Course investment enhances year-round championship quality

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Course investment enhances year-round championship quality: The Buckinghamshire is investing £3 million to upgrade its major championship qualifying course and enhance year-round playing conditions.

The private members’ club, home to the Ladies European Tour and which has previously hosted qualifying for The Open and US Women’s Open, completed a renovation of all its 68 rivetted bunkers this spring. The Club is now adding more than 100,000 linear metres of piped and secondary drainage, and looking to increase its water capture capabilities.

Course investment enhances year-round championship quality

Course investment enhances year-round championship quality

A new championship tee has just been built for the picturesque par-three finishing hole, which runs alongside the River Colne, with a complete upgrade of the practice range now planned.

The investment by owners Arora Group follows a £10 million 2024 renovation of the historic 17th century clubhouse, which now offers seven luxury bedroom suites for use by London based and international members. The club is just 10 miles from London Heathrow Airport.

Gerry Ivers, Managing Director of The Buckinghamshire said, “Our members’ playing experience is paramount, which is why this is an important investment. The frequency of wetter winters is increasing due to climate change, so we are taking steps to ensure playing conditions remain at a very high standard all year round.

“With the wonderful support from our owners, the Arora Group, there is complete focus on facilities at The Buckinghamshire for our members and their guests, both on and off the golf course.”

The Buckinghamshire opened in 1992 and was designed by the late John Jacobs who, although renowned as a PGA Professional and coach, was also a highly regarded golf course designer.

Gerry Ivers added, “The renovation of the bunkers and the return to shorter, native rye caps around their edges, replacing longer fescues, is something we are especially pleased with. Our greenkeeping team played an important role in this work and it has significantly improved definition and playability.”

The full schedule of course works includes:

  • Bunkers: full renovation of 68 rivetted bunkers; sand exchange, with 750 tonnes of new China clay sand added by hand (jagged sand particles to better hold bunker faces); longer fescue grasses replaced by native rye caps around bunker edges
  • Drainage: Upgrading of piped drainage to over 20,000 linear metres and 91,000 linear metres of secondary drainage; enhanced water capture capabilities, increasing sustainability
  • 1st tee: Repurposing of the 1st Tee environs to now include a compact warm-up putting green allowing space for a fourball to practice putting before teeing off
  • 18th tee: Back Tees (Black) now extending to 220 yards on this great par-three finishing hole running alongside the River Colne
  • Practice range: a full upgrade to the range is planned, with the introduction of new state-of-the-art performance technology, reshaped target areas and great new hitting surfaces.

Within easy reach of central London, The Buckinghamshire is a private members’ club for discerning golfers and their families.

To find out more about membership of The Buckinghamshire, please click HERE.

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Major industry players return to SALTEX

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Major industry players return to SALTEX: The Grounds Management Association (GMA) is excited to welcome back some of the biggest names in the industry to SALTEX 2025, Europe’s cutting-edge grounds management show. 

Returning to the NEC Birmingham this autumn, SALTEX will once again be the place where the entire sector comes together to see the latest innovations and get hands-on with the products shaping the future of grounds care.

Major industry players return to SALTEX

Major industry players return to SALTEX

Visitors can look forward to seeing the likes of Kubota, ISEKI UK & Ireland, SIHTL, Milwaukee, SGL, Husqvarna, ICL, Ransomes, Dennis & SISIS all back on the show floor – brands trusted by thousands of grounds professionals across the UK and beyond. Their return shows just how important SALTEX is as a platform where conversations happen, and deals are made.

Frank van Beusekom, Chief Commercial Officer, SGL says: “SALTEX provides an invaluable platform for us to connect with grounds professionals and volunteers, share our latest innovations, and demonstrate how our technology and services are helping sports venues around the world achieve exceptional pitch quality. We’re excited to engage with the industry, exchange ideas, and continue pushing the boundaries of performance and sustainability in turf care.”

From cutting-edge machinery to sustainable solutions and smart technologies, the returning exhibitors are ready to show what’s new and what’s next. If you’re maintaining elite stadiums, grassroots pitches, caring for green spaces or local community parks, you’ll find real-world solutions from the companies who know the job inside out.

Sarah Cunningham, Director of Commercial, Membership and Events, said: “We’re delighted to welcome back the industry leaders who continue to set the standard for innovation and quality. Their continued commitment to SALTEX shows how much value they see in being here – it’s where the industry meets face to face and builds relationships that make a real difference.”

