July 2, 2025 • 54 mins
Welcome to the Reel Turf Techs Podcast, Episode 146!
Today we’re talking to James Breeze, Machinery Technician at Huddersfield Golf Club in Yorkshire, England, one of the oldest and most celebrated golf courses in the North of England. James is the lone tech in the shop, managing a fleet of mostly Toro equipment, and he’s also the recipient of the inaugural Bernhard Academy technician volunteer opportunity for the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.
We caught up with James at the 125th U.S. Open after a string of 4 a.m. volunteer shifts alongside a seasoned team of equipment managers. He shares insights on the camaraderie and precision it takes to keep things running smoothly at a major tournament.
James talks about his roots in sports field greenkeeping, teaching himself the mechanical side of the job, and the pivotal people who supported his transition. He reflects on the importance of learning from mistakes, the value of staying curious even at a high level, and how hiking and photography in the Yorkshire countryside help him reset outside the shop.
Also: he tries to explain Yorkshire pudding to Trent. (It doesn’t go great.)
- Tweet us @ReelTurfTechs and @MTrentManning
- Email us at ReelTurfTechs@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Trent Manning (00:05):
Welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the
technician that wants to getreel follow along.
As we talk to industryprofessionals and address hot
topics that we all face alongthe way we'll learn tips and
tricks.
I'm your host, Trent.
Manning let's have some Welcometo The Real Turf Text Podcast,
(00:27):
episode 1 46.
Today we're talking to JamesBreeze, machinery technician at
Huddersfield Golf Club inYorkshire, England.
Huddersfield Golf Club is an 18hole course in one of the oldest
and most celebrated courses innorth of England.
James is the Lone Tech in theshop.
He has mostly Toro equipment.
(00:49):
We caught up.
With James at the 125th US Openat Oakmont.
Let's talk to James.
welcome James to the Real TurfText Podcast.
We're sitting here at thehundred and 25th US Open at
Oakmont, and we've been workingtogether for the last few days
and it's been great.
(01:09):
We've worked really hard,though.
It's been some long hours.
Starting at 4:00 AM last night.
Which was Thursday night.
We didn't leave till after 11:00PM so really long hours.
But we have the time.
I'm just gonna sit down andwe'll do a quick podcast.
So welcome James.
(01:30):
Yeah, thank you very much forhaving me on.
It's an honor to be finally ableto actually getting to the
podcast and be interviewed byyourself.
Well, we.
Tried to get together a coupletimes in the past, but it's kind
of hard with the five hour timedifference.
Yeah, definitely.
Yeah, we have and obviously wetried to kinda link up before
(01:51):
and the times and the kind ofother conflicts in life just
stopped us from doing that.
So yeah, it's just nice toconnect when we're together and
actually make things happen.
Yeah, for sure.
So how did you get into the turfindustry?
So I started off in the greenkeeping industry as usual do my
(02:13):
college level two and levelthree management.
Then I kind of graduated to aclub where I've currently been
13 years from college.
Then went through that.
Then kind of where I am now,kind of transactioned into
mechanicing.
So it's just the whole.
(02:35):
Kind of, thing with growing uparound sports and being able to
work on local sports fields, andthat's how I kind of really made
my mark into the industryworking at local football and
local cricket and just graduallygetting through the process of
connections and making newfriends.
(02:58):
Where did you learn about themachinery?
You know, as a kid, were youworking on stuff?
I was, yeah.
I was like a home mechanic as Iguess, and then I am self-taught
mechanic until the last coupleof years.
Then I've kind of gone throughthe qualifications sections of
(03:18):
the turf mechanical, industrystandards, health and safety.
I've kind of covered all that.
Hydraulics, electric, some.
So kind of qualified as it canbe at the moment.
What kind of classes areavailable in the UK to
individuals that are interestedin this type stuff?
Yeah.
Even if it's generic?
(03:40):
Not necessarily, yeah.
It's kind of independent.
Independent kind of classes thatteach certain subjects.
I don't think the schooling isquite as what it used to be for
the turf industry right now.
So, I've done like independentclasses through like PTME trade
(04:03):
shows and that kind of thing,and I've gained of, gained
qualifications over years.
So it's kind of been a graduatekind of way of learning, I
guess, and being around theright people that have put me
into right directions has alwayskind of been the way I work.
Why don't we have a saying overhere?
It's not what you know, it's whoyou know.
(04:24):
Yeah, exactly.
And I don't know Yeah.
If y'all say that too or not,but it is true.
Yeah, it is true to a certainextent.
Yeah.
A hundred percent.
I agree with that.
And, I think if you put yourselfaround the right people, it can
definitely kind of open doorsand head you in the right
direction, where then you canprogress and gain the knowledge
to be where you want to be.
(04:46):
And I think it's a perfectopportunity to say it right now
since we're at the US Open aboutvolunteering and networking and
how important that is and howmany opportunities that can open
up.
A hundred percent.
So I.
My story of actually being avolunteer at the hundred 25th US
(05:08):
Open is kind of an opportunitythat came along through the UK
mechanics industry and it was inassociation with Tito and ards,
the Academy.
So it was an application, aninterview process.
Which was a video applicationthen into interviews.
(05:32):
Then obviously the winner got tocome to the US Open, which is an
honor to be here.
You know, it's a mind blowingopportunity.
Yeah.
Which has just took me up to abrand new level in my career.
That's awesome.
Networking with guys likeyourself and the team here with
other volunteers coming in fromworld class golf clubs.
(05:54):
It's just a.
Heaven of networking.
So yeah, it's been really good.
Yeah.
And so it's roughly two weeksthat the whole thing you got
over here like Saturday?
Yeah.
Advance week.
Yeah, so I was here theSaturday, so I did all pre
tournament and then now we'reinto full tournament flow and
(06:15):
yeah, it's good.
It's been a real mind blowingexperience.
And hanging out with TommyRichie.
That's the mind blowingexperience in myself.
Tommy Richie.
Yeah, he's a great guy.
I didn't know him until I got tothe US for Oh, well, yes.
I kind of learned very quicklythat he's an awesome guy and
he's definitely someone I willkind of stay around and keep con
(06:40):
connections with because he is,he's a great guy with a lot of
knowledge, but he's got a greatpersonality.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He's got a big personality.
Oh, massive personality.
Yeah.
A huge sense of humor.
A hundred percent.
I agree.
Yeah.
No it's been good.
I've really enjoyed it.
For sure.
Yeah.
Hanging out.
Yeah.
With everybody here, and it's nomatter what, you know, the
(07:03):
course is or what the workshopis.
Anytime you can go in somebodyelse's workshop and kinda see
how they do things, you can pickup little tips and tricks.
Oh yeah.
Stuff like that all the time.
Yeah.
You can it's kind of, you putyourself in these situations of
actually coming to a club thatyou don't know if they're gonna
(07:24):
welcome you or not.
And my experience here is the.
Have just welcomed you with openarms.
Oh yeah.
And it's kind of that atmospherethat you want around a workshop
that everyone just connects,gets on with the job, and the
results are shown out on thecourse.
And it's not a and a credit tothe guys out there, but for what
(07:48):
we do in the workshop, it is areal kind of experience in a
lifetime.
Experience that I'll take awaywith me and gain and progress
on.
Oh, yeah.
And well, so Chris, theassistant technician, he said, I
don't remember all of it runstogether.
I don't remember if it was lastnight or this morning.
Yeah, it's been a long time.
(08:10):
He's, he was saying how us inthe workshop are not even
really.
Communicating.
We're just getting it done.
Yeah.
You know, it isn't like you haveto say, oh, grab that machine.
Exactly.
I wanna do this one next.
I wanna do that one next.
It's just when everybody'sfamiliar with working in the
shop, you know what needs to bedone and you just do it.
(08:32):
Exactly.
I mean, everyone who has kind ofbeing here now a couple of days
or a week or so, really knowstheir place.
We all have a routine and wekind of swap in between jobs,
but we have a flowing.
That comes down to experienceand kind of just the knowledge
of knowing each other and goodcommunication in a sense.
(08:53):
So yeah, we're all just likekind of flowing together well
and organizations pretty good.
Yeah.
So we all know kind of as placein the workshop and what we're
doing, the amount of machinesthat are coming through here per
shift.
I mean, it's just crazy.
Alright.
It's unbelievable number.
Yeah, I know.
(09:14):
I counted up, we had 40 walkmowers, and again, I don't
remember if that was thismorning or last night.
And then, yeah.
Yeah, it's like 40 hand mowersevery day.
Every day.
Two times a day.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Two times.
Then all the triplex units everymorning, every night.
(09:35):
It's kind of fairway, mowers,everything.
Rough mowers, hand mowers,everything comes in this
workshop and goes back out twicea day.
It's unbelievably crazy, but wehave got to a point where we are
smooth at getting things in andgetting things out.
So it kind of goes pretty muchsteady and kind of, you know,
(09:59):
routine now.
Well, and even like last night,they hit a pebble or something
or rock with one of the mowersand you pull the reel off, you
throw a grind on it, get it backon and yeah, we.
Ready to go out.
That's it.
I mean, actually we haven't hadtoo many bad units come in, but
that last night was kind of a abad stone or a rock or whatever
(10:22):
they said it was, kind of gonethrough it.
But yeah, it was yeah, prettygnarly.
But it ground out and I turnedit around and got it back on and
back out.
Yeah.
In no time reset.
Yeah.
In no time.
Yeah.
That was, so that was a bit of achange.
But yeah, we kind of got itsorted and.
Back into action.
What's your least favorite partof the job?
(10:43):
Oh, when you haven't gotanything to do when you've
completed all your machines.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
And you've kind of, you've justgot a period of time where
you've kind of new machines inand it's like, I need some, I
need a new challenge, and I needsomething in just to keep your
mind ticking.
(11:05):
So well then quiet times, Iguess.
Yeah.
So you like to stay busy?
Yeah, I just like to stay busy.
Yeah.
I like everything.
I like to cover anything.
Electrics and hydraulics and youknow, anything, engine work,
cylinder, grinding.
I just like to keep busy.
That's how I want to progress.
Yeah.
Nothing wrong with that.
I think it's just a passion aswell.
(11:26):
You know, like people will say,you know, what's the worst but.
V isn't really a bad part to theindustry.
It's kind of how you flow, howyou organize yourself, and how
you kind of want to progress.
And I'm at a point in my careerwhere I'm pretty happy with what
I'm doing and I'm kind of atthat top level now where I want
(11:49):
to kind of progress forward andlearn more at this level to take
myself even further, give myselfa new challenge.
So there's hopefully kind of.
Times come in where I'm gonna beable to push myself even more.
Oh yeah, I'm sure.
So, yeah, it's a crazy time, butyeah, it's enjoyable.
(12:10):
That's awesome.
That's good stuff.
What's your favorite tool?
Favorite tool?
It's got to be my snap-onratchets.
Okay.
Yeah.
I love my snap on ratchets.
It's one of those tools whatcomes out every day, and it's
kind of.
Those that you can't do without.
So what makes a snap-on ratchetbetter than any other ratchet?
(12:31):
Oh, it's just the finesse andthe gearing, the gear.
Yeah.
You know that fine click, thatkind of other ratchets don't
have.
