CLS Sports Aid Liverpool ‘Fast-Track’ 2022 Games Bid

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CLS Sports aid Liverpool ‘fast-track’ 2022 Games bid: Sports construction specialist contractor CLS Sports has completed its most prestigious athletics project to date with the opening of the upgraded Wavertree Stadium facility, Liverpool.

CLS Sports Aid Liverpool 'Fast-Track' 2022 Games Bid

Part of the City’s bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Wavertree Stadium has been revamped indoors and out over the last four years to create an athletics venue of regional and national status.

The home of Liverpool Harriers and Athletic Club was used as a training centre for London 2012 and has headquartered top track and field athletes including Anyika Onuora, GB bronze medallist 4 x 400m relay in Rio, 800m/1,500m Olympics runner Curtis Robb, British record high-jumper Steve Smith, 2012 pentathlete/heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson and David Devine, double bronze medallist at Paralympics London 2012.

CLS Sports was appointed by project administrators Sports Labs to replace the existing 8-lane 400m track with a new IAAF Polytan non-porous sandwich system. Completed in early July, the new track includes a 110m home straight, mirrored on the back straight.

“The new sandwich system comprises a rubber base mat laid on to the existing macadam sub-base with polyurethane and red rubber crumb top surface, all to meet current IAAF specifications,” explained David Fearn, a world specialist on synthetic sports surfaces and newly appointed CLS Sports Contract Manager.

As a centre of excellence for athletics, Wavertree Stadium is expected to stage major track and field events. The new surface is considered a faster facility than its precedessor and hopes are high that competition on it will challenge track records.

Part of a multi-million refurbishment, the all-weather track encloses augmented field facilities, also constructed by CLS Sports.

Extended high jump and pole vault areas allow competitions to be staged concurrently. The expanded shot put zone includes both Redgra and traditional surfaces, while field capability has been further enhanced with a hammer cage and triple jump running between two long jump strips to also allow side-by-side events.

“Liverpool City Council is a forward-thinking authority and the site here is already a Centre of Excellence for swimming, football, gymnastics and boxing,” said Michael Kearney, acting Head of Sport and Recreation.

“The new outdoor track is a significant investment in a sport-mad city and we are keen to continue to protect grass-roots sport under our Emerging Facilities Strategy which has seen major investment in leisure over the last 20 years as part of our mission to become the most active city in the country by 2021 in terms of numbers participating in sport and recreation.”

Wavertree Stadium is run as a council concern but talks are continuing regarding an asset transfer to the Harriers with the condition that the site is “fit for purpose”.

Harriers Honorary Secretary and national athletics official Arwel Williams said: “This is a massive investment in what is the only track and field athletics club in Liverpool and now allows the stadium to hold enhanced events such as heptathlons and decathlons on what is a first-class surface.”

CLS Sports Managing Director John Miller added: “This project reinforces our reputation for excellence in the track-building industry and we are priviledged to be able to deliver a world-class sporting facility for Liverpool.”

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Real Club Valderrama Invests in E-Z-GO ELiTE

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Real Club Valderrama Invests in E-Z-GO ELiTE™: Real Club Valderrama, host of the 1997 Ryder Cup, is the first golf club in Spain, and one of the first in Europe to purchase a fleet of the recently launched E-Z-GO ELiTE golf cars. Local dealer Greenmowers made the delivery.

Real Club Valderrama Invests in E-Z-GO ELiTE

Real Club Valderrama has purchased 40 E-Z-GO RXV ELiTE golf cars. The ELiTE series from E-Z-GO features Samsung SDI lithium batteries which require zero maintenance and comes with a five-year warranty. The new golf cars charge in half the time and require less out-of-wall power than leading lead acid competitors.

Javier Reviriego studied business administration and golf club management at Florida State University and has been the general manager at Valderrama for more than six years. Commenting on the new fleet, Javier said:

“Valderrama has been setting the benchmark for golf courses across Spain and Europe since the 1980s. It is important that we continue to be ahead of the game and provide the best possible quality for our members. We invested in the E-Z-GO ELiTE series as the Samsung lithium batteries are a huge step forward. It is a new era for golf cars, and we are proud to be amongst the first to offer the new technology on the course.

“We first started using E-Z-GO five years ago. We tried other golf cars, but the quality of the E-Z-GO vehicles was the best. I first heard about the new ELiTE series at the PGA show in Orlando earlier this year, and I knew Valderrama had to be the first to invest in the new technology. As a club, we are very environmentally conscious, so the fact that the new golf cars take half the time to charge saves us a lot in energy.”

The batteries in the ELiTE vehicles are controlled by an advanced Battery Management System that monitors efficiency, temperature, state of charge and the health of the batteries. These batteries have been used to safely and reliably power electric cars, e-scooters and power tools, providing consistent performance that does not fade over time.

