Intelligent Marking’s Unrivalled Accuracy At SALTEX

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Intelligent Marking’s Unrivalled Accuracy At SALTEX: Intelligent Marking will be exhibiting the industry-leading Intelligent One (IO) robotic line marker on stand G085 at SALTEX 2019.

The IO is the leading robotic line marker in the industry for accuracy, labour saving and productivity. Intelligent Marking is the only company to provide a base station with their robot which ensures a line accuracy of +/-1cm.  The IM robot will overmark lines with supreme precision and mark out new pitches with ease.

Intelligent Marking's Unrivalled Accuracy At SALTEX

By utilising a high accuracy GPS system, the Intelligent One can be used anywhere with unprecedented reliability, while matching the marking speed of any robotic line marker available. It is not reliant on a cellular network as operated by other robots and so does not incur expensive annual contract charges.

The Intelligent One can mark an 11-a-side football pitch from scratch in just 20-25 minutes. The robot can also line for rugby, hockey, athletics and any other chosen sport in a similar time. It will mark out a 400m running track in under two hours with numerous templates for other track and field events available.

Bespoke templates are simple to load and can be easily changed in seconds to suit your site.  Once saved, it is then available at the touch of a button to be overmarked time and time again. The robot is stable on every natural and artificial surface and can work continuously due to interchangeable batteries. The machine is economical to use and the amount of paint can be controlled depending on the preferred nozzle size.

IM recommend their own brand of paint; ProStripe to deliver excellent professional standard lines, every time.

For further information or an on-site demonstration please contact:

Intelligent Marking UK Distributor

Ian Robson

ian.robson@imr.eu

Mobile: 07779 270501

Please visit the website: www.prosportukltd.com or www.intelligentmarking.com

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Allett’s Creative Lawn Stripe Winner

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Allett’s Creative Lawn Stripe Winner: Allett Mowers have announced the winning entry in the Allett Creative Stripes competition 2019. This year’s winner, Erik Czako, is from Hungary.

The competition is run online on Allett’s social media channels and the final judge was last year’s winner, Keith Smith. There were entries from ten different countries with the top six coming from Hungary, Sweden, England, Wales and the USA, a clear reflection this is an international competition, and anyone can enter and win. The prize is an Allett Liberty 43 with all its cartridges and two cartridge stands. Winner Erik says:

Allett's Creative Lawn Stripe Winner

“I wanted to mix circles and squares in such a way as to show through both of them. It’s simple in one sense but hard to make it accurate because of the contact point. It takes three hours.” Erik works for a delivery food company and plays football league four. “When I was a child, I watched premier football match and I dreamt of playing on an amazing pitch like that. Because in Hungary pitches don’t have such quality, I decided to make a lawn like this one. Gardeners in Hungary told me it isn’t possible because of the climate. I got advice from English groundsmen and my dream came true. Nowadays I kick the ball on my pitch with my friends, it is a little bit smaller than a football pitch, but it isn’t a problem.”

Erik used an Allett Kensington 14” to create his winning design. Runner up was Swedish garden service company owner and former groundsman Niklaus Andersson who used an Allett Kensington 20K to create his design. In third place was England’s Andrew Wain, Head Gardener at Euridge Manor in Wiltshire, where they host weddings and corporate events, with the lawn seeing an average of 150 people on it every week. To find the winner of the competition the team at Allett voted on their top six first and the results were sent to Keith Smith, the 2018 winner.

Allett's Creative Lawn Stripe Winner

“I was absolutely delighted and honoured to be asked by Allett to judge this year’s competition,” says Keith, “then when I saw the amazingly high standard of entries, I realised what a difficult task this was going to be. I have been so impressed with the standard of entries. Not only the creativity, but the technical difficulties that need to be overcome.” All the entrants will be invited to an Allett Mowers factory tour at the end of the busy season and Allett eagerly look forward to seeing next year’s entries.

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Gareth Rogers Joins Symbio

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Gareth Rogers Joins Symbio: Well-known in the industry, Gareth Rogers has been appointed by Symbio as Technical Sales Manager in Scotland.

A keen golfer, Gareth joins the Surrey-based firm after 5 years at Fairways GM. Before moving into sales, his greenkeeping career spanned 20 years at Grimsby, Elsham, Crieff Hydro, Merrist Wood and Gleneagles golf clubs.

Gareth Rogers Joins Symbio

He comments, “I’m delighted to have joined Symbio. As a former greenkeeper, I know exactly what can be done to develop and maintain healthy rootzones and excellent playing surfaces using its unique products and approach. Sustainable technologies are changing the way sports turf is managed. With chemical use under increasing pressure across Europe and being limited by legislation, our product range goes a long way to filling the void.”

Established in 1990, Symbio was the first company to combine soil biology and chemistry to develop a range of industry-changing products including launching Green Circle in 1992, the first biotech product for nutrient retention and recycling for sports turf.

Since then some of the company’s industry firsts include:- Thatch Eater to convert thatch to plant food, mycorrhizal fungi to promote perennial grasses and in some cases more than halve fertiliser use; Liquid Aeration to oxygenate the rootzone; compost teas to restore life to chemically damaged and compacted rootzones which together with a comprehensive selection of fertilisers, biostimulants, Johnsons seeds and wetting agents, provides a complete range for healthy soil and plant growth.

Gareth can be contacted on 07976 624241 and by email at gareth@symbio.co.uk

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ICL The Remedy For Recovery

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ICL The Remedy For Recovery: Harry Cannon, Course Manager at Sand Martins Golf Club in Berkshire, believes that a range of ICL products have significantly helped the tees to combat signs of heavy wear.

