Andy’s handy at maintaining greens – and putting on them!

For well over 20 years Andy Roach played football for a variety of clubs in the Haverfordwest area, despite suffering quite badly from asthma, and in more recent times took up golf as a very good player who played off a low handicap and captained Haverfordwest’s ‘Super Six’ team for four years. Not only that, however, because he has done yeoman work as head green keeper at Haverfordwest Golf Club, despite having to put up with really bad  hay fever throughout the summer months.
Andy provides inspiration for those who have either illness because his attitude is to simply get on with things. As he told pembrokeshiresport.co.uk,
“I hated that feeling of breathlessness but unless my attacks got very bad I used to take my Ventolin inhaler to football matches, chase around the entire match and just take an extra puff if I needed it. It’s the same now at the golf club – I suffer with my hay fever but I can’t let it interfere with work so I try as much as I can to ignore it.”
The ploy seems to have worked because although he is only 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed just 9 stone 7 lbs when he was playing as a midfield dynamo with Camrose Youth, Haverfordwest County, Withybush Hospital, Scotfit, Merlins Bridge and Prendergast Villa, Andy rarely missed a game until a broken leg finally caused him to quit the game he loved.

Early golf start –

and a new job

By then he had started playing golf a little with Tony Jones and Paul Thomas, this intrepid trio of footballers heading early for the golf course on Saturday mornings so that they might miss out on having to pay green fees!
He started to help Graham Thomas tend the course in the summer months and eventually has finished up with the head green keeper’s role. It meant attending courses at Pencoed College, Bridgend, where he studied subjects like tending greens, irrigation, repairing equipment, renovation of tees and maintaining of semi-rough – and came out as top student in Wales. He is helped by Mickie Davies in keeping machinery up to scratch because, as Andy says,
“We have some top kit because if we are spending valuable time on machinery the grass is growing in front of us!”

Competitive nature – and golfing success

Andy’s is full of praise for the support he gets in ‘a happy club’. His winter work ensures good conditions in the summer, where he cuts each green every day, with great help from Mickie Davies and Dai Kelly. He and Mickie play in the doubles for the green keeper’s tournament at Royal Porthcawl – and Andy has been South Wales green keepers’ champion four years on the trot and six times in all.
With his competitive nature, Andy soon got into the swing of things and with football finished he focussed on his new game with such success that has been played off a handicap of three and is currently playing off five, having captained the Haverfordwest ‘Super Six’ team for four years, the Welsh Cup team for a year longer, joining Richard Scott, Paul Davies, Mark Owen and Johnny Harwood in reaching the semi-finals before losing to Porthmadog.
On a personal playing note Andy has got his name on the Honours Board for a number of successes and reached the club’s Scratch Final on three occasions but lost to Richard Scott (twice) and Vince Thorn. This season has seen him win the President’s Cup for in cahoots with Lee Hitchings and he was in the squad that won the ‘Super Six’ competition by beating Milford Haven, but was away on holiday so missed that big day.

Footballing start and happy years

Back on the football front, he set out as a nipper with Camrose under the guidance of Ronnie Raymond, playing alongside Johnny Grey (now in Australia) and Gary Raymond. Then he joined old pal Dai Gibbons at the Bridge Meadow and played in Haverfordwest County’s Pembrokeshire League team, and although he did manage one Welsh League match it can’t be recognised because he had signed too late and had to play under someone else’s name!
After six happy years there, Andy moved to Withybush Hospital alongside Richard O’Leary and John Bicknell, then switched to Scotfit, where he was dubbed ‘The Terrier’ after playing in a Senior Cup semi-final against Goodwick at Brawdy. He tangled with Stuart Wilson in midfield, who was nine inches taller than he was, got sent off and Scotfit lost 1-0! When Scotfit collapsed, Andy played for Merlins Bridge, where Davey Edwards was a good manager of players like Mickie Ellis, Derek Roberts, Gary Ralph, Dai John, Tony and Peter Jones.

Villa finish and some good advice

He was eventually persuaded to finish his career at Prendergast Villa, who had just started up and played in front of big crowds. They were promoted in their first season and won the section cup as Andy scored the goal of his career with a 30 yard drive which flew into the top corner of the net. It was a cracking end to a season but there was disaster lurking when the Villa restarted their next campaign because Andy went into the first game and broke his tibia and fibula, as well as damaging ankle ligaments, from the very first tackle.
Andy had played for ages in his ‘Alan Ball’ boots, a distinctive orange pair from a player the same size as Andy. But they are neatly stored away now because of his golfing involvement, where he says he has ‘a job made in heaven’ since he can play the game as well as have the course in superb condition.
Andy Roach clearly loves his job and has enjoyed his playing of golf and football – and says to people with asthma and hay fever,