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NEWS ARTICLES

Cricketer’s impressive juggling act

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The Southland Cricket Association groundsman has had a tough assignment in the past couple of weeks battling the wet weather while trying to prepare a pitch for Southland’s Hawke Cup showdown against Mid Canterbury in Invercargill this weekend.

That alone is a challenge.

But added to that is Osborne himself is preparing to line up in the game for Southland.

He’s a key figure in the Southland setup with both bat and ball and is juggling that with his duties as the groundsman.

He has spent a fair bit of time at Queens Park of late, whether it be pulling covers on or off, rolling the pitch, or squeezing in his own training commitments.

“It’s been pretty busy just trying to get some rolling in when the showers clear and getting the covers on and off.”

Come game day on Saturday Osborne will take a step back from his groundsman duties with coach Steve Jackson wanting him to focus on the game rather than juggling marking and rolling the pitch between innings.

Osborne’s work mates at Southland Cricket will step in and help.

“Jacko wants me to focus on just playing. I’ll get it ready and they can take care of it on game day so I can just focus on the cricket. It should work out quite well.”

Southland has what might be a unique advantage which most cricket teams don’t have by including the groundsman in the team.

“I guess there will be a bit of inside info there,” Osborne joked.

Osborne only took on the SCA groundsman job in September and he was loving the challenge.

“It’s been bloody good, I’m learning as I go. We’ve got a Volts [one-day] game in a couple of weeks so it is pretty full on at the moment.”

On the playing front, he is in his third season in the Southland Hawke Cup team after he made his debut towards the end of the 2014/15 season.

He said it was exciting being part of the dramatic first up outright win this season against Otago Country last weekend.

“It was unreal, it was magic sort of feeling being part of that.”

Southland have brought Marist captain Jeremy Boyle into the 12 for this weekend’s two-day game against Mid Canterbury.

The spinner has been a consistent performer in club cricket in recent seasons.

Jarred McKenzie is the only player missing from the win over Otago Country and is likely to be replaced by James Ng at the top of the order.

To read the original article, click here

Better Billy Bunker and Durabunker Partnership

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Better Billy Bunker and Durabunker are pleased to announce a partnership agreement which brings together two leaders in the world of bunker construction. The agreement will see Better Billy Bunker serve as a representative for Durabunker in the United States. Similarly, Durabunker and its team of professionals become a certified licensed installer of the Better Billy Bunker method.

Better Billy Bunker has been installed on over 600 courses worldwide. These courses range from municipal facilities to major championship and Ryder Cup venues. The ease of installation, superior performance, and affordable cost have pushed BBB to the forefront of bunker construction methods.

Durabunker, likewise, has established itself as a leader in durable and cost effective bunker edge and bunker wall solutions. Durabunker synthetic technology, debuted on the PGA Tour in 2015, received outstanding reviews at the 2016 LPGA Tour Championships and has been commissioned at a cross- section of courses from world top 100 venues to council run municipals. With a global reach, from Australia to America, Singapore to South Korea, Durabunker has recently agreed partnerships to drive the product forward in a number of markets, America being a primary target.

Todd Jenkins, Vice President of Better Billy Bunker said “A collaboration with Rhydian and the Durabunker team made perfect sense for us. It will allow us to offer not only the fastest draining durable layer in the industry, but also a long-lasting, sustainable edge solution. The combination truly offers a fully sealed bunker. We look forward to a successful relationship with Durabunker for years to come.”

Durabunker Founder, Rhydian Lewis coadded “The position Better Billy Bunker hold in the market place, the respect they have in the industry, the quality of their product and professionalism of their customer service makes them a perfect partner for us in the USA. The two patented products combine beautifully and though they will not be sold exclusively as a combination, together they offer the complete bunker solution. We are very excited to be working with them.”

Dudsbury GC reaps the rewards

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Warren Moss, Course Manager at Dudsbury Golf Club in Bournemouth, believes that his greens are reaping the rewards following a switch from liquid fertilizers to ICL’s SierraformGT and Greenmaster Pro-Lite granular fertilizers.

Dudsbury Golf Club is a 6,904 yard par 71 championship golf course and was designed by Donald Steel – the man who modernised the famous St Andrews course. Set in 160 acres of beautiful Dorset countryside, Dudsbury has played host to a number of prestigious golfing events including the PGA Europro Tour, the BMW PGA Order of Merit Championship and the EGU McGregor Tournament.

After joining Dudsbury Golf Club seven years ago as an assistant greenkeeper, Warren has since worked his way up through a number of promotions to that of course manager. When he felt that the greens were not performing in line with his high expectations, he knew that it was time to take action.

“I wasn’t happy with the way our previous liquid fertilizers were performing on the greens – they were just not looking healthy enough. A report revealed that the greens had poor root growth, so basically I felt that all the nutrients in the liquid were passing through the top 50mm and not getting used up by the rest of the plant. Therefore, I felt that I needed a product that would last longer and benefit the plant for an extended period of time.

