BIGGA launches ‘Plant a Tree for BTME’

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BIGGA launches ‘Plant a Tree for BTME’: The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) has launched a new scheme that will see exhibitors at its annual trade show and education conference encouraged to ‘Plant a Tree for BTME’.

The 2022 edition of the BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME) was held from 22 to 24 March at the Harrogate Convention Centre, but is anticipated to return to its regular January date in 2023. Exhibitors who sign up to attend the 2023 event will be given the option of purchasing a tree, to be planted at a nominated golf course.

BIGGA launches ‘Plant a Tree for BTME’

BIGGA launches ‘Plant a Tree for BTME’

It is hoped that over the years sufficient trees will be planted to create a network of ‘BTME community woodlands’ around the UK, with Harrogate Golf Club the first club to participate in the scheme.

With individual trees capturing up to 1 tonne of carbon dioxide from our air over its lifetime, the scheme will raise awareness of the carbon footprint generated by major events such as BTME and be a flagship initiative as BIGGA seeks to improve its sustainable practices, as is echoed at forward-thinking golf facilities everywhere.

BIGGA Membership Services Manager for Sustainability James Hutchinson said: “The idea of planting trees as a means of offsetting carbon generated by people travelling to attend BTME was first proposed by a BIGGA member a couple of months ago and it is something that struck me as making a lot of sense. Those who know me know that I’m a dendrophile – I love trees – and as we explored the possibility further we uncovered schemes such as the National Trust’s pledge to plant 20 million trees by 2030, so it just made a lot of sense to get involved.

“It is always important to take great care when selecting what trees to plant on a golf course as not all species are appropriate or will generate the desired result, but by working with courses that are eager to create areas of woodland for the wider community, we believe this scheme will help to raise awareness of the good work that golf courses are doing to protect the natural environment.”

Harrogate Golf Club’s course manager, Ken Ward, said: “An old employer of mine once told me, ‘we’re just custodians of this land’. That rang true with me. We’re not here for that long but we want to leave it in a better place than we found it. This is an opportunity to get our members and two local primary schools involved with a project on the golf course, which is a fantastic thing.”

Plant a Tree for BTME is just one of a number of initiatives that BIGGA has undertaken to reduce the carbon footprint of BTME. BTME returns from 24 to 26 January 2023 at the Harrogate Convention Centre. The event is free to attend and for more information visit www.btme.org.uk

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220TMP proves to be the ‘master’

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220TMP proves to be the ‘master’: When tree surgeon Paul Cutler was in the market for a new woodchipper to handle large scale domestic tree-works, there was only one machine that fitted the bill – a Chipmaster 220TMP from GreenMech.

Having been impressed with the build quality of the GreenMech machines at a local dealer open day, Paul took delivery of his machine in January 2022, and it’s already blown him away with its high output capabilities taking large conifers and other bulky material in its stride.

220TMP proves to be the ‘master'

220TMP proves to be the ‘master’

Paul has used various makes and models of woodchipper over his 35-year career, with a 4” and 6” road-tow machine currently on his fleet, sitting alongside a second-hand 6” PTO unit that began costing Paul more than it was earning! “I had recently purchased some other equipment from our local machinery dealer Thurlow Nunn Standen, when Andy Rayner mentioned they were becoming GreenMech dealers and invited me along to an open day” Paul explains.

Impressed with the build quality of the machines on show, he explored further, before settling on the Chipmaster 220TMP. “The great thing about this chipper is that it has a huge 9” capacity which is fantastic for productivity, but it only requires a 60hp tractor. It also has a really wide infeed chute which means we can put in large, twisted brash and branches without needing to spend time trimming them down or inadvertently triggering the safety bar.”

“Not only is it giving us high output, the whole machine is so simple to use” he continues. The Chipmaster 220TMP is the ultimate ‘maximum output, minimum investment’ machine. It fits the three-point linkage on tractors between 60 and 80hp, with the feed rollers powered by the tractor’s hydraulic system. The Chipmaster has been designed to deliver the perfect combination of tremendous strength and robust performance – promising the free-flow and high throughput of bulky materials.

