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NEWS ARTICLES

Government update on greenkeeping

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Government update on greenkeeping: Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Monday evening that the country is effectively in ‘lockdown’, BIGGA has been working hard to obtain clarification as to what that means in practice for our members, many of whom are looking for reassurances with regards their careers and income.

It is an unprecedented time for us all and firstly I want to reaffirm the message that our members’ health and that of their families come first.

Today we have received the following information from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS):

“For security and essential maintenance reasons greens staff can still attend work.”

We believe this is only partial clarification. It permits greenkeepers to work on essential maintenance but does not clarify what that means. We are naturally seeking further clarification urgently.

At this moment BIGGA is working tirelessly for our members; we’re working closely with our golf industry partners to get further clarification from government and also to support all those people in the golf industry that are affected by the crisis.

In the weeks since this terrible virus arrived on UK shores, we’ve been working closely with our colleagues at The PGA, GCMA, The R&A and other greenkeeping associations across the world to provide guidance and assistance through these difficult times.

On our website, we now have a dedicated COVID-19 section with all the information we have to date. Of course we’re also continuing to offer the same services and support that BIGGA members have become accustomed to. I’d encourage you to head to that website and familiarise yourself with everything that’s on there. There’s information about our HR Helpline, legal assistance, confidential counselling helpline and a number of other services. There’s also the Greenkeepers’ Benevolent Fund for those who encounter financial difficulties and we’re also looking at ways of moving our regular education events on to a digital platform, so keep an eye out on the events page for more information.

On The PGA website you can find a COVID-19 Resource Hub, where you can find a wealth of information relating to safe working practices, financial help and other matters. We’ve been contributing towards that content from the very start and there’s much on there that’s relevant to golf greenkeepers.

This is an incredibly fluid situation, we will keep you updated with all developments as best we can.

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Bernhard company announcement

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Bernhard company announcement: The whole world knows now of the global Corona virus crisis facing all of us. Daily news updates make it absolutely clear that business cannot continue as it has.

All employers have a duty of care to their employees, customers and suppliers. We are no different and we take this very seriously.

Bernhard company announcement

Bernhard company announcement

In line with the scientific projections and Government instructions, Bernhard and Company has come to the decision to suspend its operations with immediate effect on March 24th.

Steven Nixon, Director of Bernhard Company, explained: “Nobody knows how long this crisis will last but clearly it will become much more difficult to continue to trade for several months. However, we will keep customers and partners up to date with developments and will review the situation weekly, observing always the government’s advice.”

The unprecedented impact of Coronavirus on businesses globally is an enormous challenge. Many businesses must dramatically curtail operations. We are doing that now but with great care to safeguard our staff and the teams who work with us. In due course we will be able to share our plans for the better times that will return.

Please be patient during this extraordinary time of worry and its threats to our health and wellbeing. Thank you, our employees, customers, suppliers and partners, for your continued support. We’ll be in touch with you again soon with updates on the situation and how we are dealing with it. You’ll be kept in the loop with details of our progress.

For any queries, please contact Bernhard Company on: queries@bernhard.co.uk so we can respond as you would expect. We care deeply about all our friends and know you do too.

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Scottish turfgrass demo day a success

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Scottish turfgrass demo day a success: More than 100 greenkeepers, groundsmen and grounds maintenance contractors from across Scotland attended an amenity demonstration day at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club on 11th March, with those who braved the day’s stormy weather able to see some of the latest golf and sports pitch specific machinery and turf renovation equipment in action.

Featuring a range of machinery demonstrations from a wide selection of industry-leading suppliers, the maiden ‘Scottish Amenity Demonstration Day’ was jointly organised by Germinal GB, Allgrass Turfcare and Campey Turf Care Systems. The event was also sponsored by Cub Cadet, Seddon, Fairways GM, Fleet Line Markers and Steadfast Site Supplies and was kindly hosted by Falkirk Tryst Golf Club.

Scottish turfgrass demo day a success

Scottish turfgrass demo day a success

“Despite the weather’s best efforts to disrupt proceedings, the inaugural Scottish Amenity Demonstration Day was a great success,” explains Alan Thomson, Technical Sales Representative for Germinal in Scotland. “As a group of like-minded suppliers, we recognised that there are no amenity specific events in Scotland where greenkeepers, groundsmen and turf care professionals can talk to multiple manufacturers and suppliers in a single location.

“We therefore worked together to organise the free-to-attend event to give visitors the chance to talk freely with a range of manufacturers about the latest golf and sports-specific grass seed mixtures and to see a selection of cutting-edge turf maintenance machinery – including the latest electrical and emissions-free equipment – in action.”

John Rushforth of Allgrass Turfcare extended a special thank you to Falkirk Tryst Golf Club for hosting the event: “Head greenkeeper, Gary McCandless and his team worked miracles to ensure that, despite heavily waterlogged ground conditions and torrential rain in the days prior to the event, the majority of demonstrations were still able to go ahead.

“Unfortunately, the wet conditions did prevent some machines from operating, but the sheer number of attendees proved there’s a clear appetite for this type of event in Scotland and we are already discussing the potential for future events.”

“Feedback from the event has been extremely positive,” added Richard Heywood of Campey Turf Care. “It was genuinely very gratifying to see so many faces from within the Scottish amenity sector coming together to learn about new developments within the industry and to try out the latest amenity-specific kit. This type of event is as much about networking on a semi-social basis as it is about promoting the latest machinery, and we look forward to organising similar open days in the future.”

