Industry News

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Industry-Leading Brands Back GMA Connect

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Industry-Leading Brands Back GMA Connect: The Grounds Management Association (GMA) is excited to announce the support of leading industry brands for its new regional event series, GMA Connect – a dedicated hub for grounds professionals. Taking place in Bristol and Durham, these one-day events bring grounds professionals together at a regional level, providing hands-on insights […]

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GMA Launches 35 Under 35

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GMA Launches 35 Under 35: The Grounds Management Association (GMA), supported by ICL, is proud to launch 35 Under 35 – a brand-new initiative to celebrate the brightest young professionals and volunteers making a real difference in the grounds management industry. Grounds management is an essential yet often overlooked profession, responsible for maintaining the quality, […]

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Howardson Group Staff Take on National Three Peaks Challenge

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Howardson Group Staff Take on National Three Peaks Challenge: A team from Howardson Group is preparing to take on the formidable National Three Peaks Challenge in memory of their much-missed colleague, Joe Emery, who sadly passed away in July last year. The challenge will see the team scaling the highest mountains in Scotland, England, and […]

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Expert Speakers To Address Turf Management Challenges

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Expert Speakers To Address Turf Management Challenges: The Grounds Management Association (GMA) is pleased to confirm the speaker line-up for its upcoming GMA Connect events at Ashton Gate Stadium and Durham County Cricket Club. GMA Connect is designed to bring the grounds industry together at a regional level, offering a valuable opportunity for grounds professionals […]

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How You Can Get Involved With #GroundsWeek

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How You Can Get Involved With #GroundsWeek: #GroundsWeek 2025, taking place from 17 to 23 March, is fast approaching. This nationwide celebration, led by the Grounds Management Association (GMA), shines a spotlight on the professionals and volunteers who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make sports surfaces and green spaces thrive. The week is all […]

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Kyle Walker To Host GMA Industry Awards

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Kyle Walker To Host GMA Industry Awards: The Grounds Management Association (GMA) is delighted to confirm that renowned sports broadcaster Kyle Walker will host the GMA Industry Awards 2025. With a broadcasting career spanning Sky Sports, Premier League Productions (PLP) and the BBC, he has become a familiar face to sports fans, presenting programmes such […]

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GMA and ECB Apprenticeship Support Scheme

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GMA and ECB Apprenticeship Support Scheme: The Grounds Management Association (GMA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have joined forces to launch the ‘Apprenticeship Support Scheme’, designed to enhance the experience of grounds people apprentices in First Class Counties. This pilot initiative is designed to strengthen the future of cricket by attracting and […]

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GMA NextGen welcomes four new members

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GMA NextGen welcomes four new members: The Grounds Management Association (GMA) is pleased to announce the addition of four new professionals to its NextGen group. GMA NextGen, sponsored by Reesink UK, is comprised of talented young grounds professionals who represent the grounds management industry and act as ambassadors for the GMA. Their mission is to […]

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SIS Pitches celebrates record year

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SIS Pitches celebrates record year: The UK’s leading sports manufacturer, SIS Pitches has announced it has secured a patent for its new machine, rounding off an exceptional year. A patent has been granted for the vacuum mechanism ‘Revolution’ machines, made by SIS Pitches to produce premium hybrid pitches for an array of sports. The machine […]

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ICL Acquires GreenBest

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ICL Acquires GreenBest: ICL Growing Solutions, a global leader in specialty fertilisers, announce today the acquisition of GreenBest, a UK-based manufacturer specialising in tailored specialty fertilisers and solutions for the Sports Turf, Landscape, and Horticulture markets. This marks ICL Growing Solutions’ third strategic acquisition this year, following Nitro 1000, a Brazilian leader in biostimulants, and […]

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GroundsFest Education Fund Helps Student Land Career

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GroundsFest Education Fund Helps Student Land Career: The GroundsFest Education Fund is already making a significant impact on the next generation of grounds management professionals, with several students already benefitting from its support. The most recent success story is George Legg, a student studying Sports Turf NVQ Level 2 at Wiltshire College and an Apprentice […]

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JCB Christmas toy appeal breaks record

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JCB Christmas toy appeal breaks record: JCB’s third annual Christmas Toy Appeal has delivered a record haul of gifts for distribution to children in Staffordshire and Wrexham. Kind-hearted employees have donated more than 1,700 presents across all of JCB’s UK plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Wrexham – making it the biggest ever total since the […]

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BIGGA thanks survey participants

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BIGGA thanks survey participants: The British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA), has thanked the 1,141 individuals who participated in the association’s recent membership survey. Responses were received from across the United Kingdom, with a further 7% of participants contributing from outside the UK. The survey attracted input from professionals at every level of the […]

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Kubota Celebrates 50 Years in Europe

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Kubota Celebrates 50 Years in Europe: Kubota marked a significant milestone of 50 years in Europe, by hosting an exclusive event themed “It’s All About People.” at PortAventura in Spain. The event welcomed over 900 attendees, including dealers, distributors, partners, international media and employees, showcasing Kubota’s status as a leading manufacturer in Agriculture, Groundcare, and […]

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Andy Jackson inducted into GMA Hall of Fame

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Andy Jackson inducted into GMA Hall of Fame: The Grounds Management Association (GMA) is proud to announce the induction of Andy Jackson, Grounds Manager at Stoke City Football Club, into the prestigious GMA Hall of Fame as part of its 90th anniversary celebrations. This honour recognises Andy’s outstanding contributions to both professional and grassroots football […]

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Two golf clubs report shocking vandalism

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Two golf clubs report shocking vandalism: Two golf clubs in Bournemouth have reported that vandals have attacked parts of their courses. Read the full article from the Golf Business here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for […]

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Groundsman refutes Ben Stokes’ claim

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Groundsman refutes Ben Stokes’ claim: With the Ashes 2023 right around the corner, both England and Australia would be keen on staying at the top of their game for the much-anticipated Test series. Read the full article from CricTracker here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on […]

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Former groundsman nears fundraising target

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Former groundsman nears fundraising target: Former AFC Bournemouth groundsman Andy Press is closing in on his fundraising goal after completing his challenge walk. Read the full article from Bournemouth Echo here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us […]

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Should greenkeepers have priority

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Should greenkeepers have priority: Who should yield first – greenkeepers or players? Read the full article from National Club Golfer here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content. You can also find […]

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EFL award winners announced

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EFL award winners announced: Burnley, Derby County and Newport County have been named 2022/23 Grounds Teams of the Season in the EFL. Read the full article from The EFL here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for […]

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Vandals slammed for targeting Elderslie GC

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Vandals slammed for targeting Elderslie GC: Mindless vandals have been slammed for causing hundreds of pounds of damage at Elderslie Golf Club. Read the full article from The Gazette here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for […]

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England skipper wants fast pitches

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England skipper wants fast pitches: England captain Ben Stokes has warned Australia that he has asked for “fast, flat wickets” to take the attack to the Ashes holders later this year. Read the full article from Barron’s here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on […]

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Greenkeeper describes moment of rescue

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Greenkeeper describes moment of rescue: A north-east man has described the moment he pulled a man from the River Don after seeing him fall from an Aberdeen bridge. Read the full article from Press & Journal here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories […]

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Groundsman on pitch fact-finding mission

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Groundsman on pitch fact-finding mission: The pitch manager of Croke Park is among the groundsmen from sports stadiums across the world who have flown to Qatar to see what might be learned from the maintenance of pitches at the 2022 World Cup.  Read the full article from The42 here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news […]

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Free golf membership for greenkeeping help

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Free golf membership for greenkeeping help: The owner of a private, nine-hole golf club in England is letting people play for free providing they pitch in with course maintenance. Read the full article from Golf Magic here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories […]

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Shifnal GC greenkeeper downing tools

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Shifnal GC greenkeeper downing tools: He arrived as a fresh-faced teenager and now, 47 years later, Peter Leath can reflect on a stellar job as Shifnal Golf Club’s head greenkeeper. Read the full article from Shropshire Star here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on […]

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Groundsman to play on his ‘sacred’ pitch

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Groundsman to play on his ‘sacred’ pitch: A Scarlets groundsman who has worked for the club for over a decade is getting the chance to play on his “sacred ground” for the first time. Read the full article from ITV here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions […]

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Pay more or staffing crisis will worsen

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Pay more or staffing crisis will worsen: Industry leaders say there are rising vacancies in key roles at golf clubs – and action must be taken now. Read the full article from National Club Golfer here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that […]

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Stoke manager praises ‘real big asset’

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Stoke manager praises ‘real big asset’: There must have been a temptation for the ground staff to come out after Stoke City had finished their draw with Birmingham on Saturday then head straight back in again. Read the full article from Stoke Sentinel here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, […]

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Kids devastated as vandal ruins pitches

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Kids devastated as vandal ruins pitches: A local junior football club in Malton are ‘furious’ after their football pitch has been destroyed by a car and is expected to take weeks to repair. Read the full article from Yorkshire Live here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos […]

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Bizarre golf-course problems

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Bizarre golf-course problems: If you think taking care of grass is as uneventful as watching it grow, you haven’t spent much time with a superintendent. Read the full article from Golf.com here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for […]

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Vandals destroy football pitches

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Vandals destroy football pitches: Two Northside football clubs say they’ve been left devastated after their pitches were vandalised last weekend. Read the full article from the FM104 here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh […]

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Jersey Wanderers’ pitch damaged

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Jersey Wanderers’ pitch damaged: A football club has been left ‘disappointed’ and ‘frustrated’ after their pitch was damaged and logs used as a barrier to the neighbouring rugby club were taken. Read the full article from Jersey Evening Post here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and […]

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Are County cricket pitches soft targets?

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Are County cricket pitches soft targets?: It is no surprise that the standard of County Championship pitches has once again been thrust into the spotlight following England’s capitulation in Australia. Read the full article from Cricbuzz here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter […]

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Golf club greenkeeper retires

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Golf club greenkeeper retires: A small celebration to mark nearly six decades of green keeping at Sutton Bridge Golf Club has taken place. The greenkeeper, Andrew Norton, retired after almost 58 years at the club . Read the full article from Lynn News here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big […]

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Groundsmen race steals show at SCG

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Groundsmen race steals show at SCG: Two groundsmen have stolen the show during the Ashes fourth Test amid stop-start cricket due to scattered showers at the SCG. Read the full article from Fox Sports here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter […]

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Muirfield to The Machrie

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Muirfield to The Machrie: Why golf course manager Dean Muir has no regrets about move to Islay. Read the full article from MSN here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content. You […]

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Heroic greenkeeper saves man’s life

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Heroic greenkeeper saves man’s life: A greenkeeper at Gullane Golf Club in Scotland saved the life of a golfer who was having a heart attack on the course. Read the full article from Golf Magic here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that […]

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Moped vandals tear up cricket pitch

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Moped vandals tear up cricket pitch: A cricket club has been hit for six after moped-riding vandals caused damage to their pitch. Read the full article from Gazette News here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for […]

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Kent groundsman scoops award

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Kent groundsman scoops award: Kent’s head of grounds Adrian Llong has won the England Cricket Board’s One-Day award for Grounds Manager of the Year. Read the full article from the KentOnline here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow […]

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Taunton’s tip-top pitch

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Taunton’s tip-top pitch: Everybody knows Taunton Town has an impressive pitch that always looks in tip top condition. Read the full article from the Somerset County Gazette here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and […]

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Vandals strike at golf course

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Vandals strike at golf course: Vandals have struck at a Herefordshire golf club as a car is driven across two of the course’s greens. Read the full article from County Times here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow […]

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Guardiola names ‘men of the match’

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Guardiola names ‘men of the match’: Pep Guardiola hailed his ‘brilliant’ players but felt the Etihad Stadium groundsmen were the real heroes of Manchester City’s victory over West Ham United. Read the full article from TeamTalk here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories […]

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Greenkeeper retires after 43 years

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Greenkeeper retires after 43 years: Cochrane Castle Golf Course head greenkeeper Lachie McGill is leaving the club after more than four decades of ensuring its fairways and greens remained in superb condition. Read the full article from the Daily Record here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions […]

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The unsung hero of Wales’ national pitch

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The unsung hero of Wales’ national pitch: Lee Evans has taken to the field vastly more times than the likes of Alun Wyn Jones or Gareth Bale. Yet, unlike those A-list names, the 52-year-old is the unsung hero of Wales’ national pitch. Read the full article from Wales Online here For the latest industry news […]

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Youth football pitches wrecked

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Youth football pitches wrecked: Five pitches maintained by Aspull Juniors FC were churned up and left unusable after reports on social media that there was a quad bike riding on the grass last week. Read the full article from Wigan Today here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, […]

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Greenkeeper says goodbye

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Greenkeeper says goodbye: Tydd St Giles Golf Club’s head greenkeeper has retired after more than 25 years. Read the full article from Spalding Voice here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content. […]

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9 year old launches mowing business

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9 year old launches mowing business: A nine-year-old from Kent has launched his own lawn mowing business so he can save up to become a tree surgeon. Read the full article from KentOnline here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to […]

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Aiming for pace, bounce and carry

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Aiming for pace, bounce and carry: Hampshire groundsman Simon Lee says spin could potentially become a factor too, later in the game, if conditions remain mostly dry. Read the full article from ESPNCricInfo here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to […]

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Recognition for Carlisle grounds team

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Recognition for Carlisle grounds team: Carlisle United’s grounds team – led by David Mitchell – have been recognised for their work in the 2020/21 season. Read the full article from News and Star here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. […]

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Lancaster rugby pitch destroyed

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Lancaster rugby pitch destroyed: Vale of Lune RUFC, to the north of Lancaster, has had its community rugby pitch trashed by vandals using it as a dirt track for their car. Read the full article from Lancs Live here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos […]

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Junior footballers are pitch perfect

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Junior footballers are pitch perfect: A former premier league groundsman is working his magic on Barnard Castle FC juniors’ pitches. Read the full article from The Teesdale Mercury here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, […]

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55 years of dedication

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55 years of dedication: Mick Oldfield turned 80 in March and for the last 55 of those years he has been a cornerstone of one cricket club. Read the full article from The Daily Mail here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that […]

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Paul Cricket Club’s long serving groundsman

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Paul Cricket Club’s long serving groundsman: Unsung hero, Steve Snell, has kept Paul Cricket Club’s pitch in top condition for nearly 60 years and has no plans of stopping any time soon. Read the full article from The Falmouth Packet here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and […]

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Tearing up of playing fields “selfish”

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Tearing up of playing fields “selfish”: Playing fields have been torn up by quadbikes, motorbikes and cars – days before they were due to welcome back young sportspeople. Read the full article from The Bolton News here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories […]

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Vandals damage green at Whinhill

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Vandals damage green at Whinhill: Inverclyde Leisure bosses are feeling teed off after mindless vandals went on the rampage at Whinhill Golf Course. Read the full article from the Greenock Telegraph here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow […]

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Tributes paid to Donald Holt

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Tributes paid to Donald Holt: Hyndburn’s cricketing community has paid tribute to a former club chairman and groundsman following his death, aged 82. Read the full article from In Your Area here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow […]

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The life of a Dundee groundsman

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The life of a Dundee groundsman: It’s no walk in the park being a groundsman at a Scottish football club when the dark winter hits. Read the full article from The Courier here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. […]

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Police warning after break-in

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Police warning after break-in: Police have issued a warning following an attempted break-in at Wishaw Golf Club. Read the full article from the Daily Record here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging […]

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Wayne Rooney on Derby pitch

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Wayne Rooney on Derby pitch: Derby County boss Wayne Rooney says groundsmen up and down the country are “doing everything they can” to make sure pitches are in the best condition possible. Read the full article from the Derby Telegraph here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos […]

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Gillingham manager praises groundstaff

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Gillingham manager praises groundstaff: Gillingham manager Steve Evans saluted the Charlton groundstaff for getting Saturday’s game on and the referee for letting it happen. Read the full article from Kent Online here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow […]

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Ian Darler credits team

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Ian Darler credits team: Cambridge United head groundsman Ian Darler has praised ground staff and volunteers for getting the League Two clash against Southend United to go ahead. Read the full article from Cambridge News here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that […]

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Covid impact on tee times

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Covid impact on tee times: The British and International Golf Greenkeepers’ Association commissioned a survey to find out the impact full tee times had on courses. The results are astonishing. Read the full article from National Club Golfer here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos […]

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Sunderland pitch problems

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Sunderland pitch problems: Lee Johnson says Sunderland need to invest in their pitches after the Stadium of Light turf was badly affected by Storm Christoph. Read the full article from the Sunderland Echo here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to […]

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Greenkeeping tools taken

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Greenkeeping tools taken: If you were in the Callan area earlier this week & noticed suspicious activity then gardai want to hear from you. Read the full article from KCLR here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us […]

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Hartlepool fans praise ground staff

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Hartlepool fans praise ground staff: Hartlepool United’s National League match against Wealdstone went ahead as planned following a successful pitch inspection early on Saturday morning. Read the full article from Hartlepool Mail here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. […]

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Groundsman sleeps out on pitch

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Groundsman sleeps out on pitch: Chorley’s groundsman Ben Kay worked hard to make his team’s pitch playable, sleeping on the pitch under a heated tent. Read the full article from The Daily Mail here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to […]

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Greenkeeper retires after 47 years

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Greenkeeper retires after 47 years: Clonmel Golf Club greenkeeper Sean Harte is retiring in 2021 after a fantastic 47 years of loyal service. Read the full article from Tipperary Live here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us […]

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PNE boss says pitches are suffering

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PNE boss says pitches are suffering: Preston North End manager Alex Neil thinks pitches are starting to show signs of wear and tear because the shortened close season prevented repair work being done on them. Read the full article from The Lancashire Post here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big […]

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Davenport GC vandalised

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Davenport GC vandalised: A Cheshire golf club is bracing itself for a possible five-figure repair after parts of its course were targeted by vandals this week. Read the full article from Bunkered here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. […]

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Pulling together when the going’s tough

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Pulling together when the going’s tough: In The Cricketer’s latest column, David Bates, former first-class groundsman and MD at cricket pitch expert total-play Ltd, shares his advice for those volunteering to support their clubs during the pandemic – and beyond… Read the full article from The Cricketer here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get […]

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Here’s to the groundsmen

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Here’s to the groundsmen: Arguably the most important member of any club, but one whose contribution often goes overlooked, is the groundsman. Read the full article from The Cricketer here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for […]

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Chairman thanks league groundstaff

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Chairman thanks league groundstaff: Colin White, chairman of the Dales Council League, has praised the forgotten heroes of local cricket’s response to Covid-19 this spring and summer – the groundsmen and women. Read the full article from The Telegraph and Argus here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, […]

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West Ham star sparks search involving groundsmen

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West Ham star sparks search involving groundsmen: West Ham’s Issa Diop sparked a frantic search involving four groundsman, a player welfare officer, a body scanner and a magnet – after losing his wedding ring against Fulham. Read the full article from The Sun here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, […]

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Cambridge groundsman to boost charity efforts

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Cambridge groundsman to boost charity efforts: Ian Darler is hoping that the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list will help to give a boost to Cambridge Charity Fundraisers. Read the full article from Cambridge Independent here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos […]

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Vandals target Tumble RFC

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Vandals target Tumble RFC: Welsh rugby club Tumble RFC have been hit by anti-social behaviour after seeing their training pitch and a surrounding area damaged by an act of vandalism. Read the full article from Wales Online here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on […]

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Greenkeeper tells of mower crushing

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Greenkeeper tells of mower crushing: In the Daily Record, Jon Hebditch tells the story of how a greenkeeper was crushed under a mower for nearly two hours on a Scottish golf course. Read the full article here For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories […]

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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. “I’m blown away. I feel really honoured, especially even more so in the current […]

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Thieves target Kirkstall Cricket Club

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Thieves target Kirkstall Cricket Club: Thieves have stolen more than £20,000 worth of equipment from Kirkstall Educational Cricket Club (KECC). The club, off Queenswood Drive, was targeted by thieves between 5pm Friday and Sunday lunch time. Items take included a Lloyd’s Paladin, a Groundsman Spiker, plus three rotary mowers, a strimmer and a Sisis Auto […]

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Cricket club hit by vandals

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Cricket club hit by vandals: “Mindless” vandals who drove across a cricket pitch causing extensive damage for the second time in 13 months have left the ground’s owners feeling “angry and hopeless”. Players and staff at Bradenham Cricket Club were fuming after finding their newly treated cricket ground full of tyre marks on Friday, September […]

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Orpington groundsman wins top award

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Orpington groundsman wins top award: Orpington Football Club’s Paul Wade has been named groundsman of the year. He beat 50 others shortlisted for the national award and was chosen by a national panel as the Grounds Team of the Year at the FA and McDonald’s Grassroots Football Awards. Mr Wade said: “There is lots to […]

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Painswick targeted by vandals

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Painswick targeted by vandals: Painswick Golf Club has been inundated with offers of help after its third hole was targeted by vandals. The hole was badly damaged by a vehicle being driven over the course and repairs are underway to enable this weekend’s annual club competition to go ahead. Club professional Mark Cottrell said: “We […]

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Mount Pleasant FA to invest in EPL expertise

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Mount Pleasant FA to invest in EPL expertise: In addition to improving the quality of the team and the coaching staff, Mount Pleasant Football Academy have plans to refurbish the surface of the field at Drax Hall where they play their home games. Mount Pleasant FA, who are in the process of constructing their own […]

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“Bio-mowers” yield big haul for golf course

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“Bio-mowers” yield big haul for golf course: A family of water buffalo greenskeepers are helping maintain interior of Laguna Golf Long Co and feed local community. Laguna Golf Lang Co’s family of famous water buffalo greenskeepers have helped the club reap a record rice harvest: the fruits of which are going towards feeding members of […]

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Gwernaffield student grabs award

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Gwernaffield student grabs award: Mold Golf Club’s newest greenkeeper has scooped a top award in a virtual ceremony celebrating success. Jake Edwards, from Gwernaffield near Mold, works as a full time greenkeeper at Mold Golf Club and has been presented with the Horticulture Learner of the Year Award 2020 by Coleg Cambria where he has […]

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Tributes paid to Boldon legend

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Tributes paid to Boldon legend: Tributes have been paid to a ‘cricket legend’ who dedicated himself to Boldon Cricket Club for over 60 years. Michael Fitzsimons died at the age of 79 on July 11 after a brave battle against a long illness. He joined the club as a batsman aged 16. He would become […]

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Hilbert Willis to follow in Captain Tom’s footsteps

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Hilbert Willis to follow in Captain Tom’s footsteps: Hilbert Willis spent over five decades covering every blade of grass on the Lakeview Park pitch as long-serving Loughgall groundsman. Now the 96-year-old is aiming to get back out on the turf and turn his labour of love into a fundraiser for the Irish League side. The […]

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Ground renamed in honour of groundsman

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Ground renamed in honour of groundsman: Southern Counties East side Punjab United have renamed their ground in memory of their former groundsman Steve Cook died last month and since the announcement the club was inundated with messages of condolence. The club paid their final farewell to ‘Cookie’ on Monday. In tribute the club’s Gravesend ground […]

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Why greenkeeping is the best job in the world

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Why greenkeeping is the best job in the world: Some of the country’s leading greenkeepers reveal the things they love most about their job on the golf course… We all love golf and the hours spent out on the course are usually among the highlights of our week, writes BIGGA‘s Karl Hansell. I can’t tell you the hours […]

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Forum calls for Amenity Standard to become a requirement

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Forum calls for Amenity Standard to become a requirement: Since its formal launch at the start of this year, the Amenity Standard has been very much welcomed by all sides of both the amenity sector and policy makers.  The Forum is now calling on the UK and national governments to introduce this as a requirement […]

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Bomb discovered on golf course

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Bomb discovered on golf course: Greenkeepers unearthed a little surprise on Monday at The Royal Cromer Golf Club, when a bomb was discovered under ground at the seaside golf club in East Anglia. The bomb was found whilst groundsmen were carrying out work and maintenance between the 7th and 12th fairways around midday Monday 20th July. […]

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Community efforts lift club’s fortunes

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Community efforts lift club’s fortunes: The future is bright at Auchmill after community spirit put a real buzz into the Aberdeen club. A band of volunteers joined head greenkeeper Mathew Smith and stewardess Andrea Stewart to make massive improvements to the course and clubhouse during the Covid-19 lockdown. Their reward is seeing a demand to […]

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Scott Fenwick reflects on four decades

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Scott Fenwick reflects on four decades: He remembers hoisting the bag over his shoulder and playing from sunrise to sunset at Craigie Hill Golf Club. At this point young Perth High School student Scott Fenwick harboured dreams of rising through the ranks to stardom on the professional tour. That particular dream was not realised but his […]

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Ryde GC’s long serving greenkeeper

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Ryde GC’s long serving greenkeeper: Binstead-born Doug Rigby has helped develop Ryde Golf Club’s popular course into one of the best and challenging on the Isle of Wight over his 40-year career. Doug, 56, who joined the club straight from school, is believed to be one of the longest serving greenkeepers in the industry. After […]

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Tributes paid to a first-class groundsman

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Tributes paid to a first-class groundsman: Tributes have been paid to Durham Cricket’s former head groundsman, Tom Flintoft, who died on Tuesday, aged 86. Mr Flintoft, who lived in Whitby, spent seven years at Emirates Riverside becoming the club’s first head groundsman in 1991. He was born and brought up in the Whitby area on the family […]

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Don’t hit your ball towards greenkeepers

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Don’t hit your ball towards greenkeepers: After a course manager suffered a nasty head injury when struck by a ball, BIGGA explain their members often find themselves in the firing line. The golf course is perhaps unique in sport as greenkeepers can often be seen carrying out work while the course is in play. It’d […]

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Maintaining a golf course alone

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Maintaining a golf course alone: Meet the head greenkeeper who took on lockdown single-handedly and was overcome by the community at his club. Ian Pemberton always joked his course at Cleveland Golf Club would be brilliant if golfers weren’t on it. Then they were gone – for nearly two months. He was alone, his entire […]

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Wimbledon will be greener next year

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Wimbledon will be greener next year: Neil Stubley should have been nervously appraising how the grass he and his fellow Wimbledon ground staff had nurtured was faring on the first day of the Grand Slam. Instead, the head groundsman at the All England Club has seen the “blood, sweat and tears” spent in preparing for the tournament come […]

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Greenkeeper airlifted to hospital

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Greenkeeper airlifted to hospital: The course manager of Pitlochry Golf Club is expected to make a full a recovery after being involved in a terrifying accident on the Perthshire course yesterday. Stuart Griffiths, 44, was taken by air ambulance to Ninewells Hospital where his injuries are said to be serious but not life-threatening. According to […]

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Junior football pitch set on fire

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Junior football pitch set on fire: Vandals who lit a bonfire on a junior football pitch in Barrow have been slammed by a member of the club. Football coach Paul Speirs said Barrow Wanderers Juniors are now thinking about having to fence off the field to stop people from wrecking the turf. Mr Speirs, coach and groundsman at […]