But then, you know, technicallyif mechanically we could say a
tool is my favorite grinder.
I love grinding.
That is kind of.
(12:52):
The next favorite tool.
Okay.
So yeah, my grinders and myratchets.
All right.
That's good.
That's they're the two toolsthat can pull me through.
What do you do to wind down orfind your balance?
Yeah, so out of work, I kind oflove the outdoors.
It's kind of puts me into thatpeaceful solitude kind of
(13:14):
atmosphere where it takes youout of work mode.
Then you can just concentrateon.
Hiking, mountaineering,trekking.
I do a lot of photography and itjust kind of swaps my mind round
into a peaceful one.
Out of the rush of life.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I mean, with the hoursthat we work, we can soon get
(13:34):
kind of tied up in, in just workand we kind of forget about
ourselves.
So I think sometimes it's goodjust to sit back and just think,
you know, I just need to get outand.
Doing the outdoor things andactivities that I do just gives
me that mind of space.
Yeah.
You know, that space that Ineed.
(13:55):
That's really good stuff.
Yeah.
Is there a lot of places in yourarea?
Yeah, so we are covered by a lotof outdoor locations like the P
District going then into theNorth Yorkshire moles and that
kind of molen scenery.
So.
(14:15):
There's a lot of hiking.
Then I love mountains as well.
So you've got like the peak,like the lake district going
into the peaks.
Then anything into Scotland?
I've traveled the uk, but yeah.
Okay.
I try and stay local as I can.
Yeah.
Into the peaks.
What's been one of your biggestchallenges to date?
To date?
Well, I know and can, you can'tsay Tommy hanging out with him?
(14:38):
No.
Tommy's a great guy, so I can'tI can't, not the guy.
He is a brilliant guy.
But the biggest challenge iskind of progressing how I have,
because it was kind of a hardchallenge.
Making the kind of green,keeping to mechanic transaction.
(14:59):
Because I grew up as a greenkeeper, but trying to find a
balance and the right time tomake the transaction into the
full-time mechanicing was prettydifficult.
And I went through a bit of aflat time in my career where I
thought it was never gonna be.
But once you kind of find thatbalancing.
(15:21):
Getting to know people, openingdoors, it kind of puts you into
the right direction.
So that's kind of a challengethat I had to go through in my
career, but I'm kind of in aplace now where I'm in, where I
want to be.
But yeah, I grew up as a leveltwo, level three green keeper
and went into management, but itjust wasn't where I wanted to be
(15:43):
in my whole career.
Yeah.
So I wanted to make thattransaction as soon as possible.
I feel like I'm in the rightplace now where I kind of
belong.
Yeah.
No, that's great.
And so you kinda worked on thecourse and in the shop some,
yeah.
Throughout your career at timesit has earlier.
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, at times I have been onthe course, we've kind of a team
(16:06):
of eight where I currently am.
So it can get a bit tight whenpeople are on holiday and that
kind of thing, so it gets a bitstressful, but.
I run kind of an older fleet ofmachines, so that's time
consuming as well.
So I do kind of dominate a lotof my time into the workshop
because it is needed to keep amaintenance up on these older
(16:30):
fleet.
Yeah.
How old is your fleet?
Anything from 2018 to.
What, 13-year-old machines.
Okay.
You know, I'm running a prettyold fleet.
Yeah.
And it takes a lot of maintain.
So, yeah, it's tough.
Tough at times.
Oh yeah.
But you know, and you're theonly person in there.
Yeah.
I'm the only mechanic.
(16:50):
Yeah.
I am.
Yeah.
So it's only a small workshopand it's one of those things
that I am trying to kind of,progress and kind of build a
plan where maybe we expand or wecan.
Organize things a little bitbetter and just progress down
the line to something a littlebit better than what we have.
(17:11):
But that's in the future Iguess.
And only time will tell withthat when you get back, are you
gonna ask for a 6,000 footsquare foot shot like we have
here?
It'll be nice.
I mean, I've got plenty ofpictures.
Yeah.
A couple's inspiring to takethese pictures back and actually
see what, what we can do.
(17:32):
But yeah, I don't think thatwill be happening, but, so yeah,
it would definitely be nice.
Yeah.
I mean, a little bit biggerworkshop would be would be
possible.
But I'll see when I get back.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What's been one of the strangestthings you've seen on the golf
course?
Oh, any good stories.
Yeah, there's been quite a fewweird things happening, but I
(17:55):
mean, one that stands out is wehave quite a lot of public and
that kind of thing, walkingthrough the golf course, I guess
dog walkers and that kind ofthing.
So we do get a few gnarlyfigures and people walking
through when we shouldn't be,and.
There's been quite a few thingshappened down the line.
(18:20):
Okay.
That shouldn't have happenedUhhuh than that, you know?
But yeah, I don't know if I cango into too much.
Okay.
That'ss.
Okay.
I've seen some crazy stuff.
Okay.
Yeah.
But that's what happens withpublic footpaths, so Yeah.
How does that work?
Is that, and that's a prettycommon thing in the uk Yeah.
Where it's like a park and agolf course type.
(18:41):
No.
So.
The golf course where I'msituated is actually based on an
estate, so it's an nest estateowned part, bit of land with the
golf course on, which is on arental kind of agreement from
many years ago.
So the public footpath is to dowith the local government, which
(19:04):
has kind of put it through.
And that has always been there.
So it's just open to the public.
Okay.
Kind of to walk one end to theother to get access to different
locations.
Okay.
I guess so.
Yeah.
It's always been there, butyeah, it's it can be crazy at
times, some of the things yousee.
Oh yeah.
And the people, the charactersthat come through, so Yeah.
(19:27):
But there's lots of loose dogsand chasing golf balls and
people Oh yeah.
Yeah.
It's crazy.
Yeah.
Bet.
I bet.
Do you have a mentor in theindustry?
I do.
Yeah.
It's pretty weird because I grewup in the green keeping world,
and you kind of see all thesemechanics when you're growing
(19:49):
up.
And one guy that does stand outto me is who used to be kind of
a mechanic, then he moved intothe Toro dealerships, then now
he works for Bernard's.
And that is Stuart Hall.
Okay.
Stuart Hall is someone that I'vefollowed throughout my career
and watched how he does thingsand now I'm actually a good
(20:09):
friend to Stuarts.
Oh, I bring him, you know, hecan kinda help me out when I'm
needed.
Not just kind of grinding stuff,but he good advice throughout
the industries kind of helped mein different ways.
So yeah, he is a great guy to bearound.
But yes, always great to havesomeone.
Like that, you know?
Yeah.
(20:29):
A friend type thing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And from what I've experiencedis you call someone and you're
talking through whatever problemyou're working on, and they
might not give you the solution.
But sometimes it gets youthinking in a different
direction, if you will, and thatends up bringing a solution.
(20:50):
Oh, a hundred percent.
This industry is all aboutmaking.
Things happen and solutions arethe answer.
There's never a time where youthink this isn't gonna work
because there's always an answerfor something.
It's just, you've gotta work itout.
And even if you have to askquestions, that's how it is.
(21:10):
You know, you've got to askquestions if you don't know.
And there's certain people inthe industry that I trust to
answer those and advise me andhelp me along.
Yeah.
But I do like to work things outmyself.
That's the type of mechanic Iam.
That's how I learned a lotquicker and I can work things
out from there and progress howkind of forward and Yeah.
(21:35):
It's, it is pretty, it's been,it is been tough at times, but
yeah, I'm like self-taught, soit's took taken a lot of time to
kind of get where I am, but I'mI'm pleased that I've done it
how I have.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, so Seth Sheldon was hereearlier this week, and I
(21:56):
remember him saying when Iinterviewed him that he'll spend
about five minutes on trying tofigure out a machine.
And then he's picking up thephone and calling somebody.
Because it's easy to spend halfa day troubleshooting an
electrical problem.
And you could pick the phone upand call the guy down the road,
(22:16):
and he had the exact sameproblem.
You know, a few weeks ago.
Yeah.
And he says, oh, it was this,you know?
Yeah.
So, and, but I think it's hardfor a lot of us to.
To check our pride at the doorand pick that phone up.
Yeah.
And call somebody.
And I know I struggle with that.
And it's not for me, I don'tthink it's as much the pride
(22:38):
thing.
It's the challenge.
Yes.
You know, so the machine's down.
I wanna figure out why not the,I'm too good to rely on somebody
else that's, but I like thechallenge of solving the
problem.
Yeah.
The challenge is kind of thething that I love and coming
into it how I have.
It's always been a challenge.
(22:58):
So it doesn't phase me at all.
That's how I learn.
And that's how you learn thebest by making mistakes.
Finding the faults, you know,learning, progressing, but never
be afraid to pick up the phoneif you have to.
Oh, right, right.
Yeah.
I mean, I've got like, say goodconnections that I can always
(23:19):
ring if I need bits of advice,and I'll never be afraid to pick
up that phone.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean.
If you don't ask questions, younever progress.
There's some great people in theindustry and they're always
willing to help.
So, you know, use them.
Use them wisely.
But you know, I always try andkind of do things myself and get
(23:41):
to a point where if I need to, Iwill.
Yeah.
No, and I think that's a goodpoint too about use people
wisely and not that you can'tpick up the phone and call, you
know, whoever you want to call.
But I have a, he ended up beinga good friend, but when I was
working for the to distributorand I first met this gentleman,
(24:03):
all his of equipment was on alease package.
And it was a year old.
So if anything happened, hewould call me.
Yeah.
And I got to the point, youknow, we learn each other enough
and I mean, he's really busydoing, you know, other things,
whatever.
And I get that.
But he would call and he says,this machine won't start.
(24:23):
Okay.
And I would say, is the batterygood?
Well, I hadn't checked.
Well, could you at least checkand see if the battery's good
before I drive four hours toyour place and you need a
battery?
Yeah.
You know, I'll set, yeah, youslide.
I'm happy to warranty whateveryou need, but I don't want to
spend the time driving overthere for some really simple
(24:43):
thing.
Yeah.
I think like batteries and whenit comes to like the basic
fundamentals.
I think that should be just thefirst things that you do.
Check the fundamentals arebasics.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I guess not everybody hasthat, but it is easy to pick up
the phone and ask.
(25:04):
But if you can guide someone onthe phone then it kind of helps
'em out a little bit.
But then if you have toprogress.
To go and visit him and help himout, then do so.
But I am a big believer of tryand solve things yourself and
really learn from it.
And that's how I've gone aboutmy career.
Yeah.
You know, self-talk kind of thengoing into the qualifications
(25:27):
that I've gotten now and yeah.
I'm always learning.
But but yeah, it's it's a funnyold industry because, you know,
you always find people that dowant to help.
And you always find the odd oneor two that are really secretive
about kind of wanting to helpyou.
But yeah, it's it's reallypanned out well for myself.
That's one thing that, I mean,obviously I really love about
(25:49):
the industry is how helpfuleverybody is.
Oh, a hundred percent.
I mean, it is pretty rare thatyou meet somebody that won help
you.
That's it.
I mean, yeah.
It's rare.
It is rare.
I have probably come across afew people that have.
Very wary.
Kind of don't want to give youthe answers that you need.
