INFINICUT and UltraGroomer™ delivers quality courts

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INFINICUT and UltraGroomer™ delivers quality courts: Having seen them in action on the world-famous Wimbledon courts, The Lensbury Club in Middlesex are one of a growing list of clubs taking delivery of an INFINICUT® mower for use on their grass tennis courts.

Along with a set of UltraGroomer™ cassettes from the TMSystem™, Grounds and Gardens Manager Peter Craig says the improvements in the quality and appearance of the six courts hasn’t gone unnoticed by the club’s members.

INFINICUT and UltraGroomer™ delivers quality courts

INFINICUT and UltraGroomer™ delivers quality courts

Following an 18-year term at the Hurlingham Club – during which, he started looking into the INFINICUT® – Peter re-joined The Lensbury in 2018. “We started to see some famous venues using the INFINICUT® mowers and I was lucky enough to see them in action first-hand on the courts at Wimbledon which only further sparked my interest” he explains. “When I returned to The Lensbury, I organised for the team to have a demonstration and they loved it straight from the off”. They became the proud owners of a 22” Fixed Head INFINICUT® shortly after its launch at the end of 2018.

“It gives such a fantastic quality of cut and finish – the definition of stripe is excellent and the HOC and bedknife adjustment systems could not be simpler. The fact that it’s battery powered and therefore more environmentally friendly has always been a major plus-point for me; but even more so now, with the courts at The Lensbury located very close to a residential road. In the past, this meant we were unable to use machinery before 8am but, because the INFINICUT® is so quiet in operation, we can get out and mow at 7am. This means we effectively gain five additional working hours a week, where necessary.”

Recently, the club also purchased a set of UltraGroomer™ cassettes from the TMSystem™ range for early and in-season verti-cutting. “We’re running those in our Jacobsen GP400 triple to remove any lateral growth and clean the surface up. We’ll use these as soon as we start getting some consistent growth in April/May, then will aim to cover all of the courts once a month after that”. The UltraGroomer’s are also in use on the site’s ornamental lawns. “Improving these areas was one of my key goals when I returned, and these cassettes have contributed towards bringing the lawns up to the standards we’re achieving elsewhere.”

The grass courts are a major attraction at the Lensbury Club, with a strong membership regularly playing on them. “They’re over the moon with the condition of the courts. We’ve previously had some of the world’s leading players using the courts for tournament preparations and, while this isn’t currently the case, the quality of the courts are certainly good enough once again to host that level of play should they return.”

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Survey indicates golf’s mental wellbeing benefits

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Survey indicates golf’s mental wellbeing benefits: New members at golf clubs say stress relief has been an important reason to join during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Ahead of World Mental Health Day (October 10), a snapshot survey of 250 golfers in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, indicated that more than half (55%) of those who had joined a club in the past six months cited ‘mental wellbeing’ as their primary reason for joining.

Survey indicates golf’s mental wellbeing benefits

Survey indicates golf’s mental wellbeing benefits

Sporting challenge (50%), physical wellbeing (38%) and social wellbeing (31%) also proved important, while 12% indicated they joined to participate in club competitions.

The social media poll, conducted by Syngenta Golf, follows the publication of a multimedia article ‘The new value of golf’s green spaces’, highlighting the stress-relieving benefits of golf and golf courses.

In the article, environmental psychologist Prof Jenny Roe of the University of Virginia, explains, “Contact with nature slows down our stress response and induces calm.

“It is promoting stress resilience, it is improving our mood, it’s decreasing our risk of depression and increasing our social wellbeing, particularly on a golf course where you are interacting with other members of that community.”

Scientific research published in 2019 has also indicated spending at least two hours per week in nature is good for health and wellbeing.

Mark Birchmore, Syngenta Global Head of Marketing, Turf and Landscape, said: “This is a simple, snapshot survey with a small sample, but it gives an indication of some of the reasons people have joined golf clubs in recent months and suggests further research into golf and mental welling would be worthwhile.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted issues of stress in day-to-day life, the reality is that the experience of spending time in nature on a golf course has always been one of the sport’s key benefits – it’s just rarely communicated as a marketing message. But it is something clubs might consider as it could be an important factor in the value proposition for golf and club membership.”

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Cambridge groundsman awarded BEM

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Cambridge groundsman awarded BEM: Ian Darler has been awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2020.

The honour was given for his services to Cambridge United Football Club and his charity work, with the Cambridge Charity Fundraisers.

Cambridge groundsman awarded BEM

Cambridge groundsman awarded BEM

“I’m blown away. I feel really honoured, especially even more so in the current circumstances,” said Ian.

“Having so many friends who work within the NHS and understand what they’re going through at the present time, I think they are the sort of people you feel should be getting these awards.

“I think it has made it even more valuable to me to receive something like this during the current situation – I’m staggered.”

Ian has been groundsman at Cambridge United’s Abbey Stadium for 42 years, and it is more than just a job as he has dug deep into his own pockets to help maintain the pitch and facilities at the ground when the club has hit hard times.

He was the youngest head groundsman in the Football League when first appointed to the role, and has gone on to also become the stadium manager and matchday safety officer – it is fair to say that he is part of the Abbey Stadium furniture.

Ian went through a difficult period in his life a couple of years back, but has used his experiences of mental health to now help others who may be in a similar situation.

He has catalogued all of this in the book about his time at Cambridge United, entitled Life’s A Pitch.

Ian’s charity work is less in the public spotlight than his role at United, but is arguably even more valuable, having launched the Cambridge Charity Fundraisers.

At his testimonial game against Ipswich to mark 25 years at the U’s, he made a pledge to do something for the community – donating a chunk of the money to East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice.

When a request came in two years later from Each for a further donation, Darler put the idea to a group of friends, who would go fishing once a month on a Wednesday, to start Cambridge Charity Fundraisers, in 2007.

The group of anglers run fishing matches throughout the year, raising funds on behalf of a chosen charity.

An example of some of the work of Cambridge Charity Fundraisers was helping 11 families in the Abbey ward by donating all the meat, vegetables, gravy, Christmas puddings and crackers for their Christmas dinners last year.

During the pandemic, they donated 70 children’s activity gift sets to the Rampton Fairies, a small committee of women in the village of Rampton who usually raise money for Christmas lights and raise money throughout the year to grant wishes for residents, to distribute to youngsters in the village.

Among the beneficiaries of Cambridge Charity Fundraisers have been Fresh Water Projects, England Amputees football team, Hinchingbrooke Special Care Baby Unit, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, Cancer Research UK, Magpas, Copars – helping children with cancer, The Road Victims’ Trust, Tom’s Trust and Arthur Rank Hospice.

He has been known to mow a poppy in the pitch design for Remembrance Sunday, a Christmas tree with baubles, then the Mind logo to show the club’s support for mental health by the side of the playing surface and, during lockdown, a thank you message to the NHS.

He has also won numerous awards at local and national level.

Ian admits that when he first received the call about the honour, he thought it was a joke.

“My first words were ‘who has put you up to this?’,” he said.

“Going back over the years with people like Chris Turner, Malcolm Webster and all the wind-up merchants in the football world, and the people I go fishing with, you just don’t take anything on face value when you’ve been stitched up as many times as I have.”

He added: “I’ve been fortunate enough to have a great time in the football world. For somebody who wanted to be a footballer but failed, to end up having the journey I have had is amazing.

“I’m totally gobsmacked that something like this has come my way. I just really hope it might be beneficial moving forward for what I try to do within the community – with the Cambridge Charity Fundraisers we try to make life better for other people.”

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