On tonight's show, Bartholomew Hall is joined by up-and-coming Kent motor-sport stars Albert and Maggie Webster and we take a look at Hythe Golf Club's eco-friendly approach to let golf and nature share the green.
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00:00Hello and welcome along to Invicta Sport live on KMTV, the only show on your TV dedicated
00:17to wrapping up all of Kent's sporting action. I'm Bartholomew Hall, here's what to expect
00:21on this Monday the 10th of February. We'll be talking football, we'll be talking golf
00:26and sim racing, lots to unpack. But we start today with football, where it was another
00:30tricky weekend for Gillingham as they hit their lowest point of the season so far with
00:35a loss to Barrow. However, down the A2, things were looking all right for Adrian Pennock's
00:40Dartford, securing their 10th win in a row. Let's take a look at some of those highlights.
00:47Dartford's season couldn't be going any smoother. Their 2-0 win over Hashtag United means it's
00:51another week started at the top of the Izmir Premier Table. Callum Jones put the Darts
00:55ahead from the penalty spot after being pulled down in the box, before Ollie Box sealed the
01:00victory late on, finishing emphatically from an Odadu cross. Hashtag came close in stoppage
01:05time though, with Joshua Oswade hitting the post in the side netting, but Dartford held
01:10firm to take the victory. Elsewhere in the Izmir Premier, Chatham Town were beaten at
01:15home by Cray Wanderers, Folkestone's match with Chichester was postponed and Dover lost
01:19out to Wingate and Finchley. In League 2, Gillingham's season hit a new low, losing
01:24out 3-0 to Barrow this weekend, extending John Coleman's record in charge to five games
01:29without a win.
01:30Firstly, I'd like to apologise to the fans. I've had to travel six hours, paid hard-earned
01:37money that I've been working hard for all week, to see them just boot the ball up forward
01:42with no idea, no passion, no fight, no drive, no desire. I went into this game super confident
01:49and it evaporates when players, they just don't seem to want to care. And I've been
01:57managing 25 years, I've got to say that is up there with one of the worst feelings I've
02:02had as a manager, but also one of the worst performances I've seen from any one of my
02:08teams with a lack of fight and a lack of desire.
02:11The Gulls dropped down to 19th in the table. In the National League, bottom sitters Ebbsfleet
02:16extended their undefeated run to four matches, with a draw against Rochdale. Meanwhile, in
02:20the South table, Maidstone lost out to Slough, making it only their second defeat on the
02:24road this season. And it was a similar story for Sunbridge, who were denied a point thanks
02:28to a late goal for visitors Worthing. They now sit 10th, whilst the Stones are fourth.
02:46All the latest email alerts by heading to kentonline and signing up on there. Time now
02:51to introduce our next guest this morning, brother and sister motor racing duo, Albert
02:57and Maggie Webster are putting the track to one side as they take on a sim racing challenge
03:01here in Medway. The pair are used to going wheel to wheel around some of the UK's most
03:05iconic tracks, but are now putting their skills to the test in the virtual space too, and
03:09are inviting people along to face them. Albert and Maggie, join me here in the studio. Thank
03:13you very much for being here. First of all, what's your background? How did you get into
03:16motorsport? So our grandparents and great grandparents raced and rallied and then it's
03:22just come down and I started now 13 years ago and then Maggie started more recently
03:28and yeah, we're doing alright. Yeah, and yourself Maggie, I mean, it seems like it's come down
03:32kind of heretic in your family, the kind of love for motorsport. Have you always, has
03:36it always been kind of, was that always the way that you were going to go? Yeah, definitely.
03:40I think because all our family have done it and we grew up around the sport as well,
03:44I do think we were bound to end up racing. So I only started four years ago, but yeah,
03:49it's definitely progressed a lot in the past year or so. And traditionally we see you start
03:53out in karting, was that the same for both of you? So no, we started a different route.
03:59I started on the short ovals, so stock cars, that sort of route, and then moved up through
04:03autographs where Maggie started and then we eventually got into the circuits in the last
04:08four to five years. And we'll get on to the sim racing in just a moment, but I want to know,
04:12what are your sort of highlights so far? What are you most proud of yourselves and in your
04:16career so far? So I won the BRCC Fiesta ST240 championship in 2023 and then at the start of
04:23last year I won a scholarship out of 150 racing drivers to race a Mini JCW last year. Fantastic,
04:29and you, Sethwin? During my autograph season I won the overall club championship and junior
04:34in 2023, but then last year I moved up to circuits racing in the Fiesta juniors and I got pole
04:40position at the last race of the season. So yeah, that was very, very good, yeah. Fantastic,
04:45and obviously we've got a brother and sister duo here. How competitive are you against each other
04:49when it comes to racing and what you can achieve? Very, I do think so, yeah. It's quite good to have
04:56a brother who's gone out on one stuff because it gives me something to kind of work towards and try
05:00and beat him. I know it'll be tricky, but I'm always trying to do it, so yeah. Yeah, definitely.
