Manchester Rugby Club Welcomes New Signings

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Manchester Rugby Club Welcomes New Signings: The team at STIGA is discovering just how remarkable their robot mowers are when it comes to maintaining sports grounds — and rugby pitches are no exception. When the latest recruits, Mow Marler and Cutney Lawns, joined the ranks at Manchester Rugby Club, it was a clean-cut conversion straight between the posts.

Tim Holmes of Manchester Rugby Club shared:

“Mow Marler and Cutney Lawns joined the Manchester Rugby Club Grounds team back in October 2024, having signed from STIGA. As part of the partnership, STIGA provided full training on how to get the most from the mowers — and they made an immediate impact. Their work ethic has been incredible! They operate day and night, seven days a week, and we saw an instant improvement in the quality of the pitches.”

Manchester Rugby Club Welcomes New Signings

Manchester Rugby Club Welcomes New Signings

As a volunteer-run organisation, Manchester Rugby Club relies on a dedicated team of individuals who give their time freely. With four full-size rugby pitches and additional training areas to maintain — serving over 400 members every week — pitch upkeep is a huge task.

“The arrival of Mow Marler and Cutney Lawns has been a game-changer,” added Holmes. “They now manage two of our pitches, including the main stadium and a floodlit training pitch. This has significantly lightened the load on our volunteers while massively improving the quality of the turf. The grass never gets too long, there’s no unsightly clippings, and the lines they mow are incredibly sharp — the pitches look and play better than ever.”

The improvements haven’t gone unnoticed. A recent visit from the local Grounds Management Association advisor brought high praise:
“They told us our stadium pitch is one of the best in the North West — and the condition of the grass is excellent,” said Holmes.

The club couldn’t be happier with the STIGA partnership.
“We can’t thank STIGA enough. Their mowers are outstanding, and the STIGA app is so easy to use — we can always see what the boys are up to. Mow Marler and Cutney Lawns are now firmly part of the Manchester Rugby Club family — and long may that continue.”

In true rugby fashion, Mow Marler and Cutney Lawns even celebrated their arrival at the club with matching tattoos. The STIGA team was delighted — and agreed they’ve never looked more handsome.

You can read more about STIGA’s autonomous robot mowers and other STIGA products here: www.stiga.com/uk/

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DSV’s PRO Pitch Delivers for Warrington Wolves

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DSV’s PRO Pitch Delivers for Warrington Wolves: Niall Hazlehurst, Head of Grounds at Warrington Wolves Rugby Club, has seen a remarkable improvement in the playing surface at The Halliwell Jones Stadium since introducing DSV’s EuroGrass PRO Pitch seed mixture.

With a career spanning nearly two decades in the industry, Niall began his journey at Bolton Wanderers FC as an apprentice at the age of 16. He worked his way up to Deputy Head Groundsman before taking on the role of Head Groundsman at Rochdale. After a brief break from the industry, he returned as Head of Grounds at Fulham FC before making the move north to Warrington Wolves during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DSV’s PRO Pitch Delivers for Warrington Wolves

DSV’s PRO Pitch Delivers for Warrington Wolves

At Warrington Wolves, Niall and his assistant Tom, an apprentice, manage the stadium pitch as well as two natural pitches at the club’s training ground.

“Last year was the first time we’d taken the top off with a fraise mow since before COVID,” explains Niall. “It was a big deal convincing the board to commit to this annually, so we wanted to make sure we got everything right in terms of nutrition and seed. The results have been fantastic, and the pitch has handled the usage really well.”

When considering the best approach for the pitch renovation, Niall turned to DSV and was introduced to their EuroGrass seed range, which was supplied by Indigrow.

“I made contact with DSV, had a really good chat, and we identified what we were looking for,” he says. “We decided to use the PRO Pitch mixture, and it has been brilliant. We applied it in August last year, and the colour, wear, and disease tolerance have been outstanding. Probably the best I’ve used, to be honest.”

Niall states that he was already aware of PRO Pitch being successfully used at other stadiums and private schools, which gave him additional confidence in the product. He also credits DSV for their expertise and support throughout the process.

“DSV is a great company and Sam Horner (DSV Amenity Business Manager) knows what he’s talking about and is someone you can trust,” says Niall. “If you ask him a question, he’ll give you an honest answer every time. He listened to what we wanted as a club and has been to our site a couple of times, even bringing some of the EuroGrass team to take a look at how the seed is performing.”

