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NEWS ARTICLES

Henley GC splashes some Colour

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By using a range of Limagrain Colour Splash flower mixtures, Jim Griffith – a 68 year old retired teacher, has injected some stunning colour into the course at Henley Golf & Country Club in Arden, Warwickshire.

After taking up golf 18 years ago, Jim became a member of Henley Golf Club and soon made the most of retirement by playing regular rounds on the course which is set within the grounds of a 200 acre estate of landscaped parkland. Three years ago Jim started taking more of an active role at the club by helping out around the course, cutting back hedges, trees, seeding, planting and other general maintenance tasks, before he was then joined by other club members wishing to volunteer.

“This year our volunteer numbers have swelled to 14,” says Jim. “We call ourselves the ‘Ground Improvement Team Seniors, or GITS for short and generally help out after playing. Some days I can call upon six or more.”

Showing great dedication for their club, the volunteer group decided that the course would benefit from an injection of colour. Having seen the nearby Gaudet Luce Golf Club with a stunning array of flowers, Jim sought the advice of the course manager who then passed on the details of Limagrain.

“Keen to get started in February 2015 we met with Matt Gresty of Limagrain who gave us further ideas, brochures with various seed mixture products and costs. We then identified areas around the golf course for potential flower cultivation. After working out potential costs we were given the go ahead by management and ordered a variety of seed on Matt’s recommendations – Festival, Honey Bee, Aurora and Bio Diversity two year mix.”

With the products in place, Jim and the team started the project by rotavating before seeding in May 2015. A couple of months later and Jim was soon reporting excellent results.

“Worried about what was weed and what was flower I invited Matt to see our early results in June and to identify weed from flower. Though time consuming, we managed to weed each area and by mid-July our efforts were rewarded with displays around the course. Displays continued for three months and comments from members were very positive so we decided to continue the project in 2016. The most popular seed mix was the tall Festival which appeared more prominently than the shorter mixes though Honey Bee provided some of the best displays.”

True to his word, Jim and the team did indeed commence with the project in 2016 by doubling the size of the area and adding a further six plots. Although faced with unfavourable spring weather conditions the team’s efforts were soon rewarded.

“In late July and early August we began to see evidence of blossoms and from August onwards we have now seen magnificent colour. Widening the areas has given depth and adding additional poppy seed to each plot has provided extra colour. The Festival mix was again a real winner.”

The Festival mixture from Limagrain UK’s Colour Splash range contains a variety of beautiful mixtures including Cosmos Sulphureus, Cosmos Bipinnatus Sensation, Sunbow Zinnia, Cornflower and Tithonia Torch. Resulting in a mesmerising wave of colourful flowers, this mixture stands at between 1m to 1.5m, or more, and can easily be seen from a distance.

This popular mixture is just one of eight exquisite mixtures in the Colour Splash range – each meeting the numerous expectations of those who delight in appreciating a significant dash of colour. The Colour Splash mixtures are not only great for aesthetic purposes but they also have a significant impact on the surrounding wildlife in the sense that they provide a refuge that offers a rich and varied source of food.

Jim is looking to continue the project into 2017 and has already selected new mixtures from the Colour Splash range. The effort and determination from Jim and the team are really quite remarkable and it is this dedication to his local club which has earned him a nomination for the 2016 Warwickshire Golf Awards in the category of ‘Unsung Hero’.

“Such a project is time consuming, needs effort and perseverance but the ultimate results make such efforts absolutely worthwhile,” says Jim. “Costs are relatively small considering the benefits and I would certainly recommend Limagrain as an option – particularly the advice and on-site support Matt Gresty has given me.

“Flowers can enhance even the most picturesque of golf courses and our efforts have been the source of many appreciative comments from club members and visitors. Even when people are concentrating on their golf they still have time to enjoy the aesthetics of the course.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.limagrain.co.uk. You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed

The unsung heroes of county cricket

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The annual pre-season meeting and conference of the groundsmen and the ECB’s Pitches Group has taken place at St Georges Park.
The unsung heroes of first-class cricket – the groundsmen who produce the surfaces on which the game is played – were treated to a couple of days at the FA’s National Football Centre at St George’s Park in Staffordshire this week.

