Leicester City adopts precision spray technology

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Leicester City adopts precision spray technology: John Deere’s new advanced technology GPS PrecisionSprayer, available exclusively for use with the ProGator utility vehicle, allows sports turf professionals to work more accurately, safely and productively.

With features such as AutoTrac satellite guided automatic steering, a full-colour in-cab touchscreen display and individual nozzle control, this easy-to-use sprayer also lowers input costs through reduced overlaps and misses.

Leicester City adopts precision spray technology

Leicester City adopts precision spray technology

The GPS PrecisionSprayer uses satellite technology and mobile RTK (real-time kinematic) navigation down to accuracy levels of 2.5cm to allow users to create reliable spray coverage maps. It also captures all spray data and analyses the results, which streamlines documentation and provides robust analytics for recording and legislation purposes.

John Ledwidge, Head of Sports Turf & Grounds at Leicester City Football Club, bought the first of these new machines to be delivered to a non-golf customer in the UK, from John Deere dealer Farol.

“There were many reasons for choosing the sprayer, the chief one being accuracy,” says John. “We are creating a world-class facility at our new training ground and we aspire to be world-class in the way we operate.

“Adopting this new precision technology will help in our aim to be as efficient and environmentally sustainable as possible in everything we do. The John Deere GPS PrecisionSprayer means we can apply exactly what is required without overspraying or overspending.”

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TriCure AD™ & Terafirm™ combo come to the rescue

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TriCure AD™ & Terafirm™ combo come to the rescue: With the Jacobean-style mansion providing the backdrop to some of the courses 18 parkland holes, Warwickshire’s Welcombe Golf Club delivers undulations which are a challenge to player and greenkeeper alike.

In charge of the maintenance is Golf Course & Estates Manager Richard Sheldon who, with a rather aged fleet of equipment at his disposal, has turned to a combination of TriCure AD™ and Terafirm™ from Headland Amenity to tackle the issue of water management.

TriCure AD™ & Terafirm™ combo come to the rescue

TriCure AD™ & Terafirm™ combo come to the rescue

Richard’s first task when he joined the club in January 2020 was to assess his inherited fleet of machinery and spotted the notable absence of a deep aerator. “Our greens are constructed using rootzone and have the ability to drain well but due to the lack of deep aeration we were getting very shallow rooting caused by a pan layer, which also affected the distribution of moisture through the profile” explains Richard, who is assisted by a team of three. In addition, when Richard decided to fire up the club’s irrigation system during the first national lockdown, he found that around 90% of the tee sprinklers were broken! Thankfully, his knowledge and experience of Headland’s TriCure AD™ saved the day.

“It was a really hot period and we were seeing a loss of coverage on both the greens and the tees very quickly. We began using TriCure AD™ on the greens, which helped to retain any moisture near the surface, and in turn the roots, but this also penetrated through the pan layer and in just twelve months, the pan effect has gone. Our recent soil samples showed new deeper rooting through the profile. We also used TriCure AD™ on the tees and, alongside getting the sprinklers replaced, this undoubtedly saved the tees.”

TriCure AD™ multi-molecular soil surfactant improves soil surface dry-down and prevents hydrophobic conditions. Its three different active surfactant chemistries mean that it can treat all types of rootzone particles and can be applied at much lower rates (like for like) than competitor surfactants. “We are now applying TriCure AD™ on a monthly basis throughout the summer, on all greens, tees and approaches. In the winter we switch over to monthly applications of Terafirm™ advanced soil penetrant which has been really impressive.”

“Because we try and keep inputs to a minimum as part of our organic matter control, you can just begin to tell when the Terafirm™ is reaching the end of its field longevity and then, after spraying, the difference is quickly noticeable – the greens are firm, dry and free-from puddling. We had some lovely feedback from local Course Managers on the condition of our greens, even following the heavy rainfall we saw in January of this year.”

