An Update From Scott MacCallum

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An Update From Scott MacCallum: It’s quite amazing to think that, as I write we are still in May, yet we have already enjoyed two of the four golf Majors – well done to Brookes Koepka for his amazing feat in being the first person to defend successfully both the US Open and the USPGA and hold both at the same time – and we are about to launch into both the Women’s World Cup, in France, and the Cricket World Cup here in the UK.

It seems we are in the middle of the sporting year and we haven’t even had a chance to catch a breath. It won’t be long before we are enjoying the thrills and spills of the Rugby World Cup, in Japan.

An Update From Scott MacCallum

Sport really defines a year. If you think back 12 months we were about to start the emotional roller coaster that was the World Cup and it was nice to go into it without the usual hype about England’s chances of winning. Those lower expectations seemed to work as Gareth’s boys came closer than any England side since 1990 to getting to the final.

Although a tad detached from it all, coming as I do, from the other side of Hadrian’s Wall I can still recall sitting in bars watching games and enjoying the feel good factor which engulfed the entire country. Maybe Scotland’s ladies will do what England’s men did last year and exceed expectations.

Can I wish perfect weather conditions and every success to all those groundsmen and greenkeepers who are working so hard to produce first class conditions for all the summer’s sporting events.

Best wishes

Scott MacCallum

 

Kubota’s New Dealer Managers

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Kubota’s New Dealer Managers: Kubota (U.K) Ltd is delighted to announce the appointment of two new dealer managers in the Groundcare and Parts business units. The new appointments demonstrate Kubota’s continued commitment and investment to its dealer development aspirations and will provide additional support to the existing dealer and distributor network.

The new Groundcare Dealer Manager, Phil Catley, joins in the role of Dealer Manager – Southern region for the Tractor and Groundcare division. Phil joins the company from Stiga Ltd, one of the largest European manufacturers of garden and groundcare machinery, where he was previously Area Sales manager.

Kubota's New Dealer Managers

Phil brings with him an impressive wealth of experience, particularly in building and maintaining large dealer networks extending throughout the South West, South Wales, Mid Wales and the West Midlands as well as skills in building strong relationships and maintaining excellent profit margins. Ahead of joining Kubota, Phil has also previously worked for Etesia, a European manufacturer of Groundcare machinery and Sharnford Horticultural, a garden machinery and Groundcare dealer in Leicestershire.

On his appointment, Phil commented “Kubota has a prominent reputation as a market-leading manufacturer of Groundcare, Agricultural and Construction Equipment solutions and I am looking forward to putting my experience to good use at the company. I am excited to finally be a part of the team and look forward to using my knowledge and experience to further develop Kubota’s dealer network.”

In a new role for Kubota, Rob Williams has joined the company as Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland Dealer Manager, for Parts. His prime responsibilities will be to support the Kubota dealer and distributor network specifically covering the North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Rob has an extensive amount of experience and industry knowledge after holding previous roles at Ifor Williams Trailers, Saville Tractors and Landmec. Over the past five years, Rob has been working for the international agriculture equipment manufacturing company, Kverneland UK, developing a successful parts business for the company. His past experience also includes working for Morris Lubricants in the North of England, where Rob played a pivotal role in supporting and developing their oil and lubricant business.

Speaking about his new appointment Rob said: “I am looking forward to starting my new position at global manufacturer Kubota UK. My role will be to continue to support and develop the Parts dealer and distributor network, where my previous experience and established connections will be invaluable.”

David Hart, Managing Director of Kubota UK commented: “We are delighted to welcome both new Dealer Managers to the business. Their expertise and industry knowledge will be instrumental to Kubota’s commitment to continuing to invest and expand our existing dealer and distributor network and we are excited to have them on board”.

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Cousins’ 70 Years Of Service

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Cousins’ 70 Years Of Service: Two cousins have celebrated 70 years of service to the same golf club.

Bobby Hay retired earlier this month after 45 years with Gullane Golf Club, while cousin Paul Hay toasted 25 years of long service.

Bobby, who was irrigation and drainage technician, and Paul, who is head greenkeeper at Gullane No. 1, were invited to a special presentation at the main clubhouse of the club, which is closing in on its 140th anniversary.

Bobby, 65, was presented with a camera and voucher, while Paul received a green jacket and voucher for The Bonnie Badger restaurant in Gullane.

Bobby thanked the golf club committee for their gifts and revealed what made the job so enjoyable.

He said: “It was the people I worked with and being outside.

“Previous to that, I worked in a bakehouse for five years. I was breathing in flour dust and at Gullane I did not have to work Friday nights!”

The Gullane resident, who recalls course visits by stars such as Sir Sean Connery, Harold Sakata – who played Oddjob in Goldfinger – and Sir Bruce Forsyth, has plenty of hobbies to enjoy in his retirement.

He said: “I don’t know yet [what I’m going to do with my spare time]. I am that busy with that many things I want to do.

“I look over the course and it is a funny feeling knowing I am not there now after 40-odd years.

“I do archery, wood carving, wood turning, photography and I look after the archery range at Archerfield.”

