THE sight of a perfectly manicured golf course is what has kept Peter Carey in his job for 20 years.
Mr Carey is the course superintendent, or head green keeper, at the Windsor Country Golf Club.
He started work with the club in 1995, at the age of 15, after joking to his neighbour, a then board member of the club, that he was after a job.
The next day he was off to a job interview and was hired as a labourer. In May this year, he officially clocked up 20 years at the club.
Mr Carey admitted May was one of the most difficult months he had ever had while working at the course.
The massive deluge of rain which hit the Hawkesbury and Sydney caused mass flooding on the golf course.
‘‘Our biggest disasters are floods. Back in the day you would have 10-20 floods every year, we used to call them a nuisance flood,’’ he said.
‘‘The creek would swell a bit. A couple of the low tees would go under water, but the water would go down in half a day or even a few hours.
‘‘Back in 2012 and 2013 we had a couple of big floods and then the one in May was the biggest flood I’ve seen in my time here. We had eight greens underwater.’’
Mr Carey said the May flooding caused a lot of problems, the biggest being the irrigation dam.
He said he was awake with his crew at 2am one night to rescue the pump from the dam before it went underwater.
They just managed to save it, avoiding the need for a hefty amount of money to replace it.
When winter was in full swing, things were quieter on the golf course for Mr Carey and his crew of ground keepers.
‘‘At this time of year we start at 6am. We start a lot earlier in the summer time,’’ he said.
‘‘At the beginning of the week I take an hour to do a run of the course and see if there is any damage and anything that needs to be done.
‘‘This time of year we do a lot of maintenance work, like work on the irrigation system, because once we hit summer we have our machine going 24-7 mowing the grass.
‘‘Any construction work we do, like a new green or a new tee, we will do at this time of year.’’
Mr Carey said he loved the outdoor work, that his job demands, and it was a major reason why he had stuck it out for 20 years.
‘‘From day one I loved the job. Being younger I loved all the machinery. It was a bit of fun at the time,’’ he said.
‘‘I love being outdoors. I love the early starts as well. The job does have its challenges.’’
Mr Carey said that in the summer the green keepers had to mow the grass constantly, and hand-water the greens to make sure the grass did not die.
‘‘It has its stressful times. You certainly get to a point when you think ‘why am I doing this?’’’ he said.
‘‘But the majority of the time you end up looking back and thinking nothing could be better.
‘‘The most satisfying thing is driving out the gate on Friday and looking back at the course all manicured and prepped for the weekend and thinking about how good it looks.’’
Mr Carey is 35, and given his age, he has considered where he might be when he is 55.
Unsurprisingly, he hopes by age 55 he will have racked up 40 years of service for the golf club.
‘‘I think I have a lot more to show here and to do here. The question comes up a lot, people asking whether I’ll move on,’’ he said.
‘‘I am happy here, so why upset the apple cart? ‘‘I live locally as well. I am happy with the family and the lifestyle I have as well.
‘‘I think being out here at a country club is great. There is a great atmosphere and great members and it makes it all worth it.