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Greenkeeping course set to continue

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Greenkeeping course set to continue: The Singapore-based Asian Golf Industry Federation (AGIF) have said in a statement they will continue their Certificate in Greenkeeping (CIG). The development comes after the educational programme was abruptly halted by the coronavirus outbreak. The certification programme is being run in partnership with the New Zealand Sports Turf Institute (NZSTI) […]

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City groundsman on Etihad pitch

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City groundsman on Etihad pitch: If all goes well on Wednesday, the only thing Manchester City’s head groundsman will have to keep his eye on during the Arsenal game will be the ball. When competitive games were suspended in March and the scale of the impact of the pandemic became clearer, the Blues were one of a number of […]

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Pitch perfect at Holwell Sports

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Pitch perfect at Holwell Sports: Carel Fourie has been named the United Counties League Groundsman of the Year after the Welby Road turf impressed judges. “It’s a great honour. As a Division One side, winning the award which also includes the Premier Division is a great honour,” said Sports chairman Graham Lewin. “We’re very proud […]

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Shotts GC vandalised just before opening

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Shotts GC vandalised just before opening: Yobs on motocross and quad bikes have senselessly torn up putting greens at Shotts Golf Club causing more than £1000 worth of damage. The turf on a number of the course’s greens and tee points was left scarred and scored, with motor oil spilt on it. News of the […]

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Greenkeeper celebrates 30 years

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Greenkeeper celebrates 30 years: Darren Hargreaves is celebrating 30 years as the deputy head greenkeeper at Skipton Golf Club. He has been involved in golf as an occupation virtually since leaving Greenhead Grammar School in Keighley, now University Academy Keighley – although he did initially “dabble” with a course in engineering. “I soon realised engineering […]

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Grounds for concern at Barnsley

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Grounds for concern at Barnsley: The sight of footballers taking the field for league matches in June – a time when the sporting calendar is usually focused on cricket, the Queen’s Club Championships and the Epsom Derby – would be incongruous for many. Not least for Barnsley’s head groundsman David Anderson and his counterparts at […]

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Weymouth GC greenkeeper retires

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Weymouth GC greenkeeper retires: Weymouth Golf Club will wish a fond farewell to their head greenkeeper this month, as he retires after 42 years working to keep the course in tip top shape. Rob Bayliss, 64, was appointed head greenkeeper at the club in May 1978 and many at the club will know him from […]

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Tributes to devoted groundsman

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Tributes to devoted groundsman: Tributes have been paid to a groundsman who devoted his life to the football and cricket clubs he lovingly served. John Marston, who was groundsman at Mundford Football Club and Mundford Cricket Club, died on May 13 at the age of 76. Employed throughout his working life by the Forestry Commission, […]

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Greenkeeper threatened by golfer

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Greenkeeper threatened by golfer: The manager of one of the top golf clubs in Edinburgh has expressed shock at a greenkeeper being “threatened” by a golfer. The incident happened on Thursday at Merchants of Edinburgh Golf Club in the heart of the city. Like all courses in Scotland, it remains closed due to the coronavirus […]

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Greenkeeper banished beard for NHS

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Greenkeeper banished beard for NHS: Reay Golf Club greenkeeper James Macadie wanted to do something special to raise money for the NHS – so decided to take part in his very own “Covhead Challenge” by having his beloved beard shaved off. James (69) had been sporting his beard since the early 1970s and only once […]

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Elgin pitch in to thank NHS

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Elgin pitch in to thank NHS: Elgin City’s Borough Briggs pitch displayed a special message to the heroes of the NHS thanking them for their efforts during the Covid-19 crisis. Club director and groundsman Cecil Jack came up with a unique way for City to express their gratitude by marking a huge love heart and […]

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Groundsman keeping Keepmoat pitch ready

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Groundsman keeping Keepmoat pitch ready: The pitch at the Keepmoat Stadium would be ready for Doncaster Rovers with just a couple of days notice – but that has been no mean feat during lockdown. Operating in an environment of uncertainty with football and rugby league halted due to the Covid-19 outbreak, head groundsman Andy Thompson […]

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Green set on fire by vandals

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Green set on fire by vandals: A golf club has been left in dismay after being the victim of “pure vandalism” in the midst of the coronavirus lockdown. Thousands of pounds of damage was caused to various elements of the course at Knighton Heath Golf Club in Bournemouth. The spate of damage across the 90-acre site, which sits […]

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1.4m more children could play sports weekly

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1.4m more children could play sports weekly: A new report by the Grounds Management Association (GMA) today reveals that junior participation levels in rugby and football could increase by almost 1.4 million (1,376,252) children every week, and in cricket, by almost half a million (489,859) per season. With the right investment, guidance and care, a massive 4 million more children’s football […]

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Interview greenkeeper Gary Cook

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Interview greenkeeper Gary Cook: Gary Cook, the head greenkeeper at Enmore Park Golf Club, admits that he is a fortunate man, writes Richard Walsh. “I am lucky to be doing something that I always wanted to do and enjoy doing it as well, so I am very fortunate,” he says. Cook was born into a […]

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Greenkeeper shares 40 years of memories

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Greenkeeper shares 40 years of memories: A dedicated greenkeeper thought to be one of the longest serving in the industry is celebrating spending 40 years at the same golf club. Terry Wharton joined Haydock Park Golf Club in April 1980 as a young man and is now head greenkeeper. He said: “The 40 years have […]

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English groundsmen braced for uncertainty

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English groundsmen braced for uncertainty: While most counties have furloughed staff and players in a bid to save money as they wait to see what, if any, cricket will be played this summer, a hardy bunch of groundsmen remain in situ, trying their best to keep on top of the country’s 18 first-class grounds. Without […]

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Golf green light could come ‘overnight’

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Golf green light could come ‘overnight’: Greenkeepers across the country have been advised to prepare for their courses re-opening at very short notice, “perhaps even overnight”. That is one of two scenarios outlined in a document published by the British and International Golf Greenkeepers’ Association (BIGGA). In a statement, the organisation said: “BIGGA has had no […]

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Sheep take over groundsman duties

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Sheep take over groundsman duties: Although it’s hard to find many silver linings in the heavy clouds pressing down on us at the moment, one positive part of lockdown is the natural world taking back what’s been nabbed by humanity. Whether it’s herds of wild goats taking over Llandudno, or deer roaming the estates of […]

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Martinstown CC’s message of support

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Martinstown CC’s message of support: Martinstown Cricket Club have found a unique way to get behind the NHS, leaving a message of support in the middle of their pitch. The club has shown their love and support for the NHS by cutting a pattern of the three letters encased in a heart into the turf. […]

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Greenkeepers’ caution on golf’s return

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Greenkeepers’ caution on golf’s return: Golfers were warned to expect “inevitable disappointment” when they were able to return to play whenever government lockdown restrictions are eased. Only essential maintenance has been permitted, often by stripped down greenkeeping crews, since the decision was taken to shut the doors on clubs on March 23. Images spread across […]

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The time to make pitches perfect

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The time to make pitches perfect: Croke Park pitch manager Stuart Wilson has revealed one positive from the break in GAA activity, a revitalised and reinvigorated pitch at GAA headquarters. And Wilson, who has previously worked at the Aviva Stadium and Arsenal’’s Emirates Stadium, has insisted that club and country grounds nationwide can similarly benefit. […]

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Grassroots funding hits £8m

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Grassroots funding hits £8m: Grassroots sports clubs and organisations in England have received a total of £8m worth of funding from the Community Emergency Fund, set up to help with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Launched and managed by Sport England, the emergency fund has already secured the futures of more than 2,000 sports […]

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England groundsmen face uncertain times

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England groundsmen face uncertain times: While most counties have furloughed staff and players in a bid to save money as they wait to see what, if any, cricket will be played this summer, a hardy bunch of groundsmen remain in situ, trying their best to keep on top of the country’s 18 first-class grounds. Without […]

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Grounds never looking better

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Grounds never looking better: Grass roots sports, at least in name, have a dependence on the surface on which they’re played. That’s why grounds maintenance across the Province has been deemed essential during lockdown – so that our golf courses, cricket squares and sports pitches are fit to play on again when it is deemed […]

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Foxes keep groundsman busy

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Foxes keep groundsman busy: A brush with the local fox population is keeping Leeds Rhinos’ groundsman Ryan Golding busy during the coronavirus crisis. Most of Rhinos’ 150 employees have been placed on furlough, a form of paid leave, but Golding is among a handful still working – and vulpine pitch invaders are giving him plenty to […]

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Sheep taking over golf courses

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Sheep taking over golf courses: At least two closed and empty English golf clubs have been taken over by sheep during the coronavirus lockdown – where the ruminants have been taking on the grass cutting duties normally reserved for the currently furloughed greenkeepers. Several UK golf courses are located near to farmland but animals are […]

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Todmorden CC pay NHS tribute

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Todmorden CC pay NHS tribute: Todmorden Cricket Club have paid tribute to the NHS by cutting its logo onto their pitch. Former club president and groundsman Nevil Sutcliffe said: “It’s just a bit of a tribute from us. “It took me a couple of hours Monday morning, half-an-hour on Sunday working out what to do. […]

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BIGGA and R&A’s updated advice

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BIGGA and R&A’s updated advice: The British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association and R&A have updated their guidance after the lockdown for coronavirus was extended Greenkeepers have been given updated advice on what counts as essential maintenance during the coronavirus pandemic. The British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) and R&A have issued new guidance […]

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Irish surfaces kept pitch perfect

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Irish surfaces kept pitch perfect: There may be no games taking place in the Danske Bank Premiership right now, but a small band of individuals up and down the country are still having to prepare as if there are. The day that football does return is still a long way down the line as the […]

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Park grass-cutting to re-start

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Park grass-cutting to re-start: Grass-cutting in Angus parks, cemeteries and open spaces is to resume next week. The authority said the move was aimed at helping the area’s residents get their daily exercise locally. But a reminder over outdoor area closures already in place and a warning for people to stick to lockdown rules have […]

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Golf Club’s NHS tribute

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Golf Club’s NHS tribute: The Llandrindod Wells Golf Club has paid tribute to the National Health Service by mowing the letters NHS on its course – with a heart around it too. A photo of the tribute, which was created by greenkeeper Ben, was posted on the golf club’s Facebook page and gained a hugely […]

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New Zealand greenkeepers return

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New Zealand greenkeepers return: Mowers started up for the first time in three weeks on Tuesday at many of New Zealand’s 400 golf courses. Greenkeepers returned “just in time”, with some facing overgrown roughs and disease encroaching on the greens. The Government gave the all-clear for golf course maintenance to resume, following lobbying from those in the golfing community. […]

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Plymouth pay NHS tribute

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Plymouth pay NHS tribute: Plymouth have paid tribute to the NHS with a special decoration of their Home Park pitch. The League Two club got their head groundsman Chris Ralph to work with the mower, cutting a pattern reading “Thank You NHS” into the turf. Plymouth had already handed their stadium over to the local […]

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Andy Fogarty pitching in for Yorkshire

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Andy Fogarty pitching in for Yorkshire: Yorkshire may not have been consistently successful on the pitch in recent times but they have been consistently successful in producing good pitches. The groundstaff led by head groundsman Andy Fogarty deliver day-in, day-out and have the accolades to prove it. Indeed, the biggest thing in Fogarty’s house is […]

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Greenkeeping during a pandemic

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Greenkeeping during a pandemic: As clubs continue to be shut in the UK while the coronavirus pandemic holds its grip over the world, one of the biggest concerns looking ahead is the shape our courses will be in when normality returns. In the wake of the lockdown, the government confirmed greenkeepers could still attend work […]

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Later Wimbledon a no go

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Later Wimbledon a no go: Wimbledon head groundsman Neil Stubley says “it’s not possible” to host The Championships later in the summer or in autumn as the daily window for play would be too short. Wimbledon last week became the highest-profile tennis tournament to be cancelled due to the coronavirus with the All England Lawn […]

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Greenkeepers work fury

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Greenkeepers work fury: Greenkeepers at Caird Park Golf Club in Dundee are said to be fuming they are being forced to continue going in to work despite two of their colleagues testing positive for coronavirus, according to the region’s Evening Telegraph. A report from BIGGA last week claimed that it was in their understanding that […]

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Vandals damage golf club

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Vandals damage golf club: Vandals have damaged the course at a north-east golf club. Vehicles were driven on to the site at Oldmeldrum Golf Club on Thursday night, leaving tyre tracks on the grass. It’s not the first time the course has been targeted. Last year parts of the site had to be closed following […]

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Askam rugby club’s NHS gesture

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Askam rugby club’s NHS gesture: Askam Rugby League Club have gone above and beyond to show their appreciation for the NHS.  Groundsmen took advantage of the suspended season to say thank you to local healthcare workers. Lines have been painted on the club’s pitch with ‘NHS’ printed inside a large heart. The club posted on […]

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ECB unveils interim support package

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ECB unveils interim support package: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced a £61 million package to help cricket withstand the financial impact of COVID-19. The plans detail a number of measures for the whole sport from elite to grassroots, including the MCC, the First-Class Counties (FCCs) and their County Cricket Boards (CCBs). […]

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Groundsman’s sense of normality

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Groundsman’s sense of normality: Amid all the uncertainty brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, it is reassuring to know that some routines have hardly changed. “The grass doesn’t stop for coronavirus,” Scott Humphries, groundsman at Oxford United’s training ground says. This is the start of the third week without players working on the pitches at the club’s headquarters near […]

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NZ courses braced for no upkeep

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NZ courses braced for no upkeep: Normally at the weekend, stadiums around New Zealand are full of kiwis watching rugby and cricket or for the thousands of weekend hackers, it’s time for a round of golf with their mates. But with the country in lockdown, those stadiums and golf courses aren’t just bare of people […]

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COVID-19 advice for course maintenance

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COVID-19 advice for course maintenance: What is classed as ‘essential maintenance’ during the Covid-19 outbreak? The R&A and BIGGA have had their say. How much maintenance does a golf course really need during the coronavirus pandemic? After the Government put new curbs on personal movement as the outbreak intensified, greenkeeping teams were advised by the […]

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ECB say groundsmen’s work is essential

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ECB say groundsmen’s work is essential: The England and Wales Cricket Board and Yorkshire Cricket Board have deemed the work of groundsmen and women essential. While virtually all other cricket activities have been stopped, Rod Heyhoe, secretary of the Yorkshire branch of the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG), has been reading through a five-page document from the ECB. “It […]

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Stadiums converted into hospital wards

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Stadiums converted into hospital wards: Leisure centres and stadiums are being transformed into emergency hospital wards in Wales, as part of measures to tackle the unprecedented challenges placed on the NHS. Selwyn Samuel Centre in Llanelli, Carmarthen Leisure Centre and the Parc y Scarlets stadium in Llanelli are among those being used to create hundreds […]

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ECB – Coronavirus and Grounds Maintenance

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ECB – Coronavirus and Grounds Maintenance: For the avoidance of doubt, due to the developing nature of the outbreak, all grounds teams must ensure that they are monitoring relevant Government and Public Health England (PHE) sites which may change and therefore have an impact on the contents of this document which is correct as of […]

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Coronavirus’ impact on sport

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Coronavirus’ impact on sport: The world is witnessing the advance of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its impacts on a global scale. The effects of COVID-19, which is already considered a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation, are bringing thousands of cases in every part of the world and will cause brutal economic damage. The negative […]

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Living every cricket lover’s dream

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Living every cricket lover’s dream: Just like the players, Karl McDermott would now be entering the final stage of his preparations for the English cricket season. As head groundsman at Lord’s, he would have an eye on April 12, when Middlesex were due to open their campaign against Worcestershire. Instead, he is “living every cricket lover’s dream” — […]

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Greenkeepers still able to work

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Greenkeepers still able to work: Following the Prime Minister’s curbs to fight coronavirus, greenkeepers can still attend work for ‘security and essential maintenance purposes’ But all work “must be carried out in accordance with government guidelines on social distancing”, and the association that represents the profession is seeking further guidance on what that means. The […]

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Perennial prepares for increase in demand

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Perennial prepares for increase in demand: Perennial is the safety net for people in the horticulture industry and are here to help anyone working in, or retired from any job involving trees, plants, flowers or grass. As the effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continue to evolve for the whole industry, including everyone working in turf or groundscare, Perennial is urging anyone […]

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Government update on greenkeeping

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Government update on greenkeeping: Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Monday evening that the country is effectively in ‘lockdown’, BIGGA has been working hard to obtain clarification as to what that means in practice for our members, many of whom are looking for reassurances with regards their careers and income. It is an unprecedented time for […]

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Angels crowdfund to protect pitch

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Angels crowdfund to protect pitch: Tonbridge Angels Football Club has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £35,000 so that it can purchase covers and carry out urgent work on the pitch and drainage system at Longmead. The plea comes with the club’s finances suffering severely after a succession of home games at the stadium have […]

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ECB statement on recreational game

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ECB statement on recreational game: “Following the Government’s latest advice around social distancing, it is with sadness and reluctance that we recommend that all forms of recreational cricket are for now suspended. “This extends to training, pre-season friendlies and any associated cricket activity. “Sport plays an absolutely vital role in the nation’s mental and physical […]

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Tribute to groundsman Reg Lomas

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Tribute to groundsman Reg Lomas: Reg Lomas, former head groundsman at Stratford and Cheltenham racecourses, has died at the age of 88. Lomas was awarded an MBE in 2002 for his work within racing and had a race run at Ludlow in his honour in October 2005, the Reg Lomas Lifetime In Racing Handicap Chase. […]

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Coronavirus tips for greenkeepers

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Coronavirus tips for greenkeepers: BIGGA – the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association – explain how clubs can assist their vital greenkeeping teams during the pandemic. Greenkeepers are an essential part of keeping a golf club open. The clubhouse may be able to temporarily shut its doors and ask golfers to change at home or […]

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Groundsman recognised at seminar

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Groundsman recognised at seminar: Westbury & District Cricket Club’s groundsman, Gordon Gill, was invited to join top groundsmen from across the country to speak about his experience at a seminar held last month.  He was joined by Vic Demain (head groundsman at  Durham CCC), Karl McDermott (head groundsman at  MCC/Lords), Sean Williams (head groundsman at Gloucestershire CCC) […]

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Ollie Swan

The IOG set to rebrand

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The IOG set to rebrand: Following independent research entitled ‘Groundsmanship: Sports Vital Profession’ which highlighted the urgent need for change, the IOG today announces its intention to re-brand. After a thorough selection process, the proposed new brand name and identity, unanimously backed by the Board of the IOG, will be the ‘Grounds Management Association’. The […]

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What a signing!

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What a signing!: Port Vale have made some terrific signings over the years although not many have given greater service than the 17-year-old groundsman they took on in May 1979. Hard-working, knowledgeable, hugely dedicated to the club….oh, and best avoided if the Vale have just had a game called off. That doesn’t happen very often, […]

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Council cutback challenges

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Council cutback challenges: Council workers are maintaining enough grassland in Argyll and Bute to cover the entire area of Monaco – but sometimes struggling to be available to cut it. A report has revealed that two million square metres of open grassland space is maintained by the authority’s staff – equivalent to the size of […]

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‘Truly testing’ winter at Plymouth

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‘Truly testing’ winter at Plymouth: Plymouth Argyle’s head of grounds Chris Ralph has described the ‘truly testing’ winter that has taken its toll on the Home Park pitch. February has seen record rainfall levels across the country and Plymouth has not escaped the deluges. The combination of that very wet weather, plus a busy programme […]

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Storm funding helps over 100 clubs

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Storm funding helps over 100 clubs: More than 100 sports clubs and organisations have already received grants from an emergency storm relief fund launched earlier this month. Set up by Sport England to help those affected by storms Ciara and Dennis, the fund has seen grants of up to £5,000 being awarded across the country. […]

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Golf club vandalised by motorist

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Golf club vandalised by motorist: No arrests have yet been made after a vehicle was driven across a golf course, causing damage to one of the greens. The incident at Salisbury and South Wilts Golf Club occurred between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. A spokesperson for Wiltshire Police said: “We received a report of criminal damage […]

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Ilkley Town back up and running

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Ilkley Town back up and running: Ilkley Town AFC is back up and running in the wake of flooding by Storm Ciara. “We’re very pleased to be back up and running again,” said Richard Giles, chairman of Ilkley Town. “When Storm Ciara hit, the river burst its banks and came on to the pitch.” Since […]

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The Grass is Greener in LaLiga

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The Grass is Greener in LaLiga: From the rain of the north to the heat of the south, club greenkeepers in Spain are keeping their pitches in the same high conditions. Using LaLiga’s ‘Greenkeeper’ app, clubs are not only using the best techniques but sharing their data with other clubs. In Spain, weather conditions can […]

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Greenkeeper’s 30 years of service

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Greenkeeper’s 30 years of service: Market Drayton Golf Club’s head greenkeeper has achieved a remarkable 30 years of service with the club. Simon Cotterill, who joined the club staff as the 11-hole course was expanding to 18 holes, has greatly influenced its development. Market Drayton Golf Course is now recognised as one of the best […]

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Relief fund for Ciara victims

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Relief fund for Ciara victims: Storm damaged pitches and facilities could be back in use sooner than expected thanks to a new emergency flood relief fund from Sport England. The effects of Storm Ciara are still being fully assessed but, in an attempt to rectify the damage as soon as possible, local authorities and community […]

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Cricket club counting cost of Ciara

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Cricket club counting cost of Ciara: Bridgeholme Cricket Club is counting the cost of being flooded again, but this time it is worse than ever, according to groundsman Keith Hudson. The club’s Eastwood ground has been flooded several times in recent years, but it has been left in a horrendous state by Storm Ciara over […]

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S&B groundsman passes away

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S&B groundsman passes away: The name Peter Dury will probably mean little to the current generation of Southport & Birkdale’s players or supporters. Yet between 1961 and 1965 Dury, who died last month, built a reputation as the finest groundsman in the club’s history. Moreover in a working life spanning half a century Dury carved […]

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Greenkeepers keen to maintain course

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Greenkeepers keen to maintain course: Parkview Golf Club’s green-keeping team has completed a five-day project to mow about three kilometres of the verges along the golf course perimeter. The project, at an estimated cost of R15 000 is part of the club’s embracing programme to secure the environmental integrity of the course, according to club […]

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Cricket groundsman to stand down

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Cricket groundsman to stand down: He has become one of the recognisable figures in north-east cricket over the last 20 years. But now, Kenny McCurdie, the head groundsman at Aberdeenshire CC, has confirmed he is stepping down from the role at the end of March. Regarded as one of the country’s best pitch preparers, McCurdie […]

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Michael Davie wins BIGGA award

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Michael Davie wins BIGGA award: Greenkeeper Michael Davie – who set up a mental health support group to help his fellow professionals in the turf industry – has picked up the top award at the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association’s annual convention. Davie, the course manager at Hazel Grove Golf Club, in Stockport, has […]

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Mike Isherwood

Winning bid announced for charity auction

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Winning bid announced for charity auction: Maskinia, the Authorised Doosan Construction Equipment Dealer in Sweden based in Linköping, is delighted to announce that the winning bid of SEK 202,000 (19,100 Euros) was made by local company, CN:s Gräv AB, in the company’s on-line charity auction of a new Doosan DX10z 1 tonne mini-excavator to raise […]

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Lucy Nicholls

Agrovista Amenity launches at BTME

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Agrovista Amenity launches at BTME: Maxwell Amenity and Sherriff Amenity, the professional turf and landscape division of Agrovista, have joined forces to herald the start of an exciting new era. Agrovista Amenity, launched at BTME in January, brings together two of the most experienced and progressive teams in the amenity turf market and is the […]

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School groundsman talks about role

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School groundsman talks about role: Lewis Pattinson, the head groundsman at Bradford Grammar School, has spoken of his pride at looking after the grounds at the school. He said: “It’s not just a job, it’s a way of life.” He tell us what his job is like and how he loves being a groundsman: “I’ve worked […]

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Groundsman’s near miss

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Groundsman’s near miss: A groundsman was almost struck as he replaced divets halfway through a race during one of Musselburgh Racecourse’s biggest days of the year. The ‘near-miss’ incident occurred during the Edinburgh Cup in September when groundstaff had been warned to remember the main race of the day would see the runners go round the […]

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Football club hit by vandals

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Football club hit by vandals: A reward has been offered for information on the vandals who damaged a football pitch on Christmas Day. Leysdown Football Club’s ground in Shellness Road on Sheppey was targeted by vandals sometime last Wednesday when tyre tracks were left in the grass. It has led to bosses from fellow Island club, Sheppey […]

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Billericay strive to improve surface

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Billericay striving to improve surface: Billericay Town vice-chairman Greg Lake insists the club is doing everything it can to make sure less home fixtures are called off in the weeks ahead. Town have seen numerous contests at New Lodge called off this season due to an unplayable pitch. But Lake stresses Billericay are doing everything they […]

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Carnoustie give back to local community

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Carnoustie give back to local community: Carnoustie Golf Links are supporting a joint project with the Carnoustie Branch of Royal British Legion Scotland (RBLS) to provide bespoke hampers to those in the local area who could do with a little help this Christmas.   The RBLS currently supports many families already, through their Food Share […]

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Colin Hoskins

IOG recommend 2.5% pay rise

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IOG recommend 2.5% pay rise: The Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG), the leading membership organisation for everyone involved in the management of sports pitches, landscape and amenity facilities in the UK, is recommending a 2.5 per cent increase in grounds staff’s national minimum salary bands for 2020.  In addition, says the IOG, the amount paid in […]

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Student greenkeeper an ‘inspiration’

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Student greenkeeper an ‘inspiration’: Kyle McClung, who started his career on home turf at Wigtownshire County Golf Club but is now working at Glenbervie, has been named as the top student greenkeeper in Scotland. The accolade is awarded by BIGGA (British and International Golf Greenkeeping Association) through the Harry Diamond Award in memory of an […]

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Groundsman’s ECB commendation

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Groundsman’s ECB commendation: Radlett Cricket Club head groundsman Nick Searle has received a commendation in this year’s annual ECB Groundsman of the Year Awards. The Award, in the out-ground venues category, is awarded to groundsmen around the country who have hosted matches across any of the three formats and are judged based on the pitch performance […]

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Tributes paid to Derek Hughes

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Tributes paid to Derek Hughes: Tributes have been paid to a Vale of Clwyd footballing stalwart who died last week. Derek Hughes, a long-time groundsman at Denbigh Town Football Club and a stalwart of the Llanrhaeadr Summer League team, died on Monday morning. Mr Hughes was the groundsman at Denbigh Town’s Central Park ground for […]

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Tributes for Burton groundsman

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Tributes for Burton groundsman: Tributes have been paid to a green-fingered South Derbyshire man who tended to Burton Albion’s hallowed turf more than 30 years. Alan Roberts has sadly died at home, aged 88. Mr Roberts worked most of his life as a coal sampler at Rawdon Pit, but in his spare time enjoyed looking […]

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Alaves groundsman nets award