Since the team returned to training in November, the pitch has endured intense usage.

“We’ve had eleven high-intensity pre-season training sessions—each lasting two hours—from November to early February. That equates to about 15 games worth of wear,” explains Niall. “We only have one small lighting rig, so we rely on Mother Nature, which can be challenging, but the pitch has stood the test. The shaded areas are the best they’ve ever been, and even the coaches and fans have noticed the difference. There’s grass in some corners where there’s never been grass before.”

With the success of last year’s renovation, Niall is already planning ahead.

“We’ll be renovating again in July because we’ve got a good window in the fixture schedule. We’ll be doing exactly the same as last year because it worked so well. The germination and strike rate were excellent, and I have no reason to change something that’s working. I am also in discussions with the company about introducing a different DSV seed mix for the training ground pitches. I’ve got full confidence in DSV.”

As the flagship mix in the EuroGrass portfolio, PRO Pitch is designed for winter sports renovation. Containing only top-performing perennial ryegrass cultivars, it provides a visually appealing, dense sward with outstanding wear tolerance and recovery. With rapid germination and establishment, PRO Pitch has proven to be a game-changer at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Please visit www.dsv-uk.co.uk/products/amenity for more information.

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Bunkers ensure success at Marco Simone course

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Bunkers ensure success at Marco Simone course: Although the Covid-19 pandemic means it will have to wait another year until it hosts the Ryder Cup, preparation of the Marco Simone course in Rome continue apace.

All eighteen holes of the new-look course, designed by European Golf Design, opened for member and guest play earlier this month. And Dave Sampson, of European Golf Design, says the course’s bunkers, which have been built using the Capillary Bunkers lining system, are performing particularly well.

Bunkers ensure success at Marco Simone course

Bunkers ensure success at Marco Simone course

“The first nine holes – actually the back nine of the course – started construction in August 2018, and were all grassed by the end of summer 2019,” says Sampson. “A couple of major storm events set those holes back a little, but they were all in play last summer. The second phase construction started in autumn 2019 and finished during summer 2020. Phase three, the practice greens, is currently being finished, though architect Sampson, prevented from visiting the site by the pandemic, has been approving the works via drone footage. The course is planned to make its public bow this September when it plays host to the European Tour’s Italian Open.

Sampson says: “We have been in daily contact with the guys from contractor SOL Golf who have been on site, so finishing the final greens remotely has been OK. Nothing of the original course has been retained – every hole except for the sixth plays in a new corridor.”

He adds that the choice of Capillary Bunkers as a liner was an easy one. “I have had really good success with Capillary on previous projects, including the Evian resort in France and Crans-sur-Sierre in Switzerland,” he explains. “Evian and Marco Simone have quite a lot in common, in terms of weather patterns, so it was a pretty good model. The amount of maintenance time post storms is minimal compared to what it was before.”

Designing a course for a Ryder Cup is rather different to building a normal course, Sampson says: “On a normal project, you’d be looking for the best eighteen holes, pure and simple. Here, you’re looking for the best eighteen holes that can deal with 50,000 spectators. So the routing is quite challenging, but that said, there are not long walks between greens and tees. This is a 27-hole project, so the extra nine gives us space for the range, the spectator village and the like. And you need to build the course to be extra resilient in terms of weather – there isn’t a lot of extra daylight to play with given the time of year a Ryder Cup is played, so the course needs to be playable quickly even in the event of severe weather. That’s one of the benefits of using a liner like Capillary Bunkers.”

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New Stillwater club to feature revetted EcoBunkers

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New Stillwater club to feature revetted EcoBunkers: Set to open in late 2021, the all-new Stillwater community and golf club will be located in Northeast Florida between Jacksonville and St. Augustine. This 18-hole layout will mark the area’s first new golf course since 2004.

Pete Dye protégé Bobby Weed, fresh off his new golf course build for Michael Jordan at The Grove XXIII, has been commissioned to design Stillwater. Set to debut as a semi-private course and hallmark for developer Lennar Corporation’s 550-home active adult community, the par-71 will stretch about 6,800 yards.

New Stillwater club to feature revetted EcoBunkers

New Stillwater club to feature revetted EcoBunkers

Unique to the area, Stillwater will feature revetted pot bunkers, made possible by EcoBunker’s synthetic bunker edging system. Synthetic grass tiles are built on top of each other to create a layered effect. The end product is a fortified bunker that reduces wind-based erosion and yields a beautiful on-course aesthetic. “Don’t expect a golf course from the past,” said architect Weed. “As the area’s first new course in almost two decades, we are providing Lennar with something distinct and different.”