Richard concludes, “I used Headland products at my previous club and have always been impressed with the results. This is the first time I’ve been responsible for pricing up supplies and, having seen that the Headland products were competitive, we have converted our entire nutritional programme over to Headland over the last 15 months with fantastic results course-wide.”

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GMA announces #GroundsWeek 2022

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GMA announces #GroundsWeek 2022: The Grounds Management Association (GMA), the leading not-for-profit membership body for grounds professionals, volunteers and businesses, has announced the return of #GroundsWeek in 2022, to be held once again in the first week of March (28th February – 6th March).

This year, GMA launched the inaugural #GroundsWeek – a campaign celebrating grounds management professionals and volunteers, and galvanising a new generation of grounds enthusiasts to help avoid a major skills gap. The integrated digital and media campaign reached over 135 million people, secured support from 1,193 organisations and individuals, and generated over 3,000 mentions of #GroundsWeek on social media.

GMA announces #GroundsWeek 2022

GMA announces #GroundsWeek 2022

Following the huge successes of the inaugural celebration week, GMA has confirmed that GroundsWeek will continue to celebrate and highlight the vital role professional grounds staff and volunteers play in making sport possible each year.

The research conducted by the GMA for #GroundsWeek 2021 showed the severe skills gap the sector was facing. Encouraging people to join the sector is vital, and while 32% of kids want to work in sport, the research found that only 5% understand vital but overlooked roles like grounds management.

This year’s focus was therefore about inspiring young people to enter the industry as a professional and encouraging sports fans everywhere to look at volunteering at their local grounds. Next year, the GMA will aim to build on this, highlighting the amazing community within grounds management and encouraging people from all walks of life to join the sector.

Geoff Webb, CEO of the GMA, said:

“We launched the first ever #GroundsWeek after a tough year, to raise the profile of our sector and show everyone within sport and beyond how important it is to ensure we can all take part in sport and physical activity.

“It’s safe to say that #GroundsWeek has been a huge success. We had teams, organisations, individuals, and sponsors coming together to cheer on grounds people everywhere. All the hard work that goes into sport behind the scenes was highlighted across the nation, and it was amazing to see so many get involved. We’re particularly grateful to our various sponsors who got involved this year in supporting our activity and we hope we can continue working with such fantastic businesses in 2022.

“By building on the success of our first #GroundsWeek, we want to make next year’s celebratory week even bigger and better than before.”

For more information about the GMA and the important work it does within the turf care sector, visit: https://thegma.org.uk/groundsweek

For anyone interested in sponsorship for next year, please get in touch with:

Luke Perry (07765130 712 / LPerry@thegma.org.uk)

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Earlestown Athletic look to the future

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Earlestown Athletic look to the future: Grassroots football cub, Earlestown Athletic JFC, has ensured the long-term quality and improvement of their four-pitch site, The Hive, with a New Holland Boomer 35 Tractor, Trimax Striker Mower and Sisis Quadraplay from Campey Turf Care Systems.

The Warrington based club has 21 teams from the ages of three to under-17 level, with a vast majority of games played at The Hive. The development of the five-acre site on what was the former St Aelred’s Catholic School field, which over the years was left derelict took place four years ago with the help of funding from The Football Foundation, Corby Environmental and Sport England.

Earlestown Athletic look to the future

Earlestown Athletic look to the future

With that money and a 99-year lease from the council, the club renovated the ground, installed drainage, a modular building with toilets, a kitchen and a car park. To this point, The Hive has become one of the best football facilities in the area, and it is the aim of Chairman, Carl Hollingsworth, that this can be improved thanks to the help of Campey Product Specialist, Ethan Yates, and their new machinery.