But yeah, you kind of soon workpeople out and see who want, who
(26:13):
wants to be there, and who youwant to play in your group
really.
And you kind of build aroundthat group then, because these
connections become long timefriends as well.
Oh yeah, for sure.
And become, they can be theirwhole career for you, you know?
Helping each other out, andthat's what it's about, helping
each other.
I really find that, you know,you get into a certain group of
(26:35):
people and the communities thatcan be built are really super
kind of positive.
And you know, that positivethinking goes a long way between
a good group of people.
Yeah.
And I think it is important tosurround yourself by the right
people.
Oh, a hundred percent.
Yeah.
(26:55):
But the whole positivity thingand the.
Inspirational kind of side ofthe industry really needs to be
pushed more.
I think because there is timeswhen it is difficult and you do
need the right people around youto kind of progress.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I, yeah, just trying to keepit positive.
Yeah.
'cause most of the informationwe get on a daily basis is
(27:18):
negative.
This machine is broke, thatmachine's broke, or I did this,
I did that.
Whatever.
It's Oh, I agree.
I mean.
The whole point of being amechanic is you are there to fix
these problems.
And they are negative things,but if you look at it in a
positive way, that you are theperson fixing it and there's
(27:38):
always a solution to fixing thatmachine.
The world can be a better placein a positive mind.
Oh yeah.
You know, keep a positivemindset and just keep moving
forward.
And that's, I think, one of thegreatest things that I've
learned.
Is just to keep positive, keepmy head down, just keep doing
what I do.
That's good stuff.
(27:58):
And do it to my best ability.
And that's, you know, it's anhonor to be here at Oakmont.
And that's kind of a praise tomyself, I guess.
'Cause that's what's got mehere, my dedication to what I
do, my inspiration andmotivation.
Right, right.
That's what I love.
And I hope I can finally passthat on to the next guys behind
(28:18):
me.
Oh yeah.
You know?
Yeah.
That's back to going back alittle bit about just giving the
answer.
So the guys I got working in theshop for me, when they asked me
a question, I try to make themthink about the answer Yes.
Instead of just giving them theanswer.
Yeah.
You know, because you don'tlearn anything.
No, you don't.
(28:39):
If somebody just gives you theanswer.
Exactly.
I mean.
Somebody could give you theanswer, but if you help'em work
it out, yeah.
Give them a little bit ofguidance to get to the right
point, but let them do the work.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think that is kind of the bestway to teach someone who is kind
of coming up in the industry, belike a, be a guidance to'em, but
(29:02):
don't give them too much in theanswers.
Yeah.
Just let'em work it out, butalways be there and surround
them with.
You know, the right tools, theright positivity.
So, you know, make him thinkthat they're part of the team
thing.
Oh yeah.
You know, for sure.
So the guy that helps me in theshop he was texting me this
(29:23):
week.
We got a fairway mower thatwouldn't start and he thinks
maybe it's a battery, he thinksmaybe it's a connection.
But he's hearing the starterclick and then.
And he does some more testingand the starter had stopped
clicking and he is doing moreelectrical testing trying to
(29:44):
figure this out.
Yeah.
And I'm trying to help himthrough it.
And the fuse is blown at thestarter.
So he takes a fuse from anothermachine.
Puts it in solenoid's clickingagain.
And anyway, it gets me thinking.
I'm like, where was the machinewhen it stopped working?
It was on the wash pad.
(30:04):
Yeah.
I said, what did the operatorsay?
Oh, it was sitting there runningand I was washing it off and it
just turned off.
And I said, will the engine turnover?
You take a wrench and turn itback and forth.
And he tried that won't budge.
Okay.
I said, okay.
I'm pretty sure that he sprayedwater in the intake.
(30:27):
Yeah.
And the engine is locked up.
That's it.
And that is why it will notstart.
Yeah, definitely.
But anyway, this young man, hespent two days troubleshooting
this thing and he probablylearned some valuable lessons.
Oh, a hundred percent.
Yeah.
You know, going through that.
Yep.
Uhhuh and sometimes that's howit.
How you learn the most.
You know, these little mistakesthat you make take you a long
(30:48):
way in actually finding theanswers.
I think, you know, and yeah,you're progressing and you don't
learn by not making mistakes.
I think it's a critical Oh yeah.
Critical part of actually.
Progressing in his career.
I definitely think that is theway we learn.
Yeah.
So the next time he hears theOID click, that's And the engine
(31:08):
not turn over.
Yeah.
He's gonna see if the enginewill turn over by hand.
That's a hundred percent.
Yeah, I agree with that beforehe goes any further.
That's it.
So no, I mean it's good and Idefinitely love trying to help
train the next generation Yeah.
Of technicians coming up.
And that's one of the most, youknow, in my position.
(31:29):
And as long as I've been in theindustry, that is one of the
most rewarding things.
Is trying to teach these youngerguys.
Yeah.
Some of the stuff, knowledgethat was passed on to me from my
mentors.
Yeah, exactly.
And that's a big part of what wedo.
And I think without that we'rekind of delving ourselves into a
(31:50):
declining or even a moredeclining career.
James Breeze (31:55):
If we don't actually put out the word of,
this is a great career to be inand you could actually progress
to be at some of the best clubsin the world or whatever kind of
indu industry dealerships orclubs you are at it.
This is kind of a great part ofthe industry to be in.
(32:15):
'cause without mechanics, youhaven't got the golf clubs, the
football clubs, the sportsclubs.
You need mechanics.
Oh yeah.
You know.
But yeah, it's it's definitelysomething that we need to push
more in this industry.
And my aim is to kind of bringthe, well advise, I guess, bring
(32:37):
through the next generation thebest I can.
Because I, I guess I learned thehard way, but I want to pass
what I've learned and what I amlearning onto the next guy.
Even if it's through what I'mdoing with Bernard's Academy or
if it's kind of through myself,I always try and inspire.
That's kind of how I work.
(32:57):
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, that's great.
It is.
Yeah.
Really good stuff.
Trent Manning (33:02):
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(33:22):
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Let's get back to the episode.
What would be your dream job oropportunity?
Oh wow.
I think staying in the golfindustry, but at one of the top
(33:44):
hundred golf clubs in the world,I guess.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's kind of a dream.
To be at the re of golf clubs.
Yeah.
Somewhere in the world, whereverthat will take me.
But yeah, I want to I want toprogress over time and just take
it steady and just be the bestthat I can.
Yeah.
And I know the ability's there,I just need to kind of get
(34:07):
there.
However that ever will work forme, I guess.
When I think, I'm not gonna sayit's easy.
But if you have a strong workethic and you're willing to
learn Yeah.
And you do some volunteering,you get outta your comfort zone,
you do some networking.
(34:27):
Yeah.
You can literally go anywhere inthe world you want to go.
Yeah.
In this industry.
I agree.
I mean, volunteering is amassive part of what we do to
gain experience.
For example, working here thisweek, we're surrounding
ourselves with some of the bestsin the world.
Yeah.
And there's been some names andpeople come through this
(34:49):
workshop from the top 50 in theworld.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
You know, so it's kind ofsurrounding yourself with those
people picking their brains.
Gaining contacts, you know,making friends.
Yeah.
It's kind of always there.
And that is the one way youprogress.
Yeah.
And I've learned a lot in the.
(35:09):
In the two weeks that I've beenhere and I am still learning
while I am still here.
And it's an opportunity thatI'll never forget, it's a life
changing opportunity, which Iwill progress on.
Do you have a technician youwould like to work with for a
day?
I have many technicians in mind.
There's a lot of my friends whoI kind of connect with every
(35:32):
day, but yeah.
If I ever had the chance, I'dcome back to the US and maybe
work with you, you know?
Oh, yeah.
You know, actually surroundmyself with what you do day in,
day out, because I always followwhat you do and it is a little
bit, kind of a different way ofhow we work.
(35:54):
Maybe in the European side ofmechanic, the US seems to have a
broader kind of spectrum when itcomes to.
Organization workshop design.
The size of workshops and thekind of respect that mechanics
get in the us it, it seems to belike we need a mechanic at our
(36:17):
golf club, where in the UK itcan be very hard to convince
clubs that a mechanic is needed.
Yeah.
But yeah, I mean yourself, youdefinitely kind of someone who
I'd love to.
Come and spend some time withand actually work with.
Oh, well, yes.
Thank you.
And you are welcome.
Anytime.
(36:37):
Oh yeah you get over here.
And that goes for anybody elselistening, if you're in into the
Atlanta area, hit me up and youare happy to come by my shop.
And depending on how long youwanna stay, we can go buy some
other shops.
Oh yeah, definitely.
That'll be awesome.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That will be, yeah.
Really awesome.
'cause we are fortunate in theAtlanta market, there's or
(36:59):
Atlanta Metro.
There's some really is thatword?
Famous?
Famous James.
Really nice.
Close world, globally.
Famous James.
Yes.
Yes it is.
I've heard all about it.
It is, rumor has it on socialmedia that he's like the best.
He is the best.
The best.
I am the best.
Yeah.
How you boys doing?
We're good, man.
You go out and see any golf?
(37:20):
No, it's a.
Madhouse.
Is it madhouse out there?
I don't ever wanna go out thereagain.
Okay.
It's crazy.
It's crazy.
Yeah.
It's funny.
He out and about.
Is he awake?
I don't know.
His cracks are there.
Okay.
His cracks are there.
That's funny.
Well, that's totally derailedus.
(37:40):
Let's see.
What do you know now you wishyou'd done on day one?
Ooh.
Yeah, I've kind of jumped in itwithout knowing anything, I
guess.
And I've kind of learned fromthe bottom up to where I'm now.
So a lot of things kind of standout.
Just I wish I'd kind of had amentor, I guess.
(38:02):
Originally who would've beenthere to just guide me because
when you're doing it on yourown, it's kind of a little bit
difficult at times.
Until you get to know people.
So I wish I had that one personoriginally there just to guide
me, but I kind of made it happenmyself.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just a little things like that.
I guess Uhhuh I think it'simportant to have that one
(38:25):
person that you can trust.
But I didn't have that when Ioriginally started, so it kind
of, yeah, I've learned the hardway.
But I've made it work and thisis where I am.
Hey, you made it.
Yeah.
You made it to, I made it.
You literally made it to the USOpen, made it.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
Which is incredible.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Such a cool experience.
Get ready for tips and tricks
(38:47):
What kind of tips and tricks yougot, you wanna share?
Can it be grinding?
I mean, I grinding could beanything.
Yeah, it could be, yeah.
These little things that I'vepicked up with the grinding and
it's just like, you know,fundamentals have set up.
It's just really simple littlethings.
Just be organized, you know,settings having written down so
(39:11):
you can kind of jog back throughyour notes.
I write everything down now, soI write all my angles down.
I kind of write.
All my bed knives to my angles,so I don't get confused to where
I am.
If it's John Deere Toro, I handwrite everything, so I know that
it's there in print.
Yeah.
But yeah, I just make lots ofnotes.
(39:32):
I think making notes is one ofthe most important things we can
do.
'cause those notes can be withyou forever.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
That's kind of something that Ireally work by.
So that's the main kind of thingthat I want to pass on.
Really nail down, organizeyourself and be around a tidy
workshop.
