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BIGGA Latest Master Greenkeepers

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BIGGA Latest Master Greenkeepers: BIGGA has confirmed the latest recipients of the Master Greenkeeper Certificate.

From London to Connecticut, two members of the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association are celebrating after achieving their Master Greenkeeper certificates, marking them out as leading lights within the turf management industry.

BIGGA Latest Master Greenkeepers

Andrew Kerr, Course Manager at Surbiton Golf Club in London, and Anthony Girardi, Golf Course Superintendent at Rockrimmon Country Club in Connecticut, have become just the 73rd and 74th recipients of the Master Greenkeeper certificate.

Recognised as a prestigious and highly-sought after greenkeeping industry award, Master Greenkeeper certificates are achieved through a three-stage process. To be eligible, BIGGA members must have been working in the industry for 10 years, with three spent in a head greenkeeper, course manager or superintendent role.

Andrew Kerr, 39, was raised in County Antrim, Ireland, and hails from an agricultural background. He began his career working on golf courses in Northern Ireland, before making the switch to England, finally settling in to the course manager role at Surbiton.

Andrew said: “I feel the Master Greenkeeper qualification is important for the industry as it highlights great work, knowledge and abilities in a small industry within a global scale. Each of the stages helped me push my own knowledge and develop excellent standards from a course and administration point of view, which I hope to continue to do now and in the future.”

Anthony (Tony) Girardi, 49, has been in the golf business for 29 years, beginning his career as an intern while attending the University of Rhode Island. He graduated in 1992 with a degree in Environmental Science and earned a role as assistant golf course superintendent at Woodway Country Club in Connecticut.

After three years he became golf course superintendent at Rockrimmon Country Club, a position he has held for the past 24 years.

BIGGA Latest Master Greenkeepers

Tony said: “I had always heard of the Master Greenkeeper programme through the years, but it wasn’t until I attended BTME in 2016 that I became more aware of the certificate and what it entailed. You are never too old to learn, and in a very short two-year period, I can safely say that I have learned a great deal about course management from my peers in the UK and Ireland.

“The Master Greenkeeper process is an invaluable experience that allows you to grow both personally and professionally.”

Stuart Green, BIGGA’s head of member learning, said: “Congratulations to Andrew and Tony on becoming the latest recipients of Master Greenkeeper status. Our Master Greenkeeper certificate is now in its 28th year and yet only 74 golf course managers and superintendents from all over the world have made the grade, highlighting what an incredible achievement this is. Master Greenkeeper is a learning experience and I would recommend any golf course manager, who aspires to the highest standards, gives it a go.”

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Accies Splash £750k On New Pitch

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Accies Splash £750k On New Pitch: Hamilton have splashed out £750,000 to ensure their plastic pitch does not come out bottom of the pile again in the new season.

The news comes 24 hours after the artificial turf at New Douglas Park was rated the worst surface among Scotland’s 42 senior clubs following a survey of players.

A study organised jointly by PFA Scotland, Sports Labs and the Scottish Football Association found top-flight professionals gave the 3G turf an average score of just 1.18 out of five – worse even than the rutted patch found at League Two minnows Albion Rovers’ Cliftonhill home.

That led PFA Scotland chief Fraser Wishart to renew calls for such pitches to be banned in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

But Accies say they are investing in a new Greenfields MX pitch to ensure they do not find themselves embroiled in another turf controversy.

The club stated on their website: “The hard work continues at New Douglas Park over the summer with the installation of a new FIFA-approved, state-of-the-art, 3G pitch in preparation for our 5th consecutive season in the top flight of Scottish Football.

“The club have made a significant investment of £750,000 on the pitch project, signalling a continued commitment to both our first team and well renowned youth academy in ensuring they are afforded the very best playing surface available.

“The 2018-19 season will see the New Douglas Park surface tailored to the same specifications as the Scottish FA’s 3G pitch at the Oriam, Scotland’s National Performance Centre – a facility the governing body itself describes as ‘world class’.

“The project is being completed in partnership with a number of the leading companies within the sports grounds industry to ensure the pitch is installed to the highest standards.”

Accies head groundsman William Watson added: “We have left no stone unturned in our drive to bring the best playing surface available to Hamilton Accies. Over the past 18 months we have gone through a thorough process of data collection and club visits.

“Greenfields MX is widely used in elite sport across Europe. It is used in Holland by various top tier clubs including Vitesse, by English Premier League side Arsenal at their state-of-the-art London Colney training centre and, in Scotland, by Alloa Athletic.”

Alloa’s Recreation Park was rated 10th overall of the 42 clubs in the SPFL.

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Brechin Pitch Vandalism Anger

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Brechin Pitch Vandalism Anger: Vandals have targeted an all-weather football pitch in Brechin, ruining the good work of local volunteers.

The fence around the the synthetic pitch and enclosure at the town’s Inch Park was cut open and a set of goalposts were torn down.

The attack comes after the Inch Maintenance and Preservation Society (Imps) took over caring for the site in September and raised £5,000 to bring it back up to standard.

The vandalism that happened in Brechin.Members of the community and local businesses got involved in the campaign and helped get the football ground back in shape with the help of Angus Council.

It is one of a series of environmental projects across the town which the group has taken on.