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Alaves groundsman nets award: John Stewart, from Laurieston, has been named the best groundsman in Spanish football in the year 2019 for his work on Deportivo Alaves’ Mendizorrotza Stadium pitch. The 49-year-old was presented with his award and trophy at the annual La Liga greenkeeper’s dinner in Madrid last week, becoming the latest local sport […]

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Rugby club’s open invite to vandals

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Rugby club’s open invite to vandals: A rugby club has condemned the actions of vandals who drove on their pitch and left tyre marks strewn across the muddy playing surface. But Phil Prangnell, facilities manager at Dereham Rugby Club, has urged those responsible to curb their ‘boredom’ by joining the team and trying their hand […]

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Green speed more than a number

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Green speed more than a number: At The Open this year the green speeds measured at 10’1”, 10’2”, 10’3” and, with the threat of rain on the horizon, were slowed to 9’11” for the final day, with all 18 greens stimping within just 4 inches of each other. With that in mind, Golf Magic teamed […]

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Golf greens destroyed with clubs

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Golf greens destroyed with clubs: A golf club is counting the cost of a ‘disheartening and stressful’ vandal attack. Seven out of the 18 greens at Oldham Golf Club were hacked at with a golf club or clubs. Photographs posted by the club on social media show one green with dozens and dozens of divots […]

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Club receives donations after vandalism

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Club receives donations after vandalism: A thriving Suffolk football club has received two kind-hearted gestures after vandals damaged two pitches and forced youth games to be postponed. Volunteers at Stowupland Falcons FC were dismayed after quad bike vandals left tyre tracks on the field overnight on Saturday, November 2, causing the cancellation of Sunday youth […]

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Plea for help after vandal attack

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Plea for help after vandal attack: Volunteers from a city football club have appealed for help after vandals struck. As reported by the Evening Express on Friday, officials at Kincorth AFC were left shocked after intruders damaged their pitch at Kincorth Field. Vandals got onto the land and covered it in tyre tracks and burnt-out […]

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Swindon boss praises groundsman

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Swindon boss praises groundsman: Richie Wellens revealed the work of groundsman Marcus Cassidy and his army of matchday volunteers played a big part in his decision to accept the Swindon Town manager’s role little under a year ago. Last week, Town scooped the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Professional Football Grounds Team of the Year accolade at an awards […]

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Greenkeepers reveal greatest annoyances

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Greenkeepers reveal greatest annoyances: Golfers and greenkeepers. One can’t survive without the other and occasionally, things get a little heated out on the course. What’s the solution? Here at GolfMagic, we’ve teamed up with the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) to hear things from the greenkeepers’ perspective. We spoke to nine top greenkeepers up and […]

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New 3G Pitch Vandalised

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New 3G Pitch Vandalised: A new 3G pitch for Lanarkshire schoolkids has been wrecked by vandals. The ground in Calderbank has been left unplayable and scorched in several places. One furious local said: “our lovely new sports facility, well used by the community..ruined, and it’s only the 4th of November.” It’s part of a 25 […]

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The toughest greenkeeping challenges

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The toughest greenkeeping challenges: Greenkeepers are often the unsung heroes of the golf industry. They start work early in the morning and are usually out of the way long before golfers tee up. Yet their responsibility to maintain the golf course means they’re in charge of the most important asset at any club. Golf courses […]

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Binfield Football Club vandalised

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Binfield Football Club vandalised: Vandals hit Binfield Football Club on Saturday night leaving tyre tracks on the pitches at Hill Farm Lane. The Moles, who had earlier won through to the Third Round of the FA Vase following a 3-1 win at home to Redhill, discovered the damage to pitch 2 at the club when […]

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Car vandals destroy pitches

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Car vandals destroy pitches: Volunteers at a community football club have been left devastated after vandals ruined two of their football pitches. Members of Gateshead Redheugh, a club which helped nurture the talent of Newcastle legend Paul Gascoigne, arrived to host a football camp on Wednesday morning to discover a car had been driven across the playing […]

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Games cancelled after pitch vandalism

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Games cancelled after pitch vandalism: Angry club officials have spoken of their frustration as a reckless driver has damaged two of their football pitches. Southwell City Football Club has had to cancel their 7-a-side matches for the foreseeable future as their pitch has been damaged by a irresponsible driver, or drivers, racing and performing doughnuts […]

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Vandals cause £1000 of pitch damage

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Vandals cause £1000 of pitch damage: Members of Old Laurentian RFC and Old Laurentians Minis & Juniors have been left saddened after finding £1,000 of damage to their pitches. On the night of Wednesday, October 9 – October 10, vandals caused around £1,000 of damage to two out of the three pitches on the site, […]

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Willingdon GC targeted by vandals

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Willingdon GC targeted by vandals: Vandals took a spade to greens at Willingdon Golf Club in an ‘extreme’ and ‘premeditated’ attack this week. Course manager Luke Turner described it as the “worst vandalism” he’d experienced in his decade at the club, and says it could take until spring to fully repair the damage. Course manager […]

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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. If Reds had moved to Derwent Park this summer, it was Curwen’s intention to step down. But after the […]

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400 Up For Mant Family

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400 Up For Mant Family: A son who followed in the footsteps of his dad by becoming head groundsman at Fontwell Park Racecourse is celebrating his 400th race meeting at the racecourse this weekend. Paul Mant, who took over the role from dad Roger 16 years ago after learning the ropes and working alongside him […]

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Vandals Leave Golf Green ‘Completely Shredded’

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Vandals Leave Golf Green ‘Completely Shredded’: This was the scene of devastation left at a golf course after an off-road buggy was seen performing ‘doughnuts’ on the greens. A section of the course at Prestwich Golf Club has been ruined after the act of vandalism, which took place at 4.40pm last Friday. It is believed […]

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Rebecca Callaghan

BASIS Seek Chair For Board Of Trustees

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BASIS Seek Chair For Board Of Trustees: National charity BASIS is seeking to recruit a Chair for the Board of Trustees, starting in April 2020. BASIS CEO, Stephen Jacob, explains the Chair will play a vital role in the running of the charity, that looks to support and develop the agricultural and associated industries with […]

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Volunteers ‘Disheartened’ After Pitch Vandalism

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Volunteers ‘Disheartened’ After Pitch Vandalism: Volunteers at an amateur football club have been left “disheartened” after vandals rode across their pitch on off-road motorcycles. After going to check the pitch at Breightmet Wanderers’ Dolan Park on Sunday morning, a member of the club spotted long tyre trails across the turf. The pitches, off Newby Road, […]

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Police Appeal After Pitch Damage

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Police Appeal After Pitch Damage: A Clitheroe sports pitch has been “cut to shreds” after a sneaky adult kickabout. Now, the pitch will be closed for several days, while council groundsmen rectify the damage. Up to 12 adults were spotted turfing up at the Edisford Road pitch – one of five next to the car […]

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Vandals Rip Up Furness GC

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Vandals Rip Up Furness GC: Golfers have called on the community to ‘grass up’ the mindless vandals who caused a ‘hole’ lot of damage on their course. Over the last two decades officials at Furness Golf Club on Walney have had to contend with regular incidents of criminal damage on the greens. These have ranged […]

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Gordon Moir To Take Top Post

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Gordon Moir To Take Top Post: Former St Andrews Links Trust director of greenkeeping Gordon Moir is in line to land a prestigious post in the industry where he made his mark. The 60-year-old has accepted the nomination to become vice president of the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association in 2020, with a view […]

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Tributes To Stalwart Willie Duffy

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Tributes To Stalwart Willie Duffy: Stenhousemuir Cricket Club paid tribute to one of its greatest stalwarts Willie Duffy, who died last Friday, aged 83. Willie joined the club in 1952. He was a steady medium paced swing bowler. He had some spectacular success such as the occasion when he took six wickets against Watsonians at […]

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Amber Lewis

Twickenham’s New Head Groundsperson

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Twickenham’s New Head Groundsperson: The RFU has appointed Jim Buttar as Twickenham Stadium’s head groundsperson, a role he began on 2nd September.  Jim has over 20 years’ experience in grounds maintenance. He was head groundsman at Tottenham Hotspur’s White Hart Lane for 11 years and deputy head for three years during which time he was […]

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Footballer Scuffles With Groundsman

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Footballer Scuffles With Groundsman: Richard Keogh was allegedly involved in a post-game altercation with a Nottingham Forest groundsman, according to reports. Sky Sports report that the Republic of Ireland and Derby County defender was left with “noticeable scratch marks” on his neck following a “scuffle” with the Forest groundsman. It is unclear if the groundsman suffered […]

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Cricket Club Slams Vandals

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Cricket Club Slams Vandals: The chairman of a cricket club has voiced his anger after their pitch was vandalised ahead of an all-important title decider. Players and officials at Bradenham Cricket Club were left devastated last week after groundsman Brett Gates arrived to find the outfield desecrated with tyre marks. Mr Gates subsequently took to […]

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£40,000 Mower At Inverness Castle

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£40,000 Mower At Inverness Castle: Highland Council is planning to use a £40,000 remote-control lawn mower to target difficult-to-reach steep slopes around Inverness – including at the city’s famous Castle. While the lush green banks by the castle and the River Ness are regarded as a major tourist attraction, they come with serious grass-cutting problems. […]

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Wimbledon Groundsman Responds To Federer

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Wimbledon Groundsman Responds To Federer: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had different opinions on the Wimbledon speed surface. The Swiss player believes it got slower than the previous years while Nadal said it is still the same one. Neil Stubley, who oversees the groundsmen team in the All England Club, said: “Every year we have […]

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John Ledwidge Talks Groundsmanship

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John Ledwidge Talks Groundsmanship: John Ledwidge always wanted to work on a football pitch. But rather than dreaming about becoming a star striker, he a wrote a letter to his local club, Coventry City, to ask about gaining work experience as a groundsman when he was just 13. The 28-year-old is now head of sports turf and […]

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Bridesmaids Win Groundsman Award

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Bridesmaids Win Groundsman Award: Everyone connected with both Boreham Wood and Arsenal Football Club, would like to congratulate our groundsmen Daniel Hunter and Declan Robinson on winning the very prestigious and Nationally awarded ‘groundsman of the year’ award. The dedication, skill and application shown by these two very committed grass and soil technicians come rain, […]

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Hastings Groundsman Scoops Award

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Hastings Groundsman Scoops Award: Hastings United’s surface- and its architect- recognised in FA Groundsman of the Year Awards. Grass. It’s often something we take rather for granted, isn’t it? But creating a fine surface for football doesn’t happen by chance; it involves a great deal of back-breaking work and an incredible amount of skill, which […]

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New App For Groundsmen

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New App For Groundsmen: The Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation are ramping up efforts to improve the quality of grass pitches in England with the launch of the Football Foundation Groundskeeping Community app. The new platform provides a resource of expert advice for grounds staff, enabling them to connect with peers, discover […]

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Trophy For Alfreton Groundsman

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Trophy For Alfreton Groundsman: Alfreton Town’s Rob Brooks picked up the third place trophy in the National League category at the FA Groundsman of the Year Awards. Boreham Wood claimed first place with Chesterfield in second. The Impact Arena is widely recognised up and down the country for its stunning surface and being one of […]

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Tributes Paid To Gary Lewis

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Tributes Paid To Gary Lewis: Tributes have been paid to former Blackpool FC groundsman Gary Lewis, who has tragically passed away. His son Mark has taken to Twitter to reveal the sad news, saying he and his family are “in shock”. Lewis joined Blackpool as groundsman in May of last year, having previously spent three […]

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Kassam Pitch Delights Robinson

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Kassam Pitch Delights Robinson: Oxford United manager Karl Robinson has praised the work done this summer to make improvements in the pitch at the Kassam Stadium. Oxford United’s home game with Peterborough United marks the surface’s competitive debut, following extensive refurbishment during the off-season. A good pitch is essential for the way the U’s want […]

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Pitch Damaged After Concert

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Pitch Damaged After Concert: Pundit Michael Stewart has revealed his dismay at the condition of Hearts’ pitch after the club hosted an Edinburgh Festival concert a week ago today. The damage appears to have been done when the stadium was the venue for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra on August 3. It saw a crowd […]

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Groundsman Pleas To Dog Owners

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Groundsman Pleas To Dog Owners: A football club groundsman has slammed irresponsible dog owners for not picking up their pets’ faeces, which has been left scattered across a village field which is used to host matches. Long Ashton Football Club stalwart Davy McGimpsey believes the amount removed by players is ‘nothing short of disgraceful’ and […]

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Bunker Washouts Destroying Morale

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Bunker Washouts Destroying Morale: The greatest challenge that has faced golf course superintendents over the past several years has been the difficulty of recruiting and retaining staff. All courses – regardless of budget – are impacted by this labor shortage, but those hit worst are struggling to simply keep up with mowing the entire golf […]

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Vandals Cause Grass Pain

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Vandals Cause Grass Pain: Volunteers at an East End football club have blasted vandals who repeatedly trash its pitch for five years. Cosmos Football Academy, in Tollcross, which trains kids as young as four-years-old, raised concerns with Glasgow City Council about the repeated problems. The club says that as well as smashing glass bottles on […]

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Ireland To Host 2026 Ryder Cup

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Ireland To Host 2026 Ryder Cup: The Ryder Cup will return to Ireland in 2026 when Adare Manor, in County Limerick, hosts the biennial contest between Europe and the United States for the first time. Ryder Cup Europe – which comprises the Managing Partner the European Tour, the Founding Partner the PGA of Great Britain […]

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United Groundsman Sent To China

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United Groundsman Sent To China: Manchester United are sending their groundsman to Shanghai to make sure there is no repeat of the pitch farce that marred their last visit to China. The first derby on foreign soil against Manchester City was scrapped three years ago after torrential downpours left the surface at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing unplayable. […]

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Greenkeeper Injured In Holiday Accident

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Greenkeeper Injured In Holiday Accident: A British holidaymaker could be paralysed for life after breaking his neck in an accident at a Spanish water park, his family fear. David Briffaut, 23, lost consciousness and suffered serious injuries after hitting the water in a pool at the bottom of a slide at the Aqualandia tourist attraction […]

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Tributes For Former Groundsman

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Tributes For Former Groundsman: Tributes have been paid to the former head groundsman of Bangor on Dee racecourse after he passed away on Wednesday, July 10 aged 82. John Malam, who will always be associated with the North Wales course, where he was affectionately known as Mr Bangor on Dee, was from the neighbouring village […]

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Tribunal Rules Unfair Dismissal

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Tribunal Rules Unfair Dismissal: A greenkeeper was unfairly dismissed by bosses at a posh golf club, a tribunal has ruled. Clive Poole, 47, began work at Prestbury Golf Club in 1996 but was sacked from his role – and lost the rented home that came with it – in June 2017. In a lengthy judgement […]

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Ian Darler Hits 40 Years

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Ian Darler Hits 40 Years: From eating a Sunday roast with Barry Fry in the centre-circle at London Road, to sing-along fishing trips with John Beck and rubbing shoulders with Herve Renard, it would be difficult to find anyone that has experienced the highs and lows of Cambridge United more than Ian Darler. Having arrived […]

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Pitch Vandalised With Golf Clubs

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Pitch Vandalised With Golf Clubs: A football club has hit out after vandals tore up their pitch with golf clubs only a week before their first pre-season friendly. Billinghay Athletic Football Club, which competes in Division One of the Boston and District Saturday Football League, have criticised the actions of the vandals, which have left […]

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Groundsman Reveals Cricket Challenges

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Groundsman Reveals Cricket Challenges: Gary Barwell, the head groundsman at Edgbaston, has done well to stay chipper as he prepares the pitch for the second of the World Cup semi-finals on Thursday. Unseasonal bad weather almost scuppered the venue’s first match – between New Zealand and South Africa – before Virat Kohli bizarrely complained about […]

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Wolves’ Perfect Pitches

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Wolves’ Perfect Pitches: Come rain or shine, they are the men working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure every pitch is Premier League quality. From the under-8s side honing their skills at the training ground to a Saturday afternoon fixture at Molineux, Wayne Lumbard and his dedicated team of groundsmen ensure the turf they are […]

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Mower Man Gets Wembley Invite

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Mower Man Gets Wembley Invite: A grass cutter whose efforts in creating a pitch “fit for Wembley” for children has been invited to cut the stadium’s pitch for real. A tweet Jimmy Broadhouse shared of his work at a council field in Bilbrook, near Wolverhampton, has been seen almost three million times. It also caught […]

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‘Bored’ Groundsman’s Grand Design

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‘Bored’ Groundsman’s Grand Design: A “bored” lower league football groundsman went to great lengths to create the perfect pitch – covered in geometric shapes. Fed-up with ‘drawing’ the same outline on the Brechin City turf, Neil Wood, 54, decided to design something more creative with his lawnmower. The patient Glebe Park groundsman spent six hours […]

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Centre Court Steam Cleaned

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Centre Court Steam Cleaned: The famous Centre Court at Wimbledon has been steam cleaned to kill off any nasty pests lurking beneath the surface, head groundsman Neil Stubley said.  The All England Club first trialled steam sterilising in 2017 and is now rolling it out around the courts. The technique involves covering the grass with […]

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Exmouth Pitch In Good Shape

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Exmouth Pitch In Good Shape: The football ‘close-season’ is almost at an end as the ‘pre-season’ edges ever closer. Most football teams enjoy an entire month of June recharging batteries before returning in early July for the rigours of pre-season training. However, the ‘close-season’ is not a period of rest for everyone involved with football […]

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Bayer Set To Invest $5.6 billion

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Bayer Set To Invest $5.6 billion: Bayer has announced it plans to invest about $5.6 billion of its research and development budget on alternatives to its glyphosate weed killer over the next decade, according to an article by Bloomberg. The German company, with U.S. headquarters in Whippany, New Jersey, acquired Monsanto, St. Louis, the maker of Roundup, […]

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Helen Waite

TurfSync Launched By STRI

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TurfSync Launched By STRI: STRI Group is delighted to announce the launch of a new sports surface performance tracker – TurfSync. TurfSync connects the team and players to the surface they are playing on, whilst providing stadium operators with important management data. Its easy-to-use online interface allows the groundstaff, coaches, management and venue operators to […]

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Cromer Courts Among The Best

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Cromer Courts Among The Best: Cromer’s tennis players have always boasted that their 10 grass courts are amongst the best in the country – and now it is official. Following a visit and inspection by an official from the LTA, the sport’s governing body, and an inspector from the Sports Turf Research Institute they have […]

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Groundsman Wins Volunteer Award

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Groundsman Wins Volunteer Award: Birmingham Exiles’ Andy Harris was honoured at the annual North Midlands Volunteer Awards recently. The awards, now in their 13th year, celebrate outstanding voluntary service to rugby sides in the region, with the hard work and generosity of volunteers often proving the difference in keeping rugby clubs running. Harris was named […]

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Vandals Tear Up Golf Green

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Vandals Tear Up Golf Green: A group of “mindless” joy riders ripped up a north-east golf course at the weekend, leaving one green badly damaged. Grounds staff at Oldmeldrum Golf Club arrived on Sunday morning to prepare for the day’s action only to discover tyre marks across the 17th green. Sections of turf had been […]

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Groundsmen Sacked After Team leak

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Groundsmen Sacked After Team leak: Employees of Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club claim they were unfairly dismissed in a “witch-hunt” after a team selection was leaked online. Three members of ground staff were allegedly denied disciplinary hearings or reasons for their sacking on Friday. The GMB union said the dismissal “stinks” and called for […]

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Groundsman ‘Tweaks’ Pitch Plans

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Groundsman ‘Tweaks’ Pitch Plans: Fleetwood Town’s head groundsman Nick Hyndman has revealed that feedback from keeper Alex Cairns has resulted in a different approach to relaying the Highbury pitch this summer. Hyndman is hopeful the pitch will be in “brilliant” condition by the time Premier League side Burnley arrive for a friendly on July 23. […]

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Dover’s Pitch Makeover

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Dover’s Pitch Makeover: The new football season might be two months away but preparations have already started on Crabble’s turf ahead of Dover’s 2019/20 National League campaign. Following the installation of the fibre sand pitch last year, Head Groundsman Sid Fletcher is now performing the necessary maintenance work to ensure the ground is in top […]

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Thief Steals Football Lawnmower

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Thief Steals Football Lawnmower: A local football club that has had to endure a traumatic season off this pitch has been dealt another blow. Boston Town FC have been dealt a huge blow off the pitch as their Ransom 2 wheeled lawnmower was stolen from the ground on Tuesday May 28. Other equipment used to […]

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Police Hunt For Golf Vandals

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Police Hunt For Golf Vandals: Police are investigating a case of vandalism on two greens at the Crookwell Golf Club. The incident occurred sometime between 9pm on Friday, May 24 and 8.30am on Saturday, May 25. First and second hole greens were ripped up by vehicles which were deliberately driven across the golf course. This […]

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Thieves Rip Out Artificial Turf

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Thieves Rip Out Artificial Turf: Thieves have ripped out specialist artificial turf from a £33,000 training centre used by young cricketers. The nets were set up at Porthill Park Cricket Club around a month ago following a fund-raising drive. But yobs cut up one of the lanes used to help build youngsters’ confidence in the sport. […]

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Emily Strickland

Cousins’ 70 Years Of Service

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Cousins’ 70 Years Of Service: Two cousins have celebrated 70 years of service to the same golf club. Bobby Hay retired earlier this month after 45 years with Gullane Golf Club, while cousin Paul Hay toasted 25 years of long service. Bobby, who was irrigation and drainage technician, and Paul, who is head greenkeeper at […]

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Tony Hawkins

Dog Handler Rescued By Tractor

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Dog Handler Rescued By Tractor: When Mary Grant dislocated and broke her ankle at work, paramedics were struggling to find a way to get her safely to the ambulance. Mary, a senior dog handler at KDW Doggie Day Care in Kelty, Fife, was teaching puppy agility at the centre when the accident occurred on May […]

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Bayer To Appeal Glyphosate Ruling

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Bayer To Appeal Glyphosate Ruling: Bayer shares continued to fall on Tuesday after a California jury on Monday awarded more than $2 billion in damages to a couple who alleged that the company’s glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup caused their cancers. The third successive loss by Bayer in US courts and highest award to date by […]

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Ground Staff Furious Over Criticism

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Ground Staff Furious Over Criticism: It was a remark by Mark Ramprakash, England’s former batting coach, after the recent Test series defeat by West Indies which pushed one first-class groundsman over the edge. Ramprakash had just been asked why his batters had underperformed so woefully, and responded by assigning a chunk of the blame to […]

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New Court Almost Ready

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New Court Almost Ready: Often called the world’s best tennis tournament, Wimbledon will be unveiling a new Court No.1 this year and the preparations are in their final stages. The famously skilled groundsmen at the All England Lawn Tennis Club have tweeted pictures of the lines being painted onto court No.1 with the brand new […]

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Vandals Hit Ellesmere Port GC

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Vandals Hit Ellesmere Port GC: Police have taken to social media to reveal the damage caused by vandals at a recently re-opened golf club. Ellesmere Port Golf Club, also known as Hooton Golf Club, relaunched last month with the Ian Woosnam Golf Academy. The site, which closed suddenly last October after operators Mack Golf ceased trading, is owned […]

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Award For Gillingham Groundsman

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Award For Gillingham Groundsman: Gillingham groundsman John Plummer was awarded the Elliott Scally Cup at the club’s awards evening last Sunday. The cup goes to someone at the club who deserves special recognition. Plummer was given the daunting task of dealing with a new hybrid pitch early on in the season after the old one […]

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Groundsman Targets Improvements

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Groundsman Targets Improvements: Swindon Town groundsman Marcus Cassidy hopes beneath the surface improvements, as a result of continued investment over the summer, can help improve the County Ground pitch even further next season. Town were confirmed as winners of the Grounds Team of the Year award for League Two on Wednesday night, one place better […]

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EFL Award Winners Announced

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EFL Award Winners Announced: The EFL has announced the winners of the Grounds Team of the Season award for 2018/19 in each of the three divisions. The awards recognise the importance of the quality of pitches for professional football and acknowledge the clubs and their ground staff who consistently produce the best playing surfaces in […]

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New Pitch Investment Pays Off

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New Pitch Investment Pays Off: For years the quality of the Memorial Stadium pitch was criticised by managers both home and away as it cut up badly. Former Gas manager Darrell Clarke used to lambaste it at regular intervals. Which makes today’s announcement that Bristol Rovers have been named Grounds Team of the Season in […]

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Tributes Paid To Bob Black

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Tributes Paid To Bob Black: Tributes have been paid to a community stalwart who supported football clubs in his area for more than 40 years. Bob Black, of Evenwood, was a passionate fan of Evenwood Town Football Club and became well known for helping out with everything from fixing stands to painting on the white […]

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Tractor Stolen From Football Club

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Tractor Stolen From Football Club: Staff at Eastleigh FC say they are “gutted” after a tractor worth £19,000 was stolen from their ground. It happened at the Silverlake Stadium on Sunday night. The Head Groundsman Dan Barnes arrived for match day preparations on Monday to discover the tractor had been stolen and the extent of […]

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Plastic Pitches Set For Twenty20

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Plastic Pitches Set For Twenty20: The ECB expect plastic pitches to be used in domestic Twenty20 action this season when the heavy World Cup scheduling takes its toll on the squares of the country’s leading grounds. Artificial surfaces are yet to be used for professional matches in the UK but the ECB’s cricket committee sanctioned […]

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Vandals Damage Football Pitch

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Vandals Damage Football Pitch: Junior footballers from Spalding were left “devastated and disheartened” after vandals wrecked their pitch and equipment on Friday night. Players and officials from Spalding United Youth Football Club arrived for their games in West Pinchbeck, only to find that a pitch had been vandalised and a container storing equipment used by […]

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Groundsman Celebrates 30th Year

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Groundsman Celebrates 30th Year: A long serving groundsman at Worcestershire County Cricket Club has celebrated a milestone of 30 years looking after the picturesque cricket ground. Tim Packwood, the head groundsman at the New Road ground, marked his 30th year at the club this weekend. Mr Packwood came to the club in April 1989 as […]

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How Golf Course Can Save Bees

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How Golf Course Can Save Bees: The putting greens are perfectly smooth, every blade of grass is polished and preened to perfection. No stray clumps of moss or random dandelion leaf to cause even the slightest bump. Bunkers of fine sand dazzle under the Georgia sun. The crystal-clear water sparkles. Even Augusta National Golf Club’s […]

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Holes Appear In Cricket Pitch

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Holes Appear In Cricket Pitch: Vandals have hit a cricket club in Tameside after digging up more than 150 holes on the pitch. The damage to the wickets at Ashton Ladysmith Cricket Club was discovered earlier this week. It’s thought to have happened some time between 5pm on Tuesday and 2pm on Thursday. The ground on Rosehill […]

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Groundsman’s Expertise At Aintree

