DLF announce SALTEX winner

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DLF announce SALTEX winner: Paul Humphreys at Concord College, Shrewsbury and Taunton Schools’ Mark Jolliffe have been announced as the winners of the DLF/Johnsons Sports Seed ForthRoots Competition at SALTEX 2019.

Having successfully answered three questions on DLF’s 4Turf Tetraploid ryegrasses, they were rewarded with new innovative tools for effective on-the spot overseeding worth over £600.

DLF announce SALTEX winner

Pictured receiving their prizes from their respective DLF Regional Technical Managers, John Hughes and Ian Barnett, Paul takes home the ForthRoots MultiTool and Mark the ForthRoots Ryeseeder. Designed to fit perfectly into the scars and space left following matches or training, the interchangeable tine options on the RyeSeeder and MultiTool help to create the perfect seed bed for quick recovery.

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IOG award for Callum Allsop

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IOG award for Callum Allsop: Award sponsors Toro and Reesink Turfcare, an official UK Toro distributor, are delighted to announce Callum Allsop from Leicester City Football Club’s Belvoir Drive training ground has been crowned the Most Promising Sports Turf Student of the Year at the 10th annual Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Awards.

Having worked in the turf industry for 10 years, Callum was recognised for his dedication to the industry and education. As well as leading a team of nine as head groundsman at Leicester City Football Club’s Belvoir Drive, Callum is also currently undergoing studies for his Level 3 in Sports Turf Management.

IOG award for Callum Allsop

“I got involved in the industry volunteering at my local club at 14 and really enjoyed it,” says Callum. “Since then, I’ve worked my way up and worked hard to get to where I am, and education has been a large part of that career progression for me.

“I strongly believe that in order to be successful, you have to make sure that every piece of work you do is always done to the best of your ability and that you should strive to learn more. Always ask questions and stay interested in what you’re doing, and you will reap the benefits from that.”

Callum was presented with his award by Reesink’s national key accounts manager, Alastair Rowell, in front of an audience of 650 leading groundscare experts from the UK and Europe. And when it comes to gaining the benefits of winning the award, he wants to use his new platform to inspire others as well as improve himself.

“I think currently in the industry, more needs to be done to encourage younger people,” he says. “That’s why awards like this are important, because it’s vital to raise awareness of the career and educational opportunities available to young people. In fact, at Leicester we’re looking at the possibility of going into schools to speak about the careers in groundscare as many young people aren’t fully aware of what they might be able to achieve in this industry.

“Personally, winning this award has been a great experience, and the highlight for me has been meeting so many top professionals in the industry. I hope winning this award at such a key point in my career will open up more opportunities for me in the future.”

Marketing manager at Reesink, Rochelle Bedford, says: “Sponsoring this award is just another demonstration of ours and Toro’s long-term commitment to the development of the industry and our investment in the careers of young people; a hugely important undertaking for us. It’s wonderful to see Callum has achieved so much in his career already, and we hope the award helps him to progress his career further and inspire more young talent like himself.”

The awards, which took place on 31 October at the The Vox at the Birmingham NEC, recognise leadership, innovation and outstanding achievement across every aspect of groundscare and highlight the progress of young, student grounds professionals. And Reesink and Toro are proud, as ever, to play a part in giving a platform to the best and brightest young people in the industry through the sponsorship of such an important award.

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2020 GEA finalists announced

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2020 GEA finalists announced: The shortlisted finalists for the 2020 Golf Environment Awards (GEAs) have been announced.

The GEAs, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2020, recognises golf clubs and individuals that strive to undertake environmental best practice. Past finalists’ projects have ranged from simple but effective, to grand scale schemes.

2020 GEA finalists announced

Ecology consultants from STRI spent August and September visiting qualifying clubs that applied for the awards before painstakingly whittling them down to 17 finalists and five Home Unions finalists.

Four finalists have been named in three GEA categories – Conservation Greenkeeper of Year, Outstanding Environmental Project, Environmental Golf Course of Year and Operation Pollinator, while five golf clubs have been selected for the Environmental Golf Course of Year category. Another five worthy finalists have been identified in the new Home Unions National Awards category.

Representatives from the finalists will attend the glittering awards ceremony on 22 January 2020 at the Crown Hotel in Harrogate, during BTME week.

Golf Environment Awards judge, Rowan Rumball, said: “This year was exceptionally difficult, and we have had some amazing and very worthy entrants. I have seen some superb projects and many clubs are now looking beyond the confines of their own club boundaries.”

Head of Ecology at STRI, Bob Taylor, said: “I cannot believe it’s 25 years since we first set up the Golf Environment awards. Moreover, the awards have become the leading accolade for ecological and environmental excellence within the golf industry. Many golf greenkeepers tell me the awards represent something to aspire to, they provide an opportunity to market the good works they do. For me the awards represent a growing community that all come together at the awards celebrations discussing works and passing on ideas. Anyone is welcome to attend the awards, and one thing is certain you will leave inspired by the great work clubs are doing.”

All finalists receive free entry into the Foundation Award in Amenity Horticulture course, recognised by BASIS, and managed by STRI, as well as CPD points. The lucky winners of the GEAs will also be able to enjoy a European Golf & Environment Trip of a Lifetime to Portugal.