05:05Of course, yourself as a woman in motorsport, it's something that we don't traditionally see,
05:09we haven't seen in sort of the forefront, not until maybe the last few years or so when we've
05:13seen some of these series that have been put on by Formula One. We think about Formula One Academy,
05:18W Series. What has that been sort of like for yourself as a female racer, rising in your own
05:25ranks in the past few years seeing that? I do think the past, like you say, the past few years
05:28have been so good for women in motorsport, like we've progressed so much. I know I only started
05:33a couple of years ago as well, but like Autograss now, there's so many young girls starting to race
05:38and circuit racing, it's really good to see, I do think, so yeah. Fantastic, and talk to me about
05:42your sim racing event then. We've got it in a couple of weeks' time happening in Gillingham,
05:46what can people expect? Yeah, so it's, as you know, motorsport's quite hard to find sponsorships
05:52and money to finish seasons, so we're doing it to raise money for our race seasons this year.
05:58So all the money that we make out of it will be put towards the season, and yeah, it'll be a really
06:02good event. Loads of people are going to come down and race against us as well, so it'll be
06:07quite entertaining. And you've got some history with sim racing as well, tell me how, give me
06:12the background, what are we talking about with sim racing? I've done a bit of, I've played the
06:15Formula One game before, it's not quite that level is it? No, so the sim rigs they have down at Sim
06:21Motorsport are top of the range. They've got motion simulators, so they move around when you
06:26brake, accelerate, everything. They're the top of the range without going to the F1 route, so
06:33it's really good, they're good simulators, and we've done, I've got a simulator at home we both
06:37use to practice before we go to race weekends, we know the track, we know braking points, everything
06:43like that. So it's a good way of getting used to the track and getting used to racing before you
06:48actually go there. I was going to ask that actually, what is it like when maybe you're trying
06:52out a circuit for the first time, you're trying a new braking point, how real is the simulation,
06:57like you know, how much can you take from that simulator onto the track? Yeah, I think the ones
07:02at Sim Motorsport, so I've been working with them for about a year now, and I'm one of their
07:06ambassadors, so going there before each race last season really helped just to know where to go on
07:12the track, because obviously I've never done circuits before, so some of them are completely
07:15new to me, but also at home on our simulator it's nice because Albert's done all the track
07:20for me, so it's like he can always help me out too. So yeah, they're very realistic and it's like
07:25the real thing. And how do you compare the real thing to the simulator? I suppose with the simulator
07:30it's a lot more safe, you can push yourself that little bit extra, but you've got to have
07:34your limit I suppose in real life. Yeah, 100%. You get to a degree a sense of the racetrack, you know,
07:41you get to learn where the track goes, you understand where the bumps are, but you know, you
07:45can take a decent amount to it, you definitely get a jump up compared to people who haven't
07:50been on the simulator, especially going there if you're going there for the first time, but you
07:54know, you can't beat time in the seat and really actually going for it on track. Yeah, that's right,
07:59and obviously you guys have raced around the UK, have you got a favourite track? I mean obviously
08:03we've got our Brands Hatch here in Kent, it's always been a favourite for those who've come out
08:07of Kent, but yeah, what do you guys think? I'd say Brands Hatch GP, so the full circuit, or Knock Hill
08:13up in Scotland. Yeah, I've never been to Knock Hill, but looking at it going on the sims it's a
08:17pretty cool track, but I'd say like Brands Hatch because it's our local track and we grew up around
08:21it, or Alton Park as well, which is a very good track. And that's the benefit of the simulator,
08:26again, where you can have a track that you haven't had the chance to race there yet, but
08:29if you do one day and when you do get to get to take to it, it's like you already know it,
08:33you've already been there almost. Yeah, it's very impressive to see when you've been on the sims
08:37and then do it in real life, see how realistic and similar they are, so yeah, it's quite, it's very
08:41cool. And let's talk at the event then, what can people expect if they come along? I know you're
08:45going to be doing a race with the Silverstone track. Yeah, so it's a double header format, so
08:49there'll be two races with a, where you have to take a pit stop in between the race, so it gives
08:54it a bit more, makes it a bit more dramatic where you have to work out when to pit stop and things,
08:59but yes, it'll be a double header, there'll be two races and then the top five quickest laps from
09:04each race will then get put through to the A final and the bottom five from each race will get put
09:09through to the B final and then the top three get trophies and there'll be a few funny trophies in
09:13there as well, so yeah. Exciting stuff, all right, and just before we wrap up, what is the kind
09:18of future dream, what's the aspiration for both of you? I'd say mine's like probably British touring
09:24cars just because I'm racing currently a mini JCW and that's just the natural progression going up
09:31and then yeah, so if I get into there and win that, you know, anything's possible from there.