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Groundsman’s Expertise At Aintree: The head groundsman from Cartmel Racecourse headed to Aintree over the weekend to play a crucial role in the 2019 Grand National. Gary Sharp, 40, has worked at the south Cumbria course since 2002, ensuring the track is in peak condition for each of its nine race days every year. But […]

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Liverpool Groundsman Retires

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Liverpool Groundsman Retires: Groundsman Allan Webster has retired from his role at Liverpool after more than 40 years working at the club. The 64-year-old has tended to the famous Anfield pitch as well as the training ground at Melwood, and since 2005 he has looked after the lawns at the academy in Kirkby. Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com Allan […]

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Groundsman’s Burger Discovery

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Groundsman’s Burger Discovery: When a burger descended from space to land on the training ground at Colchester United on Thursday, groundsmen at the club were stumped as to its origin. Was it a cryptic message from another solar system, or possibly a bizarre ploy from an opposing team to upset United’s preparations? All was revealed […]

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Boy Racers Churn Up Football Pitches

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Boy Racers Churn Up Football Pitches: Boy racers performing ‘donuts’ have churned up a team’s football pitch in Market Harborough. Two cars have damaged a large section of the turf at the Symington’s Recreation Ground by performing stunts and driving about at speed on Sunday night. Officials at Borough Alliance Football Club, who run 17 […]

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New 3G Pitch Provides Opportunity

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New 3G Pitch Provides Opportunity: A new third generation (3G) artificial grass pitch (AGP) which was opened at Philip Morant School and College in Essex recently (Monday 11 March) will support nearly 100 women and girls playing competitive football in Essex over the next five years. The new full-size pitch was made possible thanks to […]

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Pitches Ruined By Tyre Damage

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Pitches Ruined By Tyre Damage: A Renton football club were left devastated this weekend after Scottish Power vans ploughed through their pitches – leaving them unplayable. A coach of Renton Craigandro FC spotted the vans from Scottish Power Energy Network on Friday as they drove through the grass at Tontine Park leaving large muddy tyre […]

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Lords Groundsman’s ‘Dream Job’

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Lords Groundsman’s ‘Dream Job’: Karl McDermott, the new MCC head groundsman, may be preparing the Lord’s pitches for the World Cup final and the Ashes this summer, but when it comes to romance, Ireland’s first Test there will take some beating. He is from Dublin, and his journey to the home of cricket, replacing the legendary […]

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Greenkeeper Death An Accident

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Greenkeeper Death An Accident: A 35-year-old greenkeeper died last January after a poplar tree he was cutting fell on his head and fractured his skull, an inquest has heard. His girlfriend and her father later found his body. Father-of-one Martin Davenport, probably died instantly when the tree hit him in Christleton, Cheshire. A jury inquest […]

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Manager’s Tribute To Former Groundsman

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Manager’s Tribute To Former Groundsman: Southend United manager Chris Powell has paid tribute to Sid Broomfield, the man who helped to build Roots Hall. Broomfield passed away earlier this week, aged 94. And Powell insisted the club’s former groundsman would forever be a massive part of the club’s history. “You don’t get too many people […]

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Award For Beccles Town Groundsman

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Award For Beccles Town Groundsman: Beccles Town have been crowned winners of the Suffolk FA Groundsman of the Year sponsored by Ransomes at the first time of asking. The club had never previously entered the competition, which is open to clubs in the county at Step 7 and below. The five members of the Judging […]

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Vandals Damage Prestigious Golf Club

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Vandals Damage Prestigious Golf Club: Vandals on quad bikes have ripped up turf on the greens at a local course while horrified golfers looked on. The wrecking spree has caused £5,000 worth of damage at Howley Hall Golf Club in Morley just weeks before the start of the summer season. The prestigious course claims to […]

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From Homeless To Award-Winning Greenkeeper

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From Homeless To Award-Winning Greenkeeper: Jack Percival spent six months on the streets. When greenkeeping provided a lifeline, he never forgot what he had been through. Of all the things Jack Percival no longer takes for granted – and it’s quite a list – there is one that stands out, that’s hardwired into his brain like […]

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Vandals Cause Golf Course Closure

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Vandals Cause Golf Course Closure: Golf course bosses have been left gutted after vandals went on a spree at the site, forcing the course to close. Bishopswood Golf Course, in Tadley, had to be closed today after, overnight, vandals caused extensive damage to the course’s greens. Rakes and flags were used to cause the damage before […]

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Celtic Repair Vandalised Youth Pitch

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Celtic Repair Vandalised Youth Pitch: Celtic have stepped in to help out over 60 youngsters of Torrance FC whose pitch was vandalised recently, leaving their teams without a venue to play their games. The pitch, which is near Celtic’s Lennoxtown complex, was turned over by tyre tracks at the weekend meaning that the Torrance club, founded […]

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Praise For Orient Groundsman

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Praise For Orient Groundsman: Leyton Orient assistant Ross Embleton hailed the work of Colin James and his staff after pitch struggles last season due to a lack of investment by the previous regime. The current condition of Leyton Orient’s home pitch will given the team the chance to impose themselves on their future opponents, according […]

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Pitch Perfect At Swindon Town

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Pitch Perfect At Swindon Town: Long summer hours, ensuring a pre-planned fertiliser programme is on target and achieving the right aeration balance – you could consider all of the above to be traits required by one of Wiltshire’s many farmers. But it also applies to Swindon Town’s chief groundsman Marcus Cassidy, who is midway through his […]

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Players Seek Artificial Surface Ban

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Players Seek Artificial Surface Ban: Players in the Scottish Premiership are pushing for a ban on artificial surfaces in the top flight, according to players’ union PFA Scotland. Hamilton Academical, Kilmarnock and Livingston play on artificial surfaces. PFA Scotland surveyed players at the other nine clubs and says it received a 100% response against their use. […]

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New R&A Greenkeeping Scholar

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New R&A Greenkeeping Scholar: A Carrickfergus student has become the first in Northern Ireland to be awarded an R&A Greenkeeping Scholarship. Callum Burnside is currently undertaking a two-year foundation degree in Horticulture (Sportsturf) at the Greenmount campus of the College of Agriculture, Food & Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) The R&A Greenkeeping Scholarship Programme was established in 2004 […]

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Groundsman Creates ‘Starburst’ Outfield

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Groundsman Creates ‘Starburst’ Outfield: TV viewers watching the latest test match at the Darren Sammy stadium in Gros Islet may have been struck by the unusual way the outfield has been cut, mown into the shape of a “starburst” fanning out from the pitch to the boundary. This sort of topiary appears to be unique to […]

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Ex-Cricketer Criticises County Pitches

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Ex-Cricketer Criticises County Pitches: England batting coach Mark Ramprakash believes county pitches are not helping create top-order batsmen for Test cricket, labeling them ‘inexplicable’. England have been bowled out for 77, 246, 187 and 132 in the first two Tests against Windies to slip to a series defeat and will now try to avoid a whitewash in St […]

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Andrea Pickerin

Living Wage Employer Accreditation

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Living Wage Employer Accreditation: We are delighted to announce our Living Wage Employer accreditation. This is a commitment to pay all our staff the real Living Wage – a rate independently-calculated and based on what people actually need to live. This rate is higher than both the government’s “minimum wage” and “national living wage” and ensures […]

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Vandals Set Fire To Football Pitch

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Vandals Set Fire To Football Pitch: A football pitch in Drimnagh has been damaged in a suspected arson attack. The pitch on Benmadigan Road is used by local club St John Bosco. It is believed plastic fencing that was left at the pitch was set on fire. Pictures shared on social media by Cllr Daithi Doolan […]

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Four Golf Greens Vandalised

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Four Golf Greens Vandalised: Tayside Police are carrying out enquires after four greens were vandalised at a golf course near Dundee. The damage occurred at Camperdown Golf Course after motorbikes were believed to have been ridden around the greens, ripping up large areas of the putting surfaces. The 1st, 3rd, 4th and 9th holes were affected. […]

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Vandals Target Golf Greens

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Vandals Target Golf Greens: Two greens at the Keilor Golf Club in Australia were last week ripped up after vehicles were deliberately driven across the course. Brimbank infrastructure and city services director Neil Whiteside said the vandalism was unacceptable. “Council is disappointed that reckless vandals have damaged the Keilor Public Golf Course by deliberately driving vehicles […]

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Oil Attack Ruins Cricket Pitch

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Oil Attack Ruins Cricket Pitch: Members at Wyndham Vale Cricket Club in Australia have been left devastated after vandals poured oil on one of its pitches, rendering it unusable for several months. Liam Maloney was set to captain the club’s thirds on Saturday, January 19, when players arrived to find the pitch covered in oil. Mr […]

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Groundsman Sacked Over Racist Tweets

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Groundsman Sacked Over Racist Tweets: A former Lincoln City groundsman has been sacked by the football club after a series of offensive tweets surfaced. Ashley Barratt was dismissed 12 hours after the club were made aware of the tweets, following an investigation. Barratt’s tweets were posted online between September and October 2017, before he became an employee […]

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IOG’s Rallying Cry

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IOG’s Rallying Cry: No-one involved in club cricket will be particularly surprised that the evolution of volunteers in key roles is an ongoing concern. Struggles to recruit enough umpires and shortages of scorers is as old as the hills. Is it as bad as it ever was? I’ll leave that to you to ponder but the […]

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Real Madrid Groundsman’s Office

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Real Madrid Groundsman’s Office: Paul Burgess, the man responsible maintaining Real Madrid’s pitch, recently took to social media posting an image of his office with the message: “Preparing our summer planning today for the stadium and training facility, busy 2019 ahead.” Formerly in charge of the pitches at Arsenal, his modern techniques were taken on […]

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Dan Sanders Wins Groundsman Award

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Dan Sanders Wins Groundsman Award: Westfields groundsman Dan Sanders has been crowned the Midland Football League Premier Division Groundsman of the Year. Sanders, from Clehonger, looks after all the main pitch and other pitches as allpay.park. He also finished runner-up overall in the Midland Football League to Brockton Football Club as Groundsman of the Year. His certificate […]

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Vandals Target Angus Golf Club

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Vandals Target Angus Golf Club: Members of Letham Grange Golf Club have once again been left counting the costs after vandals tore over the fairways in a late night demolition spree. Green-keepers arrived on Sunday morning to be met by tyre marks cutting across the 17th fairway and the winter tees in the second incident of […]

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Tributes Groundsman George Hay

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Tributes Groundsman George Hay: Tributes have been paid to a fixture of Clydebank’s sporting community who will be laid to rest at the ground that became a family home. George Hay died on December 30 at the age of 69, just one year older than Drumchapel Amateurs. He lived his entire life across the street from […]

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Kate Hopkins

Inquiry Into Japanese Knotweed Impact

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Inquiry Into Japanese Knotweed Impact: The Science and Technology Committee are holding an oral evidence session in early 2019, specifically to explore the science behind the effects of Japanese Knotweed on the built environment. To inform that session, written submissions were invited and the Amenity Forum has made a response. The Amenity Forum welcomed the inquiry. […]

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Vandals Ruin Village Football Pitch

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Vandals Ruin Village Football Pitch: A village football boss has condemned “mindless” vandals who ruined their pitch by driving across it and churning up the turf. Cartmel AFC’s ground was targeted by someone driving across the wet surface performing “doughnuts and wheelies” and scarring the sodden ground on Boxing Day. Club chairman Steve Chambers said it […]

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Sports Pitch Ruined By Quad Bike

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Sports Pitch Ruined By Quad Bike: Three junior football teams have had their pitch ruined by mindless vandals. Bosses at Cleck Sporting Juniors believe a quad bike was taken onto the field, in Mann Dam Park, off Spen Lane, in Cleckheaton, and used to churn up the grass earlier this week. It has left the pitch unplayable […]

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Colin Hoskins

IOG Recommend 2.5% Pay Rise

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IOG Recommend 2.5% Pay Rise: The Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) is recommending a 2.5 per cent increase in grounds staff’s national minimum salary bands for 2019. The IOG say the recommendations have been made against a backdrop of economic uncertainty over the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, which is likely to impact growth; GDP growth is expected […]

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Cambridge Mow Christmas Tree Into Pitch

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Cambridge Mow Christmas Tree Into Pitch: League Two outfit Cambridge United have shown their Christmas spirit by mowing a Christmas tree into their pitch. The special design at Abbey Stadium for the U’s game against Yeovil Town on Saturday was created by groundsman Ian Darler and features stars and baubles. “Our Groundsman does Christmas better than […]

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Kate Hopkins

Loss Of Propiconazole

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Loss Of Propiconazole: The EU Commission has decided not to renew the approval for the fungicide active ingredient, propiconazole. This means that all products containing propiconazole for any market, including turf management, will be withdrawn from sale over the coming months. Approval was not renewed because it failed the cut off criteria given its classification linked […]

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Karl McDermott Begins Lords Role

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Karl McDermott Begins Lords Role: Karl McDermott has started work in his new role as the Head Groundsman at the famous Lord’s cricket ground. McDermott joined from Hampshire and has taken over from Mick Hunt, who retired after 49 years in the job. He joined Hampshire as Deputy Head Groundsman in 2009, becoming Head Groundsman in 2016, having […]

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Vandals Set Fire To Football Pitch

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Vandals Set Fire To Football Pitch: A Renton football team have been left with nowhere to play their games after vandals set fire to their pitch. Players and coaches at Renton Craigandro have been left gutted by the damage done to their pitches at Tontine Park. The grass pitch has been left blackened and unplayable with […]

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Greenkeeper Celebrates 40 Years

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Greenkeeper Celebrates 40 Years: A special staff function took place at the Berry Bowling Club on Sunday, to celebrate Rodney (Rod) Armstrong’s 40 years of continuous employment as a greenkeeper at Bomaderry Bowling Club and in more recent years also covering Berry. Rod started his apprenticeship at Bomaderry in 1978 under the highly respected greenkeeper Ron Sharpe […]

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Greenkeeper Sets Up Mental Health Support Page

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Greenkeeper Sets Up Mental Health Support Page: The head greenkeeper of Hazel Grove Golf Club in Cheshire has set up a successful Facebook page that offers mental health support to greenkeepers in the industry. Mike Davie created the page after observing “the increase of expectations of the golfer with increased personal abuse aimed at, and stress […]

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Greenkeeping Team Rewarded

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Greenkeeping Team Rewarded: The greenkeeping team at Golf At Goodwood has realised its ambition of gaining the coveted Golf Environment Organisation certification for its commitment to sustainability across both the Park and Downs courses. GEO Certified® is the symbol of great golf environments worldwide, showing a facility has met a credible standard in sustainability across six […]

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Award For Rotherham Grounds Team

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Award For Rotherham Grounds Team: More than any footballer could ever hope to Rotherham United head groundsman Dave Fellowes covers every blade of grass, suggesting he can clock up 100 miles a week on the pitch at AESSEAL New York Stadium. Up and down, across and back, up and down, across and back. Dave Fellowes reckons he […]

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Reece Watson To Leave Arsenal

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Reece Watson To Leave Arsenal: Arsenal’s head groundsman Reece Watson has announced that he will be leaving the club in February 2019. Watson has been an integral part of the club for 13 years, progressing from assistant groundsman to head groundsman. Arsenal have been committed to providing one of the best playing surfaces in world football […]

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New Greens Team At Sleaford

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New Greens Team At Sleaford: It’s all change at Sleaford Golf Club after new faces were brought in to look after their greens and fairways. There have been many changes in the greenkeeping team at Sleaford Golf Club in recent weeks after the retirement of the club’s longest-serving greenkeeper Arthur Simpson, and the decision of head […]

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Bayer To Show Glyphosate Studies

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Bayer To Show Glyphosate Studies: Bayer announced Nov. 21 that it will soon include safety study summaries of glyphosate on its dedicated transparency platform. The company said this next step will mark the first anniversary of its Transparency Initiative, which was launched on Dec. 7, 2017. “Our commitment to transparency remains core to our mission as we […]

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Vandals Hit Real Fife FC

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Vandals Hit Real Fife FC: Reckless vandals who have been tearing up a Fife football pitch by using it as a race track are placing young lives at risk and could force a local club to relocate altogether. The stark message has been delivered by volunteers with Real Fife FC, which has been resident at East […]

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Paul Hay

Trime UK Champion The Green X-Splash

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Trime UK Champion The Green X-Splash: Trime UK, the Cambridgeshire based supplier of sustainable equipment for the horticultural, agricultural, construction and rental markets have had their X-Splash wash bay honoured by the prestigious environmental campaigners, the Green Organisation. They competed against more than 800 other nominations in the Green Apple Awards for Environmental Best Practice. Trime’s […]

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Quad Bikes Tear Up Football Pitch

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Quad Bikes Tear Up Football Pitch: Pitches at Solway Banks in Brynteg were damaged again by tyre tracks at the weekend, leading to Brymbo Lodge FC coach Kieran Howard to hit out at the vandals for ruining children’s football. He says they are also putting lives including their own in danger with reckless behaviour. He added […]

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Paul Hay

Trime’s Tax Efficient Method For Cleaning Plant & Equipment

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Trime’s Tax Efficient Method For Cleaning Plant & Equipment: The safe and thorough cleaning of plant and equipment for construction, agricultural and similar equipment is pre-requisite operation. The environmentally safe containment and removal of mud, soil and similar contaminates can become a problem, particularly for those firms that do not have access to an outside yard. […]

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Vandals Leave Pitch Out Of Action

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Vandals Leave Pitch Out Of Action: An east end football club which encourages men over 30 to get fit is out of action until next year, thanks to heartless vandals who ruined the pitch. Glasgow Titans have a pitch in Tollcross, and use it for training and games as part of a weight loss programme. The […]

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Tributes Paid To Popular Groundsman

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Tributes Paid To Popular Groundsman: Tributes have been paid to a popular football groundsman who has lost his battle with cancer, aged 87. Adam Grant, of Tillymaud, near Udny, gave his tender loving care to the North Lodge Park pitch at Formartine United for more than three decades – despite losing a hand in a tragic […]

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Greenkeepers Sunburn & Cancer Risk

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Greenkeepers Sunburn & Cancer Risk: A new survey of 154 greenkeepers has found that many do not use sufficient protection against sunburn and skin cancer. According to Occupational Medicine, two-thirds of the greenkeepers surveyed – all at Irish golf clubs – were more concerned about work-place injuries such as being hit by a stray ball […]

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Industry Award For Edgbaston

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Industry Award For Edgbaston: Warwickshire head groundsman Gary Barwell and his team at Edgbaston have been awarded two of the biggest grounds industry accolades by the Institute of Groundsmanship. The groundstaff, who received global recognition for their work in the summer on England’s Test match against India and throughout the 2018 domestic season, were named Professional Cricket Grounds Team […]

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Scottish Plastic Pitch Debate

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Scottish Plastic Pitch Debate: It’s a debate that rages on constantly among Scottish football followers: Is it right that 13 of the professional senior clubs in the top four divisions play on artificial pitches? Despite there seemingly being an overwhelming majority of managers, players and fans who reckon the controversial surfaces can cause injury, adversely affect […]

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Football Club Furious As Vandals Hit

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Football Club Furious As Vandals Hit: Bosses at a football club have been left furious, and have hit out at vandals who tore up their pitch. Yobs used a vehicle to churn up the pitch used by Bishopton FC, which runs teams for men, women and kids. The site, which is operated by Renfrewshire Leisure, is […]

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Course Manager Unfairly Dismissed

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Course Manager Unfairly Dismissed: A former course manager has told Montrose Links golf management committee to “consider their positions” after emerging successful from an unfair dismissal fight. Niall Bruce, 47, who spent 10 years in the post, was the victim of a restructuring exercise and said his “head was on the platter” before the process had […]

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Eric Harris Set To Retire

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Eric Harris Set To Retire: Although rain has finally arrived at Stratford Racecourse, the hot summer temperatures were a challenge for head groundsman Eric Harris as he looked to produce good, safe ground at the height of the season. Harris has announced his retirement after 23 years at Stratford and over 50 in all in racing […]

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Colwyn Bay Groundsman Praised

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Colwyn Bay Groundsman Praised: Elfyn Jones, groundsman at Colwyn Bay, recently received national praise for his effort on the club’s playing pitch. The hard-working volunteer finished third in the EVO-STIK League Groundsman of the Year Award at a glitzy ceremony at the FA’s St George’s Park, and he also received a high commendation nationally. Jones is […]

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Tottenham’s New Turf

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Tottenham’s New Turf: Tottenham Hotspurs’ new stadium has taken a giant step towards completion with the delivery of the new pitch. The rolls of turf, which have been imported from Holland, arrived at the start of the week and are now being meticulously laid out as the new White Hart Lane arena begins to look more […]

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Jane Carley

Get Straight With Glyphosate

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Get Straight With Glyphosate: Glyphosate has been in the news again recently, and as groundcare professionals look to their 2019 weed control programmes, Roundup Technical Development Manager Barrie Hunt gives an update on legal and best practice information to help plan ahead. Q. What is the legislative situation with glyphosate at the moment? A. Glyphosate was […]

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More Injuries On 4G Pitches?

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More Injuries On 4G Pitches?: A recent study undertaken by the Irish Premiership bears out the belief that plastic pitches are more dangerous than natural surfaces. In August, Munster’s new 4G pitch surface at Musgrave Park was laid, the conversion from natural grass to plastic complete and ready for the visits of London Irish and Exeter […]

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Swindon Pitch Up For Award

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Swindon Pitch Up For Award: Groundstaff at Swindon Town are among those being recognised by this year’s by the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Industry Awards. Town’s head groundsman Marcus Cassidy is contesting the SISGrass Professional Football Grounds Team of the Year Award with now-Championship side Rotherham United after his County Ground playing surface surpassed the the average rating […]

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‘Augusta of the North’ Vandalised

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‘Augusta of the North’ Vandalised: Boy racers have taken to a golf course in Angus and caused significant damage. Letham Grange Golf Club was previously kept open against all odds and honorary secretary Bruce Currie said the damage to several fairways was a “real kick in the teeth”. Opened in 1987 by Sir Henry Cotton, […]

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Anger After Mower Theft

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Anger After Mower Theft: Steve Kenny, chairman of Whalley Junior Football Club, is angry after thieves broke the lock of a container and stole a Craftsman mower worth £2k on September 18. The club have two large pitches, and three smaller-sided pitches to cater for matches for their age-groups from Mr Kenny said: “It is gutting […]

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Gillingham To Replace Pitch

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Gillingham To Replace Pitch: Gillingham have taken the decision to replace their current playing surface with a hybrid pitch, leading to the rescheduling of two home fixtures. The surface of the Priestfield pitch has been problematic for some time and the club have now decided to act. Their home game against Peterborough United is the […]

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Pompey’s Fox In The Box

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Pompey’s Fox In The Box: It appears Portsmouth may have unearthed a new fox in the box, but it’s not a new striker that has arrived at Fratton Park. Not that they need much help in that department as things stand anyway! Nor is it the breakthrough of one of their academy youngsters, who’ll set […]

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Karl Hansell

GTC Release New Training Materials

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GTC Release New Training Materials: The Greenkeepers Training Committee (GTC) has released a revised set of best practice learning materials for all levels of student greenkeepers. Although originally inspired as the underpinning knowledge for the Level 2 qualification, the GTC Board of Directors and the Employer Group championed the revision of the copyright Learning Materials. These […]

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Match Off After Pitch Vandalism

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Match Off After Pitch Vandalism: Ongoing damage at Putaruru’s Totara Park is angering the community and sparking fears public access could be restricted. In the latest incident a vehicle damaged the football pitch so badly that the Rangers team had to cancel its final game of the season. Manager Derek Roberts, who has been with the club […]

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CPL’s Best Groundsman Award

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CPL’s Best Groundsman Award: The Hero Caribbean Premier League has created an award for the groundsman that has overseen the greatest improvement in the pitches at tournament venues since the league’s inception in 2013. The award will see the winning head groundsman being flown to New Zealand to work with world renowned pitch expert Mark Perham. […]

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New Lords Head Groundsman

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New Lords Head Groundsman: MCC has confirmed that Karl McDermott has been appointed as the new Head Groundsman at Lord’s. McDermott, who will join MCC from Hampshire County Cricket Club, will replace Mick Hunt, who is retiring from the role after 49 seasons. After beginning his career as Assistant Groundsman at Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin, […]

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Greenkeepers’ Revenge Proves A Hit

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Greenkeepers’ Revenge Proves A Hit: A new competition, called Greenkeepers’ Revenge, was recently staged, much to the amusement of the Honiton members. The competition, introduced this year by club captain Richard Beard, offered the opportunity for the greens staff to get their own back for all of the golfers walking over their workplace all year! Their […]

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Giant Sinkhole Appears On Pitch

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Giant Sinkhole Appears On Pitch: A football pitch in Mexico has been become unusable after a giant sinkhole formed in the centre of the field. The incident is thought to have occurred after the pipes under the water sprinkler system apparently started leaking. The affected pitch, in Cuajimalpa de Morelos, now sports a gigantic sinkhole, well over […]

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Head Greenkeeper Talks Flower Meadows

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Head Greenkeeper Talks Flower Meadows: In a special column, Rob Peers, head greenkeeper at Hever Castle Golf Club talks about an exciting first year in the job: I took up my post as head greenkeeper at Hever Castle Golf Club just over a year ago – and what a year it’s been. One of the greatest […]

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Bayer Braced For Roundup Lawsuits

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Bayer Braced For Roundup Lawsuits: Industry analysts have warned that Bayer is bracing itself for thousands of future claims, after the successful lawsuit against Monsanto in California in August in which a jury ruled that a former groundskeeper’s cancer was caused by Roundup, and that the company knowingly withheld information about the carcinogenic properties of glyphosate. German-based […]

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New Greenkeeping Director At St Andrews

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New Greenkeeping Director At St Andrews: Sandy Reid has been appointed as the new director of greenkeeping at St Andrews Links. Sandy’s new role at the course, known as the ‘Home of Golf’, is one of the most prestigious roles in golf course management in the world. An experienced figure in the greenkeeping industry, Reid will make the move […]

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Grounds Staff Surprise PSG Boss

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Grounds Staff Surprise PSG Boss: PSG’s grounds staff went big in their attempts to lay on a special surprise for club manager Tomas Tuchel, who celebrated his 45th birthday on Wednesday. Having come into work early at the club’s Camp des Loges training centre, Jonathan Calderwood and his team set about preparing a vast welcome for Tuchel […]

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New H&S Guidelines May Save Lives

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New H&S Guidelines May Save Lives: An updated set of health and safety guidelines aimed at turf professionals ‘could save lives’ in the wake of a major review. The Greenkeepers Training Committee (GTC) has launched a free-to-use web-based platform created by the Xact Group that aims to ensure golf club employers un­derstand their roles and responsibilities towards […]

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Valladolid Pitch Investigated

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Valladolid Pitch Investigated: An investigation has been opened by La Liga into Real Valladolid’s pitch following their defeat by Barcelona on Saturday, which has been described as “deplorable”. Players had to replace clumps of turf that became dislodged during the Spanish champions’ 1-0 win at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla. The pitch was relaid on Tuesday and began to […]

