Nigel Lovatt Retires From Reesink

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Nigel Lovatt Retires From Reesink: Reesink Turfcare announces the retirement of Nigel Lovatt with great sadness and genuine gratitude for the role he has played in shaping the company over the 17 years he was with the business.

And what a 17 years it’s been! Astonishing, says the man himself who never anticipated the trajectory of his career as he “left school at 16 with a box full of spanners bought in the school holidays” to start his career as an apprentice agricultural engineer.

Nigel Lovatt Retires From Reesink

Nigel joined the company when it was Lely UK and had already built himself a reputation in the industry, in particular, in the region of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire working for a competitor manufacturer. Taking responsibility for the area as retail sales manager, Nigel grew the golf business from almost nothing to £1million in his first couple of years. A promotion to regional manager followed suit.

With that came new responsibilities, and he started working with the Reesink dealer network and retail partners from the north east to the north west. His role expanded to take in sports venues as well as golf, and when Reesink introduced the grounds range to the UK, that too.

Jeff Anguige, national sales manager at Reesink Turfcare, says: “Nigel has been instrumental in not only bringing in substantial business, but retaining it. He has a natural ability for sales and a natural aptitude with people. That is a winning combination, demonstrated by the fact that he grew the business exponentially in his time here, along with the fact that he was there at the beginning of our relationship with some of our biggest customers.”

Of course, anyone who knows Nigel will know Jeff is referring to England Golf Union, Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Manchester City Football Club, Manchester United Football Club,

Liverpool Football Club and more councils than you can shake a stick at. And this veritable roll call of high profile, prestigious venues using Toro is, says Nigel, one of his biggest achievements.

“I have enjoyed every minute working with my dealers and customers and helping in their quest for the best quality grounds and courses. I have always considered it to be an absolute privilege to work with Toro, too. My engineering background means I’ve been able to work closely with my customers to understand their needs and what will suit them best, providing advice and backing it up with a solution from one of the best manufacturers there is.”

Fresh from his recent success in Australia winning a Team Silver medal in the clay pigeon shooting World Championships, Nigel’s retirement will heavily involve clay pigeon shooting and his role representing England Veterans. But, his presence will remain in the turfcare industry for some time yet.

With his apprenticeship in agricultural engineering Nigel has contributed to the components and mechanics of many of the Toro machines on the market today. He helped secure a third partnership with the England Golf Union and Woodhall Spa before he left and he leaves with many memories too, in particular, his role helping Royal Liverpool Golf Club in its preparation for The Open.

Jeff concludes by saying: “It’s always sad when someone leaves who has been a part of the company for as long as Nigel has, but when the person is as good at his job as Nigel has been, and as universally well-liked as he is, it’s safe to say he’ll be much missed.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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INFINICUT Enhances Plant Health

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INFINICUT Enhances Plant Health: While mowing appears simple in its application, it can have either positive or negative consequences for plant health depending on mower performance. Attainment of correct cutting performance on sports pitches will include, but isn’t limited to, sharpness of cut; attitude angle and behind centre distance (BCD) of the bedknife; frequency of clip and weight distribution. MTD Specialty Turf Products explores the importance of mowing on plant health and how quality of cut has been paramount to operations at Watford FC, seeing them crowned the Premier League Grounds Team of the Year for 2017/18.

Beginning with sharpness of cut – dull or poorly sharpened mowers tear and shred grass blades rather than cut them cleanly, increasing the plants vulnerability to disease. A dull cut can be caused by a mower that does not maintain cut quality for an acceptable length of time.  This may be down to either a poorly designed bedknife-reel adjustment mechanism; an imbalanced reel causing premature wear; or a poorly designed cutting unit that “oscillates” during rotation.

INFINICUT Enhances Plant Health

Attitude angle and behind centre distance (BCD) are interlinked and an improper set-up of these features will not only impact on after-cut appearance but can negatively affect plant health.  The greater the BCD, the more aggressive the cut because the grass blade will be “dragged” prior to it being trapped between the bedknife and reel.  An aggressive cut also means a shorter cut as the leaf blade is lifted “up and back” prior to shearing. For a less aggressive cut, the bedknife is positioned much closer to the reel.

Frequency of clip (FOC) is the distance between mower shear points, determined by the number of reel blades, rotational speed and the mowers forward speed.  FOC is important in ensuring the correct quality is achieved for the specific height of cut. One should also consider the leaf’s moisture content – a high clip rate on a less rigid leaf can cause mulching.  The ability to alter FOC is thus advantageous.

The Cub Cadet INFINICUT® has been specifically designed to handle the numerous variables that modern day sports venues encounter.  Its ingenuous ability to alter geometry and working parameters ensures sward consistency is attained regardless of the time of year or conditions encountered.  Plant health can only be augmented by choosing the correct equipment set-up for the circumstances that prevail at any given time.

Scott Tingley, Head Groundsman at Watford Football Club said, “The INFINICUT® has become a vital part of our maintenance programme. We have two machines which are used primarily for match preparation, however we have used them more regularly this season due to the added benefits we found during the week. The quality of cut has led to a better visual appearance, but more importantly a healthy grass plant that has suffered less from disease. There’s also the added benefit of the health and safety elements – my staff regularly comment on how much lighter, quieter and more comfortable they are to use than alternative machines.”

