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NEWS ARTICLES

MTD Appoint Scott Hawkins

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MTD Appoint Scott Hawkins: To support their continued growth and increase in sales, MTD Specialty Turf Products have announced the appointment of Scott Hawkins. Scott joins the team as Territory Sales Manager for the South East area, a role which will see him offering additional sales support on both the Cub Cadet TMSystem™ and INFINICUT®.

Scott joins MTD on the back of 2 years as Football & Cricket Head Groundsman at the La Manga Club in Spain. During this period he was responsible for overseeing all elements of grounds maintenance for the natural grass soccer pitches and cricket facilities – both of which are regularly in use by leading teams from around the world for warm-weather training. Prior to this, Scott worked at Fenner’s Cricket Ground for the University of Cambridge and began his career at Essex County Cricket Club.

MTD Appoint Scott Hawkins

Upon embarking on his latest venture, Scott said, “I’m very excited to be taking up this new position and working with such technologically advanced machinery. I have already enjoyed a busy BTME in Harrogate and look forward to using my knowledge and experience as a groundsman to work alongside turf managers, in both the golf and sports turf markets, helping them to achieve their aims.”

With work, and in his spare time, Scott enjoys travelling and is a keen sportsman – playing golf, cricket and tennis when time allows.

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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 the club had been broken into.

A pitch marker and rope used by the club were stolen and dumped in a ditch full of water, but not before the marker had been used to leave graffiti on the pitch itself and on Leaves Lake Drove where the playing field is located.

The vandals struck sometime between Thursday night, when Spalding United’s junior players had their last training session, and about 9am on Saturday morning.

Club secretary Chiara Lyon said: “My colleague on our committee received a call early on Saturday morning with a message that the pitch we play on in West Pinchbeck had been vandalised and the equipment in which we store all our equipment had been stolen.

“I drove down to Leaves Lake Drove at 9am on Saturday, only to find that some nice pictures had been drawn on the pitch and the container had been broken into.

“A pitch marker used to paint the lines on the pitches had been taken out of the container and used on the pitch before it was thrown into a dyke.

“There was paint all over the road and some “Respect” barriers to keep spectators off the pitch had been thrown into the dyke as well.

“I was devastated as some of the children had travelled from quite a distance away and we had to explain to them that their game go ahead as the police wanted to have a look at what had happened.”

Among the youngsters affected were a team from Newmarket, who had made a 127-mile round trip to play against one of the Spalding United junior teams.

Chiara said: “We had a team training session at Leaves Lake Drove on Thursday evening, but we don’t use the pitch on Fridays.

“There were two games scheduled on Saturday which had to be called off but once the police had finished, myself and some of the other committee members spent several hours cleaning the pitch.

“It wasn’t the nicest of feelings and it wasn’t the call I expected on Saturday morning when I was supposed to have been taking my youngster to a match.

“We’ve managed to get the pitch playable again, after it took us six hours to tidy things up.

“But it was very disheartening to see what happened because it affects the children.”

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TYM Impresses At Elland Road

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TYM Impresses At Elland Road: Elland Road, home of Leeds United Football Club, has been using TYM at its training grounds since 2017 and has now chosen the tractor brand for the stadium too. 

And the reason for that is TYM has proven to provide high-quality performance and deliver the results required across both surfaces says head groundsman, Kiel Barrett.

TYM Impresses At Elland Road

“We’ve recently invested in another TYM tractor because what we’ve been using has performed so well,” he says. “Thanks to the range of tractors available, we’ve found models to suit the surfaces at both the stadium and the training grounds which are very different despite being the same length and width.”

It all started in 2017 with the arrival of the T503 at the training ground: “The T503 has delivered over and above expectations and worked brilliantly for our annual renovation work at the training ground as well as for topdressing and stripping turf off. It’s a really reliable workhorse.”

With such an assured performance it made sense to invest in TYM again for Elland Road, but with such different requirements at the stadium Kiel requested a demonstration from local dealer Russell Groundcare who brought the mid-duty T393 for Kiel and the team to trial.

Kiel says: “The demonstration proved the T393 could deliver the same quality of work at Elland Road, although in less heavy-duty roles. Its user-friendly operation really impressed me as well as the cab, which is really comfortable to work in. It’s a productive all-rounder and we use it to help move equipment, carry out drainage, aeration and spraying.”

Since having the machine, Kiel has not been disappointed: “The T393 is the perfect addition to the stadium’s maintenance fleet. Like the T503 at the training ground, the T393 is a huge improvement from the previous equipment we were using and we can really tell the difference.

“In terms of a compact tractor range, TYM is one of the best around and I foresee that in the coming years it’s going to be seen more and more across the grounds industry,” Kiel says. “That’s what happens with a range that delivers innovation, reliability and value for money. Plus, it has the benefit of Reesink as its distributor who I trust to provide high-quality products. That’s why we have Toro machines and irrigation as well.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Bancroft Amenities’ New Combiseeder

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Bancroft Amenities’ New Combiseeder: Bancroft Amenities Ltd a well-established specialist sportsground contracting company based in Greater Manchester have recently added a GKB Combiseeder to their large fleet of modern and innovative contracting machinery.

Bancroft Amenities Ltd a well-established specialist sportsground contracting company based in Greater Manchester have recently added a GKB Combiseeder to their large fleet of modern and innovative contracting machinery.

Bancroft Amenities' New Combiseeder

“We like the fact it is a dimple seeder, it gives a lot of holes per square metre and the use of the machine for the operator is very simple. We like the small compact size and its ability to seed at very low rates. The GKB build quality is very good and strong” explains Stuart Thompson, Director of Bancroft Amenities Ltd.

Bancroft Amenities maintain both natural and artificial sports surfaces with a large range of equipment. The GKB Combiseeder will be a new and valued addition to a fleet, they also run a comprehensive range of GKB synthetic turf maintenance machinery, which includes two GKB Quick-Brushes, a GKB Quick-Clean and GKB Rotobrush. Stuart adds, “The quality of service we get through Tom [GKB Machines Operations Manager for UK & Ireland] is very good but just in general, GKB’s business model, their costs and what they offer makes them easy to work with.”

The GKB Combiseeder is a fast and efficient way to seed or overseed your golf course or sports pitch, offering both solutions, as well as the possibility to seed multiple types of grass. It’s two spiked rollers open up the soil and accurately spread seed across the full width of the machine, in and around the holes whilst two drag brushes incorporate the seed into the holes.

For more on GKB Machines and their reliable and robust range of machinery for natural, hybrid and synthetic turf, please visit www.gkbmachines.com or contact Tom Shinkins on 07495 883617.

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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 an assistant working under then head groundsman, Roy McLaren, before replacing him upon his retirement in July 2000.

Mr Packwood, a lifelong supporter of Worcestershire, has completed his three decades at the club just after the retirement of another long-serving member Martin Watts, who spent 40 years on the ground staff.

Paying tribute to his service, Matt Rawnsley, the club’s chief executive, said: “It’s fantastic we are celebrating two members of the groundstaff who have been with the club such a long time in Martin, who has just retired, and Tim.

“Tim has done a great job after coming in as an understudy to Roy McLaren.

“He probably has one of the most unique groundsman’s jobs in the country in dealing with the floods that we have. But he manages to produce some fantastic facilities – not only just out in the middle on the square but also on the practice wickets as well.

“We are trying to make facilities that put both sides on an equal footing and give entertainment for the crowd – and Tim certainly knows the New Road wicket better than anyone else.”

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