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NEWS ARTICLES

Help and advice from Headland goes a long way at Redditch GC

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Redditch Golf Club greens are now delivering consistent play thanks to advice, and a nutritional programme, from Headland Amenity. Their 18 hole parkland course, and 6 hole short-course with driving range, is currently home to 600+ members. The club celebrated its centenary in 2013 and features USGA spec greens installed some 20 years ago. Although they’ve been a big plus for the club, Course Manager Karl Williams says they have proved a challenge to maintain.

“Having not previously worked with USGA spec greens before, I couldn’t believe quite how quickly any products applied leached through” explains Karl, who has been at the Golf Club for 2 years and is assisted by 6 on his greens team. “I wasn’t overly familiar with Headland products but their local representative, Adi Masters, popped in when I was first at Redditch, and we quickly developed a great working relationship.”

The greens programme includes C-Complex and Protec fertilisers, Seamac ProTurf FE plant protectant, Turfite plant elicitor and Temag HPE to name just a few. At the end of the 1st year, a decision was made to close the spraying application to 2 weeks, from monthly, to provide greater consistency in terms of colour and growth. “With the fast leaching greens, by week 3 or 4, it was evident they were starting to tail off aesthetically.”

“With Adi’s advice we’ve halved the application rate but are applying more frequently which has combatted that problem. It was noticeable within the first 4-6 weeks of changing the applications that it was really working, and I could see the difference in the products and their effectiveness.” The programme is now meeting and exceeding Karl’s expectations and the greens are performing to their full potential. “With those simple tweaks to our regime we’ve now got it spot on.”

Rhuddlan GC Reinvests In Toro For Reliability

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Rhuddlan Golf Club, set in the Vale of Clwyd in North Wales, has recently renewed its fleet of Toro machines, bringing on course a Greensmaster 3250-D, Reelmaster 3100-D, and a Reelmaster 5610-D to join a Toro fleet including three other Greensmasters, two Groundsmasters, a GreensPro 1200 turf iron and a ProCore 648 pedestrian aerator. The club opted to reinvest in Toro for replacement machines because of their reliability, good value and support services.

Course manager John Morris says: “You can pay a little more for Toro, but the price always reflects the quality of the machine. I’ve found you get what you pay for with Toro, making them very good value for money longer term.”

He adds: “When you invest in Toro you’re not just buying a machine, you’re buying the back-up service which comes with it. Our Toro dealer Major Owen is fantastic and I know there will always be someone on the other end of the phone should I need them.”

But given the durability and longevity of the club’s previous Toro machines, John shouldn’t have to pick up the phone often. In fact, he chose to replace an existing ten-year-old Greensmaster 3250-D with the same model including the latest DPA cutting units with stainless steel cylinder bearings because he was so impressed with the original machine’s reliability and service.

Another addition to the course is a Reelmaster 3100-D to replace an impressive 20-year-old Toro sidewinder, which John describes as “still working well, but in need of updating”. He says of the new machine: “The Reelmaster 3100-D was an affordable option for us and we’re very pleased with it so far, it does a fantastic job cutting the tees and greens.”

The club’s new Reelmaster 5610-D cuts fairways, etching striking stripes and diamond designs into the turf. John comments: “My employees and I are chuffed to bits with the Reelmaster – and our new fleet as a whole!”

One of the main benefits which stands out across all the machines is superior build quality, meaning they also have a higher residual value. John says: “I’m pretty savvy with mechanics so I understand just how well built our new Toro machines are. It’s easy to get sold by flashy things, but at the end of the day presenting the course well is our priority and Toro machines help my team and I to do just that.”

Rhuddlan Golf Club is often chosen to host County and National Championship events and next August the Men’s Golfing Championship is set to take place on the course. “We are very lucky to have Toro tournament support, our dealer lends us extra Toro machinery so we can cover the whole course quickly. Because of this we can maintain brilliant playability on pristine turf,” says John.

With 122 acres and some of the fastest growing grass in the region, this is no light task. John admits: “The reliability of our machines is essential and Toro machinery enables us to keep on top of the course. For as long as I am course manager at Rhuddlan, we will continue to invest in Toro.”

Updated app is a vital tool in any greenkeeper’s armoury

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The updated Bayer TurfXpert app is now available to download from the App Store and Google Play, free of charge. With a number of new tools added to the already popular app that’s set to be a game changer for greenkeepers.

The often complicated calculations for tank mixing could be a thing of the past. “The updated app is free to download and can work out product requirements by mapping out a specific area using GPS to accurately calculate the exact amount of product needed to treat the chosen area,” says Dr Colin Mumford from the Bayer Turf Solutions Team.

On top of this, any applications that have been made can be recorded in the new sprayer log section, with the option to forward on the details via email.

“As the weather becomes more unpredictable, and the continued threat of the loss of actives to treat weeds, pests and diseases grows, it’s increasingly important to spot early signs of turf infection – because prevention is always better than cure,” says Colin.

To help avoid misidentification problems, the app will enable greenkeepers to recognise any disease, weed or pest present in their turf at the click of a button. “The app’s so simple to use. When identifying weeds for example, you just choose the leaf shape and flower colour from a list of options and the app will generate several possible weeds.”

“And if you are still unsure about the identity of a weed, pest or disease, there’s an ‘identify’ button that can be used to take up to three photos that will be sent to the Bayer Turf Solutions Team, who aim to come back with the identity as well as a suggested treatment within 48 hours,” he says.