Because if you're not, it canget really out of hand and you
(39:56):
become very unorganized in yourworkflow, your routines, and you
end up kind of losing track witha lot of.
Yeah.
But but yeah.
Yeah.
If you spend five minuteslooking for a wrench, that
should be in the toolbox.
That's it.
And that, that can productionadds to be in an hour, you know?
Right.
And you're just looking fortools all the time.
(40:17):
So I'm big into organization.
Kind of, I like a nice tidy toolchest.
I like tools organized and Mark,so I know where exactly where
they are.
Yep.
Little things like that.
But yeah, it's it's moreorganization and just make sure
you've got notes.
I think that's the the way Ikinda work and that's how I've
always learned.
(40:37):
No, I think that's, yeah.
Excellent.
Tip for anybody, whether you'vebeen doing it a long time or you
are they're starting out.
It's and I think John Pattersonsays it, it doesn't cost
anything to pay attention.
Yeah.
Oh, a hundred percent.
Yeah.
Pay attention and kind of neverbe afraid to.
(40:58):
To say, you know, to jump inwith questions.
I always like being askedquestions because if you're
around people that are new tothe industry, it really shows
interest and commitment that,you know, you can teach them.
They're asking questions andthen you know that they're
willing to learn.
Yeah, and I think that's reallyimportant to kind of say that if
(41:22):
you surround yourself with, youknow, new people that are in the
industry that are willing.
And dedicated, that can go along way.
And we need a lot more people inthis industry like that to come
through and pass the informationthat we all have locked away.
Really?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And pass it on.
You know, there's some greatpeople out there which have
(41:42):
years and years of knowledge,and once they're gone and they,
you know, that knowledge isgone.
So it is, now we need to startpassing it on.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, it's it's a crazy oldworld when you've got these
mechanics around the world andyou know, these top world class
guys, and if you haven't gotanything to pass it on to
(42:03):
anybody, to take that knowledgeaway, just lost.
Yeah.
We really need to pass it on.
That's a major factor of why Iwant to inspire new guys and
actually pass what I've learnedon.
And if you don't ask thequestion.
They don't know to give you theanswer.
No, exactly.
Yeah.
No agree.
They don't know what you knew.
(42:23):
That's it.
And for some of us, we don'twant to just, you know.
Yeah.
Tell everything you know, andbore people.
You, if you already know thisinformation, you might not want
to hear it again.
Oh, a hundred percent.
And I like to think that thepeople that want to learn and be
around you will be around youfor a long time.
(42:44):
Really want to pick your brain.
And I'm one of those people thatreally wants to pass in
information on, and I alwayslook at people and I always try
and work people out before I dothat because I don't want to be
kind of taking the wrong peopleunder my wing.
Yeah.
And kind of passing theinformation on, which is never
(43:05):
gonna go anywhere, you know?
Right.
But sometimes guys that comethrough and you think, if we're
not dedicated or, you know,there's sometimes complications
in them wanting to do it becauseif they haven't made their mind
up, you know?
Just, I'm very committed and I'mwilling to help, but I also need
the right person to take on mywing to do so, and I need to see
(43:26):
that they're dedicated and, youknow, want to learn and progress
like I have.
If you don't have a willingnessto learn, it is hard to teach
somebody.
Oh, I, yeah, exactly.
That's the kind of theory that Iwork by.
Yeah.
It's really difficult to kind ofwork with someone who hasn't got
the same mindset as yourself andwillingness to learn.
(43:48):
So that's how I kind of, I'vealways looked at how I want to
go about teaching what I know.
Right, right.
Any other tips or tricks?
I learned electric's pretty,pretty late into my mechanical
kind of career.
And I am self-taught in the mecain the electrical mechanical
(44:12):
side.
Then I did my qualifications,but a little tip that I found is
always mark your wise up withcolored tie wraps.
It's simple, but when you'vedone your kind of wires and you
fit new looms, just indicateyour wires.
Use color tire wraps.
It always works.
Okay.
(44:32):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sense.
It kind stops the confusion ofstripping something down and
then, oh boy, you know, I'mstuck.
I don't know where wires go.
Just put color tire wraps on.
You'll be fine.
I like that color.
Yeah.
Tire wraps.
I do have different colorelectrical tape that I've used,
but I really like the tie wrap.
Yeah.
Because that's quick and easy.
(44:54):
I think I have tried the tapeand it kind of.
Of gets a little bit bulky, Iguess, when you are working with
fine ways.
Right?
Right.
So I have some, I have alldifferent sizes from small to
large colored tie wraps.
And I just mark my colors andwrite it down and yeah.
It's never failed me, so that'sgood.
No, that's a good idea.
It's a good tip to pass on tothe guys who are learning
(45:16):
electrics, uhhuh.
That is a really good one.
Let's talk about the academy andhow you got here.
A little bit.
Yeah, just like, walk me throughthat process.
Yeah.
So the opportunity came alongwith Bernard Academy in
(45:36):
association with like group.
Okay.
So the group has been running acouple years now, and it's a
group that was built by ChrisMinton.
James Wilkinson and MatthewAxton.
Yep.
Three incredible guys inthemselves.
And they've just created thiscommunity on WhatsApp, which has
(46:00):
brought a lot of guys into thekind of learning part of the
industry.
Guys that probably couldn't haveaccess to knowledge without it.
Guys who probably don't havemechanics at times and be trying
to help themselves and fixthings.
But yeah.
Came through the T two group andit came through Burnout Academy.
(46:24):
So the process was application,then the video application, then
kind of the interview processwas video interview, then.
What applications to be kind ofaccepted, I guess.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah, then I got through to thefinal three and then that's how
(46:46):
I progressed.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
It came along pretty quick and Ikind of had to grab it with both
hands.
It was something that I wantedto use for myself.
To progress.
You know, it's a weird thingthat if you, if I hadn't then I
would've probably regretted itto be fair.
Yeah.
Because I wouldn't be heretoday.
(47:06):
Right, right.
So yeah, I had to I had to grabit and actually show my
commitment and when I want to bein the industry.
Yeah.
So what, what else has happenedsince you.
You're here.
Yeah.
Do you, will you have otherresponsibilities after this or
yeah, so there is the aftermathof actually being at the US
(47:27):
Open.
So there's gonna be talkshappening and kind of interviews
and the whole Okay.
Promotional kind of side of it.
But yeah, there is talks andtalks that.
It shows and that kind of thingin the, well, the real Tex is
really on the cutting edge herebecause we're interviewing you
(47:49):
before you're being interviewed.
Yeah, that's it.
Exactly.
So it is actually nice to kindof, be interviewed by yourself
and just put out, but there issome talks gonna be happening.
No, that's cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
Which actually is the first oneis made be made by Burnout
Academy.
At the Burnout Factory.
Okay.
So that's a brilliant start.
And that's, yeah.
(48:09):
The perfect place for me toactually make my debut as you
know, a talker and see how itgoes.
That's awesome.
And progress from that to thebig shows.
So yeah, I don't, are youcomfortable talking in front of
a group?
Yeah.
It's kind of a new adventure forme, so it's going to be a, I
guess, a challenge.
Well, a good challenge, whichI'm, I've kind of accepted.
(48:32):
Yeah.
And I will just.
Keep my head down and do thebest that I can.
Yeah.
I'm passionate about what I do,and you put yourself around the
right kind of mechanical mindedpeople who want to listen.
Yeah.
I think you'll all go fine.
Oh yeah.
You know.
No, that'll be fine.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're all in it.
I guess we're all in it togetherin this industry and the guys, I
(48:54):
guess that will be there orwanting to learn, and I've got
a, I've got a big story to tellJerome myself.
Coming into the industry and thewhole lot month US open, Uhhuh,
you know, I've got a lot togive.
So, yeah.
That's awesome.
Looking forward to what comes inthe future.
Yeah, no, that's, it's gonna begood things for you.
Yeah.
Good things are gonna come.
(49:15):
That's for James.
That's awesome.
Yeah, that, that's that's how Ikind of, I never dreamt it, but
I knew it would happen, I guess,at one day, and I'm living it,
so Yeah.
That's awesome.
Living the dream.
I'm sorry.
I'm living the dream.
Yeah, you are.
That is so good.
Yeah, it's it's been a real goodpro like process.
I've made good progression and Iknow where I want to be and I'm
(49:37):
at that level now where I canget there.
So it's just time will tell.
That's awesome.
Well, this is gonna be a littledifferent.
We're gonna do some rapid fireand I'm gonna be curious to what
your answers are.
So what's your favorite movie?
(49:59):
My favorite movie, eh, it'sgotta be the Fast and Furious
series.
Okay.
All just All right.
I'm familiar with that.
A car Fantic.
I do like my car.
Yep.
Yep.
Fast and Furious.
Okay.
Awesome.
Yeah.
What would be your last meal?
Oh, it's gotta be York Pudding,onions and gravy.
Yeah.
See, this is where I have noidea.
(50:21):
Like, what is YorkshireTraditional food?
What is Yorkshire Pudding?
A Yorkshire pudding is aYorkshire pudding.
It's very hard to describe whatelse in this Yorkshire pudding.
It's a flowery based kind ofpuffed up pudding.
Okay.
(50:41):
With, I could give you therecipe if you want, but So is it
like gravy?
Yeah.
No.
So we experience, you have agravy in it.
It's like a dish.
You may come into this bowlshaped kind of puffed pudding.
Okay.
You know, beautiful Yorkshiretraditional food.
All right.
Well, I from the hearts ofEngland, if I get over, I'm
(51:04):
definitely gonna try this outfor sure.
I think we could definitely goout and go to a pub and have a
proper meal.
Okay.
Some proper Oxford food.
Okay.
What are you most proud ofbesides your family?
My achievements in life.
Yeah.
I think my achievements in lifeare kind of some of the proudest
(51:25):
times and some of the, you know,ha heartwarming times I've had
because, you know, it's kind of,you never put yourself in the
forward thinking time at timesin the.
You kind of forget aboutyourself a little bit at times.
But what I've achieved is amassive kind of part of my life,
(51:48):
my career.
Yeah.
And where I want to be.
That's, yeah.
It's yeah.
Trying to give myself a littlebit of pride and just, you know,
you deserve a pat on the backfor sure.
Exactly.
Yeah.
That's set.
That is awesome.
So, so good.
Anything else you wanna talkabout?
Well.
We're at the US Open.
So, yeah.
(52:09):
It's been an credible kind oftime meeting yourself and the
other guys, and I think thatjust keep on pushing, you know,
pushing forward and Yeah.
I guess just, yeah, be yourself.
Keep levelheaded and just beyourself.
(52:30):
I would say get outta yourcomfort zone.
Yeah.
Push yourself outta your comfortzone.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And you get outta your comfortzone.
And some good things can happenand challenges are always there,
but there's always answers to achallenge, so Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
There's always solutions.
Well, thank you so much forsetting down with me.
It's been a pleasure doing this.
Yeah, no, it's been fun.
(52:51):
For me, this is obviously myfavorite part Yeah.
Is this interview and it's somuch better to do it in person.
Yeah.
Versus on the computer and allthose things.
Well, that's it.
I mean, we've tried doing this,I think before Christmas we
tried to do the first interviewand then, you know, time and
work.
