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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Jason Moody Joins Campey

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Jason Moody Joins Campey: Campey Turf Care Systems has brought in new product specialist, Jason Moody, to cover Wales, the Midlands and West Cheshire.

Jason brings almost three decades worth of greenkeeping experience to the Campey team having started in the industry at 16-years-old as an apprentice at Royal St. David’s Golf Club, where he stayed for seven years.

Jason Moody Joins Campey

He continued honing his skills at Botley Park Hotel where he took on the role of deputy course manager for the construction and grow-in of the new course before becoming course manager.

Five years as course manager at Canterbury Golf Club and two years in Hertfordshire followed before Jason moved back to North Wales so he could be closer to his family. Over the next 13 years, he gained sales experience and returned to greenkeeping at Plassey Leisure Park, Wrexham, before taking on a new challenge at Campey.

“This is a fantastic opportunity,” Jason said. “I hope my knowledge and experience can bring something to the business, and I’m very excited about the new challenge ahead.

“I’ve been aware of Campey during my career, and they’ve helped me throughout as a greenkeeper. I’ve seen the evolution of the company through my career and the impact they’ve had on greenkeeping. When I started in the industry, we were dressing greens by hand with wheelbarrows, and now we’re using Dakota top dressers.”

Campey managing director, Julia Campey commented: “We’re very happy to welcome Jason to the Campey team. We always aim to give customers advice from a place of experience, and Jason is in a great position to do that because the knowledge he has gained during his time as a greenkeeper and working in sales.”

Jason has already had the opportunity to meet customers from his area on the Campey stand at SALTEX 2019 and is now looking forward to getting out on-site to work with customers.

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New Appointments from AGS

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New Appointments from AGS: Advance Grass Solutions is very pleased to announce the appointment of Jonathan Knowles and Matt Le Brun to their in-field technical team.

Jonathan, a former greenkeeper at Rufford Park Golf & Country Club moved to Myerscough College as a lecturer in the early 2000’s, completing an array of sports turf qualifications which culminated in a postgraduate doctoral degree researching the incidence and potential benefits of a symbiotic fungi that naturally inhabits turfgrass.  Specifically, the endophyte.

New Appointments from AGS

Latterly, he has been based from home managing the apprenticeship arm of the college, visiting golf, football clubs and private schools, expanding training provision and contacts across the Midlands.

Sam Honeyborne, MD at AGS said ‘’Jonathan has been on our radar from some time and I’m very pleased that he has joined as we head into our third year. He is well known in the area, having already visited many of our existing customer base. His technical background will compliment the business and in turn offer first class product support within our added value model”.

Jonathan has written several articles into greenkeeping and sports turf related industry magazines, as well as having research work published in conference proceedings with the European Turfgrass Society.

He will be managing Nottingham, Staffordshire, Derbyshire and the West Midlands, as well as expansion into Lincolnshire.

Matt Le Brun joins in a new role as Business Development Manager (Sports Turf) with a brief to continue AGS’s progress in professional football, colleges and private schools.

Matt has worked at both manufacturer and distributor level, as well as gaining vital practical experience as a groundsman and trainer in an industry career spanning over ten years.

Phil Garrod, UK Sports Turf Manager said ‘’The sports turf division is growing from strength to strength and its vital we invest to maintain our high customer service standards as well as growing our geographical footprint. Matt is an established technical manager with a good following. His last role was all encompassing giving him the sort of experience that will allow him to develop further and support the business for years to come’’.

Matt Le Brun said ‘’I’m very excited to be joining AGS. I have kept a watchful eye on their progress in the past two years, from both an agronomic service and product development perspective. Their wide range of exclusive lines and pipeline of new technology made my decision very easy. I very much look forward to contributing to further success in years to come.’’

New Appointments from AGS

Advance Grass Solutions is a leading provider of agronomy services, products and customer

support throughout the UK, with loyal customers from lawncare and small bowling clubs to Ryder Cup venues and Premier League football clubs.