“The job of a greenkeeper is becoming harder, as there are more and more sporadic appearances of turf diseases, and a reducing number of actives to control them,” says Colin.

So, to aid in the greenkeepers decision making, Bayer has added a new weather feature to the updated TurfXpert app, which not only provides the user with the most accurate local weather forecasts, it also provides other parameters including evapotranspiration, growing degree days and surface dew point temperatures.

The TurfXpert app is just one part of a wide offering from the Turf Solutions Team. “We aim to provide solutions, information, support and guidance. While we help remotely with identification via the app, we are also happy to go out for site visits and advise on any issue,” adds Colin.

Record number re-book for SALTEX

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Following a hugely successful SALTEX 2016, show organisers have reported that a record number of exhibitors have already re-booked for the 2017 event.

Compared to January 2016, SALTEX has accumulated more than 50 additional exhibitors during the loyalty re-booking period – the number of SALTEX 2017 exhibitors now stands at an impressive 182, which continues to grow by the day.

The combined attendance of 8,754 high-quality visitors over the two days at SALTEX 2016 no doubt played a major factor when exhibitors were deciding whether to return for 2017, but the post-show exhibitor survey offers a greater insight into the exhibitor’s experience at SALTEX 2016.

This survey confirmed the fact that 98 per cent of the 292 exhibitors rated the quality of visitors as being either good or excellent and 96 per cent of exhibitors reported that they were successful in generating new sales leads, while more than 60 per cent said that they took direct sales orders on the show floor.

A massive 96 per cent of exhibitors said that SALTEX was the ideal place to successfully promote or maintain their company profile and 93 per cent believed that they were successful in networking with existing and new customers while over 80 per cent said they achieved their objective of meeting dealers and distributors.

Survey findings also confirmed that more than 86 per cent of SALTEX 2016 exhibitors rated the build-up process as being either good or excellent with over 84 per cent commenting that they received excellent pre-show customer service. In addition, 92 per cent believed that the show organisers’ marketing and promotion of the event was excellent and in turn contributed to the large quantity of visitors.

Dean Winters, head of brands for Treadstone Products, said that after a few years away from exhibiting at the show, the company’s return to SALTEX was a hugely successful experience. “We were most impressed by the quantity, quality and diversity of visitors we spoke to. From very early on day one, the show was buzzing, with plenty of opportunities to talk to visitors about our product ranges. Over the two days, we far succeeded the amount of leads we had forecast and now have many quotes and projects to follow up.”

Ray Garvey from The Grasshopper Company reported an excellent debut at SALTEX. “This was our first year being directly involved with SALTEX, and the show exceeded our expectations. We sold a number of attachments at the show, arranged several further demonstrations and have a good number of other leads to follow up on.”

Long-term SALTEX exhibitor INTURF was also upbeat following the show according to joint managing director Alex Edwards. “We have supported SALTEX for three decades and the move to The NEC has cemented our future at the show. We had a very positive experience and have already booked for 2017.”

Tom Shinkins from GKB Machines was impressed with the widespread geographical reach of the visitors: “2016 was our second ever SALTEX as a stand-alone company, we received a good list of enquiries to follow up and we have booked for 2017. It was great to see to a wide range of people from across the industry from the UK and Europe.”

SALTEX 2017 will be held at the NEC, Birmingham on 1 and 2 November 2017.

For more information visit www.iogsaltex.com

Replay takes new cork infill pitch in their stride

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Home to a total of 25 teams, the facilities at Newmarket Town FC are certainly put through their paces. In early 2016, a £750,000 upgrade was made to install a new artificial pitch, one of the first full size pitches in the UK to have cork infill. To protect and maximise the lifespan of their investment, Club Secretary Graham Edwards enlisted the help of synthetic specialists, Replay Maintenance.

Filling a pitch with cork is becoming more common throughout continental Europe as an alternative to rubber and carries a number of benefits; its 100% organic from a renewable source; it doesn’t absorb water helping to keep the surface free draining; it’s odourless and from an aesthetic point of view, it plays and looks like a natural football pitch.

“It took 2 years of research before we decided to go for the pitch we did” explained Graham. “We visited a number of sites including a facility with cork infill at a school in Barnes and we knew straight away that’s what we wanted. It also migrates less, meaning that from a maintenance perspective it’s a lot more manageable. We can conduct regular in-house brushing to keep the infill level, but to perform a more thorough clean we needed to look for an external specialist. We contacted a number of companies and were particularly impressed with the service and expertise Replay could offer. Although this is a new project and infill type for Replay, the company has invested in state-of-the art units that can cope with different infill types including cork.

Steven Spence, Operations Manager at Replay Maintenance commented, “The uprated REVIVE PRO machine and process gives us a whole host of additional benefits. These include more horsepower enabling us to fully de-compact a surface without the need for tines – thanks to the increased control and productivity at the brush-head. It also features an uprated turbine for increased vacuum capacity and dust/detritus separation and of course the all-important cab to safeguard our Operative against noise and the elements.”

With approximately 35 hours of use per week, and that looking to increase next year, the maintenance is going to be vital to keep the surface safe and playing to its full potential. “Replay have been in twice so far,” says Graham, “and each time the work has been thorough and when they’ve left the surface has looked as immaculate as it did when it was first installed – we’ve been really impressed with the work they have carried out. All in all we’re absolutely delighted with the whole pitch and particularly the cork infill. With the
two-pronged maintenance taking place there’s no reason why we shouldn’t reach the maximum expected lifespan our investment offers.”