Yeah.
Busy kind of work routines.
(53:12):
Kind of got in the way and thenwe finally met for the first
time and we're finally doing it.
Yeah.
So, yeah, it's been an honor.
Awesome.
It's been an honor talking toyou.
Well, thanks so much.
Oh yeah.
Thank you, Trent.
thank you so much for listening to the Reel turf
techs podcast.
I hope you learned somethingtoday.
(53:33):
Don't forget to subscribe.
If you have any topics you'dlike to discuss, or you'd like
to be a guest, find us onTwitter at Reel turf techs.
Welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the
technician that wants to getreel follow along.
As we talk to industryprofessionals and address hot
topics that we all face alongthe way we'll learn tips and
tricks.
I'm your host, Trent.
Manning let's have some Welcometo The Real Turf Text Podcast,
(00:27):
episode 1 46.
Today we're talking to JamesBreeze, machinery technician at
Huddersfield Golf Club inYorkshire, England.
Huddersfield Golf Club is an 18hole course in one of the oldest
and most celebrated courses innorth of England.
James is the Lone Tech in theshop.
He has mostly Toro equipment.
(00:49):
We caught up.
With James at the 125th US Openat Oakmont.
Let's talk to James.
welcome James to the Real TurfText Podcast.
We're sitting here at thehundred and 25th US Open at
Oakmont, and we've been workingtogether for the last few days
and it's been great.
(01:09):
We've worked really hard,though.
It's been some long hours.
Starting at 4:00 AM last night.
Which was Thursday night.
We didn't leave till after 11:00PM so really long hours.
But we have the time.
I'm just gonna sit down andwe'll do a quick podcast.
So welcome James.
(01:30):
Yeah, thank you very much forhaving me on.
It's an honor to be finally ableto actually getting to the
podcast and be interviewed byyourself.
Well, we.
Tried to get together a coupletimes in the past, but it's kind
of hard with the five hour timedifference.
Yeah, definitely.
Yeah, we have and obviously wetried to kinda link up before
(01:51):
and the times and the kind ofother conflicts in life just
stopped us from doing that.
So yeah, it's just nice toconnect when we're together and
actually make things happen.
Yeah, for sure.
So how did you get into the turfindustry?
So I started off in the greenkeeping industry as usual do my
(02:13):
college level two and levelthree management.
Then I kind of graduated to aclub where I've currently been
13 years from college.
Then went through that.
Then kind of where I am now,kind of transactioned into
mechanicing.
So it's just the whole.
(02:35):
Kind of, thing with growing uparound sports and being able to
work on local sports fields, andthat's how I kind of really made
my mark into the industryworking at local football and
local cricket and just graduallygetting through the process of
connections and making newfriends.
(02:58):
Where did you learn about themachinery?
You know, as a kid, were youworking on stuff?
I was, yeah.
I was like a home mechanic as Iguess, and then I am self-taught
mechanic until the last coupleof years.
Then I've kind of gone throughthe qualifications sections of
(03:18):
the turf mechanical, industrystandards, health and safety.
I've kind of covered all that.
Hydraulics, electric, some.
So kind of qualified as it canbe at the moment.
What kind of classes areavailable in the UK to
individuals that are interestedin this type stuff?
Yeah.
Even if it's generic?
(03:40):
Not necessarily, yeah.
It's kind of independent.
Independent kind of classes thatteach certain subjects.
I don't think the schooling isquite as what it used to be for
the turf industry right now.
So, I've done like independentclasses through like PTME trade
(04:03):
shows and that kind of thing,and I've gained of, gained
qualifications over years.
So it's kind of been a graduatekind of way of learning, I
guess, and being around theright people that have put me
into right directions has alwayskind of been the way I work.
Why don't we have a saying overhere?
It's not what you know, it's whoyou know.
(04:24):
Yeah, exactly.
And I don't know Yeah.
If y'all say that too or not,but it is true.
Yeah, it is true to a certainextent.
Yeah.
A hundred percent.
I agree with that.
And, I think if you put yourselfaround the right people, it can
definitely kind of open doorsand head you in the right
direction, where then you canprogress and gain the knowledge
to be where you want to be.
(04:46):
And I think it's a perfectopportunity to say it right now
since we're at the US Open aboutvolunteering and networking and
how important that is and howmany opportunities that can open
up.
A hundred percent.
So I.
My story of actually being avolunteer at the hundred 25th US
(05:08):
Open is kind of an opportunitythat came along through the UK
mechanics industry and it was inassociation with Tito and ards,
the Academy.
So it was an application, aninterview process.
Which was a video applicationthen into interviews.
(05:32):
Then obviously the winner got tocome to the US Open, which is an
honor to be here.
You know, it's a mind blowingopportunity.
Yeah.
Which has just took me up to abrand new level in my career.
That's awesome.
Networking with guys likeyourself and the team here with
other volunteers coming in fromworld class golf clubs.
(05:54):
It's just a.
Heaven of networking.
So yeah, it's been really good.
Yeah.
And so it's roughly two weeksthat the whole thing you got
over here like Saturday?
Yeah.
Advance week.
Yeah, so I was here theSaturday, so I did all pre
tournament and then now we'reinto full tournament flow and
(06:15):
yeah, it's good.
It's been a real mind blowingexperience.
And hanging out with TommyRichie.
That's the mind blowingexperience in myself.
Tommy Richie.
Yeah, he's a great guy.
I didn't know him until I got tothe US for Oh, well, yes.
I kind of learned very quicklythat he's an awesome guy and
he's definitely someone I willkind of stay around and keep con
(06:40):
connections with because he is,he's a great guy with a lot of
knowledge, but he's got a greatpersonality.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He's got a big personality.
Oh, massive personality.
Yeah.
A huge sense of humor.
A hundred percent.
I agree.
Yeah.
No it's been good.
I've really enjoyed it.
For sure.
Yeah.
Hanging out.
Yeah.
With everybody here, and it's nomatter what, you know, the
(07:03):
course is or what the workshopis.
Anytime you can go in somebodyelse's workshop and kinda see
how they do things, you can pickup little tips and tricks.
Oh yeah.
Stuff like that all the time.
Yeah.
You can it's kind of, you putyourself in these situations of
actually coming to a club thatyou don't know if they're gonna
(07:24):
welcome you or not.
And my experience here is the.
Have just welcomed you with openarms.
Oh yeah.
And it's kind of that atmospherethat you want around a workshop
that everyone just connects,gets on with the job, and the
results are shown out on thecourse.
And it's not a and a credit tothe guys out there, but for what
(07:48):
we do in the workshop, it is areal kind of experience in a
lifetime.
Experience that I'll take awaywith me and gain and progress
on.
Oh, yeah.
And well, so Chris, theassistant technician, he said, I
don't remember all of it runstogether.
I don't remember if it was lastnight or this morning.
Yeah, it's been a long time.
(08:10):
He's, he was saying how us inthe workshop are not even
really.
Communicating.
We're just getting it done.
Yeah.
You know, it isn't like you haveto say, oh, grab that machine.
Exactly.
I wanna do this one next.
I wanna do that one next.
It's just when everybody'sfamiliar with working in the
shop, you know what needs to bedone and you just do it.
(08:32):
Exactly.
I mean, everyone who has kind ofbeing here now a couple of days
or a week or so, really knowstheir place.
We all have a routine and wekind of swap in between jobs,
but we have a flowing.
That comes down to experienceand kind of just the knowledge
of knowing each other and goodcommunication in a sense.
(08:53):
So yeah, we're all just likekind of flowing together well
and organizations pretty good.
Yeah.
So we all know kind of as placein the workshop and what we're
doing, the amount of machinesthat are coming through here per
shift.
I mean, it's just crazy.
Alright.
It's unbelievable number.
Yeah, I know.
(09:14):
I counted up, we had 40 walkmowers, and again, I don't
remember if that was thismorning or last night.
And then, yeah.
Yeah, it's like 40 hand mowersevery day.
Every day.
Two times a day.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Two times.
Then all the triplex units everymorning, every night.
(09:35):
It's kind of fairway, mowers,everything.
Rough mowers, hand mowers,everything comes in this
workshop and goes back out twicea day.
It's unbelievably crazy, but wehave got to a point where we are
smooth at getting things in andgetting things out.
So it kind of goes pretty muchsteady and kind of, you know,
(09:59):
routine now.
Well, and even like last night,they hit a pebble or something
or rock with one of the mowersand you pull the reel off, you
throw a grind on it, get it backon and yeah, we.
Ready to go out.
That's it.
I mean, actually we haven't hadtoo many bad units come in, but
that last night was kind of a abad stone or a rock or whatever
(10:22):
they said it was, kind of gonethrough it.
But yeah, it was yeah, prettygnarly.
But it ground out and I turnedit around and got it back on and
back out.
Yeah.
In no time reset.
Yeah.
In no time.
Yeah.
That was, so that was a bit of achange.
But yeah, we kind of got itsorted and.
Back into action.
What's your least favorite partof the job?
(10:43):
Oh, when you haven't gotanything to do when you've
completed all your machines.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
And you've kind of, you've justgot a period of time where
you've kind of new machines inand it's like, I need some, I
need a new challenge, and I needsomething in just to keep your
mind ticking.
(11:05):
So well then quiet times, Iguess.
Yeah.
So you like to stay busy?
Yeah, I just like to stay busy.
Yeah.
I like everything.
I like to cover anything.
Electrics and hydraulics and youknow, anything, engine work,
cylinder, grinding.
I just like to keep busy.
That's how I want to progress.
Yeah.
Nothing wrong with that.
I think it's just a passion aswell.
(11:26):
You know, like people will say,you know, what's the worst but.
V isn't really a bad part to theindustry.
It's kind of how you flow, howyou organize yourself, and how
you kind of want to progress.
And I'm at a point in my careerwhere I'm pretty happy with what
I'm doing and I'm kind of atthat top level now where I want
(11:49):
to kind of progress forward andlearn more at this level to take
myself even further, give myselfa new challenge.
So there's hopefully kind of.
Times come in where I'm gonna beable to push myself even more.
Oh yeah, I'm sure.
So, yeah, it's a crazy time, butyeah, it's enjoyable.
(12:10):
That's awesome.
That's good stuff.
What's your favorite tool?
Favorite tool?
It's got to be my snap-onratchets.
Okay.
Yeah.
I love my snap on ratchets.
It's one of those tools whatcomes out every day, and it's
kind of.
Those that you can't do without.
So what makes a snap-on ratchetbetter than any other ratchet?
(12:31):
Oh, it's just the finesse andthe gearing, the gear.
Yeah.
You know that fine click, thatkind of other ratchets don't
have.
But then, you know, technicallyif mechanically we could say a
tool is my favorite grinder.
I love grinding.
That is kind of.
(12:52):
The next favorite tool.
Okay.
So yeah, my grinders and myratchets.
All right.
That's good.
That's they're the two toolsthat can pull me through.
What do you do to wind down orfind your balance?
Yeah, so out of work, I kind oflove the outdoors.
It's kind of puts me into thatpeaceful solitude kind of
(13:14):
atmosphere where it takes youout of work mode.
Then you can just concentrateon.
Hiking, mountaineering,trekking.