09:37I think it's the same touring cars, if I was to go abroad into something like F1 Academy or
09:42something because it's so good for women in motorsport as well, so yeah, they're the two
09:45things I want to aim for. And of course last year's champion British touring car, Jake Hill,
09:50came straight from Kent, so you guys have been following in his footsteps, so yeah, that'd be
09:54great. And what's your message to maybe some youngsters that are watching this and thinking
09:57about taking on motorsport? Just do it, just convince your parents to, you know, it's the most
10:03fun you'll ever have doing any sport. I've tried many sports and it's just the one that, you know,
10:08you find great friends, everyone around is there for the same reason, everyone wants to race,
10:13everyone wants to do motorsport, so you find people with the same interests as you and you
10:17have, you know, a great relationship with everyone in and around the pits. Yeah, I couldn't have said
10:23it better really, no, that's about right. Yeah, I mean it is a really small community, isn't it,
10:27really? We look at Formula One, we look at all the money that goes into, you know, the top levels,
10:30but up and down the sort of ladder, it is a really small community of drivers. I mean,
10:35am I right in saying the team you race with actually have, they also compete in the
10:39Touring Car Championship? So not the one I race with, the team I have spoke to in the past,
10:45there are people I race against have Touring Car teams, so Napa UK have minis who I race against
10:51and Touring Car teams as well as Accelerate, so you know, there is, we know people, I know people
10:56up and down, everyone from grassroots, so there's connections with the top level Formula teams, so
11:02you know, there's a lot of connections between everyone, everyone knows everyone basically.
11:06Yeah, fantastic. All right, well, both your names will be ones that I'm sure we'll be looking out
11:10for in the future. Thank you very much for joining us on the programme this morning.
11:15Now we've reached half time, which means it is time for a break, but coming up,
11:18we'll be looking at plenty more news from across Kent's sporting landscape, including
11:23the Hive Golf Club that has turned greener. We've been looking, we'll be speaking with one of the
11:30country's youngest head green keepers at the club, and also one of the country's only female
11:35green keepers. All that and plenty more to come after the break.
12:00Hello and welcome back to Invicta Sport live on KMTV. Great to still have you with us now. It's
12:12time to remind you that you can keep up to date with all the latest sports news, interviews and
12:16features from right here on the programme by heading over to our website, kmtv.co.uk.
12:21When you get there, click on the sports tab and you'll see videos like this one.
12:25One of the oldest of its kind in Kent, Medway Roller Dance Club have been skating since 1949.
12:35Groups of all abilities and ages are currently in training, some for the 2025 national competitions
12:41and some for the British Championships. But a battle with Medway Council about space to practice
12:47in has taken centre stage. Medway Park has got a fantastic facilities there, which we
12:55have used their smaller hall before, which they've now re-coated, but it's not suitable for us
12:59because it's too sticky. But their larger hall, which I know they have some fantastic events on
13:06in there, we've tried to use since 2012, but we've never been able to use it, unfortunately,
13:12and without really a reason. This is only four courts and we really struggle to get everything
13:19on, especially the championships, because they have huge floors they have to skate on.
13:23In a statement, Medway Council said, unfortunately, the large hall at Medway Park is not
13:28suitable for skating, which the club have been advised of. We have discussed the possibility of
13:33the club using the smaller hall, which has recently been upgraded and can be used for skating.
13:38However, the club did not find the surface suitable.
13:42They feel that we're damaging it, but they haven't actually seen
13:45the skates and that they wouldn't actually damage the floor at all. I mean, this equipment
13:52is £500 plus they spend on these skates. They just wouldn't ruin the floor.
13:59While the search for a bigger hall continues, the skaters have another challenge to face too,
14:04in getting their sport more widely recognised by authorities here in the UK.
14:09Ice skating is so big and it is the equivalent, like we are just doing the same thing and so
14:14many of the rules are aligned as well now. Post-Covid, we've seen a real increase in skaters
14:19all the way through, like people just coming in and just trying it one day and staying with us.
