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STRI Scoops Award At Bradford Uni

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STRI Scoops Award At Bradford Uni: STRI has picked up two gongs at the University of Bradford’s Summer Experience Awards, as the Bingley-based business won the Outstanding Placement Provider (SME) for its work experience internships. It also helped STRI intern, Samuel Birch, claim the Outstanding Placement Student award.

Samuel (Chemical Engineering), Malika Zahedi (Biomedical Sciences), and Steven Hopkinson (Chemistry), joined STRI as part of the Summer Experience Placement programme for six-weeks where they provided invaluable support within STRI’s research team at its world class facilities in West Yorkshire.

STRI Scoops Award At Bradford Uni

Over the course of the summer internship, the students gained knowledge on conducting scientific trials, project management and data analysis.

STRI has been running Summer Experience placements for a number of years. Former intern Sam Swires, who graduated this year, has now joined STRI in a full-time position as Trials Officer.

STRI Research operations manager, Dr Christian Spring, said: “It was a very successful night for STRI at Bradford University. It has been a great opportunity for STRI to mentor and support the next generation of turf scientists.

“I am delighted that our intern students fitted seamlessly into the research team, and that they gained such a large amount from their research experience, and that both STRI and the students have been recognised in the Summer Experience Awards. We would encourage all businesses engage with work experience students, as we have benefitted enormously from our involvement over the last few years.”

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Standards Maintained at Ladybank

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Standards Maintained at Ladybank: Designed originally by Old Tom Morris, Ladybank Golf Club is a rare thing in Fife, enjoying as it does a reputation as one of the finest inland layouts based in Scotland and providing a classic heathland challenge to golf lovers away from the sea.

Recently ranked #2 in Great Britain’s Top 100 Courses under £100 by National Club Golfer magazine, Ladybank is established on the Fife Open Championship Qualifying Trail, and has hosted final qualifying on seven occasions since 1978 for the Open Championship played at St Andrews. It was also a qualifying venue in July for this year’s Senior Open Championship on the Old Course.

Standards Maintained at Ladybank

Managing secretary Gordon Simpson joined the club over two years ago and carried out a comprehensive assessment of the whole club and course set-up. He knew the course and its quality from playing regularly in qualifying tournaments as a PGA professional, and immediately recognised that the combination of an ageing machinery fleet and increasing repair bills meant a replacement policy needed to be implemented.

Gordon therefore asked the six-strong greenkeeping team led by course manager Colin Powrie and head greenkeeper David Gray to put together a wish list of new machinery from scratch, that would help them to maintain the golf course to the required high standard. As a result, the club has made its first ever John Deere fleet purchase, with equipment supplied by John Deere dealer Double A of Cupar in Fife.

The new machines include a 7500A fairway mower with TechControl display and smaller QA5 cutting units, a 4049R compact tractor, a Pro Gator utility vehicle equipped with an HD200 low-profile amenity turf sprayer and two 220SL walk-behind greens mowers.

“We conducted the usual tender process and gave the different manufacturers a list of the priority kit we required to replace the older machines,” says Gordon. “Double A and the dealership’s golf specialist John Bateson were superb throughout the process, both in supplying demonstration machines throughout 2017 and in their overall level of service, support and advice to help us develop the golf course in the way we wished.

“The process was admittedly a lengthy one but the ongoing feedback we had from the membership was invaluable to me in the decision-making process, particularly with regard to the high levels of presentation and finish right across the course. This ultimately showed us that the quality of cut from the John Deere machines was far superior and sharper looking.”

“We have quite undulating fairways, so the smaller QA5 cutting units on the fairway mower suit our terrain very well by getting easily into the dips and hollows,” adds Colin Powrie. “The new hand mowers are used on the 1st and 18th tees and the collars, so these are now nicely striped up for better presentation.”

Gordon Simpson admits John Deere would not have been his original number one choice, having never done a deal with the company before in his previous roles. However, he is now happy to state that everything the club experienced over the 20-month process of choosing a new supplier proved that he wanted to partner with John Deere as a brand and Double A as a local business.

“With the volume of kit that had to be replaced, it was always the case that the club would need to spread the investment over several years to make it more manageable,” says Gordon. “With all the work they put into the tender, John Deere and Double A simply stood out a mile, and we knew this was the manufacturer and dealer we wanted to partner with.

“We were looking for a long-term relationship with our supplier, which is why it took us so long to make the decision, but we certainly feel that we’ve picked the right route for us and our ambitions for the club.”

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

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September Update From Scott MacCallum

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September Update From Scott MacCallum: Well, the football and rugby seasons are in full swing once again and those with affiliations to a particular team – most of us – are experiencing the uncomfortable feelings we all get when our team is in action.

