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SALTEX 2017 – The Best Yet

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SALTEX 2017 – The Best Yet: SALTEX 2017 has been hailed as a huge success.

A year’s worth of meticulous and strategic planning from show organisers culminated in what is being hailed by many as the best ever SALTEX.

SALTEX 2017 – The Best Yet

The two-day exhibition has quickly grown to become the premier annual grounds care event in Europe and on 1 and 2 November, the halls of the NEC, Birmingham were a hub of innovation, inspiration and opportunity.

Ahead of the 9am opening, a huge queue of visitors stretched beyond the three mighty halls of 6,7 and 8 and it wasn’t long before the show floor was packed with grounds care enthusiasts from all over the globe.

More than 300 exhibitors showcased their products and services; Learning LIVE, SALTEX’s all-encompassing education programme, featured over 100 high-profile speakers who tackled a number of key issues, and other show features – including Pathology and Soil Science Live, Ask The Expert and the Job Clinic offered invaluable free advice and career progression opportunities. The Outdoor Demonstrations area enabled visitors to see some of the latest equipment in action and attendees also had the chance to see every entry in SALTEX’s new Innovation of the Year Award.

Exhibitors reported constant engagement with a high calibre of attendees across the two day event as visitors immersed themselves in the vibrant atmosphere and unparalleled interaction. The SALTEX buzz was captured by all and social media channels became a frenzy of show photos, selfies, videos and positive comments – so much so that at 11am on 1 November, #SALTEX17 registered as the third most trending topic in the UK.

Furthermore, not a moment was missed through the all new SALTEX TV. Learning LIVE discussions, panel debates and presentations, as well key interviews with visitors, experts and exhibitors were all broadcasted live on four large screens throughout the show floor.

Despite a turbulent year of economic uncertainty, SALTEX successfully united every corner of the grounds care industry. As the only independently-audited show of its kind in the UK, the IOG has never shied away from being transparent with visitor numbers and the official figure will be released as soon as the audit has been completed.

For more information visit www.iogsaltex.com

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Quinta Do Lago Chooses John Deere

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Quinta Do Lago Chooses John Deere: A major investment in John Deere golf course maintenance equipment has been made by Quinta do Lago, for use on the Portuguese resort’s three 18-hole championship courses in the Algarve. A similar deal has also been signed with sister resort PGA Catalunya in Spain.

The revamped North Course, the South Course and Laranjal are complemented by extensive practice facilities including the first Paul McGinley Golf Academy and the only TaylorMade Performance Centre in Southern Europe. Machines will also be used at the resort’s new professional level training and coaching development The Campus. Targeted at both elite and amateur sports, this will feature the first independent hybrid Desso GrassMaster training facility in Europe.

Quinta Do Lago Chooses John Deere

Quinta do Lago was voted Portugal’s number one golfing venue in Golf World magazine’s inaugural Top 100 Resorts in Continental Europe rankings list in 2016. It has also been named Europe’s Best Golf Destination at the World Golf Awards in 2015 and 2016, and been given the Editors’ Choice Award for Best International Resorts in 2016 and 2017 by Golf Digest, ensuring the venue’s place among the world’s golfing elite.

An initial fleet of 27 John Deere machines including tractors, fairway & rough mowers and Gator utility vehicles along with other ancillary equipment, supported by PowerGard extended warranty and maintenance contracts, were delivered this summer by the local, family owned John Deere golf & turf dealership Torre Marco SA. The dealership has its own fully equipped maintenance facility, the only one of its kind in the Algarve.

The choice of John Deere as Quinta do Lago’s preferred equipment supplier was made on the recommendation of golf course superintendent Paul O’Mahony, following what he describes as a “very strenuous process”. Paul previously worked his way up through the ranks at Old Head of Kinsale in Ireland, becoming course superintendent there in 2003 before moving to Quinta do Lago in 2011.

Paul formulated a unique model to measure a series of performance and quality parameters that were applied to each of the main machinery suppliers before going through the usual tender process. The model was specifically built to satisfy the resort’s full fleet requirements over a 10 year period, keeping each machine ‘in range’ in terms of life expectancy and residual value, with points awarded for service, machine quality, value and additional aspects such as training and support.

“Downtime is no time may be a cliché but that’s because it’s true,” says Paul O’Mahony. “It’s very important to have reliable, fully functioning equipment, and this has to provide the same levels of precision and quality that we as a team set out to achieve every day across all our golf operations. Having worked with John Deere equipment at Old Head and initially brought in tractors and Gators to the courses here at Quinta do Lago, I’m very comfortable that we can establish an effective partnership with the company and the dealership.