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Vandals Damage Cricket Pitch

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Vandals Damage Cricket Pitch: The pitch at Rainham Cricket Club has been vandalised by a group who took to the surface on motorbikes. Tyre marks and skid marks were left on the wicket after a group of youths were seen on Thursday, August 16 on off-road bikes driving across the wicket. The club was due […]

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Plastic Pitch Blamed For Injury

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Plastic Pitch Blamed For Injury: It’s feared that Jamie Murphy will face a lengthy spell on the sidelines after twisting his knee in Rangers’ 3-1 Betfred Cup victory at Kilmarnock. James Tavernier blamed Kilmarnock’s artificial surface for Jamie Murphy’s injury hell – while Rangers boss Steven Gerrard called for plastic pitches to be outlawed in the Premiership. The Ibrox club […]

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Andover Groundsman Wins Award

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Andover Groundsman Wins Award: A groundsman is celebrating receiving a national award, fending off competition from over 650 rivals across the country. Now retired Andover Town FC groundsman Chris White is celebrating after winning the FA National Groundsman of the Year competition for the 2017/18 season. The awards ceremony took place at St George’s Park […]

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Edgar Street’s Award Winners

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Edgar Street’s Award Winners: Ben Bowen, head groundsman at Edgar Street, has received an accolade for his dedication and effort in keeping the pitch in pristine condition. His ‘dedication and hard work’ saw Bowen and his Highground Maintenance team clinch third place in the Southern League Groundsman of the Year award last week. The last […]

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FA’s Groundsman Award Winners

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FA’s Groundsman Award Winners: It’s that time of the year when the FA hold their Groundsman of the Year Awards, and five clubs from the three National League divisions won awards. Aldershot Town’s Colin Wilson was the overall winner as he kept the EBB surface is exceptional condition. He not only did he received a trophy he […]

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Lord’s Head Groundsman Honoured

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Lord’s Head Groundsman Honoured: After 48 years of service, Lord’s head groundsman Mick Hunt has been recognised by the ECB and MCC for his work, with the MCC also awarding Mick with an honorary lifetime membership. England recently became the first ever team to complete the milestone of playing 1000 Tests. They celebrated it with a […]

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Katherine Hesketh

Amenity Forum’s Glyphosate Statement

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Amenity Forum’s Glyphosate Statement: The Amenity Forum have released a statement discussing the use of glyphosate after the outcome of a US judgement. Managing weeds in amenity situations is a vital task – it impacts on every UK citizen every day providing safe and healthy environments. It really keeps Britain moving. As we move forward in […]

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Wilson Top Of The Turf League

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Wilson Top Of The Turf League: Eric Wilson from Whitby Town has been named as the best groundsmen in the Northern Premier League, along with Non-League’s national runner-up at the Football Association’s 2018 Groundsmen of the Year Awards. Pictured last season after being highly commended by the judges of the annual contest to honour Non-League’s top […]

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Groundsman Wins Volunteer Award

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Groundsman Wins Volunteer Award: The groundsman at Kingsbridge Rugby Club has been awarded the regional round of the Mitsubishi Volunteer of the Year. Mike Shute, Kingsbridge Rugby Club, has won the regional round of the awards, which Mitsubishi and the Rugby Football Union organise to acknowledge the great work done by volunteers within the rugby community. Mike […]

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Cricket Groundsman 50 Not Out

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Cricket Groundsman 50 Not Out: A fun-filled evening of cricket was held at Duncombe Park Cricket Club on Friday, July 20. A match between ex-players, known as The Legends, who were captained by Pete Humpleby, took on the current players, captained by Jonathon Leckenby. Following the match, a presentation of an engraved tankard was made to Alan Kent […]

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Golf Club Fined Over Death

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Golf Club Fined Over Death: Golf clubs are being advised to check health and safety claims of their staff with former employers after a Leicestershire club was fined £150k following the death of its course manager. The golf club in question accepted the course manager’s incorrect assertion that he was chainsaw-trained, and did not check this […]

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Wales’ First Female Head Greenkeeper

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Wales’ First Female Head Greenkeeper: Lucy Sellick has been appointed head greenkeeper at Wenvoe Castle Golf Club – the first time ever a Welsh golf club has a female head greenkeeper. According to Wales Golf, Lucy is now one of only two female head greenkeepers in the whole of the UK. Lucy began her career at […]

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Groundsmen Look To The Heavens

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Groundsmen Look To The Heavens: It was around this time in the long, hot summer of 1976 that things were getting really desperate for the nation’s greenkeepers and groundsmen. It remains the hottest, driest summer on record, though one that this year is threatening to outdo, and it forced those in search of water to keep […]

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MCC’s Mick Hunt To Retire

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MCC’s Mick Hunt To Retire: MCC has today announced that Head Groundsman Mick Hunt is to retire at the end of the 2018 season. Mick joined the groundstaff in December 1969 and was appointed Head Groundsman in 1985, following the retirement of Jim Fairbrother. The search will now begin for Mick’s successor, with a view to […]

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Mark Triggs

Hove Haven Gets Upgraded 3G

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Hove Haven Gets Upgraded 3G: A haven for dog walkers, runners, playing kids and sports players in Hove has had its football pitch upgraded. Brighton & Hove City Council appointed Essex-based ETC Sports Surfaces to the 70x31m pitch reconstruction at Hove Park, East Sussex. The project consisted of the resurfacing of an existing Artificial Grass Pitch […]

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Mike Newby

Carbon Gold Achieves Business Certification

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Carbon Gold Achieves Business Certification: Carbon Gold, the Bristol-based supplier of enriched biochar to the turf, arb and grower markets in the UK and Europe, has achieved B Corp status. The certification, which is a global standard used to measure a for-profit company’s social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency, is described as being to business […]

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Tributes Paid To Simon Tullett

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Tributes Paid To Simon Tullett: It’s sad to report that Simon Tullett, founder of STM Co Ltd of Warwickshire – a supplier of SCAG equipment, and a well-known member of the industry, died in hospital recently. He had health problems for a couple of years and was awaiting heart surgery, but sadly succumbed to kidney failure. Simon’s family […]

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Linnets Aim For Perfect Pitch

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Linnets Aim For Perfect Pitch: The Walks might be a far cry from the old Wembley Stadium and Portman Road, but Steven Curtis is relishing the change in role after becoming groundsman at King’s Lynn Town Football Club. Mr Curtis, who has worked at a number of iconic venues during the last 40 years, is enjoying […]

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Colin Hoskins

IOG Welcomes Lantra As End Point Assessment Organisation

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IOG Welcomes Lantra As End Point Assessment Organisation: Lantra has become the End Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO) for the new Level 2 Sports Turf Operative Apprenticeship Standard developed by the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) and a large employer group. There are already more than 50 apprentices undertaking a learning journey to achieve this high-quality standard. Commenting, […]

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Club’s Anger Over Pitch Damage

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Club’s Anger Over Pitch Damage: A council “must be held responsible” after race cars drove over a brand new football pitch costing thousands of pounds, an Irish League club has said. Ballymena United said it was “saddened” at the incident during a stock car race at the Ballymena Showgrounds on Friday. The venue is owned by […]

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Tony Hawkins

Ariens Appoint Masport

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Ariens Appoint Masport: Ariens Company has announced the appointment of Masport to represent the company and the Ariens and Gravely brands in New Zealand, Australia and Oceania countries. Ariens is a family owned business manufacturing snow blowers, lawn tractors and zero-turn mowers for commercial and high end consumer markets. The US company, which has been manufacturing […]

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Artificial Pitch Burnt By Vandals

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Artificial Pitch Burnt By Vandals: Kelty Hearts’ artificial pitch has been burned, seats have been vandalised days after being installed, and youngsters have been seen on the roof of the club’s new stand. The damage to the community facilities could see the club, which turned senior last year, lose its SFA licence because of regular pitch […]

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Louise Henderson

Greenfields Awarded Constructionline Gold Certificate

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Greenfields Awarded Constructionline Gold Certificate: GreenFields (Sports Surfaces) UK Ltd have proudly received the Constructionline Gold Certificate, an accolade which is testament to the team’s commitment to excelling in project delivery, workplace and health and safety practices. Constructionline is the UK’s leading procurement provider and supply-chain management service providing potential buyers with minimised risk combined with […]

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1 In 3 Grassroots Pitches Adequate

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1 In 3 Grassroots Pitches Adequate: Only one in three pitches at grassroots level is of adequate quality, says the Football Association. The figure is part of the FA’s written evidence for a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) parliamentary hearing on Wednesday about the possible sale of Wembley Stadium. The FA says it is “considering […]

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Kate Hopkins

What Happens In Amenity Management Impacts UK Citizens

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What Happens In Amenity Management Impacts UK Citizens: This is one of the statements made by the Amenity Forum Chairman in the Voluntary Initiative’s recently released Annual Report. It covers the 12 months running up to June 30th 2018 and demonstrates the wide range of activity and development of this unified voice for the sector on […]

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The Impact Of A Heatwave

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The Impact Of A Heatwave: Ten weeks of drought has posed a major challenge to Irish golf courses. Kevin Markham interviewed two greenkeepers to assess how course conditions have been impacted. Listening to Met Éireann tell us we haven’t had weather like this since 1976 makes you realise how much we miss hot, dry summers. Golf courses that […]

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Vandals Target Castlerock GC

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Vandals Target Castlerock GC: Police are appealing for information following extensive criminal damage caused to Castlerock Golf Club’s course and green hut during the early hours of this morning. A police spokesperson said “Those responsible have caused damage which will cost thousands to repair.  A deliberate fire was started on the long grass on the course and […]

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Rugby Club Devastated By Pitch Fire

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Rugby Club Devastated By Pitch Fire: A Swansea rugby club’s bosses are “devastated” after one of their pitches was set alight in a suspected arson. The second pitch belonging to Vardre RFC, based in Clydach, was badly burnt during the fire on Sunday. South Wales Police are investigating the fire after Mid and West Wales Fire […]

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£2.6m Pledged For Trees And Green Spaces

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£2.6m Pledged For Trees And Green Spaces: Trees and green spaces will feature in a number of projects which will receive an investment £2.6 million from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) over the next two years in order to improve Wales’ environment. The projects were selected under the four themes of reducing the risk from environmental hazards; […]

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From Ipswich To The World Cup Final

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From Ipswich To The World Cup Final: Ex-Ipswich Town groundsman Alan Ferguson is in charge of the showpiece surface at the World Cup in Russia. “There’s an advert on the TV at the moment that says ‘Born in Carlisle; made in the Royal Navy’. Well I was born in Scotland but made at Portman Road.” […]

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Arrests After Golf Course Vandalism

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Arrests After Golf Course Vandalism: Two men have been arrested and charged in relation to vandalism at a golf club in Oamaru. The North Otago Golf Club was vandalised overnight on Saturday when a 4WD vehicle was driven over several of the club’s fairways and greens. Sergeant Blair Corlet confirmed men, aged 25 and 22, had been charged […]

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Golf Club Feels The Heat

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Golf Club Feels The Heat: The impact of the UK’s current heatwave can be seen at Oxford Golf Club. Just a month ago Oxfordshire’s oldest golf course resembled a lush green oasis, but after the driest June on record, the fairways have frazzled. Now the most verdant parts of the course on Hill Top Road, Headington, […]

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Holly Daulby

2018 Mowing Season Starts Later

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2018 Mowing Season Starts Later: A survey by lawnmower manufacturer Cub Cadet has found that the 2018 lawnmowing season started over three weeks later than it did in 2017. The results found that the most popular day for the first mow of the lawn in 2017 was the 26th March, whereas this year it was the 19th April […]

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Bristol Rovers Pitch Renovations

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Bristol Rovers Pitch Renovations: Bristol Rovers manager Darrell Clarke has praised the impressive work of the ground staff at the League One club who are going above and beyond to ensure the team have a world class playing surface this season. The state of the Memorial Stadium pitch was a constant source of frustration last season for both […]

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Final Roll For Retiring Greenkeeper

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Final Roll For Retiring Greenkeeper: Deniliquin’s Tom Maw has worked and mastered the art of ‘greenkeeping’ over the past 48 years. When Mr Maw was 17 he applied for a greenkeeper apprenticeship at the Deniliquin Golf Club after his father noticed the ‘wanted’ position when playing a round of golf. He applied and got the […]

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Wimbledon Can Cope With Heat

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Wimbledon Can Cope With Heat: Wimbledon’s head groundsman Neil Stubley has denied the grass is longer at the All England Club this year and is confident the courts can handle the heat. Rafael Nadal said on Saturday he thought the grass was longer than in previous years but Stubley, the head of courts and horticulture, […]

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Matt Pynn

Sentosa Golf Club Loses Its Bottle

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Sentosa Golf Club Loses Its Bottle: Sentosa Golf Club is reaffirming its commitment to the environment and its ‘Keep it Green’ agenda by announcing that it will no longer permit the use of plastic water bottles on its golf carts, instead favouring the installation of a number of water stations on course. The reduction of its […]

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Exeter City’s Problem Fox

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Exeter City’s Problem Fox: Exeter City have had their fair share of fox in the box strikers over time, but currently, it is one of the feral variety that is causing them a huge headache at St James Park. Head groundsman Clive Pring says he is being harassed by a young fox that is breaking […]

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Debbie Goddard

CMAE Launch Young Managers Group

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CMAE Launch Young Managers Group: The Club Managers Association of Europe (CMAE) have launched a new networking group, the CMAE Young Managers Group, which was launched at an inaugural event on 30th May. The CMAE Young Managers Group is targeted at CMAE members who are aged 35 or under and who will be invited to attend […]

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Pompey Pitch Renovation

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Pompey Pitch Renovation: Fratton Park’s pitch has undergone a summer renovation ahead of the forthcoming campaign. The Blues have spent a five-figure sum on the playing surface in order to maintain its quality. According to chief executive Mark Catlin, the close-season process involves removing the pitch’s top and reseeding, thereby ridding the threat of weeds. It represents […]

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John McKenzie

Gleneagles’s New Golf Courses Manager

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Gleneagles’s New Golf Courses Manager: Gleneagles, the iconic Scottish hotel and sporting estate, has announced the appointment of Craig Haldane as its new Golf Courses Manager. South African Craig, a well-known figure in the global golf industry, joins Gleneagles from Emirates Golf Club, Dubai, where he held the position of Director – Golf Course Maintenance, and had led […]

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Vandals Wreck Sports Ground

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Vandals Wreck Sports Ground: HB Regional Sports Park management and users are understandably unhappy that over the weekend hoons in vehicles have ripped up one of the grassed playing fields. For what was probably a few minutes of “fun”, these vandals have destroyed weeks of work that went into preparing the field, ruined a season […]

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Work Of A Non-League Groundsman

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Work Of A Non-League Groundsman: In the no-frills, grass roots world of non-league football, it’s possible the most important man on the pitch is the groundsman. Sitting on a plastic chair, in muddy boots and paint stained jacket, David Page is every bit the non-league groundsman I was hoping to meet. “The day begins with […]

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Pitch Work At Pirelli Stadium

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Pitch Work At Pirelli Stadium: Work has been completed on a new drainage system at the Pirelli Stadium as the pitch is prepared for the 2018-19 season. Burton Albion groundsman Simon Marshall says the groundstaff are “always keen to improve the surface”, and extra work has been undertaken this summer to get the pitch in the best […]

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Vandals Tear Up Football Pitch

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Vandals Tear Up Football Pitch: The Gibbons soccer field recently suffered from vandalism. Sometime between Sunday (Jun.11) and Monday, the soccer pitch was driven on while wet, causing significant damage to the grass. “I feel for the kids who use that field because the local groups they’re really all we have for our entertainment,” said Gibbons […]

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Mark Sanderson

Emergency Authorisation For Acelepryn

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Emergency Authorisation For Acelepryn: An Emergency Authorisation has been granted for the use of the Syngenta insecticide, Acelepryn, for the control of Chafer grubs and leatherjacket on golf course greens and tees, horse racing courses and airfields. The approval was applied for by STRI, on behalf of and with support from the amenity industry. Chafer Grubs […]

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Club Devastated After Mower Theft

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Club ‘Devastated’ After Mower Theft: Nantwich Town FC have spoken of their devastation following the theft of thousands of pounds worth of groundsman’s equipment. In a statement released by the club this afternoon (Wednesday) a spokesman said they were “sad to report” that the club was broken into overnight, with thousands of pounds worth of […]

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Vandals Cause Golf Club Closure

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Vandals Cause Golf Club Closure: A popular golf course heavily damaged by vandals in Skagit County is now temporarily closed while crews replace more than a dozen greens. Roll by roll. Green by green. A transformation is underway at Swinomish Golf Links. As soon as a row of new sod is put down, crews pull it into place. […]

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Accies Splash £750k On New Pitch

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Accies Splash £750k On New Pitch: Hamilton have splashed out £750,000 to ensure their plastic pitch does not come out bottom of the pile again in the new season. The news comes 24 hours after the artificial turf at New Douglas Park was rated the worst surface among Scotland’s 42 senior clubs following a survey […]

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Brechin Pitch Vandalism Anger

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Brechin Pitch Vandalism Anger: Vandals have targeted an all-weather football pitch in Brechin, ruining the good work of local volunteers. The fence around the the synthetic pitch and enclosure at the town’s Inch Park was cut open and a set of goalposts were torn down. The attack comes after the Inch Maintenance and Preservation Society (Imps) took over […]

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Tony Hawkins

Scamblers Appointed New Polaris Dealers

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Scamblers Appointed New Polaris Dealers: AJ & R Scambler & Sons Ltd, better known as Scamblers, have been newly appointed as authorised Polaris dealers. Established in 1974 and based in spacious rural premises in the village of Bourn, between Cambridge and St Neots, Scamblers are now regarded as a market leader in turfcare and grounds […]

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PFA Chief Urges 3G Change

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PFA Chief Urges 3G Change: Hamilton and Kilmarnock’s astroturf surfaces have been branded two of the three worst pitches in Scotland. PFA Scotland chief Fraser Wishart says it is time clubs started listening to top-flight players when they say they hate playing on plastic pitches. Hamilton and Kilmarnock’s astroturf surfaces have been branded two of the […]

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Kate Hopkins

Fact, Fiction & Weed Management

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Fact, Fiction & Weed Management: We live in a world of instant communication and 24 hour news. The impact of social media means any story can be transmitted instantly through just one press of a button. It is exciting and fantastic technology. Yet it presents dangers. It has created the phenomenon of fake news enabling one […]

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Vandals Damage 16 Golf Greens

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Vandals Damage 16 Golf Greens: Within the next few days, test results should reveal the chemical that vandals used to damage 16 greens at a popular golf course in Skagit County. A swear word was also spelled out in the grass on one of the holes at Swinomish Golf Links. Employees believe the vandal or vandals […]

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World Cup Turf Made In Britain

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World Cup Turf Made In Britain: This summer’s World Cup final will be on plastic grass for the first time in history – and England are guaranteed to play a part. It’s all because the surface at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, where the match is to be staged on July 15, is one of […]

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Football Club Bemoans Vandalism

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Football Club Bemoans Vandalism: Damage to football pitches at Awamoa Park in Oamaru is something the young players who use the fields should not have to contend with, Awamoa Football Club president Twyla Kingan says. Speaking to the Otago Daily Times yesterday she confirmed at least one vehicle entered the park on Friday night, at the […]

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Greenock’s £8k Pitch Revamp

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Greenock’s £8k Pitch Revamp: Life’s a beach for Morton’s groundsman after 60 tonnes of sand was spread onto the Cappielow pitch as part of an £8,000 renovation project. The hallowed turf is undergoing an annual overhaul to ensure the playing surface is in pristine condition come the start of the new season. Award-winning groundsman Mark Farrell, 42, is […]

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Work Underway At Ewood Park

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Work Underway At Ewood Park: Work is underway on the pitch at Ewood Park as Rovers prepare for life back in the Championship. Head groundsman Trevor Wilkin admits preparations for the 2018/19 campaign are well underway and will step up over the next few weeks. The Ewood groundstaff were highly commended by the EFL for […]

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Contractor Fined After Wall Collapse

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Contractor Fined After Wall Collapse: A landscape contractor has been fined £20,000 plus costs after a worker was seriously injured injured when a retaining wall collapsed and trapped him underneath. The accident happened when a landscaper working for a company called Award Winning Greenfingers Limited of Saltwell View, Gateshead was undertaking groundworks to install a […]

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Wolves Install New Pitches

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Wolves Install New Pitches: Two brand new state-of-the-art football pitches are being laid at Wolverhampton Wanderers’ training ground to help Nuno Espirito Santo improve his players’ passing game. The head coach wants his side to train on the same surface that was laid at Molineux last year as he continues to stamp his tactical approach on […]

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Rugby Players Suffer 3G Burns

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Rugby Players Suffer 3G Burns: The Scarlets have seen their training plans hindered ahead of Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 final against Leinster as a number of their players are nursing nasty burns and blisters after the semi-final victory over Glasgow on Scotstoun’s artificial surface. Head coach Wayne Pivac has revealed he had to cancel training yesterday and […]

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Gardener Charged For Using Mobile

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Gardener Charged For Using Mobile: A gardener is thought to have become the first person in Britain to be charged with using a mobile while operating a lawn-mower after being stopped outside a police station. The 47-year-old council gardener faces a fine of £200 and six penalty points if he is found guilty of using his phone at the […]

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Win Dedicated To Ex-Groundsman

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Win Dedicated To Ex-Groundsman: Shanklin Reserves have dedicated their Combination 1 League Cup final victory to groundsman Joe Geddes who died of cancer recently. The side beat Binstead & COB Reserves 4-1 at Brading Football Club’s Vicarage Lane ground on Saturday. Shanklin’s goals came from Ryan Gregory and Pete Wilson headers, a superb Ji Nash […]

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Tony Hawkins

Enduring Pays Off

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Enduring Pays Off: A mostly sunny weekend at Champs Park, Kettering on the 12th/13th May saw the start of the Polaris British Enduro Championship, following delays after the bad weather. The track preparation went well and the venue did benefit from a good downpour after the completion of the Youth racing on the Saturday. Specifically […]

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Vandals Target Sports Fields

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Vandals Target Sports Fields: Norbridge Park has been targeted once more after two of its fields in North Rockhampton were ripped up overnight. Devoted groundsman Cec Newman said it was the seventh time in nine months the soccer fields had been damaged. Tyre tracks were discovered this morning by Mr Newman after being notified by The Morning […]

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Groundsman Wins Award Hat-Trick

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Groundsman Wins Award Hat-Trick: Kidderminster Cricket Club’s top groundsman has been presented with his hat-trick trophy for producing the best ground in the Birmingham and District Premier League for the third year in a row. Making the presentation to Chris Longmore in front of captain Neil Pinner and the rest of the team, Birmingham and […]

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Yobs Trash Cricket Wickets

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Yobs Trash Cricket Wickets: Yobs smashed a pick axe into two wickets at a cricket club just weeks into the new season. Shocking images show dozens and dozens of divots were taken out of the surfaces. Club officials at Ashton Ladysmith Cricket Club in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside , said they were baffled over the motive behind the vandal […]

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Climate Change In Cricket

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Climate Change In Cricket: Cricket has always been a sport at the mercy of the weather. In the 1930s, county cricket clubs in England were headed for financial ruin after a succession of wet summers. Twenty years later, persistent rain saw desperate clubs experiment with blankets, rubber mats and suction machines. As recently as the […]

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Dorchester’s 3G Pitch Underway

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Dorchester’s 3G Pitch Underway: Matt Lucas, chairman of Dorchester Town believes the installation of the Magpies’ new 3G artificial pitch is a “massive step” for the Avenue Stadium club. Preparation work yesterday began on the surface, with the grass being sprayed ready for removal on Tuesday, May 8. That came after Dorchester Town Reserves lost 3-1 to Poole […]

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Watford Pitch Wins Award

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Watford Pitch Wins Award: The Premier League Grounds Team of the Season award for the 2017/18 campaign has gone to Watford. The club’s head groundsman, Scott Tingley, and his team won the award for the pitch at Vicarage Road after assessment from the Premier League’s Playing Surfaces Committee and the independent assessor Dr Stephen Baker from […]

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EFL Award Winners Announced

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EFL Award Winners Announced: The EFL has confirmed the winners of the Grounds Team of the Season award for 2017/18 in each of the three divisions. The awards recognise the importance of the quality of pitches for professional football and acknowledge the clubs and their ground staff who consistently produce the best playing surfaces in the […]

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Groundsman Nets County Award

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Groundsman Nets County Award: A football groundsman involved in the sport for over 60 years has won a county award. Gerry Williams, head groundsman at Collingham’s Station Road base, received several nominations for Nottinghamshire FA Groundsman Of The Year. He has now been put forward for the national title. “Reading comments about how people appreciate […]

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Sutton’s 3G Pitch Dilemma

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Sutton’s 3G Pitch Dilemma: Sutton United will tear up their 3G pitch and replace it with grass at a cost of £300,000 if they win promotion from the National League after admitting defeat in their fight to allow the surface in the EFL. Sutton are third in the National League but under Football League rules the club would […]

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World Cup Surface Not Ready

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World Cup Surface Not Ready: Groundsmen are facing a race against time to get the pitch ready for one of England’s World Cup matches in Russia. An inspection of the playing surface at the newly-built stadium in Novgorod show it has not fully taken root. The Three Lions play Panama there on June 24. Groundsmen fear […]

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Award For Council Groundsman

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Award For Council Groundsman: An award has been presented to a member of Tendring District Council’s Open Spaces team for his work maintaining a popular cricket pitch. Chris Russell won the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Cricket Championship Groundsman Award at the annual general meeting of the Essex Cricket Board Groundsman Association. Chris was given the […]

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New Wembley Pitch Ahead Of Euros

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New Wembley Pitch Ahead Of Euros: The pitch at Wembley will be removed and completely replaced during next winter for the first time since 2010 in readiness for the 2020 European Championships, according to a report in The Times on 7 April. The present Desso pitch was installed in June 2010 with an estimated life […]

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Lords Set For Hybrid Pitch

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Lords Set For Hybrid Pitch: The cricketing venue of Lord’s is revered as the Mecca of Cricket. The ground is arguably the most iconic venue in the world cricket. Every cricket aspirant wishes to play at the ground at least once in their lifetime. The ground officials and the administrators also ensure that they keep […]

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Club’s Anger At Pitch Vandalism

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Club’s Anger At Pitch Vandalism: The manager of an award-winning junior football team due to be visited by Real Madrid’s Youth Academy has spoken of his club’s frustration at constant vandalism to its pitches. He spoke out following an announcement by police that one of the drivers who allegedly damaged the pitch has been reported […]

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Flood Water Just A “Big Puddle”

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Flood Water Just A “Big Puddle”: Tim Packwood, head groundsman at Worcestershire CCC, has seen plenty of floods during his 29 years on the club’s staff. This one, he says, is just a “big puddle”. With the county’s first home game of the Championship season just three short weeks away, New Road’s location on a floodplain has come back […]

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Can The MLS Be World-Class On 3G?

