All Eyes On Luzhniki Stadium

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All Eyes On Luzhniki Stadium: A team from global pitch specialists SIS Pitches is on hand at Luzhniki Stadium as the World Cup tournament kicks off in Russia today on a SIS Pitches surface.

Throughout the tournament, a team of 12 people from SIS Pitches will maintain the surface of the Luzhniki Stadium – where the opening ceremony and opening game (Russia v Saudi Arabia) is taking place today, and where the World Cup Final will be held.

All Eyes On Luzhniki Stadium

Over the four weeks of the tournament, the main pitch at Luzhniki will host the equivalent of nearly the full number of matches that would be played on a Premiership pitch during a whole football season.

The company will also maintain the three training pitches at the stadium, which will be used by all the national teams who are playing at the venue.

CEO of Cumbria-based SIS Pitches, George Mullan said: “Luzhniki will have the heaviest programme of games and training sessions as well as hosting the opening ceremony and the rehearsals for the opening ceremony. We have already had six rehearsals for the opening ceremony, 15 training sessions and seven matches on the pitch; this is as well as the activity on the training pitches.

“Maintaining a pitch under these circumstances can be challenging as the opening ceremony is taking place on the pitch just half an hour before the first game kicks off. Some 80,000 football fans will be in the stadium and millions of people will be watching from around the world. However, our team will be pitch-side to make sure that the surface is maintained to the highest standards.

“We will have 12 people at the stadium throughout the tournament, making sure that the surface is perfect before every game. They will then repair the pitch if any damage has been caused during the game. I will be there personally at some of the games – but I won’t be watching the football; I will be concentrating on the surface!”

The use of the company’s sophisticated reinforced natural turf system, called SISGrass, as well as its revolutionary aeration technology, SISAir, will make the Luzhniki Stadium the most technologically advanced pitch in World Cup history. The use of SISAir will also mean that the pitch can be drained off in a matter of seconds.

SIS Pitches was selected to design, construct and install six of the 12 stadium pitches for Russia 2018, including the Kaliningrad Stadium, where the highly anticipated match of England v Belgium will take place on Thursday 28 June. It is also the first time that a World Cup Final has been played on anything but all-natural grass.

SIS Pitches also installed three training pitches at Luzhniki, four training pitches at Otkritie Arena – the home of Spartak Moscow, and one at Tolyatti, which is being used as a base by the Swiss national team.

SIS Pitches will be maintaining Luzhniki Stadium throughout the World Cup but the other five pitches – Otkritie Arena, Rostov Arena, Kaliningrad Stadium, Samara Arena and Saransk Arena, have already been formally handed over to stadium management, who will handle their maintenance. Each pitch was independently tested to meet international quality standards before SIS Pitches formally handed them over.

SIS Pitches is a world leader in synthetic and natural sports surfacing and is one of the world’s largest sports pitch companies. The global pitch specialists lay grass and synthetic pitches and sports surfaces at world-class stadiums around the globe.

Outside of the World Cup, the company continues to deliver exceptional sports surfaces for schools, colleges, universities, sports clubs and local authorities in the UK and around the world.

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Greenfingers’ New Etesia Fleet

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Greenfingers’ New Etesia Fleet: Based in Midlothian, Scotland, Greenfingers have renewed their fleet of Etesia groundcare equipment by purchasing 14 Pro 46 PHCS pedestrian mowers and a Buffalo 100 BPHP ride-on mower.

Established in 1991, Greenfingers offers professional garden and grounds maintenance and commercial soft landscaping throughout the Lothians, Borders and Fife.

Greenfingers' New Etesia Fleet

The contractor has been relying on a wide range of Etesia equipment for a number of years, and proprietor Jason McCran revealed how it all started.

“I had initially heard of Etesia through press articles in trade magazines – there were always good reviews and people seemed to rate them highly. That was a long time ago now and we’ve been buying the machines for as long as I can remember and every member of the team feels confident using them.”

As part of his fleet renewal, Jason purchased 14 Etesia Pro 46 PHCS pedestrian mowers and a Buffalo 100 BPHP ride-on mower.

Jason’s team use the Buffalo BPHP for the larger green space areas that the company maintains. Featuring a 100cm cutting deck and a 20.5HP diesel Perkins engine, up to 12,000sq.m. of grass can be cut and collected per hour. The efficiency of the unique cutting system allows professionals to work faster and operators see increased productivity as the Buffalo 100 excels when used on wet grass or in the rain. This machine is also fitted with a built-in grass collector with a capacity of 600 litres, and the hydraulic emptying system is controlled from the driver’s seat.

The Etesia Pro 46 PHCS offers extreme versatility with the ability to cut, collect and mulch without the need for an accessory. Built upon the DUOCUT concept of combining 100% collection and 100% mulching decks together, the Pro 46 PHCS delivers high performance without compromising the results of either of the functions. By crushing the grass finely, even if it is long and wet, it excels in its collection abilities. Fitted with a powerful 5HP Honda engine, the PHCS offers low vibrations with ‘soft grip’ handle bars which can fold for easy transportation.