“I’ve been with the club for nearly nine years now, mainly as a coach, but it’s only been in the last year and a half since becoming Chairman that I’ve seen a lot more happening behind the scenes than I ever had before,” Carl explains. “It’s been a bit of an eye-opener, with plenty of ups and downs, but thankfully we have a fantastic committee who put the Club first. Between myself, Dave Edwards our Secretary, and rest of the Committee we’ve steered the club through some pretty tough times with the COVID-19 lockdown and the premature ending of last season. Credit also must go to our players families who have supported us throughout.

“During this summer we applied for and received the Pitch Improvement Grant to help us do the maintenance on the fields, and the latest money is from that programme again, but on the equipment side of things and without them we’d be up the creek without a paddle basically, I can’t thank The Football Foundation enough.”

“Our old mower kept breaking down and about two months ago the wheel fell off so we had to source new bolts and a new a wheel head, but the bolts weren’t right, so it fell off again and it was sat in the middle of a field. That really prompted us to push even more for the new equipment.

“Once we realised we could get it, and raise the money we needed, Campey were brilliant in bringing a mower to demonstrate, and Ethan especially has been great. He’s been brilliant in taking my phone calls after work as we went through the process, and on the day, he dropped the machine off, he spent hours going through it with the coaches and me.

“It’s going to get more use because more coaches are willing to use it whereas the old one it was a bit of a no-go area for some of them because they were a bit intimidated by it. Whereas this is brand-new equipment, and they want to use it, which is good because it takes the pressure off me.”

The quality of The Hive has been recognised over the last two seasons with the award of the Warrington Junior Football League Presidents Cup and Alf Holt Cup finals, with the third round of finals also due to be played on the site unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19.

Whether your club is striving to maintain or improve their pitch quality, Campey can assist you with advice on machinery and provide a full and comprehensive service of consultation and back-up to ensure you get the machinery you need to make a difference for your club.

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Bunkers ensure success at Marco Simone course

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Bunkers ensure success at Marco Simone course: Although the Covid-19 pandemic means it will have to wait another year until it hosts the Ryder Cup, preparation of the Marco Simone course in Rome continue apace.

All eighteen holes of the new-look course, designed by European Golf Design, opened for member and guest play earlier this month. And Dave Sampson, of European Golf Design, says the course’s bunkers, which have been built using the Capillary Bunkers lining system, are performing particularly well.

Bunkers ensure success at Marco Simone course

Bunkers ensure success at Marco Simone course

“The first nine holes – actually the back nine of the course – started construction in August 2018, and were all grassed by the end of summer 2019,” says Sampson. “A couple of major storm events set those holes back a little, but they were all in play last summer. The second phase construction started in autumn 2019 and finished during summer 2020. Phase three, the practice greens, is currently being finished, though architect Sampson, prevented from visiting the site by the pandemic, has been approving the works via drone footage. The course is planned to make its public bow this September when it plays host to the European Tour’s Italian Open.

Sampson says: “We have been in daily contact with the guys from contractor SOL Golf who have been on site, so finishing the final greens remotely has been OK. Nothing of the original course has been retained – every hole except for the sixth plays in a new corridor.”

He adds that the choice of Capillary Bunkers as a liner was an easy one. “I have had really good success with Capillary on previous projects, including the Evian resort in France and Crans-sur-Sierre in Switzerland,” he explains. “Evian and Marco Simone have quite a lot in common, in terms of weather patterns, so it was a pretty good model. The amount of maintenance time post storms is minimal compared to what it was before.”

Designing a course for a Ryder Cup is rather different to building a normal course, Sampson says: “On a normal project, you’d be looking for the best eighteen holes, pure and simple. Here, you’re looking for the best eighteen holes that can deal with 50,000 spectators. So the routing is quite challenging, but that said, there are not long walks between greens and tees. This is a 27-hole project, so the extra nine gives us space for the range, the spectator village and the like. And you need to build the course to be extra resilient in terms of weather – there isn’t a lot of extra daylight to play with given the time of year a Ryder Cup is played, so the course needs to be playable quickly even in the event of severe weather. That’s one of the benefits of using a liner like Capillary Bunkers.”

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