“Our staff are always put under pressure to meet expectations, and the same will apply to the machinery we use – everything will continue to be measured, to ensure we make the most of the assets we invest in. That applies not just to the equipment but to the whole package, including aftersales service and support, parts delivery, reaction times and so on.

“We are a commercial entity – our aim is to be the best and provide the best golfing experience we can. The faster, more efficient and more productive the machinery can be, the better – it all leads back to that commercial imperative.”

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

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APEX Zero-turn Cuts Time As Well As Grass

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APEX Zero-turn Cuts Time As Well As Grass: Designed and built with the professional in mind, Ariens Company has recently introduced the new APEX zero-turn mower to the UK.

The Ariens name has been built on a reputation for engineering excellence and the APEX zero-turn continues this tradition with its ‘built to last’ quality. Well-crafted components, Hydro-Gear® transaxles and a robust 4-point cutting deck bring you commercial performance. The APEX features an industry-leading frame design, with large formed tubular rails serving as the backbone to support the loads of the machine.

APEX Zero-turn Cuts Time As Well As Grass

The highly durable 10-gauge steel deck is 14cm (5 ½”) deep with a reinforced leading edge providing the airflow needed to tackle tough mowing conditions. It boasts fifteen cutting positions in 0.6cm (¼”) increments. These are easily selected using a foot-operated deck lift and vertical pin system. There is a Constant Belt Tension System to ensure the belt is always at the right tension to minimise wear and heat, while providing enhanced belt life with minimal adjustments necessary. The category leading large tyres provide superior traction and ride quality.

The APEX is comfortable too, featuring an adjustable high-back seat with padded arm rests helping to reduce operator fatigue. The frame on the APEX can also be fitted with a Rollover Protection System (ROPS) for added protection. Powering you through the work is a reliable premium grade Kawasaki V-Twin (726cc) engine – ideal when you have a lot of ground to cover. The APEX zero-turn is available in two models: APEX 48 with a 122cm (48”) cutter deck and the APEX 52 with a 132cm (52”) cutter deck. With its commercial grade DNA, the APEX is a highly durable zero-turn and will outlast most other machines in its class.

The Ariens brand has been family owned for over 80 years and is rapidly growing in the UK with a large network of dealers. To find your local dealer visit www.ariens-uk.com, or for more information contact Ariens Company on 0800 597 7777

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Rigby Taylor Help Course Manager Meet Expectations

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Rigby Taylor Products Help Course Manager Meet All Expectations – Whatever The Weather: Apart from weather patterns that nowadays often mean the seasons seemingly merge into one another, one of the biggest challenges facing Course Manager Justin Robinson is coping with the large temperature differences that he sees at different holes on the Henley-on-Thames Golf Club.

“It’s not unusual to record 6degC variations, on the same day, at different tees and greens due to the topography of the course”, he says. “But after 24 years here and knowing how to vary the treatment of the different greens and tees so that we ‘work with the weather’ – plus help from some world-class amenity supplies – we get things right, despite the vagaries of mother nature.”

Rigby Taylor Help Course Manager Meet Expectations

Justin ‘gets it right’ by inspecting the course every day, deciding exactly what is needed and when by every green and tee. He also works hand-in-hand with Rigby Taylor’s area sales director, Gareth Acteson, to instigate a best-in-class nutrition (spring) and fungicide (autumn) programme of turf care.

“I’ve been utilising Gareth’s knowledge for the past six years or so and the course has definitely benefitted. Based on our twice yearly soil analyses, we plan a treatment programme and I use a range of Rigby Taylor products to give me what I want and when I need it.” He also insists: “I always buy everything I use on a cost versus benefits basis.”

Justin admits that club members ‘play with their eyes’ so first and foremost he ensures the greens look lush and his choice of amenity supplies reflects this quest for top-class presentation.

He continues: “Our agronomist is this year suggesting we incorporate more bent (Rigby Taylor’s 105 browntop bent) grass species on the greens and while this plan will take at least two/three years before we see the full effect, in an attempt to stress the poa annua we have this year applied only one granular and one liquid feed between April and July.

“We’re trying to get the finer grasses on the tees and aprons; often in areas where they wouldn’t normally survive. It is difficult to get dwarf perennial rye to ‘take’ on the tees; the grass is simply not large enough to take that level of play.

Also in an attempt to improve the push-up greens (and the tees and aprons), after the members had spent all year round, due to a mild winter, playing the traditional summer course, Justin implemented a concerted programme of coring, tining and overseeding (with Rigby Taylor’s R105 treated with Germin-8, a unique treatment that stimulates and supports accelerated germination and emergence) plus liberal doses of sand – he often distributes about 100 tonnes throughout the course – “and the course very quickly recovered”.