14:23So, I think there's definitely a space for it to grow, but it's quite big in this part
14:27of the country. So, we're just a small part of that, but quite a big club.
14:31So, do they have any room for one more?
14:38So, I managed to find these at the back of the cupboard, blown off the dust. I've skated
14:42a few times in my life, but not quite to the level that these guys are at.
14:47So, Sam and Nathan are going to give me a bit of a lesson. Wish me luck.
14:53So, the instructors would have put me around a level one, even with that performance,
14:57but when you compare my work to that of the competitors...
15:00Elegance.
15:01Elegance.
15:02You can see why they train for months.
15:08I spoke too soon.
15:10So, no medals for me, but this club will continue to keep their eyes on the prize
15:16and on a bigger haul. Abi Hook for KMTV in Gellingham.
15:26And finally this evening, led by one of the country's youngest head greenkeepers,
15:29Hive Golf Club says it's adopting an eco-friendly approach to maintaining its course in an effort
15:34to reduce its impact on wildlife. From switching to electric lawnmowers to installing bug hotels,
15:40the club hopes it's able to prove both nature and golf can share the fairway.
15:44Kerry King swung down to find out more.
15:51Golf courses are more than just fairways and greens. They're a haven for wildlife. However,
15:57maintaining them with outdated methods can harm the environment and put local species at risk.
16:03Here at Hive Golf Course, the management accepts the problem but is on a mission to make changes.
16:10Grass cutting equipment is just one of the changes being made by the club.
16:15One of our ideals would be to use robotic electric mowers to cut all of our fairways
16:21and in time the rough as well.
16:24So how will a small members club fund such an ambitious project?
16:28We've been working on a crowdfunding bid. That bid will fund, we hope,
16:36the mowers. It will fund other green initiatives that we're putting together.
16:41Led by one of the youngest head green keepers in the UK,
16:45the team prepares to place the newly built hotels on the course.
16:49So what we're doing is we're placing bird boxes, bug hotels in an effort to
16:54encourage and develop wildlife here on the course.
16:57Do golf courses truly benefit local wildlife? I spoke to a leading bug expert.
17:02But yes, we can all make a difference in the same way that by doing it in your garden,
17:06you can make a difference, particularly if your neighbours do it as well.
17:09If we added all the gardens in the UK together, you've got half a Serengeti nature reserve.
17:14So these areas added up can make a huge difference.
17:18Records show that fewer than 1% of green keepers in the UK are female.
17:23What was it that attracted Holly Hurst to the profession?
17:27It's definitely not as hard as you would think it is physically.
17:30You do build up your strength, but I think there's an idea that it is a man's job
17:37and only men can do it, but I've definitely proved that I can do it
17:41and females can definitely do it. It's really good fun.
17:43Green by name, green by nature. I'm assuming you welcome this type of project.
17:49Yes, absolutely. It's a terrific project.
17:52You welcome this type of project.
17:54Yes, absolutely. It's a terrific initiative that the golf course has kicked off.
18:00You know, golf courses take up a lot of land in this country
18:04and anything that they can do to make themselves more biodiverse and to welcome wildlife
18:09has got to be welcomed by everybody, I'm sure.
18:14The club's CEO is fully aware of the challenges that lie ahead.
18:18Yes, it's a bit of a leap in the dark because we're a small club, 250 members, just under.
18:26It is a big project with a challenging path ahead,
18:29but if successful, it will enable nature and sports to live side by side.
18:36Kerry King, KMTV, Hive.
18:41Well, I'm joined now by two of the club's green keepers, Holly and Drew.
18:45Thank you very much for being here.
18:47Obviously, we'll talk about all of those eco initiatives that you guys are bringing to the club.
18:50But first of all, I wanted to hear about your stories.
18:53How did you get into green keeping?
18:54Drew, we'll start with yourself.
18:57When I left school, well, actually before that slightly, my work experience in year 11,
19:01I went to the club for my two weeks and then I kind of realised that I didn't want to be stuck inside.
19:06Originally, I wanted to be along the lines of something like a graphics designer,
19:09but as soon as I went outside, I realised I didn't want to drop that.
19:11So I left school, I went straight there and I've been there since.
19:15Much experience in golf before you played it?
19:17No, not at all. And I still don't play now.
19:20We have a bit, yeah, but not much at all.
19:23But such a passion for keeping the green nice and tidy and maintained.
19:27And yourself, Holly, how did you get into it?
19:29I was a PA for 13 years. I was made redundant during COVID.