“We predominately use the pedestrian mowers on small grass areas on grounds where we work with property managers, or around sheltered complexes for housing associations,” says Jason. “We find that by using the PHCS, we can govern the speed better because you can cut with it as quick as the operator can move”.

“The majority of our work is cut and collect and the Etesia mowers do this in wet weather better than any other mower that we’ve tried. This is what particularly drew us to them because in Scotland we are prone to rain throughout the summer months. We’ve never had any issues with Etesia equipment; they do the job to an extremely high standard and we have no reason at all to change.”

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.etesia.co.uk

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Emergency Authorisation For Acelepryn

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Emergency Authorisation For Acelepryn: An Emergency Authorisation has been granted for the use of the Syngenta insecticide, Acelepryn, for the control of Chafer grubs and leatherjacket on golf course greens and tees, horse racing courses and airfields. The approval was applied for by STRI, on behalf of and with support from the amenity industry.

Chafer Grubs and leatherjackets cause damage to turf through extensive feeding on roots, which can be severe in localised patches. Furthermore, extreme damage can occur when badgers, birds and other foragers root through turf in search of the grubs.

Emergency Authorisation For Acelepryn

The Emergency Authorisation permits Acelepryn use in situations where there is an acknowledged instance of economic damage and where the product has been recommended by a BASIS qualified advisor.

With the loss of available control options independent advisors, ADAS, has calculated the economic cost of Chafer Grubs alone at up to £85 million a year for golf courses in the UK, from lost income and damage repair. The report also highlighted that on the 40% of racecourses affected by the pest’s damage, lost income could amount to up to £605,000 per course.

‘”Since the withdrawal of effective insecticides, economic damage from chafer grubs and leatherjackets has been of major concern to many of us,” reported STRI Head of Research, Dr Ruth Mann. “Obtaining this Emergency Authorisation of Acelepryn enables us to manage the most damaging effects of these soil pests as part of an integrated turf management programme.”

Acelepryn UK Emergency Authorisation

The UK Emergency Authorisation for Acelepryn has been granted from 7 June to 30 September 2018, to cover the key Chafer Grub and leatherjacket treatment timing.

The Emergency Authorisation covers golf greens and tees, horse racing courses and airfields, specifically where there has been a history of pest damage or a recognised risk of damage. In all instances the use of Acelepryn must be recommended by a BASIS qualified agronomist.

The authorised label permits application at the rate of 0.6 litres per hectare, applied in 500-1000 l/ha water. Ideally Acelepryn should irrigated in after application. One application per year is permitted, with the latest time of treatment being 30 September.

Turf managers or owners who believe they have suffered economically damaging effects of Chafer grubs and leatherjackets are advised to contact their BASIS agronomist or ICL Area Manager in the first instance.

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Toro A Cut Above At Cruden Bay

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Toro A Cut Above At Cruden Bay: The performance of Toro’s Reelmaster 5410-D mowers on the fairways of Cruden Bay Golf Club, the traditional Scottish links course in Aberdeenshire, is preferred over all others.

Course manager, Alister Matheson, comments: “The first thing I noticed about the Reelmaster in the demo was the way it handled the ground. The course at Cruden Bay follows the original lie of the land to great effect and as a result the fairways have a few humps and hollows. This didn’t pose a problem to the RM5410, its quality of cut was by far the best. As a result, we decided to buy two.”

Toro A Cut Above At Cruden Bay

Alister and his team are proud to present their perfect example of firm and fast undulating natural links fairways, back after five years thanks to a particularly dry end to spring. As Toro’s UK distributor Reesink Turfcare’s David Raitt says: “The game originated here in Scotland and this is the way links courses should look at this time of the year. Many foreign golfers, especially Americans, love this set up for links golf because it represents how the sports should be played in the natural environment.”

The grass looks like this when the ground is dry and there is little moisture for the plant so it goes dormant. When enough rain comes, which it undoubtedly will, the grass will come out of dormancy and its familiar green colour will return.

Not that any of this has been a problem for the Reelmasters brought in for the fairways, as Alister confirms: “They can cope with all conditions.” The fact that the RM5410-D is designed with improved operator comfort in mind, did not go unnoticed by Alister either: “This machine is so much nicer to the driver,” he says. Alister’s right: tilt steering, a deluxe suspension seat, improved visibility and lower operating noise, all go a long way to enhancing the operator experience and helping to reduce fatigue.

Alister completed the order by selecting the Multi Pro 5800-D sprayer for the Championship course, which is ranked 24th in the country by the Top 100 Golf Courses, and primarily chose the machine for its increased tank capacity: “We had a tank capacity of 700 litres before, whereas the Multi Pro 5800-D can hold 1136 litres. This will be far more cost effective, and productive to use.” But it was in the demo that Alister realised just how “robust and reliable” the Multi Pro is too, and that sealed the deal.

