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3-day Round Trip To Dennis & SISIS Seminar Invaluable

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3-day round trip to Dennis & SISIS seminar proves invaluable: After embarking on a three-day round journey to attend a Dennis and SISIS bowling green maintenance seminar in Perth, Scotland, Mike Bailey – secretary and treasurer of the Lerwick Outdoor Bowling Club, feels that the club has benefitted in more ways than one.

Founded in 1925, Lerwick is the only outdoor bowling club in the Shetland Islands, and after extensive research, Mike is led to believe that it is the most northerly outdoor bowling green in the world. The green at Lerwick is owned by the council but the bowling club took over the maintenance due to cost-cutting, and while, according to Mike, “it may have looked good to passers-by it was an infrequently cut green and was becoming impossible to play bowls on.”

3-day Round Trip To Dennis & SISIS Seminar Invaluable

Determined to improve the green, Mike felt that, even though he had picked up some relevant experience of tending to a cricket pitch for 31 years, he still needed to further enhance his knowledge of maintaining a bowling green.

“I wanted to attend the Dennis and SISIS seminar which was held in conjunction with Bowls Scotland, as my knowledge of bowling green maintenance was limited and the club thought that discussions with the experts could only be a benefit to us all,” he said.

However, it wasn’t a straightforward journey as he explains. “To get to Perth for the mid-morning start, I had to get the car ferry from Lerwick at 5.00 pm the evening before the seminar and had a very rough overnight crossing to Aberdeen which I did not enjoy as I am prone to sea-sickness.  We arrived at 7.00 am and then I drove to Perth arriving in plenty of time for the event. Unfortunately, after the seminar, I could not get back to Aberdeen in time for that evening’s sailing so had to stop the night in a Perth hotel before a leisurely drive to Aberdeen the next day.”

Designed to help club greenkeepers and volunteers maintain their bowling greens, the popular seminars have been credited for improving the greens at numerous bowls clubs throughout the country. Combining insightful presentations and practical tips, a number of industry experts take to the stage to discuss a wide range of key topics, and Mike believes that the strenuous journey proved to be worthwhile. Not only did he pick up some essential tips but he also discovered ways on how to source funding – which proved extremely valuable.

“It was well organised, proved very helpful and I managed to seek advice from several experts about greenkeeping. It was also good to look at new, lighter machinery because the council equipment we were using was fairly old and heavy and the majority of our bowling club volunteers, who do the physical work, are pensioners.

“When I gave my report about the trip to our Committee, the idea about a new multi-purpose machine with easily changed cassettes really appealed to them and a fund raising programme was set up with a view to purchasing a Dennis FT510.

“Ironically, representatives from the Big Lottery Fund visited Shetland shortly after the seminar so I approached them about the possibility of obtaining funding for the machine without much expectation of a positive response. However, there was no negativity at all and I informed the council and our Committee that I was going to make an application.

“I was soon informed that we would be getting the full amount of money for the new mower and it arrived a couple of weeks after we had ordered it.”

The Dennis FT510 is highly regarded by many who tend to bowling greens and it is easy to see why. With a 51cm working width, the FT510 provides its user with comfort, flexibility and excellent performance. A true sense of control is obtained through the full variable speed on the rear roller and the drive means that power will not be lost when carrying out tougher jobs such as scarification.

Available with five-bladed and ten-bladed cutting cylinders the machine can be matched to any situation and the interchangeable cassettes can be speedily changed without the requirement of tools. The range of 11 different cassettes mean that one machine can be used for several key maintenance tasks including scarifying, verticutting or brushing. These features combined with the tool-free click system of adjusting the height of cut are all elements which Mike believes has made life easier for the volunteers at Lerwick Bowls Club.

“I had used a Dennis mower at my previous cricket club, so I knew that it would be a reliable, well-made machine.

“The power unit arrived with cutting, scarifier, and verticutter cassettes and has worked up to our high expectations. We hope to get the best results from our proposed autumn work. The speed with which the cassettes can be changed is a real bonus and the whole machine is so much lighter than the one we used previously.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

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Pitch Competition Deadline Looming

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Pitch Competition Deadline Looming: Amateur sports teams who need a helping hand in looking after their pitch have until the end of November to make their application to win £3,000 worth of grounds maintenance machinery.

