Richard Peel Groundcare keep the water moving at Dyrham Park

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Richard Peel Groundcare keep the water moving at Dyrham Park Golf and Country Club: Richard Peel Groundcare has installed sand-banding on 14 greens at Dyrham Park Golf and Country Club to enhance their primary drainage system.

The picturesque Hertfordshire course is renowned for its water hazards, with several placed across the 6,497 yards, but keeping water off the greens is what head greenkeeper, David Hicks was concentrated on.

Richard Peel Groundcare keep the water moving at Dyrham Park

The club had new drainage installed in their greens in 2015 and to make the system more efficient David wanted to use sand banding to link the two systems together, prompting him to use Richard Peel Groundcare’s Imants SandCat for the job.

“We’ve had main drainage installed at a deeper depth on our greens and we just wanted to keep the top surface open, and link the two systems up,” David said. “We wanted to remove the surface water and the sand will aid it getting into the lower drains and prevent any standing water.

“There are four sand based greens here that drain like a sieves so we didn’t have any work done on those, but it did go over 14 of our greens and our putting green which is the size of two greens.

“We’ve had some rain on the course and I’m pleased with how the water has drained through so far, albeit a small amount.”

Richard Peel (contact number is 07930 336594) places great emphasis on having the best machines for the job and this has led to investment in the highest quality possible, in this case the SandCat. “The SandCat offers sand injection to 10-15mm and uses de-compacting blades that cause very little disturbance and have minimal recovery time.” He explains

“Its compact size makes it ideal for greens and tees, and these factors combined are why the 14 greens at Dyrham Park now have consistently draining greens.”

But it wasn’t only the machine that impressed David. He also commended the workmanship and management of the work, which had to be completed during the clubs’ maintenance week.

“Because the project was going on during our maintenance week it was important that we were able to get on with the other work we had on, so it was important for us to be able to leave the operator on his own to work,” David explained.

“The operator, Tom, was a conscientious hard-working lad who picked up our course really quickly and used a good bit of common sense, so we were very comfortable with leaving him to get on with the job.

“I was very happy with the service overall because sometimes you have contractors offer things they can’t deliver, so it was very refreshing to work with a company who delivered on what they said.”

Overall the project took four and a half days to complete, with one day lost due to 51mm of rainfall over 24-hours that stopped all work on the course. However, at a rate of six greens a day all work was completed well within the pre-arranged time frame.

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Woburn Golf Club Stays On Par With Sportag

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Woburn Golf Club Stays On Par With Sportag: World renowned golf facility, Woburn Golf Club is all set for whatever the weather may bring thanks to Sportag, Aggregate Industries’ revolutionary drainage material.

Established in 1974, Woburn Golf Club, which is located in Little Brickhill, Milton Keynes, is widely reputed as one of the finest golfing settings in Europe. Throughout the years the prestigious club has played stage to the European Tour’s British Masters, The Heritage, The Ricoh Womens British Open, The Open Final Qualifying, Ladies European tour, and more.

Woburn Golf Club Stays On Par With Sportag

Although the club already had a primary drainage system in place, it was decided that an additional one was required to optimise the performance and playability of the fairways.

As such, when it came to the material of choice, drainage contractors, Shelton, recommended their longstanding supplier, the Lytag® team who in turn recommended Sportag.

Launched earlier this year, Sportag is a lightweight, sustainable aggregate made from Lytag’s ground-breaking secondary aggregate, which offers the ideal solution for land drainage applications, particularly sports in grounds, pitches or golf courses, due to its rounded shape and material properties.

Core to the specification, Sportag is absorbent and gives excellent hydraulic conductivity thereby reducing the risk of flooding. It is able to transmit water up to 10 times faster than gravel, therefore making it the ideal choice for use in fairways on golf courses where firm dry surfaces are critical.

Completed during August 2017, Sportag was installed within trenches 25mm wide, spaced 2m apart and at a depth of 300mm, using the Shelton team’s advanced machinery. Quick and simple, the course was immediately available for use, damage to the course was minimal, therefore keeping disruption to a minimum.

John Clarke, Courses Manager at Woburn Golf Club comments: “We aim to provide first class playing surfaces year round, therefore when it came to investing in a new drainage system, it was important to ensure playability is possible regardless of the season or weather conditions – but also, a quick turnaround was key to minimising any disruption to the golfing calender. We were delighted with the solution provided by Lytag and Shelton Drainage equipment, having already experienced very wet spells we can really see the difference in terms of keeping the surfaces to a high standard.”

Steve Fisher, business development manager for Lytag at Aggregate Industries, commented: “With the UK weather more erratic than ever, it’s important that golf courses, football pitches and the like, have adequate drainage measures in place. Get it wrong and the water content of the turf can affect performance in terms of ball bounce, while poor drainage can also result in waterlogged greens and fairways. As demonstrated at Woburn Golf Club, Sportag ®, can make a huge impact in combating this with benefits that include effective drainage and high moisture retention while also being incredibly sustainable.”

For further information about Lytag or Aggregate Industries, visit www.aggregate.com

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Lees Hall The Latest Golf Club To Purchase Ventrac 4500

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Lees Hall In Sheffield Is The Latest Golf Club To Purchase A Ventrac 4500: Lees Hall Golf Club is the latest purchaser of a Ventrac 4500 compact tractor and attachments. Situated three miles south of Sheffield, it was designed by Alex Herd, the Open Champion of 1902, and opened in 1907 as a 9-hole course. It was remodelled to 18-holes in 1911 creating a 6,171 yard, par 71 parkland course with commanding views over the city.

Ian Whitehead is the Head Greenkeeper and heads a team of four dedicated greenkeepers. He has been in the job for 16 months, having previously been Course Manager at Hillsborough Golf Club for 23 years.

Lees Hall The Latest Golf Club To Purchase Ventrac 4500

 

“I’m really lucky to have a very supportive committee with the president and greens chairman putting their trust in me and providing the funds to help with my suggested improvement programme. It’s no secret that the course has been in decline for some years, but I see this as a challenge. We’ve implemented some immediate improvements and the members are making the right comments. We have upgraded various machines including a greens mower, tees mower and a greens iron.

“However, the purchase of the Ventrac 4500 from local dealer, Russells Groundcare, has been the real bonus. It’s a powerful, multi-purpose compact tractor on which you put many attachments. Glen Sawyer of Russells recommended it to me and I trust his judgement. We had a demonstration and it was a no-brainer; we had to have it. We had intensive operator training when it was delivered so everyone can get the maximum out of it.

“Like other recent purchasers of Ventrac, I was sceptical when I first saw the machine, it’s a bit quirky, but once you’ve sat on it you realise it’s a powerful and versatile tractor, very smooth to drive and the articulating Contour mower deck leaves a great finish. Its hill climbing is excellent and that’s a prime consideration here.

“We’re already looking at other attachments as we prepare our 2018 budget. There’s so much that this single machine can do with its selection of accessories which include a Tough Cut deck, Stump Grinder, Edger, Blower and more. I’m really excited about this machine and the challenge ahead; the perception of the club is already changing in the local area and membership is moving in the right direction. Good greenkeeping practices and the equipment to carry them out are essential. With the continued support of the club, we’ll get there.

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