“The lighter batteries have significantly reduced the weight of the golf cars, which protects the turf on the course,” Javier continued. “We spend a substantial amount of time and resources to present the best possible playing conditions, so this will certainly make a difference.”

Javier Ramírez, Managing Director at Greenmowers said:

“We are pleased to have sold the first fleet of E-Z-GO ELiTE golf cars to Real Club Valderrama. It is a prestigious course, and it is a great honour to provide the club with the new vehicles. Greenmowers has had a relationship with Valderrama since 2003, and we look forward to supporting it for many more years to come.”

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High praise for club

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High praise for club: The greens were packed last week at Cobram Bowling Club, where 120 people from all around Victoria gathered to play for the Cobram men’s triples tournament.

High praise for club

Competition was fierce, but nobody was surprised when the victory went to Australia’s number one ranked bowler Barrie Lester and his teammates Josh Thornton from Shepparton and Troy Mansfield from Echuca.

Cobram Bowling Club board member Andy Reeves said it was one of the most successful tournaments the club had seen in a long time.

‘‘It’s a major event for us, a little club on the Murray. It certainly doesn’t happen every day,’’ Reeves said.

‘‘We have people coming from all over regional Victoria, as well as from the metropolitan areas. We’ve filled all three greens, which is absolutely fabulous.’’

The rain and poor weather cleared up just in time for the tournament, which had ideal sunny conditions for a game of bowls.

‘‘Considering the recent rains, the greenkeeper and volunteers have done a fantastic job,’’ Reeves said.

‘‘The greens are in excellent condition and we’re getting a lot of compliments from the players.’’

Club members were delighted to get a chance to meet international bowler Barrie Lester, who gave tips and advice during a demonstration day on Tuesday.

Lester gave club members tips on their bowling technique, but he said the most important advice he could give was on how to run a good, active club that attracts new members.

‘‘The club members been really receiving, they’ve enjoyed picking up a few tips to help their own game and more importantly to help their club,’’ Lester said.

‘‘I gave a lot of advice on club culture, club behaviours and the characteristics of being a good club both off the green, inside the club and the running of the club as well as a few coaching tips out on the green.’’

Lester said he was impressed by how the tournament was managed.

‘‘It’s an amazing tournament, beautiful greens, just a great group of people.

‘‘There should be more of it, clubs like this running great tournaments.’’

Lester hopes to make it to the Commonwealth Games next year with his bowls partner Josh Thornton, who shares his goal of getting more people into bowling and joining their local bowling clubs.

‘‘Cobram has a great club,’’ Thornton said.

‘‘They’re very progressive in terms of trying to get people playing the sport and they’ve got great facilities.

‘‘If they keep doing what they’re doing, they’ll be going strong for a long time.’’

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100% Toro For 125th Anniversary

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100% Toro For 125th Anniversary: Machinery replacement deal for Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club

100% Toro For 125th Anniversary

In 2005 Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club, one of London’s top private members club in Richmond-on-Thames, completed an all-in machinery purchase with Toro, making the club’s shed 100 percent Toro red for the first time.

2017 marks the club’s 125th anniversary and coinciding with that the club board was presented with a proposal to purchase 18 new turfcare machines by course manager, Gavin Kinsella, which they unanimously decided to action.

Gavin, who has been at Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club for ten years and heads up a team of 16 greenkeepers who maintain the club’s two 18-hole courses, says: “We have an extensive fleet and place huge demands on each machine, so it’s important to have a regular replacement programme. We replace the machines based on their hours of work and general condition. It so happened that the purchase coincided with our 125th anniversary year, which brings with it a packed calendar with celebratory events planned for every month of the year, and in many cases multiple competitions in a month.”

The initial reasons Royal Mid-Surrey opted for Toro in 2005 was for ease of use and machine speed over the ground, and it appears its performance has been nothing but exemplary. With two 18-hole courses to tend, each offering two very different tests of golf, Gavin needs to know he can rely on the machines to give a true cut.

He says: “We have 18 USGA spec greens on the JH Taylor Course and a reputation as one of the best golfing experiences in London to uphold. Both the JH Taylor and Pam Barton courses offer fast true greens and that has been the case since the club opened in 1892. With so many years of golfing history to maintain it’s essential we can rely on the kit to get the job done.”

When a course is specifically created with ‘humps and hollows’ for distinctive character as Royal Mid-Surrey was by JH Taylor and greenkeeper at the time Peter Lees, it requires a talented course manager, a skilled greenkeeping team and a reliable fleet to ensure that character is presented as intended 125 years later. It’s thanks to Gavin, his team and Toro that this is the case.

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