Ecoline+ The Choice For Watford

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Ecoline+ The Choice For Watford: Pitchmark’s Ecoline+ has become the line marking paint of choice for FA Premier League club Watford FC.

The demand for using a premium paint at the Vicarage Road stadium led to trials last season, since when Pitchmark have been further developing Ecoline+. Watford FC became the first to use the improved formula at the opening game of the season against Brighton and Hove Albion in August this year.

Ecoline+The Choice For Watford

In 2018 Scott Tingley, Head Groundsman at Watford FC, set out on what was originally a cost exercise and to see if they could establish the use of one paint for all marking.

“We were using top end paint for the stadium and bottom end for the other pitches,” he says, “we wanted to make it one paint but of course the cost had to be taken into account. We looked at Pitchmark and what we found different was their specialisation solely in line marking products.”

The club had been using Pitchmark’s Direct at the Watford FC training ground and academy, located at the University College London Union Shenley Sports grounds in St Albans. Home to five full-size and two goalkeeping/warmup natural grass training pitches as well as a full-size artificial turf training pitch and fourteen college/academy natural grass pitches, there’s a sizeable amount of line marking required. In the stadium only premium quality is acceptable. Ecoline+ offered the ideal all-round solution.  Ecoline+ is one of the most advanced, low volume, ready-to-use line marking paints available, especially when used in combination with Pitchmark’s Eco and Hybrid markers and special nozzles.

Scott says: “we trialled Ecoline+ and we had no issues, only benefits. We use a Pitchmark Hybrid marker which gives us the quality of a spray marker, without compromising the precision and quality of a transfer marker. Fixture dependent, we can mark up to three times a week and with the traditional wheel to wheel and four-wheel spray markers you lose ground cover and it’s too easy to transfer paint.”

The Pitchmark Hybrid overcomes these problems with a three-wheeled spray design, which is easily manoeuvred over wet lines. The cone nozzles give perfect deep leaf coverage, so you only need one pass.

“It’s easy to use, it feels like a normal wheel marker and you get premium quality.” Scott adds, “it’s quite complex though and needs looking after but if we have any issues Olly Boys, the Turfix rep, gives us second to none service and back-up.” (Turfix is Pitchmark’s recently formed sole UK distribution arm). Using advanced Ecoline+ Watford FC join the many examples of Ecoline+ premium line marking seen every week on TV from the best leagues in the world, including the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League.

Pitchmark is a British company based in Bristol +44 (0)1454 776666 www.pitchmark.com

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ROBOCUT To Launch At SALTEX

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ROBOCUT To Launch At SALTEX: McConnel ROBOCUT’s have earned a reputation for performing in the toughest working environments. Now the company are set to expand the ROBOCUT range with the launch of the ROBOCUT RC28, a mower developed for fine turf applications where a light footprint and minimal surface disturbance is paramount.

The ROBOCUT RC28 has been specifically designed for the amenities, landscape, and ground-care sectors.

ROBOCUT To Launch At SALTEX

Designed, developed and manufactured by vegetation control specialists McConnel, the all-new Robocut RC28 is now entering full production. Designed to allow remote controlled mowing of level land and suitable for tackling slopes of up to 55 degrees, the Robocut RC28 key features include:

  • Fuelled up and ready to mow, weighs under 500kg
  • Bi-directional 1.10m mulching deck delivers high quality cut
  • Safe working on slopes of up to 55 degrees
  • Automatic tracking for straight mowing on lateral slopes
  • Full proportional remote control at distances of up to 150m
  • Electric track motors and deck raise / lower eliminates hydraulics
  • Operates at speeds of up to 7.0kph
  • Mowing heights of 30 to 180mm
  • GPS Enabled and Autosteer ready

Powered by a 28hp / 21kW fuel-injected Vanguard petrol engine, the Robocut RC28 is the latest addition to the established McConnel Robocut family. Purpose designed for maintenance mowing, the Robocut RC28 is new from the ground up, light weight and high productivity listing among key design aims.

The new ROBOCUT RC28 will be officially launched at Saltex 2019 and can be seen on stand A095.  McConnel larger RC56 and RC75 ROBOCUT models will also be on display.

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Le Golf National’s Short Game Area

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Le Golf National’s Short Game Area: Not content to rest on its laurels after the stunning success of last year’s Ryder Cup, the team at Le Golf National is continuing to invest in its facilities, building a substantial new training area for short game practice.

Located between the sixteenth green of the Albatros course and the club’s driving range, the new short game area housed a large grandstand during the Ryder Cup. “When the stand came down after the event, all the grass in the area was dead, so it was clear we needed to do something with the ground,” said Lucas Pierré, golf courses and estates manager at Le Golf National. “At the same time, we decided to rebuild all our training areas using better materials. They are really important for us and get a great deal of use, both from our paying golf customers and from our coaches running clinics for local schoolchildren.”

Le Golf National's Short Game Area

“The area between the sixteenth green and the driving range was ideal for this use, as it was already covered by our irrigation system,” said Pierré. “The new short game area was designed in house, jointly by me, by Alejandro Reyes [LGN’s former superintendent, now an agronomic consultant] and by our head golf teacher. We saved as much of the USGA rootzone as possible – it is quite large, with 3,000 sq m of green space, 4,000 sq m of surrounds and 1,000 sq m of sand, in two big bunkers.

“We already have Capillary Concrete on the Albatros course, and we are used to working with their French distributor, Stan Chapus of Greenmix,  so we know that the system works, and we decided on EcoBunker to create the bunker edging. Together they make an advanced system – not cheap, but they work well together. We can keep the sand on the bunker faces; it doesn’t wash down every time there is a big rain.’”

The new area will open in September for use by the local childrens’ golf schools, and be in use when the French Open returns to Le Golf National in October.

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