They provide a UK exclusive range of high-quality products including: Growth Products, Sustane Natural Fertilizers, Polyon controlled release technology, in addition to well-known UK based suppliers such as DLF Trifolium and Aquatrols. Their staff hold industry recognised qualifications such as BASIS and FACTS alongside honours degrees in sports turf, soil science and sustainable land management disciplines.

For more information on AGS or to enquire about ongoing opportunities to join the team  please call 01183-914540 or email info@advancegrass.com.

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New Amenity Specialist for Sherriff

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New Amenity Specialist for Sherriff: Sherriff Amenity has announced the appointment of Andrew Norman, who joins the company as an amenity specialist based in the areas of Kent and East Sussex.

Eighteen years’ experience of golf greenkeeping make Andrew ideally suited for his new role with Sherriff Amenity. He joins the company from East Sussex National Golf Club where he started as a seasonal greenkeeper before working his way up to deputy course manager. It is this experience which makes Andrew fully appreciate the demanding workload of modern turf professionals and the need for high quality products.

New Amenity Specialist for Sherriff

Commenting on his decision to join Sherriff Amenity, Andrew said: “It seems to me that everyone in the industry has heard of them and that the products are of exceptional quality. They have a huge respect in the industry, a wide range of products and great distribution.”

Andrew, who also holds an NVQ Level 3 in Amenity Horticulture Greenkeeping and Sports Turf Management, said that he is relishing the opportunity to learn and assist turf managers.

“I was keen to start learning about all the other things that are going on in the world of turf. In my first few weeks I will try to get around to see a lot of people to find out more about their turf and their sites. I feel like I have learnt so much already across a wide range of sports turf including tennis, cricket and football – it has been enlightening.”

Sherriff Amenity’s extensive range of quality products are perfectly complimented by the first-class customer service provided by the company’s amenity specialists. Renowned for their technical knowledge, which is consistently enriched through industry leading training programmes, Sherriff’s amenity specialists can ensure that you are always getting the best results from your turf.

Away from work, Andrew spends his time on call for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and likes to play football and golf.

For further information, please contact Sherriff Amenity on 01638 721 888 or visit www.sherriffamenity.com

For more news and insightful views, you can follow Sherriff Amenity on Twitter @SherriffAmenity.

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Gareth Rogers Joins Symbio

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Gareth Rogers Joins Symbio: Well-known in the industry, Gareth Rogers has been appointed by Symbio as Technical Sales Manager in Scotland.

A keen golfer, Gareth joins the Surrey-based firm after 5 years at Fairways GM. Before moving into sales, his greenkeeping career spanned 20 years at Grimsby, Elsham, Crieff Hydro, Merrist Wood and Gleneagles golf clubs.

Gareth Rogers Joins Symbio

He comments, “I’m delighted to have joined Symbio. As a former greenkeeper, I know exactly what can be done to develop and maintain healthy rootzones and excellent playing surfaces using its unique products and approach. Sustainable technologies are changing the way sports turf is managed. With chemical use under increasing pressure across Europe and being limited by legislation, our product range goes a long way to filling the void.”

Established in 1990, Symbio was the first company to combine soil biology and chemistry to develop a range of industry-changing products including launching Green Circle in 1992, the first biotech product for nutrient retention and recycling for sports turf.

Since then some of the company’s industry firsts include:- Thatch Eater to convert thatch to plant food, mycorrhizal fungi to promote perennial grasses and in some cases more than halve fertiliser use; Liquid Aeration to oxygenate the rootzone; compost teas to restore life to chemically damaged and compacted rootzones which together with a comprehensive selection of fertilisers, biostimulants, Johnsons seeds and wetting agents, provides a complete range for healthy soil and plant growth.

Gareth can be contacted on 07976 624241 and by email at gareth@symbio.co.uk

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