“I’ve been using it this week on a big domestic job, and it’s been taking 20-foot long and 6” diameter conifers, with no trouble at all.” Paul concludes, “The difference between the Chipmaster and our old machine and 6” unit is huge! With the performance and significant time savings it’s already bringing to jobs, it really is a brilliant investment.”

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The healthier alternative for Patterson’s

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The healthier alternative for Patterson’s: After a decade of working with 2-stroke engines, Adam Patterson, from Patterson’s Gardening Services in Northern Ireland, thought it was time to switch to battery-powered equipment.

Covering all kinds of garden maintenance, Patterson’s Gardening Mowers, based in Lisburn continues to go from strength to strength. Renowned for its high quality of work and excellent customer service, the company never rests on its laurels.

The healthier alternative for Patterson’s

The healthier alternative for Patterson’s

Adam is proud of the company’s vast customer base, and he revealed that in the whole seven years the business has been running, he has never had a conversation starter such as his new Pellenc equipment.

“I would say the Pellenc equipment has been the biggest talking point ever,” he said. “It is a huge conversation starter with customers, and they’ll often stop me to comment on how quiet it is. It is so quiet, that sometimes I don’t even need to turn it off; or if I do, I simply take my finger off the trigger – it’s that easy.”

Adam and his customers aren’t the only ones to be bowled over by the innovative range of Pellenc battery-powered equipment. A forerunner when it comes to lithium-ion technology, Pellenc has established itself as the number one choice in the ‘zero emission’ professional power tools market for the maintenance of urban and green-spaces.

Light, odourless, noise-free, with no starting problems and enough power to enable professional users to work for a full day on a single charge, it’s no wonder more and more professional users are turning to Pellenc. It is an attractive alternative to those who have, for several years, been relying on fuel-based machinery.

Not only will users see a huge amount of savings by eliminating the necessity of purchasing fuel but by using the Pellenc equipment, they will be contributing to protecting the environment by reducing the consumption of fossil fuels and noise pollution.

With three members of staff to think about, Adam’s concerns about the fumes from 2-stroke engines weren’t just limited to himself.

“The main reason for looking at battery alternatives was because of the health implications,” he said. “This was most apparent when using a hedge trimmer because myself and my staff use these tools a lot and quite often, we would be surrounded by the fumes for hours at a time. I also found myself coughing a lot at night-time. It was absolutely the right time to make the switch and I thought the hedge trimmers would be a good place to start.”

As a result, Adam arranged a demonstration with his local dealer RD Mechanical and purchased the Helion Compact 2 which is the lightest battery-powered hedge trimmer on the market. It is an efficient tool that meets the needs of professionals in terms of power and trimming quality. In fact, the Helion allows the user to work comfortably when trimming hedges, ornamental trees and can also be used for pruning.

Furthermore, a swivel head is available on the pole models, and can be adjusted by +90°/-45° which means you can work in all trimming positions. The Swivel handle is also adjustable by +/- 90° for vertical work without bending the handle.

“It’s a fantastic bit of kit and I comfortably get a full day’s work out of it,” he said. “I have the battery backpack too, and you hardly notice it is there.

“I looked at a couple of other brands of battery-powered powered products, but Pellenc just stood out to me, along with the great back-up service I get from RD Mechanical. I think one of the biggest selling points is that they are waterproof and that gave me extra confidence. Combine that with the 4-year warranty on the tools and a 3-year warranty on the battery, and you simply can’t go wrong with Pellenc.”

Pellenc is distributed exclusively in the UK by Etesia UK.

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.pellencuk.com

You can also follow Pellenc on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @PellencUK for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

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Emotional BTME celebration

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Emotional BTME celebration: A turf educator known as the ‘grandfather of greenkeeper education’ and credited with helping establish training opportunities for those working on golf courses was recognised on the opening evening of the BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME).