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Enduring Pays Off

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Enduring Pays Off: A mostly sunny weekend at Champs Park, Kettering on the 12th/13th May saw the start of the Polaris British Enduro Championship, following delays after the bad weather. The track preparation went well and the venue did benefit from a good downpour after the completion of the Youth racing on the Saturday. Specifically aimed at those racers who are still too young to compete in the Short Circuit and Enduro Championships, SXS Racing introduced the Polaris Youth Championship Series in 2017.  And it was the youngsters who stole the show in a good turnout on day one with some new faces around the paddock. Racing Polaris ACE single seat ORVs, names to note for the future were Lewis Scotney and the unknown Rio Longdon, with Scotney throwing down an early marker in qualifying with clear intentions to dominate from the front and never look back. For many this was their first taste of competitive motorsport. In races one, two and three Lewis Scotney again showed his mettle and broke clean away. By Race 3 Rio Longdon in his ACE 570 battled to keep in touch at the front and the result for Round 1 of the British Youth Championship saw him take overall second to Lewis Scotney, who was also Clerks’ Driver of The Day.

Enduring Pays Off

The Polaris British Enduro Championship was established in 2016. It was created to meet the demand for a different kind of racing and is open to all manufacturers, with Expert and Rookie classes. These events are always fiercely competitive and Round 1 was no different. Driver Tom Fletcher charged to the front of the field in his Polaris RZR 1000 and once there he set the fastest lap of the day in the 1000 Expert Class. He took first place from Richard Avis whose fastest lap time was only one second apart from Fletcher’s, which shows how close the racing can be. In the Rookie Class picking a winner was never going to be easy and the race saw some near misses and retirements, but Mark Rushton in his RZR 1000 Turbo pumped in consistent lap times and experience helped him secure top spot on the podium. Another exciting weekend in the championships and Polaris and the race organisers, SXS Racing, extend their special thanks to Jamie Courtney from Champs Park. Next in the series is the Polaris British Short Circuit Championship.

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Rain Bird’s New IC Devices

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Rain Bird’s New IC Devices: Rain Bird Golf has introduced two IC CONNECT™ products designed to make its industry-leading IC System even more functional and convenient for Golf Course Managers and their courses. The Rain Bird® IC-IN Integrated Control Sensor Input Device enables users to monitor and respond to on-site sensor information in real-time, using the IC System’s MAXI™ wire path. The Rain Bird® IC-OUT Integrated Control Output Device enables activation of remotely located equipment from the Central Control.

“Since 2009, the IC System has delivered total control and unmatched diagnostics to golf courses in over 40 countries around the world,” said Scott Rottler, Senior Product Manager for Rain Bird Golf’s Central Control systems. “As complementary devices, both the IC-IN and IC-OUT take the IC System to the next level by providing Course Managers with additional functionality that can reduce water use, save time and reduce labour costs.”

Rain Bird's New IC Devices

Both the IC-IN and IC-OUT connect directly to the same IC System wire path as the Integrated Control Modules (IC Modules) used to activate sprinklers. Multiple IC-IN, IC-OUT and IC Modules may be connected to a single wire path, providing flexibility for the varied site conditions found across every golf course.

IC-IN collects and transmits data to the Central Control from sensor devices of various types, including flow, rain, pressure, temperature, wind speed, on/off and reservoir level sensors.

IC-OUT integrates the Rain Bird Central Control with remotely located products such as pumps, fans, gates, fountains, lights, motorised valves, DC latching solenoids and more. Users can now control these products automatically from the Central Control computer or manually via the Rain Bird Mobile Interface (MI Series™) application.

IC System customers can experience optimum control by using these IC CONNECT system components in combination with each other and Rain Bird’s Central Control system. Constant communication between the Central Control and the IC-IN and IC-OUT devices facilitates real-time, automated responses to changing site conditions. Thus, course management is simplified allowing Course Managers and their staff to remotely manage irrigation and a multitude of other products that enhance the player experience.

“By providing simplified installation pinpoint diagnostics and easy expandability, the IC System has permanently changed the way golf course superintendents manage their irrigation systems,” Rottler said. “Now, with the addition of the IC CONNECT devices, the IC System continues to evolve, allowing Course Managers to further fine-tune their watering and increase automation around the course.”

For additional information about Rain Bird’s new IC-IN and IC-OUT devices for the IC CONNECT System, visit  www.rainbird.com/golf/products/field/ICsystem.htm. To learn more about the company’s many other quality products for golf course irrigation, visit rainbird.eu/golf

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Vandals Target Sports Fields

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Vandals Target Sports Fields: Norbridge Park has been targeted once more after two of its fields in North Rockhampton were ripped up overnight.

Devoted groundsman Cec Newman said it was the seventh time in nine months the soccer fields had been damaged.

Vandals Target Sports Fields

Tyre tracks were discovered this morning by Mr Newman after being notified by The Morning Bulletin.

Scenes of crime police attended the fields this morning to photograph the damage on field Eight C and field B as a result.

Mr Newman said these incidents affected the soccer players who perform on the fields every weekend.

After taking a trip around the perimeter of the lower fields, no entry point into the fields could be found.

This follows an emergency services alert which was sent out after 1am this morning, which said a road traffic incident had occurred in the area.

Police have been unable to provide details on the incident.

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