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Can The MLS Be World-Class On 3G?: Reliably unconventional, Zlatan Ibrahimovic spurned a $100m offer from China in order to take a $1.5m-per-year offer from the Los Angeles Galaxy, according to Sports Illustrated. But will the striker be eccentric enough to turn up for an away game against the New England Revolution? After his matchwinning debut in last […]

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Groundsman Nominated For Award

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Groundsman Nominated For Award: A member of staff from Colwyn Bay Football Club has been nominated for a prestigious award. Elfyn Jones was nominated for the Evo-Stik North Groundsman of the Year, and his sterling efforts throughout the season have seen him reach the final three. The 52-year-old Rhyl resident will now attend at glitzy award […]

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Golf Greens Damaged

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Golf Greens Damaged: Two greens at the Beverley Park Golf Course suffered from a case of vandalism over the Easter weekend. Between the close of play on Easter Saturday evening and Easter Sunday morning vandals  damaged the 5th and 12th greens near the Targo Road boundary. Damage to the greens will take up to three […]

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Katherine Hesketh

Sprayer Operator Award Announced

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Sprayer Operator Award Announced: The Amenity Forum Sprayer Operator of the Year 2018 Awards (AFSOY) are once again open for entries. Now into year four, the awards were established by the Amenity Forum and aim to recognise the high levels of professionalism and standards in the sector. There are different categories for entries and the overall […]

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Pitch Vandalised For Third Time

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Pitch Vandalised For Third Time: Vandals have driven over the Rew Valley football pitch for the third time since Christmas. The pitch, at Watcombe Bottom on Whitwell Rd, Ventnor, is home to Rew Valley Youth FC, which has 125 players and many more who train there weekly. The damage to the grounds has been a […]

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Bones Found Under Football Pitch

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Bones Found Under Football Pitch: Workmen unearthed unidentified bones as they were preparing a new football pitch. The remains were found underneath Ossett Albion’s Dimplewells pitch on Tuesday, as work was being carried out in preparation of the club merging with Ossett Town to form Ossett United. And the discovery caused chaos, with one game being […]

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John Thomson 3G Vandalised

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John Thomson 3G Vandalised: The John Thomson 3G pitch in Cardenden has been vandalised with blue and red paint poured on the sign and the pitches. The sign features the face of the village’s most famous son, who tragically lost his life while playing for Celtic at Inbox on 5 September 1931. The images of the […]

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Award For Clay Cross Groundsman

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Award For Clay Cross Groundsman: Another prestigious award has been snapped up by Lee Watson, the groundsman for Clay Cross Town Football Club. For Watson has been named Derbyshire FA groundsman of the year for the third time, and will now go on to try and win again the national award, which he landed in 2015. […]

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Warwickshire’s Hybrid Experiment

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Warwickshire’s Hybrid Experiment: Partially artificial cricket pitches could be used for matches as early as the 2019 season if testing progresses well. Warwickshire have already laid a hybrid pitch – containing strands of plastic – on the edge of their square and hope to play some age-group or second XI cricket on it in the coming […]

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British Groundsmen In Europe

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British Groundsmen In Europe: Amid the spending spree since Qatar Sports Investments bought Paris Saint-Germain in 2011, the signing of a 35-year-old Northern Irishman might not have made many headlines but he arrived to huge promises from the club’s owners. Jonathan Calderwood arrived in Paris in June 2013, headhunted on the advice of former Liverpool […]

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Carlisle United’s True Stars

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Carlisle United’s True Stars: Modern life conditions us to celebrate the routine. “Legal and proud,” declares a certain brand of carwash, as though observing the law is exceptional, rather than what you are supposed to do. The comedian Chris Rock has a routine on this. He uses far too many unprintable words to risk repeating […]

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Secret Of Madrid And PSG’s Success

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Secret Of Madrid And PSG’s Success: Last night the footballing world stopped to watch the second leg of the Champions League last 16 tie, pitting Real Madrid against Paris Saint Germain. Real Madrid need no introduction having won the Champions League a record 13 times, including winning it the previous two seasons, as well as having […]

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Apprenticeship Week Celebrated

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Apprenticeship Week Celebrated: Renfrewshire is marking Scottish Apprenticeship Week with a series of events designed to encourage young women to consider careers in traditionally male dominated sectors. The week celebrates the benefits apprenticeships bring to businesses, individuals and the economy, and coincides with International Women’s Day on Thursday. Apprentice greenkeeper Heather Love is used to […]

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Vandal-Hit Bowls Club Set To Fold

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Vandal-Hit Bowls Club Set To Fold: Middleport Park Bowling club is to fold – ending its 108 years of existence. The club, traditionally one of most successful in North Staffordshire, will play for the last time this year after members called time because of vandalism and also council costs. Middleport had been asked to pay around £2,500 […]

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The Man Who Beat The Beast

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The Man Who Beat The Beast: When most of us were tucked up in bed, with the heating blasting and dreaming about what we were going to do with our football-free Saturday, Cambridge United stadium manager Ian Darler had other ideas. In depths of the night, the stadium manager travelled to the Abbey, flicked on one […]

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Two Honours For The Belfry

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Two Honours For The Belfry: The Belfry Hotel & Resort has further underlined its status as one of the leading golf resorts in the world after it was recognised with ‘Gold Flag’ status at the 59club awards ceremony, whilst its Director of Courses & Estates Angus Macleod was also named Greenkeeper of the Year. The ceremony […]

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Groundsman’s Amputation Horror

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Groundsman’s Amputation Horror: A groundsman from Derbyshire has been forced to leave full-time work and has undergone multiple operations after a horrific workplace accident. The 47-year-old tripped on a tree stump while mowing a grass bank, struck his head and was knocked unconscious. The lawnmower he was using carried on and ran over his foot, the […]

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Diesel Used To Vandalise Greens

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Diesel Used To Vandalise Greens: Cessnock Golf Club have suffered from vandalism three times in the past two weeks. Greens at Cessnock Golf Club have been vandalised three times in the past two weeks. The first incident occurred on the night of Wednesday, February 14 when diesel was poured onto the twelfth green (which backs onto the […]

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Hannah Wilson

BASIS Points Reminder

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BASIS Points Reminder: Members of the BASIS Professional Register are being reminded that there are just three months left until the end of the points year. BASIS Professional Registers and accounts manager, Michele Williams, explains that members must collect a specified number of BASIS CPD points by 31 May 2018, to maintain their Professional Register status. […]

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New Synthetic Bowling Green

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New Synthetic Bowling Green: Moe Bowling Club have been subjected to a longstading problem with soggy greens, but new work on the club’s bowling greens are going a long way to solving that issue. Water-logged playing surfaces will soon be a thing of the past as new synthetic turf is rolled out across the club thanks […]

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Posh Defender Turns Groundsman

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Posh Defender Turns Groundsman: Peterborough United defender Steven Taylor played an extended role in his team’s victory on Tuesday night, by helping to sweep snow off the lines at the ABAX Stadium. Peterborough were hosting Walsall in a League One clash but heavy snow in the second half meant the pitch was hardly visible. The Posh […]

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2018 Groundsman Award

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2018 Groundsman Award: Now taking place for the 11th year, The FA’s Groundsman of the Year awards were created to recognise the contribution of these unsung heroes of the grassroots game and encourage the development of groundsmanship. The majority of football in this country is played outside the Football League. Quality pitches are therefore essential for […]

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Tributes Paid To Greenkeeper

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Tributes Paid To Greenkeeper: Tributes have been flooding in to a multi-talented sportsman who has been described as “marvellous with people”. Former Norwich City player and Thetford Golf Club member and greenkeeper Richard ‘Dick’ Scott died on February 11 aged 76. Born on October 26 1941 in Thetford, on his 17th birthday he became part […]

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Groom’s Mower Wedding Entrance

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Groom’s Mower Wedding Entrance: Usually, the bridge will make the show-stopping entrance on her wedding day, however one groom from Co Down had a different idea. Scott Watson has become a social media hit after his unusual wedding day entrance was posted on Facebook. A greenkeeper by trade, the 23-year-old thought it would be fitting for […]

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New Pitch A Hit At Castle Park

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New Pitch A Hit At Castle Park: Several hundred thousand pounds was spent by Doncaster Knights on a brand new main pitch at Castle Park over the summer and it’s proving to be money well spent. “We are into February now and the pitch is still looking good in the areas where you traditionally get […]

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FA Groundsman Awards Open

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FA Groundsman Awards Open: Each season The FA runs a nationwide competition to find the Groundsman of the Year. Now in its 15th year, the Award was set up to recognise the contribution of these unsung heroes of the grass roots game and encourage the development of groundsmanship. These annual awards provide a great opportunity […]

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Golf Venues At Risk

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Golf Venues At Risk: A range of Open Championship venues including St Andrews and Royal Troon could be under water by the end of the century if sea levels rise even slightly as a result of climate change, a new report has claimed. The Climate Coalition says golf, football and cricket face an “unexpected threat”, with […]

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Tips From Keith Kent

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Tips From Keith Kent: Grassroots rugby pitches across the country struggling to cope with the heavy rain that marked the start of 2018 and clubs risk losing crucial income. Keith Kent of NatWest RugbyForce has offered five useful tips. The Rugby Football Union’s head groundsman Keith Kent has been in charge of tending to Twickenham Stadium’s […]

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Win Dedicated To Ex-Groundsman

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Win Dedicated To Ex-Groundsman: Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe dedicated the club’s win over Stoke to long-serving club stalwart John Harriss who passed away last month at the age of 88. A minute’s applause was held in memory of John, who joined the club staff in 1970 and became head groundsman and then referee liaison officer. Ex-Cherries […]

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Golf Club Vandalised

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Golf Club Vandalised: A North-East golf club has hit out at individuals who stole two buggies and caused thousands of pounds of damage. Vandals struck at Insch Golf Club leaving tyre marks on a green, pulling up posts and driving over signs. Club manager Jayne Farquhar said she and her staff were “really upset” after the […]

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Colin Hoskins

IOG Pilots New Framework

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IOG Pilots New Framework: The leading membership organisation for people involved in the management and maintenance of sports pitches, landscape and amenity facilities in the UK, The IOG, is piloting a new framework to the ‘measurement’ of the standard of football pitches at grassroots level. The new Pitch Grading Framework will not only highlight the […]

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Locust World Cup Fears

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Locust World Cup Fears: A plague of locusts could “disgrace” Russia by destroying World Cup pitches, claims The Russian government. Locusts often feast on crops in southern Russia and Pyotr Chekmaryov, who oversees plant protection at the agriculture ministry, says they could descend on stadiums, too. In comments reported by state news agencies, Chekmaryov says ‘we’ve more or […]

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Wanderers Pitch Deemed “Poor”

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Wanderers Pitch Deemed “Poor”: The Wanderers cannot afford any errors with pitch preparation over the next five years after the ICC confirmed that the surface used in the third Test between South Africa and India was rated as ‘poor’ by match referee Andy Pycroft. As a result, the venue was hit with three demerit points under a […]

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Groundsman Award Nominations

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Groundsman Award Nominations: Cambridgeshire FA are looking for nominations for this season’s Groundsman of the Year award. Member clubs at Step 7 and below are invited to nominate their grounds people who give up hours of their time to provide the best pitches possible, often using very few resources. This competition is a great way […]

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Golf Course ‘Abandoned’

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Golf Course ‘Abandoned’: It is the harsh and unpredictable conditions on the seaside that have traditionally made links golf such an enticing endeavour. But for England’s oldest course, at least, they are proving too much of a challenge. The Royal North Devon Golf Club has accused the Government of “abandoning us to the ocean” after Storm […]

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Made-To-Order Pitches Continuing

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Made-To-Order Pitches Continuing: South Africa will continue to ask home curators to prepare surfaces to favour their pace pack even though they did not get the pitches they wanted for two-thirds of the series against India. Only Newlands provided the pace, bounce and movement South Africa would have liked while SuperSport Park was slow and took […]

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Pershore Groundsman Praised

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Pershore Groundsman Praised: Pershore Town groundsman Tim Phillips was singled out as an unlikely man of the match after ensuring that the club yet again avoided the wipeout of fixtures last weekend. After snow and then rain, only three fixtures were played in Midland League Division One – and one of those on an artificial pitch. Despite being next […]

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Ipswich Town Prize On Offer

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Ipswich Town Prize On Offer: Entrants to this year’s Suffolk FA Groundsman of the Year competition — sponsored by Ransomes Jacobsen — are being given the opportunity to win a unique prize. All entrants will go into a draw for the chance to spend a match-day at Portman Road with the Ipswich Town groundstaff. This money-can’t-buy […]

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Nathan Hume Wins Sprayer Award

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Nathan Hume Wins Sprayer Award: Nathan Hume, Contracts Manager and Ecologist for national grounds maintenance experts, SH Goss Ltd, has won the prestigious Amenity Sprayer Operator of the Year Award (ASOY).  ASOY rewards top sprayer operators across the amenity industry, with the aim to share their best practices to enhance standards for all. Presented for the first time […]

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John Ross

New Golf Course Apprentice

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New Golf Course Apprentice: A green keeping apprenticeship at the internationally-renowned Castle Stuart Golf Links is the ideal job for Ethan Ramsay due to his love of golf and of working outdoors. Ethan, 17, started his new role this month at the four-time Scottish Open venue, but is already very familiar with the famous links. The former Millburn […]

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Theft At Cricket Club

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Theft At Cricket Club: A warning to be vigilant has been issued by a cricket club after thieves stole some of its expensive groundskeeping equipment. On Friday morning, the groundsman at Maidenhead and Bray Cricket Club discovered that a storage container in the club’s car park in Bray had been broken into overnight. Equipment stolen […]

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Meeting Over Slow Cricket Pitch

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Meeting Over Slow Cricket Pitch: Faf du Plessis, the Proteas captain is to meet Cricket South Africa (CSA) officials to discuss the strangely slow SuperSport Park pitch which has remained the focus of attention during the second Test match against India. SA won by 135 runs and the unhappy Proteas captain will engage CSA on the way forward. […]

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Volunteers Assist Match Preparation

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Volunteers Assist Match Preparation: A football club has been saved thousands of pounds by a number of community volunteers who have helped prepare a stadium for the biggest game in its history. Highland League outfit Fraserburgh host Premiership giants Rangers at the weekend in the Scottish Cup. And ever since the draw was made, the […]

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Tributes Paid To Greenkeeper

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Tributes Paid To Greenkeeper: Tributes have been paid to a father and golf club greenkeeper who was tragically killed in a tree felling incident. Martin Davenport, 35, of Pasture Close, Kelsall, died instantly under a falling tree at an address in Brown Heath Road, Christleton, on Sunday, January 7. A former Tattenhall resident, Martin worked as a greenkeeper […]

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Eddie Howe’s Groundsman Tribute

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Eddie Howe’s Groundsman Tribute: “He was always positive, welcoming and a true supporter of this football club – I will always remember laughing with him!” Eddie Howe has given a moving tribute to former Cherries groundsman and referee liaison officer John Harriss, who passed away on Sunday, aged 88. John, who first started watching from the terraces at Dean […]

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Football Pitches Vandalised

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Football Pitches Vandalised: Junior football clubs in the Bristol area have been hit with a large bill after vandals used a car to turn their pitches into a “mud bath”. Seven pitches at Pomphrey Hill in Mangotsfield were damaged after a car managed to access the site in the early hours of Saturday, January 13. The pitches […]

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Tribute To John Harriss

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Tribute To John Harriss: John Harriss, a lifelong Bournemouth supporter who once held roles at the club as both head groundsman and referee liason officer, has died at the age of 88. John, who spent 37 years as the club’s groundsman, passed away on Sunday evening, hours after watching Bournemouth record a historic first win over […]

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Tree Causes Pitch Damage

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Tree Causes Pitch Damage: It should have been a case for the Special Branch, but solving the most recent tree problem at Romsey Town’s Bypass Ground was far from a laughing matter. The Sydenhams Wessex One club face a bill of around £350-£400 to repair the damage caused when a giant poplar was uprooted in gale force winds […]

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John Ross

GEO Award For Royal Dornoch

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GEO Award For Royal Dornoch: An internationally-renowned golf course has earned a coveted global sustainability accolade through its commitment to the community and natural environment. Royal Dornoch Golf Club has been awarded the GEO Certified® ecolabel, an international symbol of ‘great golf environments’. This recognises clubs that have met high standards for performance in nature conservation, water […]

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Fence To Protect Cricket Club

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Fence To Protect Cricket Club: A new fence is set to be constructed around a cricket ground in order to stop vandals driving across the field after a series of attacks. Officials at Green Lane Cricket Club in Nunroyd Park, Yeadon, believe they are being targeted by someone with a grudge after persistent vandalism over the […]

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Lucy Nicholls

Emma’s Marathon Run

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Emma’s Marathon Run: Having beaten three types of cancer, Emma Kilby, Technical Area Sales Manager for ICL, is taking part in the 2018 London Marathon in a bid to raise funds for Children with Cancer UK. Emma was just 16 years old when she was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After 6 months of chemotherapy followed […]

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Problem Deeper Than Pitches

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Problem Deeper Than Pitches: The Vice-president of the Jamaica Cricket Association, Mark Neita, says Windies fast-bowling legend Sir Curtly Ambrose is only partially correct in his assessment that the regional side’s poor showing in New Zealand is down to bad pitches in the Caribbean. The Windies did not win any matches on the tour having lost both games […]

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Hannah Wilson

BASIS Launch New Standard

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BASIS Launch New Standard: BASIS, an independent standard setting and auditing organisation, have launched a new standard aimed at the professional domestic lawn care sector. The Lawn Assured Standard will help to ensure a consistent and high level of practice within the professional lawn care sector.  Lindsay Smith Boam, BASIS logistics manager, explains that all individuals applying […]

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Rugby Groundsman Honoured

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Rugby Groundsman Honoured: The great Bard of Welsh rugby, Max Boyce, was recently honoured at the Rugby Union Writers’ Club in London for his services to rugby. The Glynneath RFC president joined Owen Farrell, Doddie Weir and Wharfedale RFC veteran Michael Harrison in being singled out in front of an audience that included World Rugby […]

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Golf Club In Top Condition

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Golf Club In Top Condition: Finley Golf Club is being kept in top condition, all thanks to its dedicated volunteers. When visitors arrive at the course, it doesn’t take long to understand why the club is considered among the best courses in the Murray River region. Finley Golf Club captain Rand Wilson described it as one […]

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Colin Hoskins

IOG Advises Pay Rise

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IOG Advises Pay Rise: The leading membership organisation for those involved in the management of sports pitches, landscape and amenity facilities in the UK, the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG), is recommending a 2.5 per cent increase in grounds staff’s national minimum salary bands for 2018.  But the IOG also advises that a 2.5 per cent increase would, […]

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Greenkeeper Retires After 45 Years

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Greenkeeper Retires After 45 Years: Eaton Golf Club recently came to the end of an era, as Mick Lathrope retired from his position as head greenkeeper after an impressive 45 years of service. Green-keeping colleagues and members from Eaton and other Norfolk clubs attended a presentation ceremony at the club to hear a warm tribute from […]

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Groundsman Set For Test Debut

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Groundsman Set For Test Debut: As Adam Lewis embarked on his first day in the job he bought lunch and sat in one of the grandstands at the SCG alone, with the famous venue all to himself. “I just went ‘wow’,” he admits, saying he found the experience of walking into his new workplace as magical. […]

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Madrid Demand Best Of Groundsman

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Madrid Demand Best Of Groundsman: “The expectations of Real Madrid are to have the best,” they could easily be the words from a famous player or coach, but it is instead the club’s groundsman Paul Burgess who is reflecting on the demanding culture at the Spanish club. Burgess’s work will be seen by an estimated television audience […]

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Wendron United Receive Grant

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Wendron United Receive Grant: Football and cricket clubs at Wendron United have been awarded a £10,000 grant from the Premier League and FA Facilities Fund to provide new ground maintenance equipment. With funds also raised by the youth section, money totalling £30,000 has enabled the club to buy a new tractor and grass cutting attachment, as […]

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Sacked Groundsmen ‘Shell-Shocked’

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Sacked Groundsmen ‘Shell-Shocked’: The former KCOM Stadium groundsmen were unfairly dismissed by SMC, but the company does not have to pay the pair any compensation. An employment tribunal has ruled that two sacked former KCOM Stadium groundsmen should not receive any compensation for losing jobs. Long-serving pair Mark Harrison and Darrell Cook were sacked by […]

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Tribute To Cricket Groundsman Peter Green

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Tribute To Cricket Groundsman Peter Green: Peter Green was one of Huddersfield cricket’s most popular figures. The 73-year-old gave a lifetime of dedication to Honley Cricket Club and only last month received the Drakes Huddersfield Cricket League’s highest award, the Fred Stallard Cup. Presented to an individual who has given long and outstanding service to his […]

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WACA Jack Gets Cricket Ground Ready For Ashes Test

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‘WACA Jack’ Gets Cricket Ground Ready For Ashes Test: Next weeks’ Ashes test will be the last to be held at Perth’s traditional home of cricket. John Lewis, who was given his more catchy nickname by WA fast bowling great Dennis Lillee, has been a WACA Ground staple for almost 40 years with his jobs varying […]

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Hannah Wilson

Iprodione Withdrawal Update

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Iprodione Withdrawal Update: An EU meeting, held by the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF), has voted against the inclusion of iprodione. As a result, all products across Europe containing this active ingredient, including Chipco® Green and Interface® from Bayer, will be removed from the market. Bayer is working to the following timescales for the […]

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Duo Rewarded For Loyal Service

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Duo Rewarded For Loyal Service: Head greenkeeper Alan Smith and deputy head greenkeeper Graham Hipkin have both celebrated 40 years of service to Clacton Golf Club. The duo are pictured being presented with a gift from the club and a bottle of champagne from club chairman Bert Foster. They were thanked for their hard work over […]

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Thieves Steal Tractor And Leaf Collector

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Thieves Steal Tractor And Leaf Collector: A theft of equipment totaling £8,000 has left a football club facing financial ruin. Members of Borden Village Football Club (BVFC) discovered the John Deere X360 and Agrifab leaf collector were missing. Groundsman and committee member Roger Pudner said unless it is recovered, the theft will have to go down […]

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Golf Club And Street Signs Targeted

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Golf Club And Street Signs Targeted: Despite it possibly being a joke to some, many dedicated golfers were not amused. Greenkeeper, Joe Khumalo and staff, were left open-mouthed when they discovered a yield sign, complete with the pole, stuck in a hole on the number 5 green at the Dundee Golf Club last Wednesday. The […]

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European Commission Relicense Glyphosate

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European Commission Relicense Glyphosate: Weedkiller Glyphosate has been given a last minute reprieve after a European Commission (EC) committee granted a fresh licence for the herbicide’s continued use across the EU. The relicensing follows months of indecision by the EC. The EC Appeals Committee finally reached a qualified majority to renew glyphosate for five years. The decision to […]

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Teenage Groundsman Wins Volunteer Award

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Teenage Groundsman Wins Volunteer Award: A volunteer groundsman at Redditch Cricket Club has been named ‘young volunteer of the year’ at a prestigious sports awards. Jacob Ottley, 17, won the accolade at the annual Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sports Awards at Sixways Stadium in Worcester on Thursday, November 23. He only began volunteering at the club as […]

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FA Take Advice From City Groundsmen

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FA Take Advice From City Groundsmen: Sports bodies across the UK are taking advice from Gloucester. More than 18 months after the city council agreed to commit to improve pitches across Gloucester, council bosses say there has been a major improvement. And there has been input from some of the nation’s greatest groundsmen at the […]

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Racecourse Groundstaff Recognised By National Award

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Racecourse Groundstaff Recognised By Receiving National Award: Groundstaff at Warwick Racecourse are celebrating after winning the Jumps category in the Racecourse Association’s (RCA) Racecourse Groundstaff Awards 2017. The judges, made up of an industry-wide panel including representatives from the RCA, Professional Jockeys Association (PJA), British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and National Trainers Federation (NTF), recognised the outstanding […]

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Greenkeeper Shortlisted For Golf Environmental Award

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Greenkeeper Shortlisted For Golf Environmental Award: One of the greenkeepers at Cumberwell Park Golf Club outside Bradford on Avon has been shortlisted for a top golf environment award. Jon Keepen, Head of Conservation and First Assistant at Cumberwell Park, has been shortlisted for the STRI Golf Environment Award for ‘Conservation Greenkeeper of the Year’, organised by […]

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PSG Pitch Expert Gives Sky Blues Upgrade Advice

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PSG Pitch Expert Gives Sky Blues Upgrade Advice: The man responsible for preparing the pitch for the world’s most expensive footballer was on turf much closer to home this week. Co Antrim native Jonathan Calderwood, who is groundsman at Paris St Germain’s magnificent Parc des Princes stadium, was at the Ballymena Showgrounds to pass on a few tips, […]

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Oxford United Groundsman On A Career In Grass

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Pitch perfect: Oxford United’s groundsman on a career in grass: There is a sign stuck to the whiteboard behind Paul Currier’s desk which reads ‘Every day is a holiday for a man who loves his job’. Five minutes with the head groundsman at Oxford United is enough to know it is not a hollow statement. Currier, 58, is […]

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Former Shrewsbury Town groundsman passes away

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Former Shrewsbury Town groundsman and Shropshire cricketer Brian Perry passes away: Former Shrewsbury Town groundsman and Shropshire cricketer Brian Perry has died at the age of 74. Perry was the groundsman at Gay Meadow for 26 years before the club moved to their new stadium at Oteley Road. But before that he enjoyed great success with […]

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Damage To Green And Missing Flags Frustrates Golf Club

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Damage to green and missing flags frustrates Timaru’s Highfield Golf Club: Highfield Golf Club wishes people would just leave their course the way they found it – in a nice tidy manner. A number of flags used for on the greens have been going missing, while damage was also done to the green on the […]

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Hat-trick for Myerscough at IOG Awards

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Hat-trick for Myerscough at national IOG Awards: A Myerscough College learner has been honoured with a national accolade at the prestigious Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Industry Awards 2017. Tara Massey was named the Toro Most Promising Sports Turf Student of the Year. 20-year-old Tara has just completed her intermediate apprenticeship with Myerscough College, working as […]

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Durham CCC Groundsmen Honoured

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Durham County Cricket Club groundsmen honoured for keeping Chester-le-Street ground pitch perfect: Some of the unsung heroes of North-East sport have been honoured for their dedication to keeping a cricket field pitch perfect. The grounds team at Durham County Cricket Club has won two major honours at this year’s Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Industry Awards. The […]

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Tribunal Into Dismissed KCOM Groundsmen Ends

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Tribunal Into Unfairly Dismissed KCOM Groundsmen Ends: Two former groundsmen at the KCOM Stadium have been battling for compensation after being unfairly dismissed but will have to wait for weeks to find out the verdict of a tribunal hearing. Head groundsman Mark Harrison and his number two Darrell Cook were sacked by the SuperStadium Management Company […]