We might be engaged in a serious piece of conversation about potential new curtains for the bedroom, or watching the latest episode of Bodyguard, but what we really want to do is steal a look at our phone to check the score. You know full well it’s not going to go well – not the score, but the reaction from your other half to what is a display of less than 100% attention to the task in hand.

September Update From Scott MacCallum

I’ve said before, but the extent to which sport weaves its way into our every day lives, and dictates our moods, is never to be underestimated. My wife and I even got caught up in the World Cup and found ourselves not disinclined to share a smile when England scored. Even from north of the border the atmosphere created by a thumping of Panama and a penalty shoot out win against Columbia could be felt. The distant memories when Scotland qualified for five consecutive World Cups made those feelings all the more poignant.

Scotland’s qualification for the Women’s World Cup next year is small consolation and I’m sure the entire country will get behind the team but the, amended, famous Tartan Army chant “When you hear the noise of the Tartan Army girls” doesn’t quite work to the same extent.

I do live in eternal hope that the next generation of football’s superstars could contain the odd one with a Scottish accent, but living in hope is something I’ve become used to – living in expectation is something I leave to those south of the Hadrian’s Wall.

Anyhow, all of the above would not be possible without the pitches to perform on and with none of us knowing what sort of weather we are going to get to prepare those pitches it is a credit to all that standards are so high and that the limitations of budget are exceeded so frequently.

Scott MacCallum

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Vincent Tractors Expand Into Devon

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Vincent Tractors Expand Into Devon: Vincent Tractors & Plant, a Cornish Kubota Dealership, is expanding into Devon and opening two new branches in Holsworthy and Smithaleigh.

The two new branches will focus on the full range of Kubota equipment – agriculture, groundcare and construction.  The Head Office for the expanded company will remain at Fraddon, with both of the new sites having a sales, parts and service departments offering customers local support.

Vincent Tractors Expand Into Devon

Paul Vincent, Managing Director of Vincent Tractors & Plant said “This is an incredibly exciting time in the company’s history.  Two of my sons, Nick and Alec have joined the company to help implement this expansion.  Nick being responsible for construction sales in Devon and Cornwall initially and Alec as our Financial Manager”.

“Over the past 52 years we have dealt predominantly with customers in Cornwall.  The opening of the two new branches will allow us to offer our award-winning level of expertise and customer service to customers in Devon.  Richard Felton will cover the new area for agricultural sales, while John Scott and Trevor Readwin will cover groundcare in the south and north respectively”.

Rob Edwards, Kubota’ Business Development Manager for Agriculture, said “We are very pleased to be working with Vincent Tractors & Plant on their expansion.  Paul and his team have a great reputation in Cornwall as a dealership that provides quality equipment and service to their customers.  We aim to help them bring this to Devon through the utilisation of our latest machinery and excellent aftersales support”.

The opening of the new depots will enable Vincent Tractors & Plant to supply and service Kubota’s complete range of high quality and innovative agricultural equipment to Devon’s farmers. This includes the recently launched flagship M7 range up to 170hp, as well as the extensive range of agricultural implements.

Kubota’s groundcare range includes walk behind, ride-on, out-front and zero turn mowers, as well as its industry leading compact tractors and its durable and rugged RTV utility vehicles.  Kubota’s range of BX Series, B1 Series and B2 Series sub-compact tractors are perfect for the Devon market as they are leaders in innovation, reliability and value for money.

Kubota’s excavator range, from the micro K008-3 (800kg) to the KX080-4 (8 tonne), continue to dominate the construction market with quality, performance and reliability.  This is a very important market to Kubota and Vincent Tractors & Plant welcomes customers both old and new to our Devon depots.

Vincent Tractors & Plant commenced trading in Devon as from 1st September 2018.  The official opening of the two new branches will be later in the year.

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Campey Turf Care Return To SALTEX

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Campey Turf Care Return To SALTEX: Campey Turf Care Systems will be returning to the NEC in Birmingham for SALTEX 2018, presenting their range of industry-leading machines.

Throughout the year Campey products have made an impact at major sporting events including  the use of the Air 2G2 GT Air Inject in the build-up to the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National, Paris.

Campey Turf Care Return To SALTEX

Innovation and application have both continued to evolve, with the Koro FIELD TOPMAKER now being used with great success to renovate cricket squares as well as further use in golf. These sports have been able to adopt the machine due to the introduction of a smaller and lighter Koro FTM that was specifically designed with finer turf in mind, offering the industry as a whole the cleanest renovation possible.

A selection of Campey machinery will be on display at Stand G100 along with the Campey Product Specialists, who will be on hand to answer any questions and advise on the best machinery for your situation.

For more information, visit: www.campeyturfcare.com

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