Otterbine Fountain At Ladbrook Park

Otterbine Fountain At Ladbrook Park: For the past 15 years, Otterbine’s Sunburst aerating fountain has created a stunning centrepiece to the heart of Ladbrook Park Golf Club in the midlands.

Three impressive interconnecting lakes make up the centre of Ladbrook Park and with 12,000m² of water in total, it’s paramount a high-quality aerating system is in place to keep the water clear and healthy. And for 15 years, Otterbine’s Sunburst aerating fountain has been more than up to the task, says course manager, Kevin Fellows:

Otterbine Fountain At Ladbrook Park

“The lakes are central to the course and provide the backdrop to many of our 18-holes, so having a reliable aerating fountain that keeps the water clean and clear, while also creating a striking centrepiece is of the utmost importance.

“For 15 years, the Sunburst has given us everything we needed. When we first excavated the lakes in conjunction with a local contractor, there was a transition period when we had a lot of weed and algae build up which was causing problems and fixing that as soon as possible was a real priority.”

To combat this, the club worked with a water management company who recommended the Otterbine Sunburst fountain. Everyone was confident the Sunburst was up to the task of keeping such a large body of water in good condition, and that confidence was well founded!

“Once we had the fountain installed it solved all of our problems within a couple of weeks,” says Kevin. “You could see the improvement pretty much immediately, which definitely gave us peace of mind we’d made the right choice.”

The club excavated the lakes itself, not just to create beautiful surroundings for golfers, but to give themselves a source of water for irrigation purposes. With the Otterbine aerating fountain, the water is a good enough quality to use for irrigation across the course and without having to rely on the mains water supply, the club has saved money and gained peace of mind from its ability to be self-reliant, which “has been a real bonus” says Kevin.

During its time at the club, the fountain has performed brilliantly, and Kevin doesn’t expect that to change. “The fountain hasn’t let us down yet, and it’s over a decade old! We have routine inspections anyway and knowing we have the back-up from Otterbine and its distributor Reesink Turfcare should we need it is enough to guarantee peace of mind.”

He concludes: “The Otterbine fountain has not only been one of the best investments we’ve made, it’s part of the scenery here at Ladbrook Park. It’s cost effective to run and has proven itself to be a really reliable product which is quite literally at the heart of the course.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Players Seek Artificial Surface Ban

Players Seek Artificial Surface Ban: Players in the Scottish Premiership are pushing for a ban on artificial surfaces in the top flight, according to players’ union PFA Scotland.

Hamilton Academical, Kilmarnock and Livingston play on artificial surfaces.

Players Seek Artificial Surface Ban

PFA Scotland surveyed players at the other nine clubs and says it received a 100% response against their use.

Chairman Liam Craig, the St Johnstone midfielder, said they believe that removing them “will have a positive impact on our game in Scotland”.

He says the surfaces adversely impact player movement, performance and recovery – and potentially their livelihoods.

A petition with players’ signatures will be delivered to the Scottish Professional Football League calling for action over artificial pitches – and the general standard of all pitches in senior football.

The union did not ask players at Hamilton, Kilmarnock and Livingston to participate as it thought it “unfair” to put them in a compromising position.

But Craig believes all players and managers would welcome a ban because of the “inconsistency of artificial surfaces at the top level”.

“The ball rolls and bounces differently, which effects a player’s decision making,” he said.

“Movements such as running, turning and tackling on the pitch also have a negative impact on the body, which inevitably effects a player’s performance.

“Players often say it takes longer to recover after playing on an artificial pitch. This can not only effect future performances – but also team selection.”

Hearts striker Steven MacLean, when he was at St Johnstone, is an example of a player who was usually left out the side when playing on artificial surfaces because of fears over his injury record.

“If a player takes longer to recover, a manager may not select them for games on these surfaces or for a game after playing on them,” Craig said.

“A decision based on this sees a player suffer financially – the player could not only miss out on bonuses and appearance money but could find themselves out of the team for a longer period purely down to a game being played on an artificial surface.”

The PFA Scotland petition also urges the SPFL to introduce a rating system designed to improve and monitor the quality of grass and artificial pitches.

“Players in the Championship, League One and League Two want the SPFL to introduce a blanket policy to ensure all surfaces – artificial or grass – are maintained to the highest standards possible,” it states.

PFA Scotland chief executive Fraser Wishart said: “This is a strong, powerful message from our members, those that actually play the game.

“Our members do not enjoy playing on artificial surfaces in particular.

“Our members in all divisions feel artificial surfaces are often over-used and the priority seems to be community use, not first team matches, therefore these surfaces drop in standard very quickly.

“Players in the Championship, League One and League Two ask for a quicker turn around when replacing the artificial surfaces they play on.”

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Praise For H2Pro TriSmart

Praise For H2Pro TriSmart: ICL’s H2Pro TriSmart provides everything required from a wetting agent, believes Stuart Hogg, Course Manager at The West Lancashire Golf Club.

Founded in 1873 and featured in the top 100 golf courses in Great Britain, The West Lancashire Golf Club is one of England’s truest seaside tests. There are few golfers who come away from this revered links course, midway between Liverpool and Formby, in any doubt that every aspect of their game has been suitably examined.

Praise For H2Pro TriSmart

“The West Lancashire Golf Club is an amazing place to work,” said Stuart. “It is steeped in history and very well respected. You don’t appreciate how close the course is to the sea until you come and see it.”

Stuart, who has been in greenkeeping for just over thirty years, has been the Course Manager for four years and has worked exclusively at Links courses throughout his career.

“Does the sea bring challenges? No, because having grown up on Links courses I’m used to it. However, we probably dry out a lot quicker, we get wind burn, we get salt burn and we have to be more mindful of height of cuts.

“Choosing products that can work to fit our circumstances is the key. I’ve had a lot of experience with different products and I believe in finding an optimum product range. For me, that is predominantly ICL.”

Praise For H2Pro TriSmart

The most recent addition to Stuart’s range of ICL products is the H2Pro TriSmart wetting agent, but it was a decision that he did not take lightly.

“I used to use a different wetting agent and there was nothing really wrong with it except I felt it was perhaps just holding a bit of moisture in the top. The decision to change to TriSmart could have come back to bite me but Phil Collinson (ICL’s North West Technical Area Sales Manager) had every confidence in it.”

Containing three water management technologies consisting of surfactant and polymer blends, TriSmart is renowned for providing great water penetration and an even water spread through the rootzone.

Stuart starts the programme at the end of February and applies TriSmart at a rate of 10L/ha every four to five weeks, depending on weather, until the end of July. Last year, he applied TriSmart to all of the greens and surrounds, which equates to an area size of 4 hectares, but due to the successful results the areas for treatment is set to significantly increase.

“With TriSmart I believe I got everything I was looking for in a wetting agent,” said Stuart. “Considering the season we encountered; we had improved rooting and I believe that was due to the fact that TriSmart was pulling the soil moisture down a little bit more. I also didn’t have to hand-water those areas at all which really helped in reducing irrigation and labour.

Praise For H2Pro TriSmart

“This year we will be increasing the applications of TriSmart to use it on the greens, surrounds and now the fairways – which is a big jump for the club considering that we will be going from using it on a unit size of 4 hectares up to 16 hectares. Ultimately the club has backed me and given me the funds to commit to this increase because I have shown them the difference TriSmart can make.”

Stuart also praised the support he receives from ICL.

Over the last couple of years working with Phil and ICL, it has helped make this decision easier. I have every confidence if I ever needed any help or support from ICL as a company, then it would be there which I believe is important.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

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