I do a lot of photography and itjust kind of swaps my mind round
into a peaceful one.
Out of the rush of life.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I mean, with the hoursthat we work, we can soon get
(13:34):
kind of tied up in, in just workand we kind of forget about
ourselves.
So I think sometimes it's goodjust to sit back and just think,
you know, I just need to get outand.
Doing the outdoor things andactivities that I do just gives
me that mind of space.
Yeah.
You know, that space that Ineed.
(13:55):
That's really good stuff.
Yeah.
Is there a lot of places in yourarea?
Yeah, so we are covered by a lotof outdoor locations like the P
District going then into theNorth Yorkshire moles and that
kind of molen scenery.
So.
(14:15):
There's a lot of hiking.
Then I love mountains as well.
So you've got like the peak,like the lake district going
into the peaks.
Then anything into Scotland?
I've traveled the uk, but yeah.
Okay.
I try and stay local as I can.
Yeah.
Into the peaks.
What's been one of your biggestchallenges to date?
To date?
Well, I know and can, you can'tsay Tommy hanging out with him?
(14:38):
No.
Tommy's a great guy, so I can'tI can't, not the guy.
He is a brilliant guy.
But the biggest challenge iskind of progressing how I have,
because it was kind of a hardchallenge.
Making the kind of green,keeping to mechanic transaction.
(14:59):
Because I grew up as a greenkeeper, but trying to find a
balance and the right time tomake the transaction into the
full-time mechanicing was prettydifficult.
And I went through a bit of aflat time in my career where I
thought it was never gonna be.
But once you kind of find thatbalancing.
(15:21):
Getting to know people, openingdoors, it kind of puts you into
the right direction.
So that's kind of a challengethat I had to go through in my
career, but I'm kind of in aplace now where I'm in, where I
want to be.
But yeah, I grew up as a leveltwo, level three green keeper
and went into management, but itjust wasn't where I wanted to be
(15:43):
in my whole career.
Yeah.
So I wanted to make thattransaction as soon as possible.
I feel like I'm in the rightplace now where I kind of
belong.
Yeah.
No, that's great.
And so you kinda worked on thecourse and in the shop some,
yeah.
Throughout your career at timesit has earlier.
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, at times I have been onthe course, we've kind of a team
(16:06):
of eight where I currently am.
So it can get a bit tight whenpeople are on holiday and that
kind of thing, so it gets a bitstressful, but.
I run kind of an older fleet ofmachines, so that's time
consuming as well.
So I do kind of dominate a lotof my time into the workshop
because it is needed to keep amaintenance up on these older
(16:30):
fleet.
Yeah.
How old is your fleet?
Anything from 2018 to.
What, 13-year-old machines.
Okay.
You know, I'm running a prettyold fleet.
Yeah.
And it takes a lot of maintain.
So, yeah, it's tough.
Tough at times.
Oh yeah.
But you know, and you're theonly person in there.
Yeah.
I'm the only mechanic.
(16:50):
Yeah.
I am.
Yeah.
So it's only a small workshopand it's one of those things
that I am trying to kind of,progress and kind of build a
plan where maybe we expand or wecan.
Organize things a little bitbetter and just progress down
the line to something a littlebit better than what we have.
(17:11):
But that's in the future Iguess.
And only time will tell withthat when you get back, are you
gonna ask for a 6,000 footsquare foot shot like we have
here?
It'll be nice.
I mean, I've got plenty ofpictures.
Yeah.
A couple's inspiring to takethese pictures back and actually
see what, what we can do.
(17:32):
But yeah, I don't think thatwill be happening, but, so yeah,
it would definitely be nice.
Yeah.
I mean, a little bit biggerworkshop would be would be
possible.
But I'll see when I get back.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What's been one of the strangestthings you've seen on the golf
course?
Oh, any good stories.
Yeah, there's been quite a fewweird things happening, but I
(17:55):
mean, one that stands out is wehave quite a lot of public and
that kind of thing, walkingthrough the golf course, I guess
dog walkers and that kind ofthing.
So we do get a few gnarlyfigures and people walking
through when we shouldn't be,and.
There's been quite a few thingshappened down the line.
(18:20):
Okay.
That shouldn't have happenedUhhuh than that, you know?
But yeah, I don't know if I cango into too much.
Okay.
That'ss.
Okay.
I've seen some crazy stuff.
Okay.
Yeah.
But that's what happens withpublic footpaths, so Yeah.
How does that work?
Is that, and that's a prettycommon thing in the uk Yeah.
Where it's like a park and agolf course type.
(18:41):
No.
So.
The golf course where I'msituated is actually based on an
estate, so it's an nest estateowned part, bit of land with the
golf course on, which is on arental kind of agreement from
many years ago.
So the public footpath is to dowith the local government, which
(19:04):
has kind of put it through.
And that has always been there.
So it's just open to the public.
Okay.
Kind of to walk one end to theother to get access to different
locations.
Okay.
I guess so.
Yeah.
It's always been there, butyeah, it's it can be crazy at
times, some of the things yousee.
Oh yeah.
And the people, the charactersthat come through, so Yeah.
(19:27):
But there's lots of loose dogsand chasing golf balls and
people Oh yeah.
Yeah.
It's crazy.
Yeah.
Bet.
I bet.
Do you have a mentor in theindustry?
I do.
Yeah.
It's pretty weird because I grewup in the green keeping world,
and you kind of see all thesemechanics when you're growing
(19:49):
up.
And one guy that does stand outto me is who used to be kind of
a mechanic, then he moved intothe Toro dealerships, then now
he works for Bernard's.
And that is Stuart Hall.
Okay.
Stuart Hall is someone that I'vefollowed throughout my career
and watched how he does thingsand now I'm actually a good
(20:09):
friend to Stuarts.
Oh, I bring him, you know, hecan kinda help me out when I'm
needed.
Not just kind of grinding stuff,but he good advice throughout
the industries kind of helped mein different ways.
So yeah, he is a great guy to bearound.
But yes, always great to havesomeone.
Like that, you know?
Yeah.
(20:29):
A friend type thing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And from what I've experiencedis you call someone and you're
talking through whatever problemyou're working on, and they
might not give you the solution.
But sometimes it gets youthinking in a different
direction, if you will, and thatends up bringing a solution.
(20:50):
Oh, a hundred percent.
This industry is all aboutmaking.
Things happen and solutions arethe answer.
There's never a time where youthink this isn't gonna work
because there's always an answerfor something.
It's just, you've gotta work itout.
And even if you have to askquestions, that's how it is.
(21:10):
You know, you've got to askquestions if you don't know.
And there's certain people inthe industry that I trust to
answer those and advise me andhelp me along.
Yeah.
But I do like to work things outmyself.
That's the type of mechanic Iam.
That's how I learned a lotquicker and I can work things
out from there and progress howkind of forward and Yeah.
(21:35):
It's, it is pretty, it's been,it is been tough at times, but
yeah, I'm like self-taught, soit's took taken a lot of time to
kind of get where I am, but I'mI'm pleased that I've done it
how I have.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, so Seth Sheldon was hereearlier this week, and I
(21:56):
remember him saying when Iinterviewed him that he'll spend
about five minutes on trying tofigure out a machine.
And then he's picking up thephone and calling somebody.
Because it's easy to spend halfa day troubleshooting an
electrical problem.
And you could pick the phone upand call the guy down the road,
(22:16):
and he had the exact sameproblem.
You know, a few weeks ago.
Yeah.
And he says, oh, it was this,you know?
Yeah.
So, and, but I think it's hardfor a lot of us to.
To check our pride at the doorand pick that phone up.
Yeah.
And call somebody.
And I know I struggle with that.
And it's not for me, I don'tthink it's as much the pride
(22:38):
thing.
It's the challenge.
Yes.
You know, so the machine's down.
I wanna figure out why not the,I'm too good to rely on somebody
else that's, but I like thechallenge of solving the
problem.
Yeah.
The challenge is kind of thething that I love and coming
into it how I have.
It's always been a challenge.
(22:58):
So it doesn't phase me at all.
That's how I learn.
And that's how you learn thebest by making mistakes.
Finding the faults, you know,learning, progressing, but never
be afraid to pick up the phoneif you have to.
Oh, right, right.
Yeah.
I mean, I've got like, say goodconnections that I can always
(23:19):
ring if I need bits of advice,and I'll never be afraid to pick
up that phone.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean.
If you don't ask questions, younever progress.
There's some great people in theindustry and they're always
willing to help.
So, you know, use them.
Use them wisely.
But you know, I always try andkind of do things myself and get
(23:41):
to a point where if I need to, Iwill.
Yeah.
No, and I think that's a goodpoint too about use people
wisely and not that you can'tpick up the phone and call, you
know, whoever you want to call.
But I have a, he ended up beinga good friend, but when I was
working for the to distributorand I first met this gentleman,
(24:03):
all his of equipment was on alease package.
And it was a year old.
So if anything happened, hewould call me.
Yeah.
And I got to the point, youknow, we learn each other enough
and I mean, he's really busydoing, you know, other things,
whatever.
And I get that.
But he would call and he says,this machine won't start.
(24:23):
Okay.
And I would say, is the batterygood?
Well, I hadn't checked.
Well, could you at least checkand see if the battery's good
before I drive four hours toyour place and you need a
battery?
Yeah.
You know, I'll set, yeah, youslide.
I'm happy to warranty whateveryou need, but I don't want to
spend the time driving overthere for some really simple
(24:43):
thing.
Yeah.
I think like batteries and whenit comes to like the basic
fundamentals.
I think that should be just thefirst things that you do.
Check the fundamentals arebasics.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I guess not everybody hasthat, but it is easy to pick up
the phone and ask.
(25:04):
But if you can guide someone onthe phone then it kind of helps
'em out a little bit.
But then if you have toprogress.
To go and visit him and help himout, then do so.
But I am a big believer of tryand solve things yourself and
really learn from it.
And that's how I've gone aboutmy career.
Yeah.
You know, self-talk kind of thengoing into the qualifications
(25:27):
that I've gotten now and yeah.
I'm always learning.
But but yeah, it's it's a funnyold industry because, you know,
you always find people that dowant to help.
And you always find the odd oneor two that are really secretive
about kind of wanting to helpyou.
But yeah, it's it's reallypanned out well for myself.
That's one thing that, I mean,obviously I really love about
(25:49):
the industry is how helpfuleverybody is.
Oh, a hundred percent.
I mean, it is pretty rare thatyou meet somebody that won help
you.
That's it.
I mean, yeah.
It's rare.
It is rare.
I have probably come across afew people that have.
Very wary.
Kind of don't want to give youthe answers that you need.
But yeah, you kind of soon workpeople out and see who want, who
(26:13):
wants to be there, and who youwant to play in your group
really.
And you kind of build aroundthat group then, because these
connections become long timefriends as well.
Oh yeah, for sure.
And become, they can be theirwhole career for you, you know?
Helping each other out, andthat's what it's about, helping
each other.
I really find that, you know,you get into a certain group of
(26:35):
people and the communities thatcan be built are really super
kind of positive.
And you know, that positivethinking goes a long way between
a good group of people.
Yeah.
And I think it is important tosurround yourself by the right
people.
Oh, a hundred percent.
