Young groundsman drowned at golf course in front of father, inquest hears

A young groundsman at a top golf course was killed when his buggy toppled into a pond in front of his father, an inquest heard today.

Ollie Floyd, 20, was trapped underneath the weed-spraying buggy when it slipped down an embankment at the Celtic Manor resort.

The inquest heard his father was driving the buggy when he lost control on the steep verge on the sixth hole of the luxury course.

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The inquest heard Ollie was clearing moss from the green at the Celtic Manor in Newport, South Wales, when their "small agricultural sprayer" slipped into the pond.

His father Nicholas Rawlings, 46, desperately fought to lift his head above the water but his son's legs became trapped underneath the vehicle.

He tragically drowned before the buggy could be lifted off him on the course.

The inquest heard the keen golf and rugby player was sitting in the passenger's seat while his father was teaching him how to use the four-wheeled "progrator" vehicle in March last year in heavy rain and strong winds.

Mr Rawlings, who was "not mentally fit" to give evidence, gave police a statement telling how he leapt out of the vehicle to tried to save his son, but it took 15 minutes for rescuers to free him from underneath the load.

The father, who had worked at the resort three times a year for just over a decade, later told police he'd tried to put a hose in his mouth to give him oxygen.

The inquest heard Ollie, of Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, drowned into the water before he could be reached.

Mr Rawlings also said he'd been told by director of golf courses at Celtic Manor, Jim McKenzie, to clear moss from the approaches, fairways and green starting at the sixth hole.

But Mr McKenzie said in evidence he would have objected to the father and son driving along the embankment due to concerns about leaving tyre marks.

Mr McKenzie said: "If I'd known I would have objected.

"I can see no reason why he was driving along that strip."

He added "no mowing zones" had now been put in place to avoid future accidents.

Alan Abel, director of Complete Weed Control, said Mr Rawlings had been on the phone with him expressing his concern about spraying the course due to the conditions described as "windy".

Mr Abel told how he heard the father screamed out his son's name followed by a loud scream and the call ended abruptly.

The hearing continues.