The 330-acre site was chosen for the first time as the venue for the annual pre-season meeting and conference of the groundsmen and the ECB’s Pitches Group – with the cross-fertilisation of ideas continuing as speakers included Neil Stubley, the head groundsman for the All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon.

“St George’s Park was an excellent venue for a very worthwhile couple of days,” reflected Chris Wood, the ECB’s Pitches Consultant.

“It is an important annual event for us, providing us with the chance to keep the county groundsmen informed of any changes in pitch-related rules and regulations, and them with the chance to raise any issues with us.

“But we also try to provide them with some different perspectives, and this year they included Neil Stubley from the All England Club and also Alan Ferguson, whose role as head groundsman at the FA takes in Wembley as well as St George’s Park – and who also gave us a tour of their new facilities. I was blown away, and I think that was a common reaction.

“All first-class groundsmen come under huge pressure during the course of the season, so hopefully it was enlightening for them to hear from Neil and Alan in terms of precision, attention to detail – and having no margin for error. The fields of play may be different, but there are many common areas where we can assist each other, from pitch management, equipment, innovations and research.

“We also heard a presentation from David Bates, the managing director of Total Play, who are one of our most important partners in the recreational game, both in regard to non-turf pitches and in improving squares.

“David has worked with me on our research into providing training facility surfaces conducive to spin at the National Performance Centre in Loughborough, and we were also given an update from Dr Iain James of TGMS, one of the country’s most respected soil scientists, on the research that has been commissioned by the ECB into spin.

“Our executive board gave the go-ahead last year for a sizeable investment providing new equipment for county groundsmen to test the hardness and moisture of their pitches, and we are now starting to collate some data results from that.

“All this was invaluable to our own ECB Pitches Group, led by the Head of Cricket Operations Alan Fordham and the Chairman of the Cricket Committee Peter Wright, and also including Tim Robinson as a senior representative of the first-class umpires, and Bill Hughes, Chairman of our Pitches Research Group.

“We should also mention Jason Booth, a familiar figure to our members after his years with Keith Boyce on the cricket and rugby pitches at Headingley, and now a leading figure at the Institute of Groundsmanship – as well as a regular club cricketer with Barnsley. He worked with me on choosing and securing St George’s Park as a venue, and talked about the IoG’s role in benchmarking standards.”

By Tuesday evening, the groundsmen had scattered around the country back to their counties – already well aware of the forecast of widespread ice, snow and sleet this weekend, with the first pre-season fixtures now approaching rapidly.

Wood concluded: “As with our annual awards ceremony, which we held in Bristol before Christmas, the pre-season meeting is a chance for us to remind our groundsmen how much we appreciate their efforts. We certainly don’t take them for granted.”

To read the original article, click here

Annual Conference Plans Announced

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The Amenity Forum conference and associated exhibition has become a must attend event for all involved or with an interest in weed, pest and disease management. The Forum has announced that in 2017, it will take place on Thursday, October 12th, at the Pirelli Stadium, Burton on Trent.

The conference will be entitled ‘Keeping Britain Moving’ and speakers will address the key issues in the sector. Speakers include John Parker, who works for Transport for London, who will address the issue of keeping our cities moving. Colin Mumford from Bayer will speak on the ‘appliance of science’ and Professor Alan Gange will take a specific look at biological control linked to his research programme at Royal Holloway University of London. A leading head groundsman will give his views on the pressures of producing high quality sports surfaces and a session led by two leading sector experts will pose the question ‘What is the future for weed, pest and disease management’.

The full programme will be released at the end of February when bookings will commence.

The Forum is also currently engaged in running its series of half day free Updating Events across the UK. Information on locations is given below and you are asked to pre-register by emailing admin@amenityforum.net

Wherever you live in the UK, there should be an event held not far from you. So whatever your role or interest, register now for these popular free information events. If you are on the Amenity Register, they also carry CPD points.

The dates and locations of the remaining events are as follows:

Cambridgeshire 21st February
Wales 23rd February
Derbyshire 28th February
Yorkshire 2nd March
London 7th March
Northern Ireland 9th March
Cheshire 14th March
Essex 23rd March
Surrey 28th March
Devon 4th April
Edinburgh 11th April
Durham 12th April

Cromer GC Keeps Residents Happy with Jacobsen

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Ipswich, Suffolk (February 09, 2017) Cromer Golf Club, located on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, has combatted regular noise complaints from local residents by investing in an all-electric Jacobsen Eclipse 322 greens mower.