Justin, plus six full time greenkeepers as well as part-time help from July through to September, keep the greens at 3.5 mm or occasionally down to 3 mm for competitions (and roll them three times a week), while the tees and aprons at maintained at 8 mm (10 mm in winter) and fairways at 15 mm (18 mm in winter) in the quest to consistently produce “true and pure greens” across the 18-hole course.

While Justin says he “loves producing a good golf course for the members”, he points out that course presentability plays a key role in meeting members’ aspirations. This is where Rigby Taylor has been a great help, he says.

“For example, we were having a lot of problems with daisies – being on chalk we always struggle to control these – and Gareth suggested I try the Crossbar selective herbicide. I was blown away by the results!

In addition to the Propel R wetting agent (applied in monthly liquid applications as well as tablet hose-end spot treatments), SeaQuest 100% concentrated seaweed extract is applied for added stress tolerance.

Activate XL biostimulant is also used to assist in the breakdown of organic thatch matter and increased microbial break down; indeed, both biostimulants are used all year round, especially at renovation time to help the establishment of new seed.

Justin also uses a variety of Rigby Taylor fertilisers which, he confirms, “are second to none, including Apex and especially PolyPro which I use on tees, surrounds and fairways”. The micro-granule PolyPro, for consistent, predictable and gradual release, features added calcium and magnesium for improved turf disease tolerance.

“At the end of the day,” Justin adds, “our players want the course to look good and play well. My job is to ensure that is the case, and I will utilise all my experience – and use any products necessary – to give the players exactly what they want.”

For more information, visit: www.rigbytaylor.com

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Oxford United Groundsman On A Career In Grass

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Pitch perfect: Oxford United’s groundsman on a career in grass: There is a sign stuck to the whiteboard behind Paul Currier’s desk which reads ‘Every day is a holiday for a man who loves his job’.

Five minutes with the head groundsman at Oxford United is enough to know it is not a hollow statement.

Currier, 58, is in the 40th year of a career which has taken him from school pitches to a host of Football League clubs – including tomorrow’s opponents Northampton Town – via a spell tending the lawns at Northamptonshire Police’s headquarters.

For someone who is quick to admit he was not the most academic at school, it has been quite a journey.

“I’ve always had this philosophy that if you get up in the morning and can’t wait to get to work then you’re enjoying your job,” Currier says, leaning back on a desk chair in his office, tucked under the East Stand.

“You’ve got to be dedicated. It can be seven days a week, it can be 12 hours a day and it’s not one of the best paid jobs in the world.

“But I’m passionate about my football and I’m passionate about my grass.”

Those who look after pitches tend to have a gruff demeanour, forever barking at people to ‘keep off the pitch’.

 But then they have plenty to worry about.

Currier, who reckons he walks 15 miles on a matchday to prepare the pitch, said: “All groundsman are the same, we’re all classed as grumpy sods.

“You have to police it because otherwise everybody will go on.

“They’ll think ‘it looks all right, I’ll go on it’, but you don’t see the damage until Christmas, so you’ve got to keep the traffic to the minimum.

“I have a checklist that I do pre-match, everything’s done, but you’ve still got that worry at the back of your mind.

“You wince when players go into the back of the net and they pull themselves up with it. It just pings everything off.

“The worst nightmare for any groundsman is to be called on while the game is going on.”

Then there are pests and diseases to lose sleep over, but his main obsession is the weather.

Pitch technology has improved markedly in the last 20 years, with the Kassam Stadium among the increasing number of surfaces in the Football League to mix the grass with artificial fibres.

Currier, brought in when the pitch was completely relaid by GreenFields in 2015, checks the forecast every four hours in the winter months.

And here, the Kassam Stadium’s open western end can be either a benefit or a hindrance.

He said: “I’m pretty confident you won’t get a game called off here for waterlogging.

“Because the pitch is so wide open to wind, it can dry twice as quickly as anywhere else.

“You can get a downpour while you’re playing and it won’t affect it, barring the odd splash.

“Temperatures drop and there’s constant shade down one side – because of the South Stand – which is two degrees colder than the other side.”

While he is a West Bromwich Albion supporter, spending so much time at a club tends to create a bond.

But United have had a stronger pull than most, as the first club where he is invited into the manager’s office after games.

He said: “I’m lucky here at Oxford because they treat me as one of the team, there’s a good rapport with the managers.”

Given the expertise built up over four decades, you might presume Currier has a perfectly-tended lawn at home in Northamptonshire.

“No, mine’s artificial,” he grins.

“When I’m at work I’m constantly thinking about grass, so when I’m at home I just like to chill out and relax and go ‘I shan’t be cutting that today’.”

Even for a man who is always on holiday, there are limits.

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