“I spoke to Darren Hatcher (ICL Technical Area Sales Manager), and explained what I was trying to achieve and he suggested that switching to ICL granular fertilizers was something that I should consider. He was confident we would get the desired results and after using the first product I saw how good the results were and continued with the iTurf programme. There’s been no looking back since.”

After Darren’s recommendation, Warren decided to change from his previous liquid fertilizers and turned to ICL’s SierraformGT and Greenmaster Pro-Lite granular fertilizers, with the aim of giving the greens the initial spring kick-start that is needed but also providing that longevity throughout the playing season.

“The first product I used was the Greenmaster Pro-Lite Cold Start and that just got the greens going. Combined with the SierraformGT, the greens went from looking really poor to me receiving comments from our members and committee that they were the best they have looked in the last fifteen years. Quite simply, the products did exactly what they said they would do – by the third or the fourth day after application we could already start to see the effects of using them.

“The greens look incredibly healthy now with great colour and I’d say that the feeds have lasted for approximately seven to eight weeks, which is a massive difference to what we were previously using.”

ICL’s granular fertilizer technology means that Warren is now seeing a dramatic increase in terms of longevity. The Pro-Lite technology in Greenmaster gives plants an excellent head start during the colder period of the year while it improves the longevity and performance of the fertilizers. Each homogenous granule disperses quickly into the turf sward and so it will not be picked up by the mower. The fine granules result in a high amount of granules per square metre, which helps to create a denser turf area.

Each SierraformGT granule contains all of the nutrients that the turf requires. The Mu2 and SiLK technologies helps make sure that the plant receives these important nutrients, while it develops stronger cell walls to fight wear and tear, as well as disease.

“Before switching to the ICL granular fertilizers, we were spraying every four weeks and then it went to every three weeks because we were not getting the results we wanted. I then received the feeding programme for 2016 and it was suggested that I spray every two weeks – I thought there is no way I can spray it every two weeks! That was just the feed – I would have been spraying the greens every week with different products.

“Using the SierraformGT and Greenmaster Pro-Lite has freed up so much time and our tees, fairways and approaches have all improved because all our time is not spent on the greens.

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

Hero groundsman praised after primary school flood

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An Ipswich school is to be closed for at least three days after a leaking water fountain flooded the building, soaking hundreds of books as well as children’s PE kit.

The security alarm was triggered at Britannia Primary School and Nursery just after midnight today as water from upstairs seeped through the ceiling onto the ground floor.

Headteacher Tracy McKenzie said a pipe had become disconnected from the back of a drinking fountain and she believed it had been running for the entire weekend.

She said: “It [The water] was about two or three inches deep upstairs and downstairs and was coming through the ceiling.”

The school’s security company contacted premises supervisor, Jake Whent, who attempted to clean up the water before calling Miss McKenzie and deputy headteacher Keith Hart around 3am.

Shortly before 4am staff alerted Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, which sent one crew to the school.

Firefighters assessed the building and found that there was no threat of fire so left the scene at 4.20am.

Mr Hart praised Mr Whent, who is a former pupil of Britannia, as a “hero”.

He said: “He’s only about 18 and he was wading through a lot of centimetres of water.

“He was alone here in the cold and darkness dealing with a potential crisis.

“He did amazingly well. He was using his machinery to soak up all the water.

“He was very calm when I arrived. He worked really hard on the trauma of it all and he did a really good job.

“It was really frightening because water was pouring down and we have got electrics.

“If there’s a hero of the story, it’s him.”

However, Miss McKenzie said hundreds of books, as well as children’s PE kit bags and possibly laptops and iPads had been damaged in the flood.

Around 900 texts were sent out through Parentmail first thing this morning informing mums and dads of the closure.

Miss McKenzie said only one of the school’s 672 pupils arrived today expecting a day of lessons.

“They all got the message, we had no come back at all,” she added.

The headteacher said she hoped to re-open the school on Thursday, but it depended on the extent of the damage.

To read the original article, click here

STRI Group go stateside

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STRI Group has joined forces with a leading provider of turfgrass education, Auburn University, to initiate research and development programmes throughout the US sports surface market.

The agreement, with the world-renowned Alabama-based University, will focus primarily on expanding the US soccer industry, as well as conducting surfaces research in other sports including golf, football, baseball and equestrian.

The collaboration aims to further enhance Auburn’s existing turfgrass and sports turf research facility, helping it become a centre of excellence for innovations and emerging technologies in sports turf. Auburn will showcase cutting edge techniques and technologies such as grow-lights, water management and reinforced turf systems.

Scott McElroy, professor in the College of Agriculture’s Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Department, said: “Working with STRI is a great opportunity to not only grow our research program at Auburn, but to also greatly enhance the educational content, internship experiences and job opportunities for our students.”

Over the past five years, STRI has reinforced its position as a market leader in the sports surface industry. With its collaboration with Auburn, STRI secures a permanent presence on four continents, with further significant investments being made at its facilities in Australia, the United Kingdom and Qatar.

Lee Penrose, STRI Group Director, said: “STRI is thrilled to collaborate with such a forward thinking and well-respected university. Together, our organisations will create the leading sports turf facility in the US, demonstrating the latest in international thinking.”