Pitch To Play, a competition ran by Allett Lawnmowers and the Institute of Groundsmanship (the IOG), is open to all amateur sports teams with an under 18s team, no matter what the sport. The winner will receive £3,000 to spend on a new Allett mower to help maintain their pitch to a professional, premiership standard! They will also receive a tailor-made maintenance programme from the IOG to help maintain the pitch for the future and tackle any problems.

Pitch Competition Deadline Looming

Entering is easy. Simply visit www.pitchtoplay.co.uk before 1st December 2017 and submit at least three photos showing why your club deserves to win.

 Leigh Bowers, sales director at Allett, said: “We know that there is nothing worse than trying to play on a poor-quality sports pitch, and appreciate the hours of hard work that groundsteams and volunteers put in. The winter is undoubtedly the most challenging time for groundsteams and the looming December deadline gives people the chance to strengthen their entry for the competition and make sure that those most in need of help are in with the chance of winning.”

Allett and the IOG want to recognise the hard work that amateur groundsteams and volunteers undertake across the country, often with limited resources and equipment, and reward them for all that they do. Pitch to Play champions amateur groundstaff and gives them the opportunity to renovate the pitches that they look after, whilst brightening the future for their club.

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

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Save Up To £2775 And 50% Of The Cost Of A Battery With Pellenc

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Save up to £2775 and 50% of the cost of a battery with Pellenc: Etesia UK, the distributor of Pellenc battery-powered tools in the UK and Ireland, has announced a special offer which will see customers save up to 50% of the purchase price of the ULiB1100 battery.

A forerunner when it comes to lithium-ion technology and high efficiency “Brushless” motors, Pellenc has established itself as the number one choice in the “Zero Emission” professional power tools market for the maintenance of urban and green-spaces.

Save Up To £2775 And 50% Of The Cost Of A Battery With Pellenc

The combination of these two technologies makes it possible to eliminate direct emission of greenhouse gases and significantly reduce noise and vibration. It meets the users’ requirements for comfort and sustainability while offering excellent cost efficiency.

The Pellenc ULiB 1100 battery is equivalent to approximately 4,700 litres of fuel, at £1.18 per litre (as of 8.9.17) meaning that over the lifetime of the battery, users will be able to save up to £2775 when compared to petrol alternatives.

In addition to the above savings, from 1st November 2017 to 31st March 2018, users will also be able to save up to 50% of the cost of the purchase price of the battery.

With limitless options of commercial tools for commercial users available from hedgecutters to blowers, strimmers to pedestrian mowers – all powered by the ULiB 1100 battery which offers up to 1440 minutes of use on a single charge.

When purchased with one tool, customers will receive 10% discount on the purchase price of the battery. When two tools are purchased, customers will receive 20% discount on the battery. Three tools = 30% discount on the battery, four tools = 40% discount on the battery and 5 tools = 50% discount on the battery.

Pellenc supply tools and a range of batteries which are IP54 water rated and carry a full three-year commercial warranty – the first manufacturer to offer this on battery-powered tools, meaning that customers will have full peace of mind.

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.etesia.co.uk  where you can also find more information on Pellenc which is sold exclusively in the UK by Etesia UK.

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The Smoothest Roll For The Smoothest Greens

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The Smoothest Roll For The Smoothest Greens: Toro’s new GreensPro 1260 arrives in the UK

 While there’s always a lively discussion to be had on the pros and cons of fast greens, one thing at the top of most golfers’ wish lists are smooth greens. With that in mind, the latest launch from Toro will now most likely top most head greenkeepers’ and course managers’ must-have machinery lists!

The Smoothest Roll For The Smoothest Greens

The new Toro GreensPro 1260 is the company’s latest greens roller. It takes all the excellent features of the previous Toro GreensPro models and adds overlapping heads for a consistent roll over every pass, a quick latch coupler and pivot handle to easily transition from roll to transport, many easy maintenance features including only one grease point and added comfort such as a bi-directional seat adjustment lever, armrests and a rubber isolation mount, to name but a few.

But perhaps most importantly, one of the key new features is split stainless steel smoothing rollers. The benefit of this is two-fold: uniform smooth greens are achieved in just one sitting and the risk of scuffing during turns is dramatically reduced.

