and spray in a sustainable way. You have to 'read' the golf course much more."

Gaetan Lits: "True, because we work without pesticides, use less fertilizers and pay more attention to biodiversity, we are constantly looking for better, environmentally friendly maintenance methods. Depending on the weather, the season and the soil, you have to constantly adjust that maintenance. And this at a time when climate change is playing tricks on us. Weather conditions are increasingly extreme and less predictable. We are problem solvers who keep golf courses tiptop."

Keeping up with technological developments

Gaetan Lits: "Besides sustainability, technology is a focal point. Developments in greenkeeping follow each other in rapid succession. Drones help us monitor the health of the grasses. Robots independently mow the golf courses and pick up the balls. Technology is also helping us with smart irrigation and sprinkling. It's important to learn to deal with these novelties."

Dimitri Moerenhout: "For me, the strength of a good greenkeeper lies in this versatility. Our know-how fans out widely: about basic skills, irrigation, fertilization, technological gadgets ... That's why these training courses are so important."

Community of greenkeepers

Yana Batista Rodriguez: "In addition to those trainings, I find GAB very valuable as a networking organization. Because what I love about our industry is the love with which everyone does their job. We are a community. Not only in Belgium, also across borders. Everyone knows each other, everyone helps each other. Within GAB, we keep that community alive."

Love of the trade

Yana Batista Rodriguez: "The sector is facing major personnel shortages. So as the new director of GAB, I am also very eager to help make our profession better known. I studied at the School of Horticulture in Sint-Niklaas. Then I had no idea what I wanted to do. Until I got hold of an internship on a golf course in the final year. A new world opened up for me."

"So I go to sector fairs to represent greenkeepers. I tell at schools about my job. And I also want to invite students from agricultural and horticultural schools to our golf course. The machines, the fertilizers, the working tools: they need to see for themselves what is involved in greenkeeping. When I drive my machine over that immense, rolling green carpet early in the morning, I can still get emotional. It's our baby, that golf course. And I want to pass on that passion to others."