Half of the bushland championship golf course is surrounded by the Wheeler Heights residential area, and after an abundance of complaints about the early morning noise levels, Superintendent Leon Hennessy decided that action needed to be taken. Commenting on the situation, Leon said:
“I was getting phone calls at least once a week from residents who were not happy with being woken up early due to the noise that our machinery was creating. I can understand their frustration to an extent, so with the club’s backing I decided it was time to do something about it.

“I did some research, and came across the Jacobsen Eclipse 322. After seeing it in action, I knew that it was the machine we needed. It is such a quiet mower, which means that I can now be more effective with my mowing route, as I don’t need to worry about waking anyone up! The Eclipse 322 also provides us with a better quality of cut than before; I had heard about the Jacobsen quality of cut, but I didn’t realise quite how good it was. This has only been reiterated by our members during club championships, where the feedback on the quality of the greens has been astoundingly positive.”

Cromer Golf Club uses the 15-blade variant of the Eclipse 322, which also features electrically adjustable cutting frequencies and mow and transport speeds. The innovative machine does not use hydraulic oil, thus eliminating the chance of leaks. A Hybrid variant of the Eclipse 322 is also available.

Commenting on the after-sales support, Leon said:
“Our local dealer JT Turf has been brilliant. The machine arrived on time and as expected, and I am confident that if we ever needed technical support, our dealer would be with us straight away to help us out. I’m very happy with the purchase of our new machine and the process of acquiring the mower from JT Turf.”

About Textron Inc.
Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna, Textron Off Road, Beechcraft, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, Textron Systems, and TRU Simulation + Training.

Crystal Palace FC increase Fleet of Dennis G860’s

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Crystal Palace FC has recently purchased six Dennis G860 professional cylinder mowers, taking their total to a fleet of eight – and head of grounds & estates Bruce Elliot couldn’t be happier.

Bruce has been in his current role for just over twelve months and has been in football groundsmanship for a number of years including roles at Reading FC and Fulham FC. With extensive knowledge of the industry, he knew exactly where to look when the time came to purchase a range of mowers.

“I’ve been in the industry for over 20 years and I’ve always used Dennis mowers. They’ve always provided me with great reliability so they were the only machines we looked at.”

As a long-term user of the Dennis G860, Bruce already had two of them at the Selhurst Park Stadium and he explained how they are used as part of his maintenance programme.

“At the stadium we use the G860’s all the time for mowing, for presentation and for the final cut on match days – which we cut at 23mm. They are just perfect for achieving that perfect finish building up towards a match.”

“We’ve got the 8-bladed cutting cassettes, the multi-dense brushes and the verti-cut units – which work in conjunction with one another really well. For example, after a pre-season friendly against Valencia, the manager and players felt that the pitch was a little bit too thick, so we put the verti-cut unit in and thinned the sward out slightly. Combined with the brush which takes the debris and loose grass off after a game, both of these cassettes have really helped to remove debris and allow new growth to come in.”

As Bruce says, the G860 features an interchangeable cassette system which gives the user the option of fitting 11 quick changeover cassettes including scarifiers, verticutters, brushes, spikers, and slitters as well as 6 or 8 bladed cutter cassettes. Featuring a large diameter front roller with an adjustable scraper which has been designed for a precise height of cut control, giving an excellent finish, it also weighs in at just 166kg making it perfect for stadium pitch mowing.

Bruce oversees the maintenance of both the stadium and the training ground and based on the success of the G860’s at Selhurst Park, he decided to introduce them at the training ground.

“Previously we had two ride-on mowers at the training ground and they needed replacing as they were becoming less reliable. The club were willing to invest a bit of money into new equipment and we knew what the Dennis G860’s were giving us at the stadium. So that’s what we went for and the training ground has certainly improved since. It allows us to get a far better finish on the pitches, far better presentation and also it gives us the flexibility that we require. On a day to day basis with the G860’s, we’ll be cutting in the morning and then brushing the trained-on areas afterwards.”

Bruce also revealed that it does make life easier with Dennis being a British manufacturer.
“We like to buy British if we can for the availability of spares but we chose to buy the G860’s because we consider them to be the best mowers on the market.”

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