At the BIGGA Welcome Celebration with AMS Robotics, Dennis Mortram, 75, was awarded with the Outstanding Contribution of the Year Award sponsored by Bernhard and Company. Dennis is a former tutor at Reaseheath College in Cheshire and was one of the first to recognise that greenkeepers would require industry-specific education if they were to elevate the profession and raise standards of golf course maintenance. He also played a key role in the establishment of the Master Greenkeeper certification.

Emotional BTME celebration

Emotional BTME celebration

A tribute video is available to view here.

BTME is the UK’s leading exhibition for those in the golf greenkeeping and sports turf industries and is taking place in March for the first time in the trade show’s 33-year history. The traditional curtain-raiser of the exhibition is the BIGGA Welcome Celebration sponsored by AMS Robotics and hosted by television presenter Naga Munchetty.

At the event a number of other awards were handed out to BIGGA members who have done extraordinary things throughout their careers or shown wonderful commitment to supporting the association and its members.

The team at Loch Lomond Golf Club was awarded the Greenkeeping Project of the Year Award sponsored by Baroness. With almost 2 metres of rainfall each year, Loch Lomond is a challenging place to build a golf course. David Cole MG and his team have overseen a project that has been described as the largest golf course construction in UK golfing history. Using innovative techniques that included placing a sand cap across the entire course, the team rebuilt the entire golf course over a period of four winters. More information is available here.

The Championship Greenkeeping Performance of the Year Award sponsored by Origin Amenity Solutions was won by the team at Clevedon Golf Club following the hosting the Wright-Morgan Championship on the EuroPro Tour in 2021. The event was only Clevedon’s third professional event in its 130-year history but despite their relative inexperience and a modest operating budget, Course Manager Richard Ponsford and the team produced a golf course that was described by the EuroPro’s tournament director as by far the best presented venue of the year. More information is available here.

Also recognised at the BIGGA Welcome Celebration sponsored by AMS Robotics were:

  • The winners of the Excellence in Communications Awards with Campey Turfcare Systems were revealed to be John Rowbottom of Woolley Park Golf Club (New Media), John Milne of Garmouth & Kingston Golf Club (Outreach) and Shaun Cunningham of Prestonfield Golf Club (Innovation and Thought Leadership).
  • Stuart Taylor, formerly course manager at Glasgow Golf Club, received Life Membership of BIGGA.
  • The Amenity Forum Sprayer Operator of the Year Award was given to Jason Garlick of JMG Amenity.
  • BIGGA’s latest Master Greenkeepers received their certificates. They were Matthew Aplin, Alan FitzGerald, Greg Fitzmaurice, Richard Johnstone and Paul Brett.
  • The audience watched a conversation with Bryn Roberts, deputy head greenkeeper at Padeswood & Buckley, who recently returned from delivering aid to the Ukrainian border.
  • Jonathan Wood of St Andrews Links and winner of the 2021 BIGGA Photographic Competition collected his prizes including a frame print of his winning image.

Dennis Mortram said: “I’m emotionally drained. What we did back then was as a team and I have so many people to thank, who are as deserving as me to be up on this stage. Thank you to everyone for this honour, it is amazing.”

David Cole MG, course manager at Loch Lomond Golf Club, said: “I must admit that I feel like the four years of the project have taken their toll on me so I got quite emotional when Naga announced us as the winners. I’m so proud of the team and I really wanted them to get recognition for what they achieved. I will be indebted to my team until the day I die because they were there 12 hours a day, seven days a week for four years in a row.”

Richard Ponsford, course manager at Clevedon Golf Club, said: “I couldn’t believe it. Ganton and West Lancs are amazing venues and I thought we were just there to make the numbers up. From the team that I have every day at Clevedon to the volunteers, we couldn’t have done it without any of them. For the players to say that the course is up there with the best is something special.”

BTME 2022 continues until Thursday 24 March 2022 at the Harrogate Convention Centre. Registration is free and available at www.btme.org.uk

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