PEOPLE are what makes a sporting club function – every club has men and women who feel as part of the furniture as the bar stools or rusty old showers.
The Kerang Golf Club (KCG) certainly has a few of these stalwarts, but the club will feel different from 2023 onwards.
After 29 years, one of their club’s greatest servants has called it time.
For almost three decades, David Drake has been a familiar sight on the greens.
Now the beloved greenskeeper has a new job – chasing after his grandchildren Drake spoke to Gannawarra Times and said while there are many tasks he won’t miss, it was still a job he enjoyed immensely.
“I won’t miss getting up at five in the morning or working seven days a week,” he said. “Still, it was a thoroughly enjoyable job, and I loved the challenge.
“Being out in the open air and seeing what your work can amount to is a gratifying experience.”
Starting in February 1993 with no greenkeeping experience, the thought of 29 years with the club must have been the last thing on his mind.
Thankfully for Drake, he had some excellent teachers.
“I began just as a labourer with some mechanical experience,” he said.
“At the time, Robbie Stevens started working as a greenskeeper, and I had no idea what it was until he and a few others, including Alec Mitchell, taught me – I just about learnt on the job.”
KGC held a break-up to say thank you to Drake late last year – greens director and friend Tony Laughlin was at the farewell. He had been knee-deep in the mud for many years with Drake.
With Drake’s humbleness being a defining character trait, it took Laughlin to highlight just how important he had been to the club.
“It was a terrific wind up to send him off, which proved how much people appreciated what he did,” Laughlin said.
“From where the course started to where it’s got to now has been all in his time, and he’s got to get a fair amount of kudos for all that.
“We’re sad to see him go, but he’s still coming over and doing bits and pieces – and we’ll still call on him with his wealth of knowledge.”
As Laughlin said, the club is almost unrecognisable from when Drake first arrived.
As greenskeepers, the central issue for a long time was the machinery which has now been rectified, much to the tongue-in-cheek chagrin of Drake.
“It was pretty limited and high maintenance – just the basic stuff to get us through,” Drake said.
“Compared to now, we have new machinery or low milage second hand which makes life far easier.”
Laughlin continued: “Equipment-wise, we were very ill-equipped, but eventually, we’ve built that up, so nowadays we’ve got some good gear, and David has asked the question, why now when I’m leaving.”
If Drake’s dedication to his craft should ever be questioned, all someone needs to point out is the period he and his son spent living on-site during the days of having to work through the night.
“It was tough in those early years watering overnight, so I decided it would be easier just to live out there,” Drake said.
“We had a very antiquated watering system when I started, which was manually operated but now it’s all computerised and covers the whole course.”
Being challenged is a part of the job description for greenskeepers, and Drake has certainly had his fair share in his tenure.
“It’s been a tough battle at times, especially when they cut us back on our water by 60 per cent during the drought, so we were just watering greens and nothing else,” he said.
“During that period, I’d see plenty of kangaroos coming onto the course to get a drink, so the jobs more dangerous than you think – and let’s not forget about dodging balls.”
Drake believes his greatest achievement at the KGC is getting the fairways couched with the high-quality Santa Anna Couch grass, which he described as a “saviour for the club”.
However, his most long-lasting legacy with the club might be something more tangible.
“He’s got lifelong friends from this club,” Laughlin said.
“He’s a strong-willed man, which has made us have a few tangles, but we’ve always remained the best of mates which will go far beyond this club.