Yeah.
(26:55):
But the whole positivity thingand the.
Inspirational kind of side ofthe industry really needs to be
pushed more.
I think because there is timeswhen it is difficult and you do
need the right people around youto kind of progress.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I, yeah, just trying to keepit positive.
Yeah.
'cause most of the informationwe get on a daily basis is
(27:18):
negative.
This machine is broke, thatmachine's broke, or I did this,
I did that.
Whatever.
It's Oh, I agree.
I mean.
The whole point of being amechanic is you are there to fix
these problems.
And they are negative things,but if you look at it in a
positive way, that you are theperson fixing it and there's
(27:38):
always a solution to fixing thatmachine.
The world can be a better placein a positive mind.
Oh yeah.
You know, keep a positivemindset and just keep moving
forward.
And that's, I think, one of thegreatest things that I've
learned.
Is just to keep positive, keepmy head down, just keep doing
what I do.
That's good stuff.
(27:58):
And do it to my best ability.
And that's, you know, it's anhonor to be here at Oakmont.
And that's kind of a praise tomyself, I guess.
'Cause that's what's got mehere, my dedication to what I
do, my inspiration andmotivation.
Right, right.
That's what I love.
And I hope I can finally passthat on to the next guys behind
(28:18):
me.
Oh yeah.
You know?
Yeah.
That's back to going back alittle bit about just giving the
answer.
So the guys I got working in theshop for me, when they asked me
a question, I try to make themthink about the answer Yes.
Instead of just giving them theanswer.
Yeah.
You know, because you don'tlearn anything.
No, you don't.
(28:39):
If somebody just gives you theanswer.
Exactly.
I mean.
Somebody could give you theanswer, but if you help'em work
it out, yeah.
Give them a little bit ofguidance to get to the right
point, but let them do the work.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think that is kind of the bestway to teach someone who is kind
of coming up in the industry, belike a, be a guidance to'em, but
(29:02):
don't give them too much in theanswers.
Yeah.
Just let'em work it out, butalways be there and surround
them with.
You know, the right tools, theright positivity.
So, you know, make him thinkthat they're part of the team
thing.
Oh yeah.
You know, for sure.
So the guy that helps me in theshop he was texting me this
(29:23):
week.
We got a fairway mower thatwouldn't start and he thinks
maybe it's a battery, he thinksmaybe it's a connection.
But he's hearing the starterclick and then.
And he does some more testingand the starter had stopped
clicking and he is doing moreelectrical testing trying to
(29:44):
figure this out.
Yeah.
And I'm trying to help himthrough it.
And the fuse is blown at thestarter.
So he takes a fuse from anothermachine.
Puts it in solenoid's clickingagain.
And anyway, it gets me thinking.
I'm like, where was the machinewhen it stopped working?
It was on the wash pad.
(30:04):
Yeah.
I said, what did the operatorsay?
Oh, it was sitting there runningand I was washing it off and it
just turned off.
And I said, will the engine turnover?
You take a wrench and turn itback and forth.
And he tried that won't budge.
Okay.
I said, okay.
I'm pretty sure that he sprayedwater in the intake.
(30:27):
Yeah.
And the engine is locked up.
That's it.
And that is why it will notstart.
Yeah, definitely.
But anyway, this young man, hespent two days troubleshooting
this thing and he probablylearned some valuable lessons.
Oh, a hundred percent.
Yeah.
You know, going through that.
Yep.
Uhhuh and sometimes that's howit.
How you learn the most.
You know, these little mistakesthat you make take you a long
(30:48):
way in actually finding theanswers.
I think, you know, and yeah,you're progressing and you don't
learn by not making mistakes.
I think it's a critical Oh yeah.
Critical part of actually.
Progressing in his career.
I definitely think that is theway we learn.
Yeah.
So the next time he hears theOID click, that's And the engine
(31:08):
not turn over.
Yeah.
He's gonna see if the enginewill turn over by hand.
That's a hundred percent.
Yeah, I agree with that beforehe goes any further.
That's it.
So no, I mean it's good and Idefinitely love trying to help
train the next generation Yeah.
Of technicians coming up.
And that's one of the most, youknow, in my position.
(31:29):
And as long as I've been in theindustry, that is one of the
most rewarding things.
Is trying to teach these youngerguys.
Yeah.
Some of the stuff, knowledgethat was passed on to me from my
mentors.
Yeah, exactly.
And that's a big part of what wedo.
And I think without that we'rekind of delving ourselves into a
(31:50):
declining or even a moredeclining career.
James Breeze (31:55):
If we don't actually put out the word of,
this is a great career to be inand you could actually progress
to be at some of the best clubsin the world or whatever kind of
indu industry dealerships orclubs you are at it.
This is kind of a great part ofthe industry to be in.
(32:15):
'cause without mechanics, youhaven't got the golf clubs, the
football clubs, the sportsclubs.
You need mechanics.
Oh yeah.
You know.
But yeah, it's it's definitelysomething that we need to push
more in this industry.
And my aim is to kind of bringthe, well advise, I guess, bring
(32:37):
through the next generation thebest I can.
Because I, I guess I learned thehard way, but I want to pass
what I've learned and what I amlearning onto the next guy.
Even if it's through what I'mdoing with Bernard's Academy or
if it's kind of through myself,I always try and inspire.
That's kind of how I work.
(32:57):
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, that's great.
It is.
Yeah.
Really good stuff.
Trent Manning (33:02):
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(33:22):
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Let's get back to the episode.
What would be your dream job oropportunity?
Oh wow.
I think staying in the golfindustry, but at one of the top
(33:44):
hundred golf clubs in the world,I guess.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's kind of a dream.
To be at the re of golf clubs.
Yeah.
Somewhere in the world, whereverthat will take me.
But yeah, I want to I want toprogress over time and just take
it steady and just be the bestthat I can.
Yeah.
And I know the ability's there,I just need to kind of get
(34:07):
there.
However that ever will work forme, I guess.
When I think, I'm not gonna sayit's easy.
But if you have a strong workethic and you're willing to
learn Yeah.
And you do some volunteering,you get outta your comfort zone,
you do some networking.
(34:27):
Yeah.
You can literally go anywhere inthe world you want to go.
Yeah.
In this industry.
I agree.
I mean, volunteering is amassive part of what we do to
gain experience.
For example, working here thisweek, we're surrounding
ourselves with some of the bestsin the world.
Yeah.
And there's been some names andpeople come through this
(34:49):
workshop from the top 50 in theworld.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
You know, so it's kind ofsurrounding yourself with those
people picking their brains.
Gaining contacts, you know,making friends.
Yeah.
It's kind of always there.
And that is the one way youprogress.
Yeah.
And I've learned a lot in the.
(35:09):
In the two weeks that I've beenhere and I am still learning
while I am still here.
And it's an opportunity thatI'll never forget, it's a life
changing opportunity, which Iwill progress on.
Do you have a technician youwould like to work with for a
day?
I have many technicians in mind.
There's a lot of my friends whoI kind of connect with every
(35:32):
day, but yeah.
If I ever had the chance, I'dcome back to the US and maybe
work with you, you know?
Oh, yeah.
You know, actually surroundmyself with what you do day in,
day out, because I always followwhat you do and it is a little
bit, kind of a different way ofhow we work.
(35:54):
Maybe in the European side ofmechanic, the US seems to have a
broader kind of spectrum when itcomes to.
Organization workshop design.
The size of workshops and thekind of respect that mechanics
get in the us it, it seems to belike we need a mechanic at our
(36:17):
golf club, where in the UK itcan be very hard to convince
clubs that a mechanic is needed.
Yeah.
But yeah, I mean yourself, youdefinitely kind of someone who
I'd love to.
Come and spend some time withand actually work with.
Oh, well, yes.
Thank you.
And you are welcome.
Anytime.
(36:37):
Oh yeah you get over here.
And that goes for anybody elselistening, if you're in into the
Atlanta area, hit me up and youare happy to come by my shop.
And depending on how long youwanna stay, we can go buy some
other shops.
Oh yeah, definitely.
That'll be awesome.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That will be, yeah.
Really awesome.
'cause we are fortunate in theAtlanta market, there's or
(36:59):
Atlanta Metro.
There's some really is thatword?
Famous?
Famous James.
Really nice.
Close world, globally.
Famous James.
Yes.
Yes it is.
I've heard all about it.
It is, rumor has it on socialmedia that he's like the best.
He is the best.
The best.
I am the best.
Yeah.
How you boys doing?
We're good, man.
You go out and see any golf?
(37:20):
No, it's a.
Madhouse.
Is it madhouse out there?
I don't ever wanna go out thereagain.
Okay.
It's crazy.
It's crazy.
Yeah.
It's funny.
He out and about.
Is he awake?
I don't know.
His cracks are there.
Okay.
His cracks are there.
That's funny.
Well, that's totally derailedus.
(37:40):
Let's see.
What do you know now you wishyou'd done on day one?
Ooh.
Yeah, I've kind of jumped in itwithout knowing anything, I
guess.
And I've kind of learned fromthe bottom up to where I'm now.
So a lot of things kind of standout.
Just I wish I'd kind of had amentor, I guess.
(38:02):
Originally who would've beenthere to just guide me because
when you're doing it on yourown, it's kind of a little bit
difficult at times.
Until you get to know people.
So I wish I had that one personoriginally there just to guide
me, but I kind of made it happenmyself.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just a little things like that.
I guess Uhhuh I think it'simportant to have that one
(38:25):
person that you can trust.
But I didn't have that when Ioriginally started, so it kind
of, yeah, I've learned the hardway.
But I've made it work and thisis where I am.
Hey, you made it.
Yeah.
You made it to, I made it.
You literally made it to the USOpen, made it.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
Which is incredible.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Such a cool experience.
Get ready for tips and tricks
(38:47):
What kind of tips and tricks yougot, you wanna share?
Can it be grinding?
I mean, I grinding could beanything.
Yeah, it could be, yeah.
These little things that I'vepicked up with the grinding and
it's just like, you know,fundamentals have set up.
It's just really simple littlethings.
Just be organized, you know,settings having written down so
(39:11):
you can kind of jog back throughyour notes.
I write everything down now, soI write all my angles down.
I kind of write.
All my bed knives to my angles,so I don't get confused to where
I am.
If it's John Deere Toro, I handwrite everything, so I know that
it's there in print.
Yeah.
But yeah, I just make lots ofnotes.
(39:32):
I think making notes is one ofthe most important things we can
do.
'cause those notes can be withyou forever.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
That's kind of something that Ireally work by.
So that's the main kind of thingthat I want to pass on.
Really nail down, organizeyourself and be around a tidy
workshop.
Because if you're not, it canget really out of hand and you
(39:56):
become very unorganized in yourworkflow, your routines, and you
end up kind of losing track witha lot of.
Yeah.
But but yeah.
Yeah.
If you spend five minuteslooking for a wrench, that
should be in the toolbox.
That's it.
And that, that can productionadds to be in an hour, you know?
Right.
And you're just looking fortools all the time.
(40:17):
So I'm big into organization.
Kind of, I like a nice tidy toolchest.
I like tools organized and Mark,so I know where exactly where
they are.
Yep.
Little things like that.