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Sarah Allin

Gravity-Defying Wall Of Living Grass Appears In Denmark

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Gravity-defying wall of living grass appears in Denmark: Visual artists, Ackroyd and Harvey, have created their latest grass art installation, a gravity-defying wall of living grass, in Aarhus, Denmark, as part of the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum’s ‘The Present and The Future’ exhibition. The installation, Vestergade 7 – named after the street number and name of the building block where it […]

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SMC Boss Questioned At KCOM Groundsmen Tribunal

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SMC Boss Questioned At KCOM Groundsmen Tribunal: The company running the KCOM Stadium has admitted unfairly sacking two long-serving groundsmen following a dramatic day at an employment tribunal. Mark Harrison and his number two, Darrell Cook, were dismissed from their roles managing the pitch at Hull City’s ground in April – a job they had held […]

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Glyphosate Decision Delayed

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Glyphosate Decision Delayed: The next step for the Commission will be to table a vote at another SCoPAFF meeting at a future date, to be confirmed.  Renewal will require a qualified majority vote (QMV) in the committee. If this is not reached, the issue could be tabled at the EU Appeals Committee. The current license […]

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Pitch Invading Squirrel Goes Nuts At Etihad Stadium

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Pitch Invading Squirrel Goes Nuts At Etihad Stadium: Fans enjoyed a spot of pre-match entertainment earlier this week – courtesy of a furry pitch invader.  Shortly before kick-off, groundsmen spotted a grey squirrel by the corner flag at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium. To the cheers of fans, they attempted to shoo it away with their forks. They […]

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Vote To Renew Glyphosate Has Failed

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Breaking News! Vote To Renew Glyphosate Has Failed: An initial round of votes has failed to gain sufficient support today – the vote was on whether to renew glyphosate’s license for a further 10 years in the EU. This will spur the European Commission to negotiate a shorter renewal period with EU countries, people involved said. […]

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Parliament To Vote On Glyphosate Phase-Out Resolution

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European Parliament to vote on glyphosate phase-out resolution: A vote on a resolution within the European Parliament for glyphosate phase-out, with full ban by end 2020 will be held on 24 October. Some MEPs want a full ban on glyphosate-based herbicides by December 2020, and immediate restrictions on the use of the herbicide. The Committee on […]

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Colin Hoskins

Rigby Taylor Offers Trip To The USA

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Rigby Taylor Offers Disease Protection, A Free Sprayer And A Trip To The USA As part of its ongoing support of integrated pest management, Rigby Taylor – the company at the forefront of supplying innovative products for the successful management and maintenance of turf surfaces – is offering greenkeepers and groundsmen a superb incentive to […]

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Groundsman Honoured By Lifetime Achievement Award

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Groundsman Maurice Honoured By Lifetime Achievement Award: The unsung hero of Haydock park racecourse who makes sure the course is fit for purpose has been honoured with a lifetime achievement award. Haydock Park stalwart Maurice Crooks has worked at the venue for 46 years and the head groundsman has scooped the Lifetime Achievement Award in the […]

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Katrina Wallace

Makita UK Supports Operation Airlift Caribbean

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Makita UK Supports Operation Airlift Caribbean: Specialist disaster relief charity DART International UK, the response team of volunteer British arborists, has again deployed teams to the stricken Caribbean in the wake of Hurricane Irma which hit the region early in September.  This, one of the most powerful and catastrophic Atlantic Ocean hurricanes recorded, has claimed many […]

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Groundsmen Lend A Hand To Help Cricket Club’s Pitch Stay Green

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King’s Ely groundsmen lend a hand to help City of Ely Cricket Club’s pitch stay green ahead of new season. The grounds of King’s Ely are known for their luscious lawns – but this month, the school’s groundsmen have been lending a hand to help another local institution ensure their pitch remains in top condition […]

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Good Luck Message For Atletico Madrid-Bound Groundsman

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Eddie Howe’s good luck message for Atletico Madrid-bound groundsman Dan Gonzalez: Cherries boss Eddie Howe saluted Dan Gonzalez ahead of the groundsman’s big move – to Atletico Madrid. Gonzalez, who has played his part in making the Vitality Stadium surface one of the best in the Premier League, is to become head groundsman for the Spanish […]

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Turf Matters

Ex-Groundsman Dropping In On England

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Ex-Groundsman Dropping In On England: Former Eden Park head groundsman Mark Perham has been tasked with ensuring a portable cricket pitch and temporary outfield is installed at the London Olympic Stadium for the 2019 World Cup. The stadium could also be used in England’s revamped city-based Twenty20 competition, due to start in 2020. The venue […]

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Hannah Wilson

Chipco Green To Be Withdrawn From The Market 

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Chipco Green To Be Withdrawn From The Market: A recent EU meeting, held by the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF), has voted for the non-inclusion of iprodione. This means that all products across Europe that contain this active ingredient, including Chipco® Green and Interface® from Bayer, will be withdrawn from the market. […]

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National Recognition For Potters Bar Bowls Club Duo

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National Recognition For Potters Bar Bowls Club Duo: Husband and wife team, Rod and Sandra Smale, have been shortlisted for the Bowling Greenkeeper/Team of the Year award by the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG). The expertise and dedication of the couple in maintaining the bowling greens at Potters Bar’s greens at The Walk has been the […]

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Sarah Allin

Germinal To Establish Research Station 

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Germinal to establish research station to help amenity turf professionals get the best from their facilities: Amenity grass seed specialist Germinal is to establish its own research station to spearhead a new programme of trials and development work geared to helping UK groundsmen, greenkeepers, turf growers and landscape architects get the very best from their amenity […]

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Atletico Madrid Poach Bournemouth Groundsman

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Atletico Madrid Poach Bournemouth Groundsman: Dan Gonzalez has handed in his notice with the Premier League side and leaves for Madrid in the coming weeks. Atletico Madrid are poaching a member of Bournemouth’sgroundstaff, Dan Gonzalez, to become their head groundsman at the new Estadio Wanda Metropolitano. The Anglo-Spanish Gonzalez has handed in his notice with […]

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Llanarth Cricket Club Awarded Groundsmen of the Year Trophy

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Their ground is as sound as a pound: Llanarth Cricket Club have been awarded the Groundsmen of the Year Trophy for their picturesque ground. The sponsors of the South-east Wales Cricket league, Thomas Carroll Insurance brokers, were keen to Recognise the important but usually unsung role of the groundsmen in preparing pitches and maintaining facilities to […]

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Andy Ward wins Isthmian League Groundsman of the Year

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Andy Ward wins Isthmian League Groundsman of the Year: Andy Ward, 24, who has been the groundsman at Wingate and Finchley FC for five years, won the Isthmian League Groundsman of the Year for his work keeping the pitches green and well-maintained for the club. The competition is an annual one for non-league groundsmen, awarded by […]

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Ollie Deeming Shortlisted For National Award

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Ollie Deeming Shortlisted For National Award: The Bury St Edmunds Rugby Club groundsman has been shortlisted for a national award and will go head-to-head with a peer from a Premier League football club. Ollie Deeming will contest the Toro Most Promising Sports Turf Student of the Year award with Manchester City’s Tara Massey at the […]

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Rasen Club’s Head Greenkeeper Retires

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Rasen Club’s Head Greenkeeper Retires: After almost four decades keeping Market Rasen Golf Club’s greens in tip-top condition, head greenkeeper John Hewson has retired. His lifetime of dedicated service to the Legsby Road club was recognised by Club President Richard Holmes and the many members and friends who gathered in the clubhouse to mark John’s […]

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‘Giant tent’ Being Discussed To End Rain Delays In Cricket

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‘Giant tent’ Being Discussed To End Rain Delays In Cricket: Plans to stop rain delays at cricket matches by covering pitches with a giant mesh tent are being discussed by the sport’s governing bodies. The Telegraph says an American company has approached the MCC and the English Cricket Board (ECB) with the idea. The transparent […]

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Gareth Bale Transforms Garden Into Incredible Golf Course

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Gareth Bale Transforms Garden Into Incredible Golf Course: A stunning aerial image of Gareth Bale’s transformed back garden has emerged after the Wales star had a replica of the iconic 17th hole at Sawgrass, Florida, built at his south Wales home. Reports emerged two years ago the Wales and Real Madrid superstar was about to […]

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From Greenkeeper To Masters Bid

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From Greenkeeper To Masters Bid: Not many people can call Royal Wellington Golf Club their backyard. Daniel Hillier has more right than most, especially as he mows the greens there, too. New Zealand’s second-ranked amateur golfer has added the title assistant greenkeeper to his CV, at the very golf course he and nine compatriots will […]

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Suppliers Welcome EU Decisions On Controlled Release Fertilisers

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Manufacturers of controlled release fertilisers have welcomed the voting through of key amendments to the EU Fertilisers Draft Regulation at a committee of the European Parliament. Proposals suggested the polymer “shall be capable of undergoing physical, biological decomposition, such that most of it ultimately decomposes into carbon dioxide (CO2), biomass and water. It shall have […]

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YouTuber Cooks Bacon In Lawn Mower Engine

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A YouTuber created an ingenious DIY hack on a lawnmower so that it cooks bacon while cutting the grass. The man behind the YouTube channel Project Farm said the idea was suggested to him in a comment by one of his followers. In the video he replaces the engine oil with cooking oil and modifies the […]

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Meet The Dedicated Team At Exeter Racecourse

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Meet the dedicated team ensuring Exeter’s turf is ready for the new jump racing season: Racing returns to Exeter on October 12 and for seven months the action comes thick and fast with 17 fixtures scheduled to take place until the beginning of May. Up to 89 horses are eligible to run at any one fixture, […]

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Former Derbyshire Groundsman Given Jail Sentence

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Former Derbyshire groundsman given jail sentence after sabotaging pitch in revenge for being sacked by club: A former groundsman at Derbyshire has been given a prison sentence after sabotaging the club’s pitch in revenge for his sacking. Chris Hallam, 33, pleaded guilty to criminal damage and was handed eight weeks in prison, suspended for a year. […]

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Donald Trump Meets 11yo Boy Who Mowed White House Lawn

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Donald Trump Meets 11yo Boy Who Mowed White House Lawn: An 11-year-old boy got the lawn-mowing gig of a lifetime after writing to President Donald Trump and offering his services in the Rose Garden. Frank Giaccio, who goes by the initials FX, was so focused on doing his job that he did not even notice […]

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KCOM Groundsmen Sacked After ‘Serious Breaches Of Duty’

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KCOM groundsmen sacked after ‘serious breaches of duty’: The SMC says the high-profile media campaign by Darrell Cook and Mark Harrison has forced it to explain the sackings. Two KCOM groundsmen sacked earlier this year committed serious breaches of duty and undermined trust, their employer has said. Darrell Cook and Mark Harrison were sacked by […]

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Groundsman impresses judges with Union Jack front lawn

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Aston Villa groundsman impresses judges with Jo Cox-inspired Union Jack front lawn in Great Barr: This, believe it or not, is someone’s front lawn which leaves passers-by in Great Barr bemused – so much so that they “often stop to stroke it”. The master behind the creation is Keith Smith, green keeper at Edgbaston Golf Club […]

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Golfer says ‘thanks’ to his life-saver

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Golfer who ‘died’ for 18 minutes on seventh hole says ‘thanks’ to his life-saver: A pub landlord has been reunited with the greenkeeper who gave him life-saving CPR when he collapsed on a golf-course and ‘died’ for 18 minutes. Steve Garrard, who runs The Punch Bowl pub in The Groves alongside his wife, Jan, suffered a […]

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Tottenham give first look at ‘world-first dividing retractable pitch’

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Tottenham give impressive first look at ‘world-first dividing retractable pitch’ for new stadium: Tottenham have offered a first look at ambitious plans to include the world’s first dividing retractable football pitch in their new stadium. A “sliding pitch” has previously been proposed in the plans for the new development as “a key element in accommodating both sports […]

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High praise for club

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High praise for club: The greens were packed last week at Cobram Bowling Club, where 120 people from all around Victoria gathered to play for the Cobram men’s triples tournament. Competition was fierce, but nobody was surprised when the victory went to Australia’s number one ranked bowler Barrie Lester and his teammates Josh Thornton from […]

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Artificial Six-Hole Course Opens At Frilford Heath

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Artificial six-hole course opens at Frilford Heath: An exciting new course has just opened at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire in the form of a unique synthetic artificial grass layout. The Yellow Course sits alongside Frilford Heath’s three existing championship courses but what sets it apart is that it has been created using Huxley Golf all-weather surfaces. The […]

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Lucy Nicholls

Learning LIVE Signals Opportunity

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Learning LIVE signals opportunity: The SALTEX 2017 free education programme is set to inspire visitors at the NEC on 1 and 2 November. With the full Learning LIVE programme set to be revealed in the coming weeks, the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) has released a few teaser seminars. The programme looks set to provide limitless opportunities […]

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Cricket Clubs Step Up Security After Spate Of Equipment Thefts

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Village cricket clubs step up security after spate of equipment thefts: Police concede cuts to number of officers in rural areas make it difficult for them to protect cricket and other sporting clubs. Cricket clubs are being forced to invest in expensive security systems and face soaring insurance bills after a spate of thefts that is […]

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‘Unfairly Dismissed’ KCOM Groundsmen Plea For Support

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‘Unfairly Dismissed’ KCOM Groundsmen Plea For Support: Two KCOM groundsmen who are planning to take their ex-employers to court have called on people to help in their “fight for justice” as they aim to get their jobs back. Darrell Cook and Mark Harrison were sacked by the Stadium Management Company (SMC) in June for gross […]

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County cricket Match Abandoned After Seagulls Cause Damage

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County cricket Match Abandoned After Seagulls Cause Damage: The opening day of a county cricket match had to be abandoned after seagulls caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to covers leaving the pitch waterlogged. Somerset County Cricket Club were due to host Essex in a second team game, but were forced to cancel the first […]

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Gabba Groundsman Kevin Mitchell To Step Down

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Gabba groundsman Kevin Mitchell to step down: Long-serving Gabba curator Kevin Mitchell, who has prepared pitches at the Australian cricket fortress for over 30 years, has said he will step down after the series-opening Ashes Test. The Brisbane venue has long been acclaimed for the quality of its pitches, which invariably offer pace and bounce for […]

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Special Day For Cricket Groundsmen

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A Special Cricket Groundsmen’s Day is being held at the County Ground in Taunton on Wednesday September 13. The Somerset Goundsmen’s Association is organising the event, which is open to any cricket groundsman in Somerset. It takes place on the second day of Somerset’s home championship match against Lancashire , and everyone attending will get a […]

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Ralph Awarded National League Groundsman Of The Year

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Ralph Awarded National League Groundsman Of The Year 2016/17: Torquay United groundsman Chris Ralph has received a top award from the Football Association for the standard of the pitch in 2016/17. Ralph attended an awards ceremony at St George’s Park today along with other clubs that were also honoured. He receives the award for the […]

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Vandals Target Cricket Club

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Vandals target cricket club: Vandals have damaged the pitch at Alton Cricket Club by driving a vehicle over it. A series of tyre ruts has scarred the outfield at the Jubilee Playing Fields in Chawton Park Road. The culprits also drove over the square – but this was unscathed, as the constantly rolled earth is […]

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Steve Mitchell

John Deere Turf Care celebrates 20th anniversary

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John Deere Turf Care celebrates 20th anniversary: John Deere celebrated the achievements of the team at the US Turf Care manufacturing facility last month, as it commemorated its 20th anniversary. Located in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, the 335,000ft2 Turf Care factory first opened in 1997, producing lightweight fairway mowers. Over the next 20 years the facility has […]

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JamesHennigan

Unscientific Advice Putting UK At Risk From Japanese Knotweed 

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Unscientific advice putting UK at risk from Japanese Knotweed: Cowboy businesses pushing ‘quick-fix’ treatments for infestations of the highly destructive Japanese knotweed plant are exposing homeowners and businesses to legal and financial risks. August in the United Kingdom is peak growth season for knotweed, as data from Bristol University’s PlantTracker app shows the weed now covers most […]

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External Source

Kent Cricket Pays Its Last Respects To Groundsman

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Kent Cricket Pays Its Last Respects To Groundsman: Kent’s cricketing community has paid its final respects to a much-loved former groundsman. Cecil “Sammy” Fidler, who died last month aged 82, turned up for his job interview on a tractor and went onto to become one of the best known faces around the St Lawrence Ground […]

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Steve Mitchell

Lawnmower Man Drives The Distance

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Lawnmower man drives the distance: Prison officer Andy Maxfield from Inskip in Lancashire has completed his epic journey from John O’Groats to Land’s End on a John Deere lawn tractor, while raising several thousand pounds for Alzheimer’s Society. The ‘Driving the Distance for Dementia’ Challenge set off from John O’Groats at 8am on Tuesday 25th July […]

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Linda SCH

SCH Driver Vince Risks His Life In A Heroic Act

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SCH Driver Vince Risks His Life In A Heroic Act: Seconds before the inferno that destroyed a Ferrari Scuderia in South Yorkshire last week, delivery driver Vince Cook helps the shaken and bloodied Ferrari driver out of the car. After witnessing the crash which has since made headlines throughout the world, Vince from Ipswich in […]

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External Source

Vandals Scorch Pristine Golf Green

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Vandals Scorch Pristine Golf Green: The hard work of maintaining a vibrant golf green came undone as it suffered extensive damage when it was scorched by youths. At around 5.10 on Monday morning, a group of youths took a wheelie bin full of rubbish and then set it on fire on the first green of […]

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External Source

Gareth Bale Banned From Playing On Pitch He Installed in Wales Home

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Gareth Bale Banned From Playing on the Pitch He Installed in Wales Home: Real Madrid have banned Gareth Bale from playing football on a pitch installed in the garden of his home in Wales. The winger included white lines and goalposts to make it more authentic, but he has now been told by his club that […]

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External Source

Premier League Bans Elaborate Pitch Designs

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Premier League Bans Elaborate Pitch Designs: The Premier League has announced that unusual pitch patterns and designs are no longer permitted. Leicester City — who cut a club badge into the pitch last season — and Southampton have produced a number of unique patterns in recent years. All clubs must now adhere to the standard […]

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Ella Boyden

Ransomes Jacobsen Provides Opportunities for Local Students

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Ransomes Jacobsen Provides Opportunities for Local Students: Ransomes Jacobsen Ltd, the Ipswich-based turf equipment manufacturer, has recently hosted 15 pupils from local secondary schools for a week of work experience.  The students were placed in various departments within the company including Operations, Engineering, Marketing, I.T., Customer Care, Sales and HR. All students were given a thorough […]

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Hannah Haffield

£3,000,000 Investment Announced By Fleet Line Markers Limited

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£3,000,000 Investment Announced By Fleet Line Markers Limited: Industry leading line marking manufacturer, Fleet Line Markers, has announced a new £3 million investment scheme to significantly expand its paint chemistry and software departments.  With the scheme to commence in December 2017, this latest development will enable the line marking pioneer to advance its innovations in both […]

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External Source

‘Heartbreak’ For Leeds Cricket Club As Thieves Wreck Artificial Wicket

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‘Heartbreak’ For Leeds Cricket Club As Thieves Wreck Artificial Wicket: A leeds cricket club faces paying out thousands of pounds to repair damage after thieves cut up and stole part of an artificial wicket. Hunslet Nelson Cricket Club volunteer Carol Thompson, 71, was “mortified” after discovering a 12ft section of the wicket in the middle […]

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Jo Snowden

Agronomic Services Ltd IOG Corporate Plus Members

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Agronomic Services Ltd IOG Corporate Plus Members: David Snowden, Managing Director of Agronomic Services Ltd takes full advantage of his IOG Corporate Plus Membership. “The IOG offers wonderful training opportunities for their members so I decided to take up their Reinforced Pitches Course held at St Georges Park which is a wonderful venue.” David Snowden has more […]

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Ella Boyden

Ransomes Jacobsen Wins RoSPA Gold Medal Award 

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Ransomes Jacobsen Wins RoSPA Gold Medal Award: Ransomes Jacobsen Limited is a winner at the RoSPA Health and Safety Awards 2017. The company, based in Ipswich, achieved the Gold Medal award (5 consecutive Golds) in the prestigious annual scheme run by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). The award was presented during a […]

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External Source

Nantwich Town Groundsman Peter Temmen Nominated For Award

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Nantwich Town Groundsman Peter Temmen Nominated For Award: Nantwich Town’s highly-rated groundsman Peter Temmen has been nominated for another award. Peter was the groundsman of the year winner in 2015 for his category, and was nominated again in 2016. Now he’s been shortlisted again for his amazing work in producing a top quality pitch for the Dabbers […]

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Louise Prettyman

DLF Join Team To Complete More Than A Bike Ride In The Country!

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DLF Join Team To Complete More Than A Bike Ride In The Country! On the 1st July a team of 10 cyclists, over half from seed breeders DLF, embarked on a bike ride from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for three worthy causes. The eight and a half day journey saw the […]

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External Source

Groundsmen Get Their Pants Back

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Groundsmen Get Their Pants Back: “Sri Lanka Cricket regrets the unfortunate incident that you had to face and we will ensure that it will never happen again” said Ashley de Silva CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket addressing the groundsmen contracted for the three ODI’s between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. The one hundred groundsmen were compelled to […]

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Wayne Chodosh

Seagull Deterrent ‘Gullsinator’ Arrives in the UK

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Seagull Deterrent ‘Gullsinator’ Arrives in the UK: High-tech faux predator provides councils and schools with a humane way to drive seagulls away.  The Gullsinator, a new device designed to fight the ongoing battle to rid seafronts, promenades, parks, golf courses and other outdoor areas of seagulls, has arrived in the UK, and has already been successfully deployed. […]

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External Source

79 Not Out As Groundsman Tommy Curlett Still Rolling

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79 not out as groundsman Tommy Curlett still rolling: Many of us may baulk at the idea of doing the same job for 55 years, even more at the prospect of still working at the age of 79, but Co Down man Tommy Curlett has no intention of abandoning his beloved Co Down cricket ground – […]

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External Source

Jim Gavin Questions Coldplay Concert A Week Before Leinster Final

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Jim Gavin has questioned the GAA’s decision to stage the Coldplay concert eight days before yesterday’s Leinster SFC final. Dublin ran out comfortable nine-point winners against Kildare, but lost free-taker Dean Rock to a black card for a hand trip on Keith Cribbin in front of the Hill after 24 minutes. When he was quizzed […]

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Steve Mitchell

Driving The Distance For Dementia

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Driving the distance for dementia: HMP Kirkham prison officer Andy Maxfield from Inskip in Lancashire is finalising plans to set a brand new Guinness World Record by driving from John O’Groats to Land’s End on a John Deere lawn tractor, while raising money for Alzheimer’s Society. The ‘Driving the Distance for Dementia’ Challenge is now due […]

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External Source

Glodwick club veterans roll with it!

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Glodwick club veterans roll with it! Glodwick Cricket Club duo Neil Williams and Gordon Whitehead are celebrating their 70th years by raising funds to replace the club’s heavy roller. “The present roller is a bit of a beast,” said groundsman Gordon. “It’s over 50 years old and most members won’t touch it because it is really […]

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External Source

Burscough Groundsman Slams Southport FC Claims Of Unfit Pitch

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Burscough Groundsman Slams Southport FC Claims Of Unfit Pitch: A WAR of words between Burscough and Southport after their friendly was cancelled at the last minute shows no signs of ending after the former’s groundsman waded into the row. Burscough FC released an official club statement on Monday evening (July 10) saying that Southport FC […]

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External Source

Paul Burgess Is The First Man To Lay Eyes On UCLA

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Paul Burgess Is The First Man To Lay Eyes On UCLA: The first man to lay his eyes on Real Madrid’s pre-season training venue from the Los Blancos camp was head groundsman Paul Burgess on Monday, checking the condition of the UCLA pitches ahead of the team’s workouts. Traveling over early with assistant Adrian Romero, Burgess […]

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External Source

Sri Lanka’s Cricket Board Apologises To Groundsmen

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Sri Lanka’s Cricket Board Apologises To Groundsmen: Dozens of groundsmen at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota cricket stadium have complained that they were ordered to give back their uniforms before being paid — even though they were wearing them at the time. Sri Lanka’s cricket board was forced to apologise after social media reports that some workers […]

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Scott MacCallum

Who’d be Neil Stubley?