Whilst the returning brands will once again be at the heart of the exhibition, new names like Boston Seeds, Boughton Loam, and Oasis will be making their debut at SALTEX 2025. They’ll bring fresh thinking and even more choice for visitors looking to source new products and services.

With hundreds of exhibitors already signed up and ready to showcase their latest innovations, SALTEX 2025 is shaping up to be an unmissable two days for anyone working in grounds care. This year’s show will feature the ever-popular Learning LIVE programme with headline speakers already confirmed, alongside the all-new machinery workshop with Tom Stidder, offering practical, hands-on guidance.

Combined with exciting new show features set to be announced in the coming weeks, SALTEX is designed to give visitors valuable time away from the day job and ideas they can take straight back to their own roles.

SALTEX 2025 takes place at the NEC Birmingham on 12-13 November. Register for FREE at www.saltex.org.uk and be in with a chance of winning a Cramer Tools All Terrain Lawn Mower ATM53A, complete with charger and battery, worth £2,240!

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Redexim Verti-Drain® Powers Performance

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Redexim Verti-Drain® Powers Performance: With a demanding sports schedule and a heavy clay soil profile, aeration at Bedford School is not a luxury – it’s a necessity. That’s why Head Groundsman George Mills wasted no time in bringing in a Redexim Verti-Drain® 2519 when he joined the team just over a year ago.

“The pitches hadn’t been aerated a great deal over recent years,” George explains. “There was an old machine on site, but it was out of action. On this type of ground, with the usage our pitches get, that just wasn’t sustainable.”

Redexim Verti-Drain® Powers Performance

Redexim Verti-Drain® Powers Performance

The Verti-Drain 2519 has quickly become one of the most relied-upon machines in the school’s fleet. It’s now in near-constant use throughout the winter season – from October through to March – helping to relieve compaction, encourage drainage, and support healthier root growth across the school’s extensive grounds.

“It’s an absolutely essential part of our maintenance programme,” George says. “The biggest difference is how much ground we can now cover in such a short space of time. With the 2519’s speed, in theory we could aerate the entire site in under a week. Of course, in practice we’ve got plenty of other work going on, but that capability makes a huge difference to us.”

Built for performance without compromising on manoeuvrability, the Verti-Drain 2519 is ideally suited to sensitive areas such as sports pitches, tees, and greens. Despite its compact design, it offers deep aeration down to 10 inches (25 cm) and can be run on lower horsepower tractors – an advantage George is keen to highlight.

“We’re using it on a 66hp tractor,” he says. “It’s 1.8m wide and it works so efficiently on that size of tractor. It doesn’t struggle – even when we’re going in 9 inches deep with ¾-inch tines. It flies through it.”

What also sets the Verti-Drain 2519 apart is its working speed. “With the larger tines, we run at around 3.2 km/h, and with the smaller ones around 2.8 km/h,” George explains. “That might not sound fast, but for us it’s huge. It means we can get onto pitches in the morning and have them fully aerated, marked and ready to play on in the afternoon – it’s even helped save fixtures.”

The build quality and user experience have also impressed. “It’s really solid and smooth to use,” George continues. “There’s no bouncing around like you’d expect with some machines. You drop it into the ground, and you barely feel it – it’s like going through butter.”

The machine also accepts a wide variety of tine options, giving George the flexibility to adapt throughout the season. “We mix up the size of the tines and the depth we’re going, to get different results each time. The adjustment side is simple and it’s all easy to manage, which helps when you’re trying to move quickly between jobs.”

At Bedford School, the demands on the grounds are intense. Rugby is played six days a week, with pitches often hosting both prep school and senior matches on the same day. On such a high-use site, aeration is not just part of the routine – it’s at the core of everything the grounds team does.

For George, turf care is more than a profession – it’s in his blood. “I grew up doing this with my dad and my brother,” he says. “It’s all we’ve ever known. I rolled my first cricket wicket when I was eight and I’ve been working in turf ever since.”

That experience means he knows quality when he sees it – and for George, the Redexim Verti-Drain 2519 delivers on every level. “It’s a seriously impressive bit of kit,” he concludes.

“We’re pushing it hard, and it just gets the job done. You want to be confident that you’re making the right investment – and with this, we absolutely have. The whole grounds team are seeing and enjoying the benefits of the machine as well.”

For more information, visit https://www.redexim.com/uk/

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