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New seed blend for golf greens

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New seed blend for golf greens: Germinal has introduced a new seed mixture to its Grade ‘A’ portfolio of golf-specific grass blends: containing two top-performing perennial ryegrasses and a high-ranking creeping bentgrass, A8 Ultrafine Ryegreens is the perfect ‘rescue’ mixture for the eradication of early season scarring.

A8 Ultrafine Ryegreens contains a blend of three of the very best cultivars: 45% Cabrio (ultrafine perennial ryegrass), 45% Escapade (perennial ryegrass) and 10% 007 DSB (creeping bentgrass).

New seed blend for golf greens

New seed blend for golf greens

Conceived specifically for greenkeepers who want to overseed their golf greens with a blend containing ryegrasses, the new mixture produces an exceptionally fine-leaved sward which is tolerant of low cutting heights (down to 3mm). It also delivers rapid germination and establishment in cooler conditions and boasts the added advantages of good disease resistance and excellent winter colour.

Cabrio was first introduced as a new cultivar in 2016 and went straight to the top of the BSPB’s Table L1 in 2017 with a fineness of leaf score of 8.8. It subsequently retained this position in 2018 (8.8) and 2019 (8.7) and holds the top spot again in 2020 thanks to another score of 8.7: a rating which puts it half a point clear of its nearest rivals at 8.2. Cabrio also ranks highly on Table G4 (perennial ryegrasses mown at 4-7mm) where it’s 8.4 score for fineness of leaf is the highest.

Escapade also boasts exceptional fineness of leaf (8.1 in Table L1) and offers superb resistance to Red Thread (6.1). It also displays excellent shoot density (7.7) and visual merit (7.6) as well as strong winter and summer greenness scores (5.8 and 6.0 respectively).

Meanwhile, 007 DSB, which was bred in the US using 24 parent plants to produce a single cultivar with a prostrate growth habit, high shoot density and good wear tolerance in a wide range of climatic conditions, has won plaudits wherever it has been used including at Ryder Cup and US Open courses and at the PGA Masters at Wentworth.

“By combining two top-performing perennial ryegrasses with a modern ‘superbent’, A8 Ultrafine Ryegreens creates a contemporary blend of seeds which is suitable for all greens renovation works, but especially when making good damaged areas: the ryegrasses provide initial rapid cover but will not persist in the long-term once cutting heights are consistently lower than 4mm – but by then their job will have been done and the creeping bentgrass will take over,” explains Richard Brown, Germinal Amenity Sales Manager.

“Cabrio is still the number one choice for greenkeepers who want to produce an exceptionally fine-leaved, hard wearing and aesthetically attractive sward that can not only tolerate a close mowing regime, but which will also give good ball roll or bounce. Similarly, Escapade provides added sward resilience, whilst the addition of 007 DSB, which has a lower water and nutrient requirement than older creeping bent varieties, is the ideal companion as it adds useful sward density to complement the bunched growth habits of Cabrio and Escapade.”

A8 Ultrafine Ryegreens is suitable for cutting down to a height of 3mm and has a recommended sowing rate of 20g/m2 (200kgs/ha) and overseeding rate of 10-15g/m2 (100-150kgs/ha). It is also suitable for sowing and overseeding tees and collars.

For more information contact Germinal on 01522 868714 or visit www.germinalamenity.com

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Woodland Management made easier for Wildernesse GC

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Woodland Management made easier for Wildernesse GC: A CM220TMP woodchipper from GreenMech has transformed the woodland management programme for Wildernesse Golf Club.

The heavily tree-lined woodland/parkland course in Sevenoaks, Kent, requires year-round thinning, pruning and felling. The new 9” machine has significantly improved the productivity for Course Manager Mark Todd and his team.

Woodland Management made easier for Wildernesse GC

Woodland Management made easier for Wildernesse GC

With classified ancient woodland, Chance Wood, at the very heart of the course, the scale of the task at hand led Mark to look for an upgrade to their existing machinery at the end of 2019. “I spoke with our local dealer Burden Bros who suggested we upgrade from a 6” to a 9” machine and demonstrated the GreenMech CM220TMP. You could see straight away how it was going to be so much more effective at dealing with the large quantities of material we have to process.”

The course woodland predominantly consists of beech, birch and oak, however it’s the holly in the understory of the canopy that causes a real issue. “Some areas are smothered in it and the awkwardly shaped branches used to be really difficult to get into our old chipper unless you spent time snedding all the branches off. The CM220TMP’s large hopper means we can take down holly trees up to 20-foot-tall and get them straight into the chipper – reducing handling and stopping backlogs. Thinning this out improves not only the aesthetic and playability qualities, it also allows extra air and light to get down to the playing surfaces.”

“Being tractor mounted means we can take the chipper wherever it is needed, with the chip we produce dispersed in the woodland, used in some of the decorative beds or given to the members for use in their gardens. One of the really great things is GreenMech’s round disc blade chipping technology. Not only does it process more efficiently but when they blunt you simply turn them to the next sharp edge which means that, compared to traditional straight blades, you get three times the life out of each set.”

Mark was also thankful for having the chipper at their disposal during the recent storms, where the course experienced strong winds and fallen trees. “The chipper disposed of these without a problem” Mark explains. “While it comes into its own over the winter months, we have projects to work on throughout the year and with the CM220TMP, these have now become much easier.”

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