Bunker maintenance is an intense labour commitment for clubs, and importing sand is expensive. By building revetted bunkers, clubs can keep more sand down while still offering strategic playing options. “We were satisfied using EcoBunker during our renovation at Medalist Golf Club in 2015,” Weed added. “We had a nine-inch rainstorm during construction, and they did not fail. Stillwater will also benefit from EcoBunker with noticeably less time and money spent on bunker maintenance.” Stillwater’s soil is relatively sandy, and thus does not require bunkers to be lined. However, there is sufficient drainage under them. The revetted walls sit at angles between 55 and 75 degrees.

“Revetted bunkers are exceptionally rare in warm season grass environments,” said Richard Allen, inventor and CEO of EcoBunker. “The extreme nature of these climates means that bunker faces can easily be destroyed by heavy rain. Our product helps solve that problem.”

Bobby Weed Golf Design is a leader in building environmentally conscious golf courses. Stillwater will be no exception. With EcoBunker’s support, Stillwater will feature just 70 acres of irrigated turf. Weed has also designed a more flexible layout for the course. It features loops of three, six and nine holes returning to the clubhouse, allowing members to play as their time permits.

To date, twelve holes have been shaped at Stillwater. Grassing should be completed by the end of August, and the course is expected to open by Thanksgiving in November. Stillwater marks an important milestone for EcoBunker in the US, as it has recently changed the channel through which it markets its solution in the country. Allen said: “The EcoBunker system made an exciting entry into the USA five years ago with fabulous projects at Medalist, Secession, LedgeRock and several others. After a period of marketing our product in the USA under a different brand name, we have decided to reinstate the EcoBunker brand, remove the middleman and provide our products and services directly, with all the client benefits that come with that. Stillwater will provide another stunning example of the possibilities of the EcoBunker system and we thank Bobby Weed for the opportunity to use this project as a key part of our re-launch.”

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Liner upgrade solves problems at CordeValle

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Liner upgrade solves problems at CordeValle: Designed by the Robert Trent Jones II firm (and actually the firm’s home course), CordeValle GC in California’s Santa Clara Valley, has some of the largest and most imposing bunkers to be found anywhere in golf.

There may be only 63 bunkers on the golf course, but the total area of sand is a breathtaking 188,000 square feet (17,500 square metres). And, according to superintendent Brett Thornsbury, the playing consistency of the bunkers was becoming his biggest challenge..

Liner upgrade solves problems at CordeValle

Liner upgrade solves problems at CordeValle

“We have large, very elaborate bunkers with steep faces,” he said. “Over the years, as with all aging bunker sand, it had lost its original color, the consistency to move water, and the playability was negatively affected, especially during the dry summer months or excessive rain events. With this project, we wanted to restore the sand to its original color, ensure the health of the drainage system, and most importantly, install a bunker liner that was going to last for many years to come.”

CordeValle’s bunkers were originally lined with a geotextile, but its performance had deteriorated since the course’s opening in 1999. When Thornsbury became superintendent four years ago, he quickly realized the bunkers would need to be addressed in the near future to maintain a high-quality of playability and consistency.

In 2019, led by RTJII president Bruce Charlton, the course’s greens and approaches were renovated and regrassed.. The completion of this project left the bunkers as the next major issue to be improved , and last year, Thornsbury was able to start the work.

“We knew the bunkers needed to be relined, and we wanted a liner that could perform at the highest level, no matter the season. he said. “When we researched the options, it became clear to us that Capillary Concrete had a superior bunker product, and was the one we wanted to use.”

The bunker project began early in October of 2020, and was completed in the middle of March 2021. “We tried to have the lowest possible impact on play, using temporary greens where necessary, and always keeping eighteen holes open,” said Thornsbury. “Fortunately for us, we had a pretty dry winter allowing the project to work mostly uninterrupted. However just a few weeks ago we had our first major rain event of the season, producing six inches of rain in less than three days, which for us in Central California, is welcomed and unusual. Not one speck of sand moved in our newly completed bunkers. The team was relieved to see they didn’t require any repairs after such a heavy rain event and kept the sand shovels in the shop that morning. It’s a testimony to the Capillary Bunkers product.”

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