groundsmen

Groundsmen are workers responsible for maintaining outdoor spaces such as sports facilities, golf courses, parks, and other recreational grounds. Their aim is to keep surfaces safe, functional, and aesthetically acceptable by managing turf, soil, water, and landscape features.

Core duties include turf management (mowing, fertilization, aeration, overseeding), soil testing and pH adjustment, irrigation scheduling and repair, drainage maintenance, and weed, pest, and disease control. On sports fields they prepare pitches, mark fields, and set up equipment for training and matches. On golf courses they support course superintendents in maintaining fairways, greens, tees, bunkers, and roughs to prescribed standards of playability and sustainability.

Work is mostly outdoors and weather dependent, often requiring early starts and weekend shifts. Safety considerations cover equipment operation, chemical handling, and adherence to local regulations on pesticide use, water management, and waste disposal.

Equipment includes mowers, tractors, aerators, sprayers, irrigation systems, line-marking machines, and a range of hand tools. Training pathways vary by country but typically combine on-the-job learning with vocational courses in horticulture or turf management, and professional qualifications from relevant associations.

Groundsmen work in public and private sectors, and the role is sometimes called groundskeeper or greenskeeper depending on the context. The term 'groundsman' emphasizes maintenance across broad outdoor spaces rather than a specialized greenkeeping position.