Toro has also added a hydraulic drive system to the 1260. This replaces the hydro and chain drive and eliminates leaks and potential contamination of the grass as well as reducing the amount of maintenance required with chain drive systems.

Put it all together and the result is smoother greens with a more uniform appearance and the best playability. For the operator it’s a more comfortable ride, thanks to the isolated engine, which means minimal vibrations and the ability to perfectly place the seat and steering column according to individual requirements. For maintenance, well that job just got a whole lot easier – there’s less to clean and access is much easier, as is transporting the machine from green to green. For club management it’s an improvement in course perceptions and an increase in productivity.

Jeff Anguige, national sales manager at Reesink Turfcare, the sole UK distributor of Toro, says: “The new GreensPro 1260 is the next evolution of green irons, and it’s about to arrive here in the UK. The way this machine follows the contours and undulations of the greens no matter how slight the undulations are results in an exceptionally uniform smooth putting surface. Just like its predecessors it is unmatched in its roll consistency and now thanks to the split rollers it’s ability to turn without scuffing the surface is market-leading too.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Newcastle Receive Best Pitch In 15 years With MJ Abbott

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Newcastle United Football Club Receive Best Pitch in 15 years, working with MJ Abbott: Newcastle United’s stadium manager, Eddie Rutherford, has hailed the new SIS Grass pitch at St James’ Park, installed by MJ Abbott and Premier Pitches, as the best in his 16-years at the club.

St James’ Park sits in the centre of Newcastle as a monument to football, with progress being made under Rafael Benitez after bouncing back from The Championship at the first time of asking in 2016/17.

Newcastle Receive Best Pitch In 15 years With MJ Abbott

Results on the new pitch have been promising through to the end of October, seeing three wins, a draw and one loss, but the decision to install a new irrigation system and playing surface was taken at short notice and required swift planning and cohesive team work between MJ Abbott and Premier Pitches, with the result delighting Eddie and the club.

“We are extremely happy with the pitch, it’s played really well,” Eddie said. “It’s probably the best the pitch has been since I’ve been here, and I know it hasn’t gone through the winter period yet but at the same stage in the last 15-years it hasn’t been any better.

“We did the job at very short notice. We decided to put the SIS Grass pitch in with only four weeks’ notice, so considering the time they had to get everything organised and put in place I couldn’t fault them.

“My only worry was that when you put two companies together, will they work well together. But they were both spot on throughout the project. When one is getting towards the end the other needs to be ready and mobilised and that worked really well, it couldn’t have worked any better.

“MJ Abbott come as a partnership with Premier Pitches when installing SIS Grass pitches. Premier Pitches have done a lot of work in the past with us and do our end of season renovations, but I know MJ Abbott are good contractor so I was quite happy to work with the two combined”

Nathan George, Contracts Manager at MJ Abbott explained “The project comprised removing the existing fibre sand surface down to a suitable depth as to expose the existing drainage slits. This operation had to be very carefully completed as to not destroy the integrity of the retained drainage.”

“A new fully automatic pitch irrigation system was installed and an imported rootzone laid to re-establish the original pitch levels. Premier Pitches completed the preparation and seeding of the new pitch, which delivered the project a week ahead of the proposed programme”

“The SISGRASS stitching was installed following grass establishment, a process that took 7 days”

The quick planning required for the project was helped by Premier Pitches’ experience at the city centre venue, and director, Russell Latham, commended the work of the design team in the build-up to the start date.

“The design team needs to work well together from the outset, especially on this project because of the time scale, but more importantly the men on the ground need to work in harmony from start to finish.

“Newcastle United have been a long-standing client of Premier Pitches so the pitfalls of working at a city centre Premier League stadium were well known. Nevertheless, without the rigorous planning and logistics from the outset things still could have gone wrong.

“The logistics of plant deliveries, material removal and material deliveries all had to be scheduled to the second to ensure that the project ran smoothly.

“We have worked with MJ Abbott on our prestigious pitch construction projects for over five years now. Their efficient and meticulous way of approaching a product from design and planning to delivery is everything that our key clients want to see but it doesn’t stop there. The back-up and support and knowledge is second to none.”

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

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