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Who’d be Neil Stubley? Turf Matters Editor, Scott MacCallum, sympathises with Wimbledon’s top groundsman. The Head of Courts and Horticulture at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club – Wimbledon has produced a fleet of outstanding courts again this year in weather not necessarily conducive to the growing of grass. The surfaces look supreme […]

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Lucy Nicholls

BREAKING NEWS! Sherriff Amenity & Terra Firma (Scotland) Ltd Combine

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BREAKING NEWS – Sherriff Amenity and Terra Firma (Scotland) Ltd combine Sherriff Amenity, the fine turf and landscaping division of Agrovista UK Limited, one of the UK’s leading agronomy firms today announces the acquisition of Terra Firma (Scotland) Ltd, one of Scotland’s largest specialist suppliers to the amenity and local authority markets. The purchase will allow […]

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External Source

Groundsmen Defend Wimbledon Courts

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Groundsmen Defend Wimbledon Courts: It’s the oldest excuse in the Wimbledon book – if a tennis match doesn’t go your way, blame the grass. But this year the lovingly-manicured lawn has been subject to a particularly loud chorus of complaints, leading to concerns that the hot, dry weather has made it dangerous going in to […]

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Freddie Rae

Kubota UK Strengthens Marketing Team

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Kubota UK strengthens marketing team with key appointments: Kubota UK is pleased to announce it has strengthened and expanded its marketing team with the addition of four new appointments to support the company’s vision to become a centre of marketing excellence. Caroline Brown, Shannon O’Connor, Sophie Sprowell and Victoria Nemar have bolstered the team, supporting Kubota’s […]

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Charlotte Eglington

Total-play Ltd Welcomes New Technical Consultant To Its Team

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Total-play Ltd welcomes new Technical Consultant to its team – Sports turf specialist total-play Ltd has bolstered its team with the appointment of Shaun Anderson in the newly created role of Technical Consultant. Based from the Northants Head Office, Shaun will be responsible for the design of non-turf sports facilities to meet the needs of clients […]

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External Source

Crystal Palace Use Garlic To Combat Parasites At Selhurst Park

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Crystal Palace use garlic to combat parasites in Selhurst Park pitch – Crystal Palace have kicked up a stink around Selhurst Park this summer after using garlic to prepare their playing surface for the new Premier League season. The Selhurst Park pitch has been having problems with microscopic parasites that weaken the roots within the turf. […]

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Giles Wardle

Moortown Ready To Take Off With Irriplan And Hunter Pilot

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Moortown ready to take off with Irriplan and Hunter Pilot – The storied Moortown Golf Club in Leeds in the north of England has completed the installation of a new irrigation system, replacing a failing 35 year old system. Moortown, which was the first British club to host the Ryder Cup, in 1929, chose a Hunter […]

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Peter Driver

Ventrac Help Maintain Tottenham’s Training Centre

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Ventrac Help Maintain Tottenham’s Training Centre – Last season’s FA Premier League runners-up Tottenham Hotspur Football Club have taken delivery of a Ventrac 4500 compact tractor and three out-front attachments to help maintain the landscaped areas at their world-class Training Centre in Enfield, North London. Commenting on the new equipment, Darren Baldwin, Head of Playing Surfaces […]

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Lucy Nicholls

SALTEX College Cup Winners

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A once-in-a-lifetime ‘Wembley’ opportunity for SALTEX College Cup winners – The opportunity to stand on arguably the most famous pitch in world football on the day of the FA Cup Final is a dream for many, but for four sports turf students from Northern Ireland – the dream has become a reality. Gavin White, Jon Crawford, […]

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External Source

The Trials And Tribulations Of Tending Carlisle United’s Pitch

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The groundsman’s story: David Mitchell on the trials and tribulations of tending Carlisle United’s pitch – The Blues’ award-winning stadium manager talks bent goalposts, blocked urinals, unhelpful substitutes and the best surface in League Two with Jon Colman. In the groundstaff’s office in Carlisle United’s Neil Sports Centre, the walls strewn with old photos and […]

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External Source

Wimbledon Groundsman Happiest When Courts Go Unnoticed

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Wimbledon Groundsman Happiest When Courts Go Unnoticed – Wimbledon’s head groundsman Neil Stubley spends most of his waking hours worrying about the 18 championship lawns under his command in the weeks leading up to the tournament. They are his pride and joy, nurtured and pampered to perfection. Yet if the coming fortnight passes off with […]

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Freddie Rae

Kubota’s New RTV Is X-actly What You’re Looking For This Summer

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Kubota’s new RTV is X-actly what you’re looking for this summer – Kubota UK is setting the standard in power and versatility with the launch of its new four-seater utility vehicle, the RTV-X1140.  The new model, from the market-leader in diesel powered utility vehicles, builds on the popular predecessor (the RTV1140), demonstrating its ongoing commitment to […]

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External Source

Forest Green: Groundsman Nominated For Groundsman Of The Year award

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Forest Green groundsman Adam Witchell has been nominated for the Football Association’s Groundsman of the Year award. With Forest Green’s pitch the world’s first organic playing surface, Adam produced an excellent surface for FGR’s promotion winning campaign without the use of pesticides or chemicals used by many groundsmen in the UK. Following his first season […]

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Ella Boyden

Jacobsen’s Tournament Support At The Open De France

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Jacobsen’s tournament support at the Open de France at Le Golf National – Jacobsen is providing tournament support to the greenkeeping team at Le Golf National on the outskirts of Paris, during the HNA Open de France tournament being held between 29th June – 2nd July. Technical staff from Ransomes Jacobsen in Ipswich will assist staff […]

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External Source

Alan Ferguson Has Agreed To Part With The FA

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The FA have confirmed that Head of Grounds & Estates Alan Ferguson has agreed to part company with the FA by mutual consent. This agreement follows a further restructure of the FA’s operations. The FA stated that they would like to wish Alan well going forward and that Alan had asked them to share the […]

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External Source

Golf Bunkers Made From Crushed Beer Bottles

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Golf Bunkers Made From Crushed Beer Bottles – A Taranaki golf club has hit on a novel way to promote the game and encourage more memberships. Kaitake Golf Club, west of New Plymouth, has invested in 30 tonnes of fine grain crushed glass sand to fill three new bunkers on the 5500 metre long course. The crushed […]

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Scott MacCallum

Attack On 14 Golf Course Greens

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Attack To 14 Course Greens – The owner of a Cambridgeshire golf club has said an attack to 14 of the course’s greens is the worst case of golf vandalism she has ever seen. Vivien Saunders OBE, who won the Women’s British Open in 1977 and is chair of the Association of Golf Course Owners […]

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Chidi Onuoha

Birmingham To Kick-Start New Season On Hybrid Pitch

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Birmingham to kick-start new season on revolutionary hybrid pitch – Birmingham City will kick start the new Championship season on a revolutionary new pitch at St. Andrew’s following extensive work in the offseason. The Blues have installed a brand new SISGrass Hybrid surface similar to the recent installation at the Luzhniki Stadium in Russia where the […]

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Mike Isherwood

Doosan Excavator is 250,000th CESAR Machine in UK

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Doosan Excavator is 250,000th CESAR Machine in UK At the recent Plantworx 2017 Exhibition, a new Doosan DX85R-3 mini-excavator was unveiled as the 250,000th CESAR marked machine in the UK.  The official CESAR Scheme is owned by the UK’s Construction Equipment Association (CEA), the organisers of the Plantworx event, and is the number one anti-theft […]

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Colin Hoskins

Intelligent Line Marking From Rigby Taylor

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Intelligent Line Marking From Rigby Taylor – The World’s First GPS Robotic System Is Now Available Intelligent One – the world’s first GPS-controlled robotic line marking system that can automatically mark out a football pitch in just 30 minutes – is now available to UK sports clubs, schools, contractors and local authorities from Rigby Taylor, […]

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Louise Prettyman

DLF The Only Choice For Beaufort Polo Club

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Bespoke DLF Johnsons Sports Seed mixture the only choice for Beaufort Polo Club – Beaufort Polo Club in Tetbury is the foremost centre for the development of Polo in the Cotswolds. With 90 acres of fields and grassed areas and just a small team around him, Head Groundsman Wlodek Sterkowicz needs a maintenance regime that’s simple […]

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External Source

SCG Curator Tom Parker To Stand Down

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SCG curator Tom Parker to stand down ahead of Ashes series – Outgoing Sydney Cricket Ground curator Tom Parker has cited the increasing amounts of speculation regarding the Test pitches he prepares as a reason for his resignation from the position. Tom has been in the role for twenty years and, throughout that time, has seen […]

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External Source

Sport Wales Opens Up £3m Community Physical Activity Fund

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Sport Wales Opens Up £3m Community Physical Activity Fund – The National Lottery funding will be distributed via two pots – the Community Chest fund and Development Grants. The former offers start-up grants of up to £1,500 for smaller organisations to stimulate sporting and physical activity, while the latter is offering individual funds of up […]

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Louise Prettyman

Richard Lucas Makes First Dealership Appointment

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New signing at Charterhouse Richard Lucas makes first dealership appointment – Six months on from his appointment as Central Area Territory Manager for Charterhouse Turf Machinery, Richard Lucas has made his first new dealer appointment in the form of Charlies Groundcare. Responsible for the Shropshire region, Charlies Groundcare will be distributing the Redexim range of products […]

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External Source

Liverpool Relay New Pitch And Drainage System

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Liverpool Relay New Pitch And Drainage System – The Reds will play on a new surface as they prepare for a long campaign in the Premier League and Champions League Liverpool are preparing for the new season by relaying the Anfield pitch. The Reds will play on a brand new surface as set themselves up […]

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Helen Waite

STRI Professional Qualifications For The Amenity Industry

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STRI professional qualifications for the amenity industry – STRI Group, the world’s leading sports turf consultancy, has announced the training dates of its amenity sector qualification courses. The professional training courses take place during autumn and winter 2017 at STRI’s HQ in West Yorkshire, and include both introductory and professionally recognised qualifications. Courses consist of BASIS (Amenity […]

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External Source

Hybrid Pitches At National Cricket Performance Centre

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Hybrid pitches installed at National Cricket Performance Centre – The ECB have installed two groundbreaking “hybrid” pitches at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough, having been inspired by the impact of similar surfaces in Premier League football. The pitches combine a majority of natural turf grass with around 5% of twisted yarn. In football, that […]

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External Source

Carlisle Utd Sow Seeds For Another Award-Winning Pitch

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Carlisle United hope they have sown the seeds for another award-winning pitch at Brunton Park. With the Blues’ first home pre-season friendly for two years just six weeks away, work has been stepped up on the playing surface. Carlisle’s grounds team – last season named the best in League Two – seeded the pitch on […]

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Louise Prettyman

Cosby GC Prepares Course For A 50/50 Bent/Poa Split

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Cosby GC prepares the course for a 50/50 Bent/Poa split with help from Headland – Cosby Golf Club Head Greenkeeper, Thomas Flavelle, is in the process of preparing the course for a sward conversion programme.  To help him get the course best prepared for the change he has been working closely with Andy Lane of […]

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External Source

Groundsman Believes New Pitches Are Key To On-Field Success

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Reading Groundsman Believes New Pitches Are Key To On-Field Success – Grounds manager Adam Grantham explains the work needed to help keep pitches in pristine shape. It’s one of the most talked about things among Reading FC away from the team itself. Plenty of fans like to have their say on the pitch at Madejski Stadium . […]

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Lucy Nicholls

10% off the Etesia Donky Electric Wheelbarrow

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10% off the Etesia Donky Electric Wheelbarrow – Etesia UK has announced that the Donky electric wheelbarrow is now available with a 10% price discount. Lightweight, noiseless, no fumes and big savings on fuel – since its launch in 2015, the environmentally friendly Donky electric wheel barrow has quickly become a popular choice for those responsible […]

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Annabel Gilbert

Shelton Sportsturf Drainage win Exporter of the Year Award

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Shelton Sportsturf Drainage win Exporter of the Year Award – Lincolnshire based drainage company Shelton have won the ‘2017 Exporter of the Year’ in the East Lindsey Business Awards after reporting export growth of over 65% in the past year. Shelton design, manufacture and sell machinery specifically for the drainage of sports pitches, turf playing surfaces […]

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Scott MacCallum

Visiting the Spider’s Web

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Visiting the Spider’s Web – A number of the UK turf industry press attended a factory visit in the Czech Republic enabling them to catch up with the latest developments being made by the manufacturers of the unique four-wheel drive wheel Spider remote controlled slope mower.  The company’s  new 1.8 million Eur, 3,500 square metre factory […]

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Steve Mitchell

John Deere Names Apprentices Of The Year

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John Deere names apprentices of the year – A total of 33 young service technicians have graduated from the latest John Deere Ag Tech, Parts Tech and Turf Tech advanced apprenticeship programmes, run in partnership with national training provider ProVQ. John Deere has also been listed for the first time as one of the best […]

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Lucy Nicholls

Your Industry – Your Show

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SALTEX launches new 2017 campaign – Organisers of SALTEX (Sports Amenities Landscaping Trade Exhibition) have launched their new 2017 campaign, which features the distinguished heart-shaped logo formed of grass complete with the words – Your Industry – Your Show. In 1934 a groundsman at Eton College named William Bowles believed the industry needed a voice, and an […]

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External Source

Pitch perfect: Wolves Invest In New Playing Surface

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Pitch perfect: Wolves Invest In New Playing Surface – Work began last week on replacing the old pitch. The new one will be a state-of-the-art Desso Grassmaster hybrid pitch. There has been recent criticism of the pitch, particularly in 2015/16, but head groundsman Wayne Lombard believes the new surface will be of a high standard all […]

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Lucy Nicholls

Volunteer groundsman praises ICL iTurf programme

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Volunteer groundsman praises ICL iTurf programme – Adrian Cutliffe, Head Groundsman at Maginn Park in Buncrana, Ireland, has reported that a tailor-made ICL iTurf programme has provided him with fantastic results and excellent value for money. Adrian, who works for Pitch Dimensions – specialists in pitch construction and maintenance, has been voluntarily maintaining the surface at Maginn […]

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Lucy Nicholls

GoGreen Energy Shines for the Owls

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GoGreen Energy Shines for the Owls – Andy Thompson, head groundsman at Sheffield Wednesday FC, has reported excellent results since using Sherriff Amenity’s GoGreen Energy bio-stimulant. Having started his career in groundsmanship with Doncaster Rovers FC back in 1998, Andy progressed through the ranks and landed the head groundsman’s role at Sheffield Wednesday FC in 2014. […]

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Louise Prettyman

DLF Help Youngsters On ‘Their Best School Trip Ever’

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DLF help youngsters get to hear of environmental issues, turf management and golf on ‘their best school trip ever’ – Kingsdown Golf Club in Wiltshire recently took the initiative to show children from a local primary school how environmental stewardship, sports turf management and the game of golf are positively linked. Tom Freeman, Deputy Course […]

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Louise Henderson

Evo-Stik NPL unveils GreenFields as official Pitch Partner

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Evo-Stik Northern Premier League unveils GreenFields as official Pitch Partner – Sports turf specialist GreenFields was today unveiled as the new official pitch partner to the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League (NPL). The deal, initially for the 2017/18 football season, was announced at a meeting of the league’s 68 clubs, with an introductory presentation from GreenFields. GreenFields […]

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External Source

Man Mowed Lawn With Tornado Behind

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Man who mowed lawn with tornado behind him says he ‘was keeping an eye on it.’  – Cecilia Wessels snapped the picture of her husband, Theunis, on Friday evening as the twister passed near their home in Three Hills. She said cutting the grass was on her husband’s to-do list, and as he started the task, […]

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Norman Maitland

INTURF appoint new Operations Director

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INTURF appoint new Operations Director – INTURF has appointed Guy Barrett as Operations Director as part of a strategy to dramatically increase turf production to meet sustained increased demand. He brings with him nearly 40 years of turf production experience in every part of the UK, latterly at board level. “Sales have been increasing exponentially for […]

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External Source

Cristiano Ronaldo Furious With Groundsman

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Cristiano Ronaldo furious with groundsman after being soaked by sprinkler during warm-up – Tensions were understandably high amongst the players ahead of the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Juventus. But they nearly boiled over when Cristiano Ronaldo and his team-mates were drenched by a pitch side sprinkler before kick-off. The Portuguese ace then gave the groundsman […]

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External Source

Greenkeeping Equipment Stolen From Golf Club

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Greenkeeping equipment stolen from golf club – Police officers investigating a burglary at Lisburn Golf Club last month have appealed for anyone with information about the incident to come forward. It was reported that sometime between May 18 and 21, two backpack blowers and a turf cutter were stolen from a shed close to the front […]

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Louise Prettyman

Speed Seed By Name ‘speedy by nature’ Says Murrayfield GC

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Speed Seed By Name ‘speedy by nature’ Says Murrayfield GC – A Redexim Speed Seed 1600 has delivered ‘two-fold benefits to the greens’ says Murrayfield Golf Club’s Head Greenkeeper Steve Hulme.  Delivered by Charterhouse Turf Machinery in September 2015, overseeding now takes less time at this 18 hole parkland course, 1.5miles from the centre of Edinburgh. […]

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External Source

A Game Of Golf Is Equivalent To A Week’s Worth Of Exercise

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Time for a round? Playing a game of golf is equivalent to a week’s worth of exercise as charity says the game’s health benefits are overlooked It may prove just the excuse to explain to one’s spouse why you are heading off to the golf course again. The health benefits of golf are being overlooked – […]

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Turf Matters

Exteris™ Stressgard® fungicide now available

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Exteris™ Stressgard® fungicide now available – Greenkeepers can now get their hands on the new turf fungicide, that has been developed to treat for Microdochium Patch and Dollar Spot. Exteris™ Stressgard®, was launched by Bayer at BTME this January, and is now available to purchase from exclusive distributors, Headland Amenity and Rigby Taylor. “Over 10 years […]

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Lucy Nicholls

New Low Drift Nozzles For ProShield

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New low drift nozzles for ProShield – ICL has announced that all bottles of ProShield – a barrier acting, pre and post-emergent non-selective herbicide, are now being supplied with low drift sprayer nozzles. As part of the new product authorisation, which has been officially registered by the Chemicals Regulation Division (CRD), ProShield will now come with […]

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External Source

EU Declared Monsanto Weedkiller Safe

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EU declared Monsanto weedkiller safe after intervention from controversial US official – European Food Safety Authority dismissed a study linking glyphosate to cancer following counsel with an EPA official allegedly linked to the company and who figures in more than 20 lawsuits  The European Food Safety Authority dismissed a study linking a Monsantoweedkiller to cancer […]

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Linda SCH

SCH Ltd Has One Of Its Busiest Quarters

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SCH (Supplies) Ltd has had one of its busiest quarters since it began trading more than thirty years ago. We are delighted to be taking so many orders – a sign, we feel, of the faith that our customers and dealers have in us as a company. This has been a busy time for us […]

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External Source

Fleetwood Announce New Groundsman

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Fleetwood announce new groundsman – Fleetwood Town have promoted Nick Hyndman to the role of head groundsman after the departure of long-serving groundsman Dale Frith. The club announced Frith’s departure to PSD Agronomy as a senior consultant earlier this month with his deputy Hyndman gaining a promotion and officially taking over the reins on June […]

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Louise Prettyman

Westcountry Golf Academy Has Pro-Active Maintenance Approach

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Westcountry Golf Academy now has pro-active maintenance approach with help from Headland Amenity – With a little help from some trusted industry contacts, like Richard Shapland of Headland Amenity, Jon Funnell decided to “give it a go” and take over as Head Greenkeeper at Westcountry Golf Academy in 2010.  Developed from a 12 bay driving range, […]

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Cricket Club Raid Sees £13k Of Equipment Stolen

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Cricket Club Raid Sees £13k Of Equipment Stolen – Thieves using high powered machinery broke in to a cricket club’s storage unit, taking £13,000 of ground maintenance equipment – one of three incidents of criminals targeting sports clubs in the area. Oldswinford and Stourbridge Social Cricket Club was victim of a ‘professional and clearly planned […]

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Lucy Nicholls

New ProTurf Analysis from ICL

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New ProTurf Analysis from ICL – ICL has announced the launch of ProTurf 15-5-15 + 2CaO + 2MgO, a new analysis to join the popular range of ProTurf fertilizers.       Over the last few years, ProTurf has become the number one choice for turf managers who are looking to significantly improve the health and presentation on […]

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Lucy Nicholls

New Business Development Manager for Etesia UK

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New Business Development Manager for Etesia UK. Etesia UK has announced the appointment of Stephen Muir in a newly formed position as Business Development Manager. Stephen started his career in the automotive industry in which he worked with prestigious brands such as Jaguar, Land Rover and Audi, and it was during this time that he gained […]

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Scott MacCallum

‘Sacked’ Hull Groundsmen Want Your Help To Get Their Jobs Back

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‘Sacked’ Hull Groundsmen Want Your Help To Get Their Jobs Back – Two KCOM groundsmen who claimed they were sacked over the state of the pitch have set up a crowdfunding page to take their bosses to an employment tribunal. Darrell Cook and Mark Harrison say they were dismissed a month ago by the Stadium […]

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Lucy Marsh

Brand New Hickstead Sponsorship for Avant

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Brand New Hickstead Sponsorship for Avant. AVANT has extended its support of the All England Jumping Course, Hickstead for the 2017 competition season with a new sponsorship agreement recently announced. The Avant Ring 2 will be officially in place for the duration of the Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting, The Longines Royal International Horse Show, The […]

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Vandals Set Fire To Golf Course Twice In Four Days

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A Greenkeeper has blasted mindless vandals who deliberately set fire to a Barrhead golf course twice in four days. Kevin Wilson hit out at the firebugs who caused two separate wildfires which left Fereneze Golf Club “scarred”. Emergency services were called to the course last Monday and Thursday to extinguish the flames, which caused smoke to billow […]

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Work Starts On Preparing Burton Albion Pitch

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Work starts on preparing Burton Albion pitch for 2017/18 Championship season. It may only be a week since the season finished for Burton Albion, but work has already started on preparing the Pirelli Stadium pitch for next term. The top surface was removed on Monday as Albion ground staff look to reproduce the quality of […]

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Dave Mears

Highspeed Group’s Longest Serving Agent Retires

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Highspeed Group’s longest serving agent retires. Paul Dyter, now 82, who joined Highspeed as an agent in June 1993 has decided that after twenty four years’ service, the time is right for him to retire. Paul joined what was then Highspeed Lubricants Ltd., selling specialist oils and greases to golf courses in his area of South […]

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Peter Driver

Ventrac Dealer Network Continues To Grow

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The UK Ventrac dealer network continues to grow with the appointment of SGM Contracts in Scotland. The family-run business is one of the leading providers of both groundcare and garden machinery, offering a range of products and related services to councils, contractors, turf maintenance professionals, golf clubs and domestic home gardeners. Based on the Belleknowes […]

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Pleasant Point Pitch Vandalism Leaves Coaches Frustrated

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Pleasant Point Pitch Vandalism Leaves Coaches Frustrated. Vandals have torn up several sports fields and cricket pitches in the South Canterbury town of Pleasant Point, New Zealand – leaving teams upset and furious. Police are investigating Monday’s incident, which one coach described as the worst damage he had ever seen. Pleasant Point Cricket Club captain […]

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Helen Waite

STRI Group Strengthens Ecology And Environment Team

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STRI Group strengthens ecology and environment team. STRI Group has expanded its UK regional ecology and environment operation by bringing in two new consultants. Teneille Barwick joins STRI after moving to the UK from Melbourne, Australia. She has a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science and started her career at an environmental consultancy in the energy sector […]

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Charlie Macey

National Golf Month Reaches Record Number Of People

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National Golf Month reaches record number of people on social media. National Golf Month, the annual campaign aimed at increasing participation in golf, has achieved record levels of success on social media. With the help of celebrity ambassadors, which include Georgie Bingham, Denise van Outen, Dan Walker and Charley Hull, the #GirlsGetGolfing hashtag has reached nearly […]

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Charlie Rowe

Kubota Expands Partnership With Mitchell Powersystems

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Kubota Engines expands partnership with Mitchell Powersystems. Kubota U.K Engine Division is pleased to announce it has strengthened its strategic partnership with Mitchell Powersystems (MPS) after extending the distribution of Kubota’s full range of engine solutions into two new territories. This latest announcement now means that MPS will distribute Kubota’s complete range of oil and water […]

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EIGCA Announces Three New Partners

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EIGCA announces three new Partners. The European Institute of Golf Course Architects announced the addition of three new Bronze partners during their Annual Meeting in the Costa del Sol. The three companies, Atlantic Golf Construction, EcoBunker and Progolf join six other companies that have joined the EIGCA’s Partner Programme in the last 12 months. Commenting on […]

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Georgina Scott

Seeing Is Believing At Brickendon Grange Golf Club

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Seeing Is Believing At Brickendon Grange Golf Club. Two new Otterbine aerating fountains to celebrate golden jubilee. There’s nothing like a bit of ingenuity to bring in the results, as Lewis Mattholie, deputy greenkeeper at Brickendon Grange Golf Club, can attest to. And the result is two new beauty spots for the club’s golfers to enjoy. […]

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Leicester Groundsman Cuts Club Crest Into Centre Circle

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Leicester Groundsman Cuts Club Crest Into Centre Circle. Current Premier League champions Leicester are preparing to hand over their trophy to Chelsea this weekend, but when it comes to pitch designs, the Foxes are still riding high at the top. Craig Shakespeare’s side travel to Manchester City this weekend, but they still have two fixtures remaining […]

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Jurgen Klopp Bemoans Pitch After Third Home Game Without Win

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Jurgen Klopp bemoans Anfield’s pitch after third successive home game without a win. Liverpool made it three home games in a row without a win, held to a 0-0 draw by Southampton for the second time this season. Jurgen Klopp admitted post-match his frustration at the result, but insisted it was a point gained in the […]

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Greenkeeper Takes Up Role As ECB Pitch Adviser

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Falmouth Greenkeeper Takes Up Role As ECB Pitch Adviser. Cornwall Cricket is delighted to announce the appointment of Simon Johnson, Head Greenkeeper at Falmouth Golf Club, and Head Groundsman at Mount Ambrose CC as its new named ECB Pitch Adviser. Simon has more than thirty years’ relevant experience and has prepared pitches for Minor Counties’ […]

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Kate Hopkins

Council Tax Bombshell

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Ban on common weed killer could create £228 million council tax bombshell Research made available to the Forum has concluded that: A local authority ban on common weed killers used in the professional amenity and garden sectors which contain glyphosate would add £228 million to council tax bills each year This has been calculated as […]

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Southend United Groundsman Ken Hare Reaches Settlement With Club

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Southend United Groundsman Ken Hare Reaches Settlement With Club. Prospect (the union that represents football officials, cricket umpires, grounds staff and other sports professionals) has reached a mutually acceptable agreement for Southend United’s groundsman, Ken Hare, whose employment was terminated in January. Hare was dismissed on 21 January after Southend’s home match against Bolton was […]

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Volunteer Groundsman ‘Sacked’ While Still On The Pitch

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Volunteer Groundsman ‘Sacked’ While Still On The Pitch. A groundsman who has dedicated half of his life to volunteering for Hull City has been left devastated after being unexpectedly ‘sacked’ while on the pitch. David, 31, started volunteering at Boothferry Park when he was just 15 by offering to tidy up the pitch after every Hull […]

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London Stadium Set For ‘Festival Of Cricket’ Weekend

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London Stadium set for ‘festival of cricket’ weekend at 2019 World Cup… • England v Australia and India v Pakistan are games under consideration • Proposals to be discussed by World Cup organising committee on 11 May The London Stadium is moving closer to hosting two matches over a weekend in the 2019 World Cup, […]

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Admin

Daniel Madsen Wins Trip to Wembley with Jacobsen

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Daniel Madsen is the latest winner of the Jacobsen New Groundsman of the Year award. Turf equipment manufacturer Jacobsen and local dealer Svenningsens co-sponsored the prize.

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Admin

Storm-tec weathers it with Polaris

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Storm-tec has been appointed an authorised Polaris dealer for the Republic of Ireland. The Wexford-based dealership has built an exceptional reputation supplying clients in the marine industry, including the Irish Coast Guard, Community Rescue Service, the Rivers Agency, Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Northern Ireland Fire Service. With a policy of working only with premium […]

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Admin

VERTAS DELIVERS “PROFESSIONAL SERVICE” WITH TORO

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Fast-growing facilities management provider Vertas Group Limited’s grounds division has invested in the adaptable Toro T4240 high-output mower to deliver a “professional service” for its customers. Vertas provide services to schools and businesses in Suffolk and across East Anglia and its grounds team, which primarily maintains sports fields for schools, football and rugby clubs, decided […]

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Admin

Jonathan Pendry to join Bernhard and Company as the newly appointed Director of Agronomy

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Bernhard and Company is pleased to announce that Jonathan Pendry, world leading agronomist and turf consultant, will be joining the company this October as Director of Agronomy. The company is already renowned in the industry for its ability to offer full service turf care solutions to its global customer base. Jonathan’s agronomic know-how and considerable […]

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Admin

Free fertiliser efficiency appraisals from Germinal at BTME 2017

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Grass seed and turf care specialists, Germinal, will be challenging greenkeepers to scrutinise the nitrogen efficiency of their existing sward nutrient programmes with a free fertiliser appraisal at the BTME show in Harrogate from 17th to 19th January 2017. The company will also be showcasing its latest perennial ryegrass cultivar which has topped the Turfgrass […]

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