Turf News is the perfect place for professionals working within the UK’s vibrant turf industry – keeping you up-to-date with topical news, latest market developments and much more across all areas of the industry.
NEWS ARTICLES

Royal Dornoch Chooses Sportsmaster CRF Mini for Longevity

/in /by

Eoin Riddell, Course Manager at Royal Dornoch Golf Club in Sutherland, Scotland believes that the use of ICL’s Sportsmaster CRF Mini granular fertilizer has significantly improved his tees.

Eoin has been at the club for an impressive 30 years since starting as an apprentice and for the past 12 years he has held the position of Course Manager. Throughout his time at the Royal Dornoch, he has helped it to become one of the most respected courses in the UK and beyond.

Formed in 1877, the club has two 18-hole courses: the Championship Course and the Struie Course. The older Championship Course is a links course located on the Dornoch Firth – which attracts players from all over the globe, while the Struie is an enjoyable and entertaining course for the whole family.

To keep the tees on both courses in the best condition possible, Eoin uses a range of Sportsmaster CRF Mini controlled release fertilizers, which he applies at a rate of 30g/ m2. In choosing Sportsmaster CRF Mini, Eoin says that he was looking for a product which provided him with more longevity than standard release or liquid fertilizers.

“It’s all down to the longevity of the product,” he says. “We can apply this product and be happy knowing that it is working efficiently away; whereas with other fertilizers we would have needed repeat applications in order to achieve the same results as we are now getting with this product.”

The Sportsmaster CRF Mini range contains a combination of Poly-S controlled release technology with conventional granular fertilizers to provide a consistent growth response for up to three months. As a further benefit, the Sportsmaster CRF Mini range was also recently boosted by the addition of Polyhalite – a naturally occurring mineral source of potassium, calcium and magnesium. This improved formulation has brought even greater results as Eoin explains.

“Not only do we get great longevity from just one application but I also really like the nice green colour it gives us. We get a fantastic growth response from the product on the tees which is really important as they aren’t particularly big and they take a lot of wear.”

“It’s important that we get recovery which is what we get from this product. We also apply it to the walkways that have heavy traffic and it’s superb. We normally apply the product at the end of May or beginning of June and that sees us through till the end of the season.”

“Overall we’ve been using ICL products for as long as I can remember and I think the products have always been good. I don’t think we’ve ever had a product that we haven’t seen a result from – if that was not the case then we wouldn’t use them.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk

Upton-by-Chester Golf Club Saves Time, Money and Neighbours with Jacobsen

/in /by

Upton-by-Chester Golf Club, situated on the north side of Chester in the U.K. has taken delivery of an all-electric Eclipse 322 ride-on greens mower, and an AR522 rough mower. Long-standing local dealer F.R. Sharrock conducted demonstrations of the machine and made the delivery.

Three sides of the golf course are surrounded by a residential area, and after several complaints about noise early in the morning, Head Greenkeeper Simon Ashford and Course Director Fred Hopley decided to invest in the battery-powered Eclipse 322. Commenting on the situation, Fred said:
“Many of the greens on the course are located very close to residential housing. For a number of years, Simon and his team have had to adapt their mowing routine in consideration of our neighbours. This has meant using more fuel to go back and forth between greens; on average we were using 5l of diesel per day (a cost of around £5 per day). Now, it costs us 17p of electricity per day to run the Eclipse 322, and it cuts all 20 of our greens on just one charge.”

The Eclipse 322 is available in either hybrid or electric and features Jacobsen Classic XP™ reels and allows users to electrically programme frequency of clip, mow speed, transport speed, and other settings through a password-protected menu. Battery units can lower annual operating costs by 86% through fuel savings up to 2860 litres of fuel, 118 fewer litres of waste oil and reduce scheduled maintenance.

“As well as being an extremely quiet and economical machine, the Eclipse 322 produces an incredible finish on our greens,” Hopley said. “It produces a hand-mown finish, which has been very well received during special events at the club; the quality is unquestionable. The lack of diesel and hydraulics has also been a weight lifted from Simon’s shoulders, as there is no chance of leaks now. The whole team took to the machine straight away, and given all of the benefits, the purchase was a no brainer for the club.”

Commenting on the new AR522 rough mower, Head Greenkeeper Ashford said:
“The AR522 is a fantastic machine. We have a lot of trees on the course, and it is the only mower that we have come across that mulches leaves with ease. We previously had to use a vacuum and dispose of the leaves regularly, so the AR522 has saved us a lot of time in that respect. The cut is also brilliant, and the unit is narrower than our previous mower, which makes it easy to manoeuvre in and out of trees; it is the ideal mower for our course.”

The AR522 five-gang rotary mower features five, fully floating 56 cm contour rotary decks. Also provided as standard is SureTrac™ four-wheel drive traction, weight transfer control and TrimTek™ decks, providing superior contour following and hill climbing capabilities.

April dates & new venue for Turf Maintenance LIVE!

/in /by

Turf Maintenance LIVE! a unique turf care event with an emphasis on working demonstrations and up close inspection of the new season’s products returns for 2017.