The Golf Environment Awards 2020 finalists are:

Environmental Golf Course of the Year

  • Warrington Golf Club
  • Kington Golf Club
  • Saunton Golf Club
  • Effingham Golf Club
  • Nairn Dunbar Golf Links

Conservation Greenkeeper of the Year

  • John Milne – Rothes Golf Club
  • Neil Sherman – Ipswich Golf Club (Purdis Heath)
  • Richard Mullen – Banchory Golf Club
  • Les Rae – Montrose Golf Club

Outstanding Environmental Project of the Year

  • Trevose Golf & Country Club
  • Dundonald Links
  • Craignure Golf Club
  • Clitheroe Golf Club

Operation Pollinator

  • Cumberwell Park
  • Banchory Golf Club
  • Ufford Park Woodbridge
  • St Andrews Links Trust

Home Unions National Awards

  • Market Harborough Golf Club
  • Scotscraig Golf Club
  • Ashburnham Golf Club
  • Bingley St Ives Golf Club
  • Diss Golf Club

The winners will be announced at the Golf Environment Awards Ceremony on Wednesday 22h January 2020, at The Crown Hotel in Harrogate. Tickets for the awards, which includes a three-course meal and drinks, go on general sale on 14 Nov. Please email enquiries@strigroup.com for further details.

STRI would like to thank all the golf clubs that entered but didn’t make the final shortlist.

A huge thank you also goes to Golf Environment Award partners and sponsors who continue to support and promote the awards year-on-year, without them the awards simply would not be possible. The R&A, BIGGA, The Golf Club Manager, Tillers Turf, Ransomes Jacobsen, Wiedenmann, Aquatrols and Syngenta.

For further details about The Golf Environment Awards and how to purchase tickets please visit https://golfenvironmentawards.com/

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Sprayer operator award winners

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Sprayer operator award winners: The category winners of the 2019 Amenity Sprayer Operator of the Year Award were announced at the Amenity Forum conference on Thursday 10th October 2019.

The Forum administers the awards whose main sponsors are ICL and Syngenta. BASIS registration also offer free training vouchers for the winners.

Sprayer operator award winners

Each category winner received a trophy and framed certificate. The overall winner will now be decided upon and be announced at BTME in Harrogate in January. The overall winner is awarded the Amenity Forum Shield and earns him or herself a choice of amazing prizes.

Professor John Moverley, Independent Chairman of the Forum, said ‘The Amenity Forum is the voluntary initiative for this important and essential sector. We promote best practice and these awards are a demonstration of the high professional standards in our sector’

The category winners were:
LANDSCAPE AND INDUSTRIAL USING HAND HELD & TRACTOR MOUNTED EQUIPMENT
Winner Ian Millward, Millward Forestry
Runner Up Daniel Lewis, Manchester City

SPORTS TURF USING TRACTOR MOUNTED & HAND HELD EQUIPMENT
Winner Paul Gater, Caldy Golf Club
Runner Up Jason Garlick, JMG Amenity

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Allett’s Creative Lawn Stripe Winner

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Allett’s Creative Lawn Stripe Winner: Allett Mowers have announced the winning entry in the Allett Creative Stripes competition 2019. This year’s winner, Erik Czako, is from Hungary.

The competition is run online on Allett’s social media channels and the final judge was last year’s winner, Keith Smith. There were entries from ten different countries with the top six coming from Hungary, Sweden, England, Wales and the USA, a clear reflection this is an international competition, and anyone can enter and win. The prize is an Allett Liberty 43 with all its cartridges and two cartridge stands. Winner Erik says:

Allett's Creative Lawn Stripe Winner

“I wanted to mix circles and squares in such a way as to show through both of them. It’s simple in one sense but hard to make it accurate because of the contact point. It takes three hours.” Erik works for a delivery food company and plays football league four. “When I was a child, I watched premier football match and I dreamt of playing on an amazing pitch like that. Because in Hungary pitches don’t have such quality, I decided to make a lawn like this one. Gardeners in Hungary told me it isn’t possible because of the climate. I got advice from English groundsmen and my dream came true. Nowadays I kick the ball on my pitch with my friends, it is a little bit smaller than a football pitch, but it isn’t a problem.”

Erik used an Allett Kensington 14” to create his winning design. Runner up was Swedish garden service company owner and former groundsman Niklaus Andersson who used an Allett Kensington 20K to create his design. In third place was England’s Andrew Wain, Head Gardener at Euridge Manor in Wiltshire, where they host weddings and corporate events, with the lawn seeing an average of 150 people on it every week. To find the winner of the competition the team at Allett voted on their top six first and the results were sent to Keith Smith, the 2018 winner.

Allett's Creative Lawn Stripe Winner

“I was absolutely delighted and honoured to be asked by Allett to judge this year’s competition,” says Keith, “then when I saw the amazingly high standard of entries, I realised what a difficult task this was going to be. I have been so impressed with the standard of entries. Not only the creativity, but the technical difficulties that need to be overcome.” All the entrants will be invited to an Allett Mowers factory tour at the end of the busy season and Allett eagerly look forward to seeing next year’s entries.

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