Imps chairman George Garden said members were disheartened and frustrated by the weekend attack.

“There was a lot of community backing and we are disappointed that the park has been the subject of vandalism,” he said.

“It’s extremely disheartening because there was a lot of hard work undertaken and it really knocks you back – it’s incredibly frustrating.”

The pitch is rented out to local clubs most week nights and opens for community use at the weekends.

Mr Garden said the public had access from Saturday morning until Monday morning so there was no need for anyone to cut the fence to get inside.

The charity has also recently taken over ownership of the public toilets at Inch Park and has been working on bringing them up to scratch so they can be re-opened.

However, Mr Garden said the vandalism at the synthetic pitch had left him questioning whether it was worth going ahead with the plan in case the toilets are targeted too.

The Imps group was created following a successful effort to bring Brechin’s paddling pool back into use after it was set to close due to high maintenance costs.

North Angus and Mearns SNP MSP Mairi Gougeon said the damage at the astro pitch was extremely disappointing.

“Imps are a hugely active community group who have done a tremendous amount of work in the past few years to fundraise and carry out improvements to facilities in and around the Inch Park area in Brechin,” she said.

“They also took on the toilets and paddling pool and I know they have ambitions to do even more for Brechin so I desperately hope they don’t become disheartened by this appalling incident.

“Vandalism is a mindless and selfish act and it’s appalling to see an act like this happen when so much work has been done by the community to keep these facilities going.”

Police are appealing for information on the incident. Anyone with information is urged to call 101 or speak to any officer.

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Versatile Battery Irrigation Controller

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Versatile Battery Irrigation Controller: In many situations a standard mains powered irrigation controller cannot be used or is impractical. This includes applications where power is unavailable or hard landscaping make it is impossible or too costly to run mains cable. Alternatively, there may be instances where only a temporary solution is needed. Rain Bird’s new 9v WPX battery operated irrigation controller is ideal for all such situations and the company says it is a more versatile and user friendly solution than many other similar battery or mains controllers.

IP 68 compliant, 100 per cent water and dust proof, the WPX is fully submersible and ideal for installation in a valve box. With its solenoid mounting bracket, it locates easily on top of a solenoid valve. It can be used anywhere, including wet or muddy conditions. A tightly sealed dual battery chamber and waterproof case keeps water out, even in the harshest outdoor conditions. The use of Rain Bird’s DC series highly waterproof connectors will also ensure that connections do not deteriorate. A rubber cap protects the WPX’s LCD screen from dust and the effects of UV.

Versatile Battery Irrigation Controller

The highly versatile WPX can perform the same functions as a wired controller and available models can provide irrigation over 1,2,4 or 6 zones. They can offer multiple run times by zone with all common programming functions accessed on one  larger than average LCD screen with easy to read icons. The mode button is used for quick programming of start times, watering days of the week and run times for each zone. For fast initial set-up, Contractor Rapid Programming™ automatically copies the start times and watering days from the first zone to all other zones.

The automatic zone-stacking feature ensures that only one valve irrigates at a time. If zones are scheduled to water at the same time, the lower number zone will be automatically irrigated first. A dedicated manual watering button can be used by the owner to start an irrigation cycle manually and a separate button enables all or single zones to be watered on demand.

Dependent upon usage, the WPX will operate for about one year, using a single 9 volt battery, or up to two years with two. When the batteries are changed, all stored programming information is retained in the memory of the controller thanks to the Contractor Default™ save/restore feature. A detailed manual provides comprehensive programming and installation instructions for the contractor and user.

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Scamblers Appointed New Polaris Dealers

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Scamblers Appointed New Polaris Dealers: AJ & R Scambler & Sons Ltd, better known as Scamblers, have been newly appointed as authorised Polaris dealers. Established in 1974 and based in spacious rural premises in the village of Bourn, between Cambridge and St Neots, Scamblers are now regarded as a market leader in turfcare and grounds maintenance machinery. The dealership specialises in supplying compact tractors, utility vehicles, bank tractors, mowers and turfcare and groundcare machinery for every aspect of turf and grounds maintenance.

“We’re very pleased to have such a highly regarded dealer join the Polaris dealer network,” says Ben Murray, Polaris UK and Ireland National Sales Manager, “and we’re looking forward to working together to meet the demands of Polaris customers in the area.”

Scamblers cover Cambridge, Norfolk and Suffolk and whilst their main market had traditionally been groundcare and horticulture they have expanded to meet the needs of agricultural businesses, gamekeeping and golf courses in their area.

“It was after setting up demonstrations with Polaris to existing customers we reached the agreement to become authorised Polaris dealers,” says Scamblers’ Director, Ed Scambler. “The customers said how much they liked the Polaris Rangers and were impressed by what they saw as superior quality in the ATVs and UTVs. We’re very much looking forward to selling the product.”

Scamblers enjoy a fine reputation for looking after customers’ requirements and with the Polaris range can look forward to meeting those needs with the latest models backed by well-equipped workshop and service facilities. The Scamblers’ team boasts over 100 years’ experience in the industry, and say they guarantee a prompt, efficient and friendly service. Polaris welcomes them as part of the rapidly spreading Polaris dealer network.

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