South Dublin, Wicklow

Diarmuid Saunders

I am originally from Glenageary in South Dublin and come from a farming background. I attribute my love of the great outdoors to all the time I spent as a child following my dad around his farm in Wicklow. As I got older, I started cutting grass and hedges on the weekends and school holidays, for pocket money. So, this really fostered my love of working outdoors and with nature and I decided this was where I wanted to work. Luckily for me I got my first job on a local golf course in Killiney in 1984. I knew I had found my calling.

The Club paid for me to go to The National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin to study greenkeeping and this really whetted my appetite to learn more. In early 1988 I graduated with my City and Guilds certificate. In 1998 I joined Newlands Golf Club as Head Greenkeeper. I knew I had to be on top of my game, and that I would need other skills to advance my career, so I enrolled in night classes with the National College of Ireland and graduated with a diploma in Personnel Management two years later. It was during this time that I got involved in the greenkeeping associations. I felt strongly that the future of Irish greenkeeping lay in education and knowledge. I served as Secretary on both IGGA and GCSAI where I was pivotal in managing a restructuring plan for the association.

In 1997 I accepted the position as Course Superintendent at Luttrellstown Golf club. In my first year I hosted a professional golf event The Ladies Irish Open.

In 1998 I enrolled in the Penn State University world campus program and spent three years studying subjects such as soil science, plant physiology, pathology, entomology, and cultural systems. Having qualified with an Associate Degree in 2001, I used this to get accepted into the GCSAA certification programme. In 2003 after external assessments and passing their six-hour exam I became a Certified Golf Course Superintendent. I was one of only 2 people in Europe to hold this qualification at the time.
In 2005 Luttrellstown Golf Club started a 5 million redevelopment of the golf course. I was involved in a consultancy capacity in the finalising of specifications for drainage, irrigation and grassing plans, architectural changes, construction methods and grow in schedules. The project was completed successfully and launched in 2007.

Having worked for years on Golf Courses I was always inundated with queries from people about how to get the ‘perfect lawn’. Everyone loves their gardens and lawns and I wanted to realise a business opportunity from this. In 2009 I found that opportunity in Greenfeet Lawncare. I have now worked with Greenfeet for over 15 years as the Greenfeet Representative for south Dublin and Wicklow, I have worked on thousands of lawns from domestic to commercial settings like Marley Park. Our motto is no lawn is too small, our customer base is now over 1,000+ and growing and my team currently stands at six employees.
To contact my office please call Ann on 085/1448568

Diarmuid