The collaborative event by eight of the industry’s leading innovators will be held on Wednesday, April 26 and Thursday, April 27. Location is The Worcestershire Golf Club at Malvern Wells and those involved are Martin Lishman, Wiedenmann UK, Husqvarna, Rigby Taylor, Jacobsen, Iseki, GKB Machines and Wessex International.

The event, hosting working kit not confined to exhibition halls, targets groundsmen, greenkeepers, contractors, local authority personnel, estate managers and schools as well as amateur and professional clubs.

A TML organiser said: “The Worcestershire Golf Club will make a formidable back drop and as it’s within striking distance of the M5/M50 intersection and Three Counties Show Ground it’s pretty accessible. We’ve had good indications of people travelling not just locally but from Shropshire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol, South Wales and Oxfordshire so there should be a bit of a buzz. We’ll be showcasing some of the latest technology with a serious amount of diverse kit on view, so there’s plenty of incentive to make a day of it.

“We’re indebted to two associate sponsors – The IOG and BIGGA – both of whom will be awarding CPD points to attendees. Starting time on both days is 10.00 with free registration and bacon rolls. Lunch is provided at no charge and those who can’t make the morning can come along grab lunch and do the afternoon session. “

Online registrations are being taken at www.turfmaintenancelive.com or by phone on 0141 814 3366. Follow the event as it develops on Twitter @live_turf or on Facebook.

Saints Manager Praises Groundstaff

/in /by

Claude Puel jokingly thanked the Saints groundsmen for their good work after a second “lucky” penalty miss for an opposition at St Mary’s this term, in which they’ve slipped on the turf at the Northam End.

Harry Kane of Tottenham skied a spot kick back in December in the very same place Harry Arter booted another penalty miles over for AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.

On both occasions the turf by the penalty mark has become unstable, with both Kane and Arter’s standing foot slipping on the surface.

When asked if he’d patted his grounds staff on the back, Puel joked: “Yes, of course, I am happy with the groundsmen … I am happy with them two times now! It’s a good thing.

“We are, of course, lucky with this situation with these penalties because the pitch, it’s fantastic, and the work of groundsmen is fantastic.

“I wanted to say to them thank you very much … not just for the penalty though!”

“Perhaps the next time we go to have a penalty for us, it’s the same, it’s a problem,” he added, smiling. “It was a good situation for us, of course, but for the future this will unlikely happen again.”

In his press conference, ahead of the Crystal Palace match at home tomorrow night, the St Mary’s chief was also asked about whether or not he was satisfied with his first season as Saints boss.

He replied: “I don’t know…it is difficult to say, if it’s a good or not a good season. We must see how many points we can win, we will see this at the end.

“Of course we can do better with some games and some competitions but it’s interesting season because all of the players can learn from a difficult schedule.

“They played every three days since the beginning of the season and now they play one game every two weeks, we learn and I think perhaps all of the results are not good for the moment but we stay with a capacity to play good football, for me, it’s always important.

“I’m sure you can continue to improve of course and we see with Nathan Redmond and James (Ward-Prowse) in the national team its good for them but its important to develop all of the players.”

To read the original article, click here

Kawasaki Engines And Spider Look Back On 15 Years

/in /by

Today the option of remote controlled mowing for hard-to-reach or hazardous terrain is well established. Back at the start of the millennium this was certainly not the case. Professionals faced with steep inclines simply had to do their best with conventional technology, or at worst employ dangerous practices to ensure hillsides weren’t neglected.

That all changed 15 years ago thanks to the vision of Lubomir Dvorak founder of DVORAK – svahove sekacky s.r.o., the Czech company who created Spider mowers. It was Lubomir’s invention of the first remote controlled mowers designed to cope with steep slopes and uneven terrain, that introduced a new, and more importantly safer way of working to groundscare professionals.

“In the beginning it wasn’t as easy to open minds to the idea of the Spider as you might think”, comments Lubomir. “Ideas of how mowing should be done were very entrenched. However, once they saw the manoeuvrability of the mower and ease of remote operation, the benefits became clear”.

Since the start of production in 2004 Spider have chosen Kawasaki Engines to power their professional grade mowers, the ILD01 and ILD02. This year Kawasaki Engines celebrate their own milestone of 60 years of engine production, and their collaboration with Spider remains one of which they are particularly proud.

“We have huge respect for what Lubomir and his team have developed. Not only did they create a pioneering product, but their continual commitment to technical innovation, state-of-the-art design and high quality components means that they have remained at the forefront of their market and deservedly developed a reputation for one of the most innovative groundscare companies in the world” comments Jack Ford, Senior Product Manager at Kawasaki Engines Europe.

Lubomir is equally complimentary about the power solution provided by Kawasaki’s FS541V and FS691V currently fitted in the ILD01 and ILD02 respectively. “Kawasaki’s FS engines are built for durability and reliable performance day in, day out. This is important for the demanding environments that our Spider mowers are expected to work in”, says Lubomir.