Notts Hollinwell Goes For Green

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Notts Hollinwell Goes For Green: Currently rated as the UK’s 40th best course by Golf World Top 100 and by National Club Golfer as an England Top 20 course, Notts Golf Club Hollinwell is renowned as one of the country’s finest inland courses, with heather, gorse, bracken and pine in abundance.

It has also been described as “one of the best heathland courses in Britain” by BBC commentator and former Ryder Cup player Ken Brown. The club has continued the course and environmental improvements accomplished over recent years and for the second year running will host a Final Qualifying tournament for The Open, at Carnoustie in July 2018.

Notts Hollinwell Goes For Green

In 2017, Notts (Hollinwell) successfully staged Final Qualifying for The Open at Royal Birkdale. The course was presented in excellent condition and the event ran very smoothly, thanks to the enthusiastic efforts of staff – not least the greenkeeping team led by course manager Phil Stain – members and volunteers.

“The club is always pushing for higher standards and there’s been a lot of investment in the course over the last couple of years, so it’s very satisfying to be recognised at this level,” says Phil. “The course is now being managed more intensively and our bent/fescue overseeding programme is progressing really well, as we try to get the greens back to predominantly fine grasses. Mowing frequency has also been increased, so the reliability of our course machinery continues to be a major requirement.”

Part of the ongoing investment programme has seen the purchase of a new fleet of seven John Deere machines from Nottingham based dealership Henton & Chattell, on a John Deere Financial five-year operating lease. These include four 2500E electric hybrid triplex greens mowers, an 8800A TerrainCut rotary rough mower featuring the programmable TechControl display, and two ProGator heavy-duty utility vehicles.

“The machines were due for replacement, as it’s been five years since the last upgrade,” says Phil. “We’ve been more than happy with our previous John Deere 2500E greens mowers, which were the first ones we bought. They’ve provided the standard of finish and reliability we look for, and the dealer service from Henton & Chattell and sales manager James Robson has been very good.

“We always choose the best machines for the job, in our opinion, so we’re not particularly committed to one individual brand over any other. However, having tried the competition we found the John Deere greens mowers ticked all the boxes, so we had no reason to change – we’ve had virtually no problems with them whatsoever, so there was no need to look elsewhere. All round the 2500E is a very good, reliable machine – our old models still have plenty of life in them and are going back to the dealer in very good condition.

“The 8800A cuts all the semi-rough and provides a massive time saving, as well as a good quality finish, plus it’s also a very reliable mower. The ProGators are new machines for us, as we’ve only had them on demonstration before. The industry feedback I get is that the Gator is one of the most robust machines out there, so I’m very happy to go with the opinions of other greenkeepers that I trust.”

For more information, visit: www.JohnDeere.co.uk

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Toro Cuts Machinery Downtime

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Toro Cuts Machinery Downtime: New customer Padeswood and Buckley Golf Club in Flintshire North Wales has chosen Toro for the first time as it seeks to reduce machinery downtime.

Having spent, last year alone, £20,000 on maintenance and lease equipment due to breakdowns, Padeswood and Buckley has brought in Toro to eliminate these expenses and ensure the smooth running of the course.

Toro Cuts Machinery Downtime

Stuart Mason, who recently took over as head greenkeeper, tells us why Toro is the solution to their downtime dilemma: “I’ve used Toro in the past and it lives up to its reputation for reliability and longevity – you only have to look at the high resale value of Toros to confirm that fact.”

The Toro fleet replaces and upgrades the club’s main line machinery. Joining a new Greensmaster TriFlex 3420-H are three more machines including a Reelmaster 3575-D fairway mower, and Stuart goes into detail about some of the benefits he’s noticing:

“The 3575-D is good because the three wheels are quicker on the turn and kinder on turf than four-wheel machines. One of the main issues we want to avoid is mowers being out on the course when golfers are, and the speed of this mower will help enormously with that.

“The best thing about our Reelmaster 3100-D fairway mower is that the operator is placed safely away from the trickiest of edges, which the sidewinder units can cut accurately. We have recently started working with Durabunker to reconstruct our bunkers across the course by revetting them with artificial turf. The 3100-D mower will be able to keep the turf around the new bunkers neat without causing any damage.”

Stuart is also looking forward to fewer trips to the shed to refill the sprayer thanks to the Workman HDX utility vehicle complete with a Multi Pro sprayer. He explains: “Before we had a 200 litre tank, now we have almost four times that capacity with the 757 litre tank of the Multi Pro. This will make a big difference to our overall spraying routine. Another great thing about the HDX is its versatility – we don’t just operate it as a sprayer but a topdresser and truck too.”

Glyn Hughes of Major Owen advised Stuart on which machines would be the best to help eliminate downtime and ensure the smooth running of the course. Stuart says: “Glyn really helped with our decision, he was at the club so often that he was basically on the payroll! I’ve known him for a long time and it’s great to be working with Major Owen again as we can always trust them to deliver great service.”

With a new Toro fleet, and Major Owen to rely on, Stuart is nothing but positive about the club’s future: “We demonstrated a variety of machines on the market and Toro came out on top for quality and high performance, so I’m confident we’ll be able to rely on the new fleet.

“Reliable, quality machines will make it far easier to maintain the course to a high standard for our members. Already the team is over the moon that there are no more morning jumpstarts! And now downtime is no longer a dilemma, I foresee 2018 being far smoother for the greenkeeping team here at Padeswood.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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New Tracmaster Attachment

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New Tracmaster Attachment: Leading landscape and groundcare machinery manufacturer Tracmaster Ltd, is delighted to confirm the latest addition to their growing CAMON range of equipment – the CAMON BC65 Lawn Scarifier Attachment – a 65cm wide scarifier to fit the BCS Two Wheel Tractors and Rotavators.