19:34And then my dad is a member at the golf club and he said,
19:39oh, there's an apprenticeship going down there, you know,
19:41would you consider it because I love gardening and being outside.
19:44And I was like, might as well go for it. And yeah, and here I am.
19:49It's interesting, not many female greenkeepers.
19:52It's not one we think about, you know, it's, you know, you think about builders
19:55and you've got the stereotypes that come with it,
19:56but I wouldn't have thought there's many stereotypes that come with greenkeeping.
19:59So, yeah, I mean, is that something that you've had to battle with
20:02or is something you've noticed at all being one of the only women in the country?
20:06Yeah, yeah. It's mainly like older golfers that kind of don't like it so much,
20:12but it's definitely got better.
20:14I know a lot of female greenkeepers from doing the apprenticeship
20:18and they kind of have similar things going on.
20:21But the majority, like literally everyone else is really, really lovely,
20:25really friendly, such nice people.
20:27But yeah, it's getting better, definitely.
20:29It's getting more women into the industry.
20:31But yeah, we're getting there.
20:34Yeah, not something you'd expect.
20:36But how long have you both been doing it with Hive?
20:39I've been there for seven, eight years now.
20:42I've only been there about four years.
20:43So obviously, you love it.
20:45What is it like on a sort of weekly basis?
20:47Because we heard there from the chairman,
20:49he says it's not a very big club, only 250 members,
20:52but very demanding task.
20:54Yeah, it's positioned in an area where we're kind of bordered by the sea and a canal.
20:57It's 40 acres of land, still quite a lot to maintain for only two, three people.
21:02Yeah, it can be pretty full on or when the weather's not so good, it's not so much.
21:06But yes, it is a lot of work, but it's very rewarding.
21:09When you look back at that at the end of the week
21:10and you think that's maintained by two, three people, it's amazing.
21:13Do you kind of look at the weather report and you see,
21:15oh, it's going to be raining this week.
21:16It's going to be a tough one.
21:17Yeah, I think we're checking it every couple of minutes.
21:20It's crazy.
21:21It goes always on, it's always good.
21:23Yeah, so tell me about some of these eco initiatives that you're bringing to the club.
21:26Then we saw the bug hotel that you were adding in.
21:29What's it like?
21:29What kind of nature do you have at Hive?
21:33We have a massive ecosystem already available at the club.
21:35You know, there's a lot of birds there.
21:38And we have a lot of rough areas that encourage a lot of insects,
21:40wildlife and stuff like that.
21:42So we're just trying to expand on what we already have.
21:45Yeah, it's interesting.
21:46I think golf clubs make up a huge percentage of the green space that we have in the country.
21:52There's a bit of a responsibility that you can have your recreation,
21:56playing golf, but you've got to look after the nature at the same time.
21:59Yeah, I think essentially we're trying to combine almost the nature reserve with the golf course,
22:03because I think golf courses, especially in prior years,
22:06have been notorious for being not so nice for the environment sort of thing.
22:10Yeah, and it's such a beautiful.
22:11And we saw some of those drone shots.
22:15It's lovely and you want to keep it that way.
22:17What's the kind of plans moving forward?
22:19What have you got in store?
22:23Our crowdfunding is hopefully going to be able to allow us to buy two
22:28and basically electronic mowers.
22:31So they go back and charge and it takes about seven minutes, doesn't it?
22:34And then they head out and cut a fairway.
22:36So it takes a lot of time off of us because it takes about two days to cut all of our fairways
22:41with our tractor-led gang.
22:42So they'll just constantly be out and back doing their thing.
22:46Switching the petrol.
22:50So we won't see you out swinging soon.
22:53I mean, unless you're kind of playing.
22:55Well, if people are down at Highville,
22:57they'll make sure to come and say hello to the greenkeepers as well.
22:59Without you, you wouldn't be able to play golf in such a way.
23:02So yeah, thank you very much for joining us.
23:05That's it for us on today's episode of Invicta Sport.
23:09Next week, we'll have another edition of Action Replay.
23:12It's the segment where you get to take part
23:14when you send in clips and pictures of you taking part in sport.
23:18You can join in by sending pictures and videos to our email.
23:23Search sport at kmtv.co.uk.
23:27You can also catch us on your social timelines.
23:30We're on TikTok and Facebook.
23:32KMTV Kent.
23:33Make sure you do tell us what part of Kent you come from and what it is that you do.
23:39And we'll make sure to include it in the programme.
23:41But that's it.
23:41Thank you very much to our guests for joining us.
23:43And we'll see you next time.
23:44Bye-bye.