But yeah, it's it's moreorganization and just make sure
you've got notes.
I think that's the the way Ikinda work and that's how I've
always learned.
(40:37):
No, I think that's, yeah.
Excellent.
Tip for anybody, whether you'vebeen doing it a long time or you
are they're starting out.
It's and I think John Pattersonsays it, it doesn't cost
anything to pay attention.
Yeah.
Oh, a hundred percent.
Yeah.
Pay attention and kind of neverbe afraid to.
(40:58):
To say, you know, to jump inwith questions.
I always like being askedquestions because if you're
around people that are new tothe industry, it really shows
interest and commitment that,you know, you can teach them.
They're asking questions andthen you know that they're
willing to learn.
Yeah, and I think that's reallyimportant to kind of say that if
(41:22):
you surround yourself with, youknow, new people that are in the
industry that are willing.
And dedicated, that can go along way.
And we need a lot more people inthis industry like that to come
through and pass the informationthat we all have locked away.
Really?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And pass it on.
You know, there's some greatpeople out there which have
(41:42):
years and years of knowledge,and once they're gone and they,
you know, that knowledge isgone.
So it is, now we need to startpassing it on.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, it's it's a crazy oldworld when you've got these
mechanics around the world andyou know, these top world class
guys, and if you haven't gotanything to pass it on to
(42:03):
anybody, to take that knowledgeaway, just lost.
Yeah.
We really need to pass it on.
That's a major factor of why Iwant to inspire new guys and
actually pass what I've learnedon.
And if you don't ask thequestion.
They don't know to give you theanswer.
No, exactly.
Yeah.
No agree.
They don't know what you knew.
(42:23):
That's it.
And for some of us, we don'twant to just, you know.
Yeah.
Tell everything you know, andbore people.
You, if you already know thisinformation, you might not want
to hear it again.
Oh, a hundred percent.
And I like to think that thepeople that want to learn and be
around you will be around youfor a long time.
(42:44):
Really want to pick your brain.
And I'm one of those people thatreally wants to pass in
information on, and I alwayslook at people and I always try
and work people out before I dothat because I don't want to be
kind of taking the wrong peopleunder my wing.
Yeah.
And kind of passing theinformation on, which is never
(43:05):
gonna go anywhere, you know?
Right.
But sometimes guys that comethrough and you think, if we're
not dedicated or, you know,there's sometimes complications
in them wanting to do it becauseif they haven't made their mind
up, you know?
Just, I'm very committed and I'mwilling to help, but I also need
the right person to take on mywing to do so, and I need to see
(43:26):
that they're dedicated and, youknow, want to learn and progress
like I have.
If you don't have a willingnessto learn, it is hard to teach
somebody.
Oh, I, yeah, exactly.
That's the kind of theory that Iwork by.
Yeah.
It's really difficult to kind ofwork with someone who hasn't got
the same mindset as yourself andwillingness to learn.
(43:48):
So that's how I kind of, I'vealways looked at how I want to
go about teaching what I know.
Right, right.
Any other tips or tricks?
I learned electric's pretty,pretty late into my mechanical
kind of career.
And I am self-taught in the mecain the electrical mechanical
(44:12):
side.
Then I did my qualifications,but a little tip that I found is
always mark your wise up withcolored tie wraps.
It's simple, but when you'vedone your kind of wires and you
fit new looms, just indicateyour wires.
Use color tire wraps.
It always works.
Okay.
(44:32):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sense.
It kind stops the confusion ofstripping something down and
then, oh boy, you know, I'mstuck.
I don't know where wires go.
Just put color tire wraps on.
You'll be fine.
I like that color.
Yeah.
Tire wraps.
I do have different colorelectrical tape that I've used,
but I really like the tie wrap.
Yeah.
Because that's quick and easy.
(44:54):
I think I have tried the tapeand it kind of.
Of gets a little bit bulky, Iguess, when you are working with
fine ways.
Right?
Right.
So I have some, I have alldifferent sizes from small to
large colored tie wraps.
And I just mark my colors andwrite it down and yeah.
It's never failed me, so that'sgood.
No, that's a good idea.
It's a good tip to pass on tothe guys who are learning
(45:16):
electrics, uhhuh.
That is a really good one.
Let's talk about the academy andhow you got here.
A little bit.
Yeah, just like, walk me throughthat process.
Yeah.
So the opportunity came alongwith Bernard Academy in
(45:36):
association with like group.
Okay.
So the group has been running acouple years now, and it's a
group that was built by ChrisMinton.
James Wilkinson and MatthewAxton.
Yep.
Three incredible guys inthemselves.
And they've just created thiscommunity on WhatsApp, which has
(46:00):
brought a lot of guys into thekind of learning part of the
industry.
Guys that probably couldn't haveaccess to knowledge without it.
Guys who probably don't havemechanics at times and be trying
to help themselves and fixthings.
But yeah.
Came through the T two group andit came through Burnout Academy.
(46:24):
So the process was application,then the video application, then
kind of the interview processwas video interview, then.
What applications to be kind ofaccepted, I guess.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah, then I got through to thefinal three and then that's how
(46:46):
I progressed.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
It came along pretty quick and Ikind of had to grab it with both
hands.
It was something that I wantedto use for myself.
To progress.
You know, it's a weird thingthat if you, if I hadn't then I
would've probably regretted itto be fair.
Yeah.
Because I wouldn't be heretoday.
(47:06):
Right, right.
So yeah, I had to I had to grabit and actually show my
commitment and when I want to bein the industry.
Yeah.
So what, what else has happenedsince you.
You're here.
Yeah.
Do you, will you have otherresponsibilities after this or
yeah, so there is the aftermathof actually being at the US
(47:27):
Open.
So there's gonna be talkshappening and kind of interviews
and the whole Okay.
Promotional kind of side of it.
But yeah, there is talks andtalks that.
It shows and that kind of thingin the, well, the real Tex is
really on the cutting edge herebecause we're interviewing you
(47:49):
before you're being interviewed.
Yeah, that's it.
Exactly.
So it is actually nice to kindof, be interviewed by yourself
and just put out, but there issome talks gonna be happening.
No, that's cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
Which actually is the first oneis made be made by Burnout
Academy.
At the Burnout Factory.
Okay.
So that's a brilliant start.
And that's, yeah.
(48:09):
The perfect place for me toactually make my debut as you
know, a talker and see how itgoes.
That's awesome.
And progress from that to thebig shows.
So yeah, I don't, are youcomfortable talking in front of
a group?
Yeah.
It's kind of a new adventure forme, so it's going to be a, I
guess, a challenge.
Well, a good challenge, whichI'm, I've kind of accepted.
(48:32):
Yeah.
And I will just.
Keep my head down and do thebest that I can.
Yeah.
I'm passionate about what I do,and you put yourself around the
right kind of mechanical mindedpeople who want to listen.
Yeah.
I think you'll all go fine.
Oh yeah.
You know.
No, that'll be fine.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're all in it.
I guess we're all in it togetherin this industry and the guys, I
(48:54):
guess that will be there orwanting to learn, and I've got
a, I've got a big story to tellJerome myself.
Coming into the industry and thewhole lot month US open, Uhhuh,
you know, I've got a lot togive.
So, yeah.
That's awesome.
Looking forward to what comes inthe future.
Yeah, no, that's, it's gonna begood things for you.
Yeah.
Good things are gonna come.
(49:15):
That's for James.
That's awesome.
Yeah, that, that's that's how Ikind of, I never dreamt it, but
I knew it would happen, I guess,at one day, and I'm living it,
so Yeah.
That's awesome.
Living the dream.
I'm sorry.
I'm living the dream.
Yeah, you are.
That is so good.
Yeah, it's it's been a real goodpro like process.
I've made good progression and Iknow where I want to be and I'm
(49:37):
at that level now where I canget there.
So it's just time will tell.
That's awesome.
Well, this is gonna be a littledifferent.
We're gonna do some rapid fireand I'm gonna be curious to what
your answers are.
So what's your favorite movie?
(49:59):
My favorite movie, eh, it'sgotta be the Fast and Furious
series.
Okay.
All just All right.
I'm familiar with that.
A car Fantic.
I do like my car.
Yep.
Yep.
Fast and Furious.
Okay.
Awesome.
Yeah.
What would be your last meal?
Oh, it's gotta be York Pudding,onions and gravy.
Yeah.
See, this is where I have noidea.
(50:21):
Like, what is YorkshireTraditional food?
What is Yorkshire Pudding?
A Yorkshire pudding is aYorkshire pudding.
It's very hard to describe whatelse in this Yorkshire pudding.
It's a flowery based kind ofpuffed up pudding.
Okay.
(50:41):
With, I could give you therecipe if you want, but So is it
like gravy?
Yeah.
No.
So we experience, you have agravy in it.
It's like a dish.
You may come into this bowlshaped kind of puffed pudding.
Okay.
You know, beautiful Yorkshiretraditional food.
All right.
Well, I from the hearts ofEngland, if I get over, I'm
(51:04):
definitely gonna try this outfor sure.
I think we could definitely goout and go to a pub and have a
proper meal.
Okay.
Some proper Oxford food.
Okay.
What are you most proud ofbesides your family?
My achievements in life.
Yeah.
I think my achievements in lifeare kind of some of the proudest
(51:25):
times and some of the, you know,ha heartwarming times I've had
because, you know, it's kind of,you never put yourself in the
forward thinking time at timesin the.
You kind of forget aboutyourself a little bit at times.
But what I've achieved is amassive kind of part of my life,
(51:48):
my career.
Yeah.
And where I want to be.
That's, yeah.
It's yeah.
Trying to give myself a littlebit of pride and just, you know,
you deserve a pat on the backfor sure.
Exactly.
Yeah.
That's set.
That is awesome.
So, so good.
Anything else you wanna talkabout?
Well.
We're at the US Open.
So, yeah.
(52:09):
It's been an credible kind oftime meeting yourself and the
other guys, and I think thatjust keep on pushing, you know,
pushing forward and Yeah.
I guess just, yeah, be yourself.
Keep levelheaded and just beyourself.
(52:30):
I would say get outta yourcomfort zone.
Yeah.
Push yourself outta your comfortzone.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And you get outta your comfortzone.
And some good things can happenand challenges are always there,
but there's always answers to achallenge, so Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
There's always solutions.
Well, thank you so much forsetting down with me.
It's been a pleasure doing this.
Yeah, no, it's been fun.
(52:51):
For me, this is obviously myfavorite part Yeah.
Is this interview and it's somuch better to do it in person.
Yeah.
Versus on the computer and allthose things.
Well, that's it.
I mean, we've tried doing this,I think before Christmas we
tried to do the first interviewand then, you know, time and
work.
Yeah.
Busy kind of work routines.
(53:12):
Kind of got in the way and thenwe finally met for the first
time and we're finally doing it.
Yeah.
So, yeah, it's been an honor.
Awesome.
It's been an honor talking toyou.
Well, thanks so much.
Oh yeah.
Thank you, Trent.
thank you so much for listening to the Reel turf
techs podcast.
I hope you learned somethingtoday.
(53:33):
Don't forget to subscribe.
If you have any topics you'dlike to discuss, or you'd like
to be a guest, find us onTwitter at Reel turf techs.
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