Gullane Golf Club has attracted plenty of international golfing stars in recent years – holding the Scottish Open twice in the last four years, with Brandon Stone winning last year and Rickie Fowler lifting the top prize in 2015, as well as the Ladies Scottish Open last year, with Ariya Jutanugarn crowned champion.

Bobby described the club as “the most superior course in the Central Belt of Scotland”.

Meanwhile Paul, 42, explained why, despite not considering himself a golfer, he loved his job.

He said: “One, it is local, and two, every day is different.

“There have never been two days that are the same. We have got a good team and it has been good to work for Gullane Golf Club so far. It does not feel like 25 years for sure!”

Paul, who lives in the village, said changes in machinery, staffing levels and the number of visitors to the golf club meant the job had changed since he started.

He added: “We’ve got to make sure the course is looking tip-top.

“There is an added pressure – if the course is not looking at its best, it is going to be picked up on.

“You definitely have to make sure everything is looking its best at all times and present it every day as if it is [for] a competition.”

Ward councillor Jeremy Findlay, who lives in the village, works as a tour operations manager for a golf tour company and is a member of the golf club, congratulated the duo on the achievement.

He said: “The golfing fraternity and golf club members really appreciate all the effort and time that they have put in over the years and I’m sure the many thousands of visitors to the club also appreciate their great work.”

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Toro A Hit At Radley College

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Toro A Hit At Radley College: Four years ago, Radley College welcomed a new Toro fleet of Groundsmaster and Reelmaster mowers to the independent boys’ school in Oxfordshire. As the facilities continue to grow we hear how Toro has performed during its tenure.

There’s a lot of pressure on Radley College’s grounds team. Not only does it have the upkeep of some of the most extensive and finest public school sporting facilities in the country on its hands, but with the school increasing the number of bursaries and scholarships for the first time in its 172-year history, the sports facilities are expanding too.

Toro A Hit At Radley College

Luckily, grounds manager Adam King and the 19-strong team in the estates department, including groundsmen, greenkeepers and gardeners, have the benefit of a Toro fleet of Groundsmaster and Reelmaster mowers working across the 14 rugby pitches, 10 cricket squares and football pitches, three astroturf hockey pitches, tennis courts and a nine-hole, par 34 golf course.

The College’s latest fleet joined four years ago in a significant lease agreement with Reesink,

Adam says: “With more to do, the biggest benefit from our Toro fleet in the last four years is how it’s saved us time, allowing us to be more efficient and productive. Having two Reelmaster 3100-D mowers for the weekend cutting of the cricket outfields and aprons has been particularly beneficial.”

As the school gears up for a new boarding house opening in 2020 and the expansion of the sporting facilities to accommodate, the reliability of the fleet as well as its time-saving aspects has not gone unnoticed by Adam.

“We chose this combination of machines with specific work in mind and they’ve not only delivered on that but more. We’ve built more natural and artificial sports surfaces into the equation and got them into play. Plus, there have been no problems running the fleet, no breakdowns or issues.

“The lease agreement with Reesink allowed us to have new machines straight away, while also covering winter service, and all at a fixed cost. We were able to manage our budget and benefit from new and upgraded equipment at an important time in the College’s history.”

So, what’s next for Adam and the team? “We were at BTME to take in the new technology and product development on offer, and I was most interested in seeing lightweight three-wheel fairway mowers and greens mowers which we haven’t specifically had before. Plus, there’s been developments in engine size and I’ll be interested in seeing the effect of that on our surfaces here.”

Since then, Adam and the team have trialled the Toro Reelmaster 3555 and 3575 mowers across the School, based on which Adam concluded they are the “best bits of new kit I’ve seen in a long time and versatile enough to be multi-sports mowers”.

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Two Ryder Cup Courses For EcoBunker

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Two Ryder Cup Courses For EcoBunker: Working on a course for a Ryder Cup is a great achievement for any golf construction professional. To work on two in the space of a week, though, is pretty remarkable. But that’s what EcoBunker site manager Louis Palser will have done by the end of next week.

Louis has spent the last two days at Le Golf National in Paris, supervising EcoBunker’s part of the construction of the 2018 Ryder Cup venue’s new state of the art practice facility, which is being managed by golf consultant Alejandro Reyes (the former superintendent of Le Golf National). Flying directly from Paris to Rome, Louis moves on to the Marco Simone club, currently under reconstruction at the hands of European Golf Design architect Dave Sampson, in advance of its starring role in the 2022 Ryder Cup. There, for ten days, he will be working alongside EcoBunker’s top construction specialist Llewellyn Matthews installing EcoBunker’s AquaEdge lake edging product on the sixteenth and eighteenth holes.

Two Ryder Cup Courses For EcoBunker

Quite some going for a young man who is new to the golf business. Louis joined EcoBunker last year after studying civil engineering at Salford University, because ‘he wanted to use his construction knowledge, work outdoors and gain plenty of travel opportunities’, and spent 18 weeks last year on the company’s job at the new Dumbarnie Links in Fife, where he rose to be deputy site manager under Llewelyn Matthews. Now, he’s comfortable leading jobs, and has worked on EcoBunker projects in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and France.

EcoBunker CEO Richard Allen says: “With our contracting business growing rapidly we’ve had to invest in new construction management talent, and Louis has rapidly become an important part of our growth.”

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