Opened in 1993, the Sand Martins course has been cleverly designed with two distinct and contrasting nine holes. The front nine is set in parkland with lakes and water hazards whereas when you move to the back nine it is quite obvious to see that it transforms to a links style with deep revetted bunkers and hazards lurking on every hole.

ICL The Remedy For Recovery

Despite the variety in style between the two nines, one thing remains constant – the quality of the playing surfaces, and that is partly thanks to Harry, whose enthusiasm and commitment to the development of Sand Martins is clearly evident.

At just 28 years old Harry is a relatively young Course Manager but in his short career he already boasts a wealth of experience. It all started in 2007 when he embarked on a summer job at the Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club and realised that he wanted to pursue a career in greenkeeeping. After completing his necessary qualifications and spending a further nine years at Mid-Surrey he landed the role as Deputy Course Manager at Sand Martins. It wasn’t long before the determined Harry made his mark and was promoted to the position of Course Manager.

“I have great support around me and the team are absolutely fantastic,” he said. “It is still quite a young golf course which brings its challenges but all 18 holes are managed the same and with the programmes that we have in place through ICL, we are able to keep the standards consistently high.”

While it is obvious that Harry takes most challenges in his stride, he admits to facing the most problematic period in his career last year when the Club, and most of the country, experienced extreme droughts.

Harry started by overseeding with ICL’s ProSelect 2 Tees/Fairway mixture which contains a blend of fine fescues and perennial ryegrass. Using a disc-seeder, he applied the seed at 15g/m2 to the tees and double passed.

“We had dried out so much we began to lose turf coverage in areas,” said Harry. “Therefore, we overseeded with ProSelect at the end of September and that got us out of jail massively – it was exactly what was needed. We were getting a great strike going into winter and fortunately because it was quite mild we had early germination.”

With the turf established, Harry’s attentions turned to maintaining the tees in order to control the amount of wear they were experiencing. After speaking to Matt Nutter, ICL Technical Area Sales Manager, he decided that the best way forward would be to apply a granular fertilizer in the form of ProTurf 15-5-15+2CaO+2MgO at the start of the season, followed by a monthly tank-mix consisting of Primo Maxx II growth regulator (1.6 L/ha), and a range of soluble fertilizers – Sportsmaster WSF High N (15Kg/ha), Sportsmaster WSF High K (15Kg/ha) and Sportsmaster WSF Iron (15Kg/ha).

“The purpose of using ProTurf at the start of season is to give the turf a jump-start coming out of winter and going into summer. At the start of June and throughout the whole month it is our Club Championships so we need to be looking sharp and this is what ProTurf gives you.

“The soluble feeds – the High N, the High K and the Iron just seem to keep them ticking over all the way through the year. It’s a perfect mixture and I think the good thing about these ICL products is that we can just amend the application rates depending on what is required. If we have had a lot of rain then we might not need as much N and if they are stressed then we may put in a little bit more K. These products really do allow you to micro-manage.

“For a club that has busy periods, with small tees, and at a time when we were experiencing a lot of stress from last year we have seen great recovery, an improved clipping yield and the density of the sward has considerably thickened. Therefore the biggest praise I can give these products is that they have enabled us to control the amount of wear.”

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

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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Manager Praises Departing Groundsman

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Manager Praises Departing Groundsman: Manager Danny Grainger has praised departing Workington Reds groundsman Jeff Curwen after the stalwart ended his 16-year association with the club.

The shock news was revealed on Monday that Curwen, 78, is stepping down.

Manager Praises Departing Groundsman

If Reds had moved to Derwent Park this summer, it was Curwen’s intention to step down. But after the collapse of the new stadium project, he continued in the role, with the proviso he would depart at the end of the 2019/20 season.

Curwen, though, has this week instead opted to leave his position with the current NPL North West Division leaders with immediate effect. Dennis Rossi will fill the void left by Curwen.

“I worked closely with Jeff over the summer. I went over and helped him out as much as I could,” said former Carlisle United captain Grainger.

“He is someone who has played a vital role in terms of how well we have done in the opening part of the season. He is someone that is vital to the club and we can’t thank him enough for the services that he has brought to the club.

“As the statement on the club website said, they are unsociable hours that Jeff is doing, and the amount of hours he has put in can’t be appreciated enough by us.

“He is someone I think very highly of and I can’t thank him enough for making me feel welcome when I came through the door.”

And Grainger, from Eamont Bridge, near Penrith, admits the work volunteers, like Curwen, do for the club is hugely important.

“The volunteers at the club and the people behind-the-scenes are working tirelessly,” Grainger admitted.

“I go as much as I can, to see the guys and the people working behind-the-scenes. At times, it’s unbelievable how many people are there, mucking in, making sure the ground and the club is alright for a matchday.

“People behind-the-scenes go unnoticed at times, but they are the type of people who help the club go forward.”

On the field, meanwhile, Reds are due to travel to Marske United this Saturday as they aim to extend their lead at the top of the table and build on last weekend’s 5-1 home success over Ramsbottom United.

Grainger, who gave his players a night off training yesterday, says he has thrilled with how Workington have started the season.

“As a group of staff, we have set ourselves targets and we want to keep hitting them,” he said.

“On Saturday, if we are being greedy, we could have won by even more. Speaking to some of their [Rambsottom’s] club representatives, they were saying that they felt they got away lightly on Saturday.

“It just shows how far the lads have come in a short space of time.”

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