The CAMON BC65 includes many of the same features that have helped to make the CAMON LS42 Lawn Scarifier the preferred choice for lawncare specialists and landscape gardeners across the UK. These include free-swinging “waisted” blades in a staggered layout to provide maximum coverage, fine blade height adjustment for all types of lawns, and interchangeable lawn rake and lawn slitter cartridges.

New Tracmaster Attachment

Alex Pitt, Managing Director of Tracmaster, said “This new Scarifier is the perfect fit for our CAMON range. Having manufactured lawn scarifiers for over 25 years, the logical next step was to use our expertise to make a model to fit the BCS power units.”

John Bates, Tracmaster’s Sales Director, continued, “We’ve had a lot of interest in the BCS65 from BCS owners in the UK, and from BCS distributors across the world – in fact we’ve already shipped a number of units to BCS in the USA.”

The CAMON BC65 is suitable for the BCS Two Wheel Tractors and rotavators from the model 738 upwards. The Scarifier features 48 free-swinging “waisted” blades, a full-width front roller for even scarification, and a floating PTO swivel joint for uneven ground conditions.

For more information, visit: www.tracmaster.co.uk

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Woods New Batwing Mower

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Woods New Batwing Mower: Simon Richard, UK Agent for the Woods rotary cutter range, says local authorities and a range of other users can benefit from extending their fleet with the new Woods BW12 Batwing rotary mower. He says “Woods have an established reputation, making the BW12 model the ideal choice when cut speed and quality are the criteria for maintenance of a range of larger open spaces.

Built with high-strength steel the BW12 is durable, but light in weight. Requiring only 35hp at the pto it is ideal for working with compact tractors and a cut capability of up to 10 acres in just 45 minutes make it the solution for large parkland and golf course maintenance.

Woods New Batwing Mower

Woo The BW12 has the Woods legendary precise and easily adjusted cut height and quality, with fully baffled deck to ensure excellent distribution of the cut material. Easy transport and hook-up reduce preparation time and there is a six-year gearbox warranty, including seals.”

For a user demonstration go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uot67eO0cHU&t=52s&list=PLP4HsNaUhZQt7pynT2loZrTIPQNaob0A-&index=9

For more information, visit: www.simon-richard.co.uk

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Aer-Aid Instils Air Of Confidence

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Aer-Aid Instils Air Of Confidence: The Grounds Manager at Shrewsbury School, Andy Richards, is a strong believer that aeration is one of the most important practices carried out by groundsmen, and this is exactly why he has recently purchased a new SISIS Javelin Aer-Aid.

Shrewsbury School is one of the country’s leading co-educational independent schools for 13-18-year-olds and attracts boys and girls from all over the country. It is one of the original seven public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868, and its impressive list of previous pupils boasts a certain Mr Charles Darwin. In line with the work of its most famous “Old Salopian”, the school continues to evolve in a dynamic way, achieving both outstanding academic and sporting results.

Aer-Aid Instils Air Of Confidence

“We have a good blend of academics and sports at Shrewsbury School,” says Andy. “Sport is a massive part of the School and there is a very strong house sport system – in fact the students are willing to run through a brick wall for their school and their house in sporting competitions!”

It is for this reason that Andy and his team leave no stone un-turned when it comes to preparing and maintaining sports pitches of the highest standard. In discussing his maintenance procedures, Andy pin-pointed aeration as one of the most vital.

“Speaking with other groundsmen, we have one of the highest pitch usages in the country. On each pitch we average 10-15 hours per week and we’ve got limited drainage. Therefore, one of the most important things we do is aeration and we aerate pitches all of the time. Grass lives and needs air like anyone else,” he says.

Breathing life into Andy’s grass is his newly purchased SISIS Javelin Aer-Aid tractor mounted aerator, and he had no problem in running it past the School’s bursars – as he explains.

“It was the machine I wanted because I had previously trialled it and had good results. I Clegg hammered the pitches before and after using the Aer-Aid and had noticed a massive reduction in hardness. I know that the Aer-Aid had recently undergone extensive Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) trials and it came out with excellent results – which always gives you confidence and makes it easier to explain to the bursars why you want to purchase it.”

As Andy says, the Javelin Aer-Aid recently gained rave reviews from the STRI. Over a three month period, extensive STRI trials led by Dr Christian Spring were carried out which examined how and if the Javelin Aer-Aid had an effect on the hardness of the turf, the root depth, water infiltration and disease. Christian reported that “it became obvious that the Aer-Aid improved maximum root and depth within the soil profile and also had the benefit of increasing the depth of the average rooting mass.”

With 10mm diameter ‘tipped’ tines working at 75mm (3ins) spacing, air is introduced from the Aer-Aid at a rate of 88 litres (3cu.ft.) per minute. These air injection tines are specially designed to use the maximum air available from the compressor and produces clean, fresh air, while also ensuring that surface disturbance is kept to a minimum. The cam trigger mechanism ensures that the air is always expelled at the bottom of the tine penetration, enabling treatment to be targeted precisely and consistently.

“We do all the normal types of aeration but to actually be able to inject air into the surface as opposed to just a mechanical operation of it is a massive bonus,” says Andy.

“It’s a really good machine, easy to use and we can see significant improvements since using the Aer-Aid.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

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