Alister has a formidable CV with many of the golfing greats on it. Before his ten years at Cruden Bay, he spent five years at one of the best clubs in the world, Royal Dornoch, and before that was at the club that needs no introduction, The Wentworth. However, it could be said that Cruden Bay is the club delivering some of his biggest challenges, due, mainly, to the club’s location.

Alister explains: “Here at Cruden Bay we have true Scottish light and dark seasons. In the summer, we can have up to 21 hours of sunlight a day, in the winter, only seven hours. Plus, the growing season is much reduced here to just five months of the year. We have a sharp easterly wind to deal with and the usual challenges of being a sandy links course; we’ve been known to have sand dunes as high as three-story buildings! And all this against the backdrop of the North Sea.”

But with a team of nine full-timers and a machinery replacement programme which sees machines selected on their individual merit, it’s easily handled by the team and fleet.

So, what’s next for the top Scottish club? Alister is working towards a new Toro irrigation system for installation this winter on the greens, tees and approaches, which will ensure precise irrigation of the course even in its windy, exposed location. Until then, we leave Alister, the team and the club’s members enjoying improved fairways, thanks to Toro.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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MM The Solution In Hertfordshire

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MM The Solution In Hertfordshire: In order to satisfy the members needs at Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club, course manager James Bonfield is using a range of Limagrain UK’s MM grass seed mixtures in order to produce the best possible playing surfaces.

Designed by Jack Niklaus II, the 6,266 yard course winds through ancient parkland, blending beautiful contours with trees and water to present an enticing challenge to golfers of all abilities. The club is under the Crown Golf umbrella, which boasts 23 prestigious venues around the UK.

MM The Solution In Hertfordshire

James has been in his current role as course manager for eight years and claims that he has assembled the best team he has ever seen in all his years of greenkeeping. The team all play regularly on the stunning course in Hertfordshire, which James believes is essential as they need to understand the course from a player’s perspective: “As a team, we are all very passionate about this place and are always striving to make improvements where we can,” he says.

So, when James was not achieving his desired results from a previous grass seed he used, he decided to look for an alternative, as he explains.

“I had been using a different seed for a couple of years and it hadn’t really worked out, so I met Richard Sheppard (amenity seed specialist for Limagrain UK) at BTME in Harrogate and we arranged an appointment for him to come in and see me.

“We walked around the 18 holes and looked at what I needed from a seed on various parts of the course. In particular we focussed on the fairways because at that time they were suffering after a season of very little rain and a lot of play. Richard suggested MM22 and MM25 – which was dependant on the position of the fairway as well as other factors such as acidity levels.”

Limagrain’s MM25 is an ideal mixture for the construction and renovation of sports pitches, whereas MM22 is great for divotting, repairing, overseeding and construction of tees, fairways and outfield areas that are subjected to high levels of wear. The course in Hertfordshire is divided by a road, of which, one half is old farmland so the soil is very rich and the other side being parkland tends to grow more efficiently. With both MM22 and MM25 at his disposal, James had the flexibility to apply the two mixtures where he felt most appropriate.

“The results have been most dramatic on the fairways because normally they don’t do very well in the summer,” he said. “We have limited irrigation which doesn’t allow me to water fairways as often as I would like and we have an evaporation rate of about 30mm at the height of the summer – which has always been an issue. This year, however, the fescues came through incredibly fast on the 17th, the 3rd and the 5th which was amazing. It’s provided me with really good results and they just look much healthier. They are better to present and the members have noticed a massive difference – they are really pleased.”

MM The Solution In Hertfordshire

James also relies on MM22 for his tees and uses a slightly higher application rate due to the complexity of them.

“We are trying to get as much seed as possible on the tees so we go as high as we can possibly go, maybe 20g per square metre depending on the location. For example, on our par 3’s we have seed coming through to replenish what is going out. Our tees here are tiny (under a hectare of tees) and part of the Niklaus design is that they are all round, so you lose a bit of teeing space there as well. It can be a hindrance because you are up against it when you are trying to keep things looking as best they can. You don’t want to stand on the tee and see divots everywhere. Therefore, we go quite high when overseeding with the MM22 and, again, we have seen great results.”

Where it is difficult to maintain fescue in the sward or where levels of wear are greater, many greenkeepers and course managers choose MM9 – a three way browntop bent mixture, which James applies to his greens shortly after renovations in late September in order to get more bents into the surface.

Completing his range of MM products, he applies the all ryegrass mixture MM50 to his walk off areas “just to give them a bit of love towards the end of the season.”

In reflecting on his use of the Limagrain products, James said: “From the MM seed mixtures 9, 22, 25 and 50 I have had the results that I wanted from each one of them – which is all I want. As a course manager you want to know that what you use is going to work because you don’t want to waste money. I want to make sure that I get value for money and good results and with the MM range I feel that I am.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/mm

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