Gripclad At Kings Hill Golf Club

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Gripclad At Kings Hill Golf Club: Kings Hill Golf Club in Kent had a problem with people slipping on wooden surfaces around the golf course and clubhouse. Old railway sleeper have been used on golf courses from the 1930s and provide an ideal material for many situations whilst maintaining a natural feel in the landscape. Many golf courses today use them either in bunkers or grassy hollows or more often than not to provide stepped access to elevated or steep sided tees. The advance of soft spikes and moulded sole golf shoes away from traditional steel spikes has led to an increase of slips on wooden steps and in the early 2000s this was becoming an increasing problem.

Having searched for many years and looked at various ideas at other golf clubs, including carpet, astro, chicken wire, tar and chips and chainsaw cut grooves, all in their various ways trying to eliminate the slip issue and presenting a trip issue or a higher than expected replacement schedule on wooden sleeper steps, a chance advertisement in a trade magazine highlighted a new product called GripClad. That was back in 2006. The club decided to obtain some samples and look at the benefits of the product more closely. Following that initial assessment a trial set of steps were chosen and the product installed. Installation was easy and straight forward, GripClad arrived in pre-cut lengths and to the dimensions that had been specified, only holes had to be drilled and the cleats screwed down with a mastic to act as a cushioning agent. A set of steps could be easily completed in a couple of hours and a large set in a day, much quicker than some of the other products mentioned. In addition if a sleeper had to be replaced it was simply a case of unscrewing the cleat and replacing it onto a new sleeper.

Gripclad At Kings Hill Golf Club

“Since that first installation we have purchased GripClad every year to complete all of our wooden surfaces around the course, which includes 10 sets of very large sleeper step installations, four sets of sleeper rails around teeing areas and ancillary surfaces including service and mobility ramps and so on around the clubhouse,” said a club spokesman. “The performance of the product has been outstanding, not only did it cope with the wear and tear of traffic, it performs in all weathers and has not deteriorated in the 10 years that the initial batch has been down, it still looks as good now as it did 10 years ago. We will continue to use it around the golf course as it provides the most cost effective solution for both time and longevity. I wouldn’t hesitate to rec
ommend this product out on the golf course or around the clubhouse.”

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3G Pitch Enables Buxton FC To Launch Academy

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3G Pitch Enables Buxton FC To Launch Academy: EVO-STIK Northern Premier League Club, Buxton FC have seen their dreams turn into reality with the installation of their new 3G pitch, meaning that in September 2019 they will launch their academy for young aspiring footballers, a feat that would have been near impossible to achieve on their old natural grass pitch.

The club has wanted to set up an academy for many years to facilitate players moving up through the ranks to their first team, producing home grown ‘Buxton’ players. This was paired with the need for increased community participation in the area along with the requirement to reduce the number of cancelled fixtures after having a number of matches that had to be rearranged in the 17-18 season, resulting in not only a loss of revenue on the gate but also from food and beverage match day sales.

3G Pitch Enables Buxton FC To Launch Academy

Playing in the Premier League of the EVO-STIK NPL, Buxton FC are the latest NPL club to select official league pitch partners, GreenFields to install their new 3G pitch. The club now proudly boast one of the highest spec 3G pitches in the country with the same product installed at the likes of Arsenal FC, Charlton Athletic Academy and a number of Scottish Premier League clubs including Hamilton Academical FC and Livingston FC.

Buxton FC made their choice to convert from natural grass to the 3G woven sports turf, GreenFields MX Elite after visiting the 3G pitch installed in Summer 2016, based at fellow NPL club, Hyde United with the same product in situ. The high-tech product is manufactured using patented woven technology resulting in an extremely high tuft bind. This forces the fibres to stand straighter providing a more natural playing experience and visual appearance.

The new pitch which has been operational for just over three months now has received exceptional reviews already from both Buxton FC along with visiting teams. David Hopkins, Chairman at Buxton FC commented: “We are delighted with our new pitch which overnight, alongside the obvious commercial opportunities, allows us to at last fully engage with our local community and already we have been able to partner with Buxton Junior Football Club’s twenty teams, including the ladies’ team. Partnering with Buxton Rugby Club also means we are now able to welcome not only all the football community from Buxton and the surrounding villages, but also the rugby community too. From the grass pitch last year, which we could use at best four hours per week, we now have a facility which enables us to become a real hub for the Buxton community.”

As official pitch partner to the EVO-STIK NPL as well as more recently the EVO-STIK League South, GreenFields have an ongoing relationship with non-league clubs and the leagues themselves with a commitment to providing and advising on surface solutions as well as supporting clubs with all of their natural grass related queries.

3G Pitch Enables Buxton FC To Launch Academy

Paul Milton, Director at GreenFields commented: “Working with Buxton this Summer and on an ongoing basis sums up for me what GreenFields is all about. We aim to help and work with non-league clubs throughout the country with an emphasis on building long term relationships post installation. Now that the pitch is complete we will work with Buxton FC to support them with sponsorship as well as carrying out essential quarterly maintenance and being a constant point of contact for any pitch related queries. We look forward to watching how the club grows after the addition of the 3G pitch and to a long partnership between us.”

The completed pitch has been tested to both FIFA Quality and World Rugby performance standards as the pitch has been designed as a dual use facility to accommodate rugby as well as football to enable usage from local club, Buxton RFU.

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Duncan Ross At Longridge GC

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Duncan Ross At Longridge GC: Duncan Ross Sports Contractors has used its drainage expertise to successfully revitalise three fairways at Longridge Golf Club that had previously suffered heavily with water retention.

The 18-hole, 5,904-yard, course provides outstanding views over the Ribble Valley, Forest of Bowland and the Fylde coast, and, is maintained to an exceptional standard by Course Manager, Andrew Read, and his four staff.

Duncan Ross At Longridge GC

During his 18-years at the club, Andrew had to contend with moisture retention on the third and ninth fairways. Recently, this had caused the third fairway to become near unplayable and action was taken to bring it, and the ninth and eleventh fairways, back in line with the rest of the course.

Duncan Ross was picked to rectify the drainage issue based on Andrews requirement to find a contractor capable of delivering a high quality and tidy project.

He said: “It is the first time that Duncan has worked on our course. I know of the company’s reputation through word of mouth from other greenkeepers and going on Twitter and seeing the videos and work they have done recently, so it’s the overall reputation and recommendations which swayed it for me.

“The third fairway this time last year was horrible. It was black in places, you could hardly walk on it, so if you can’t walk on it you can’t really play golf on it.

“We had more problems when it came to cutting because it would make a mess. In the autumn it never dried up, so I had a meeting with our greens chairman and explained that we needed drainage work done, and they went to the council and funds were made available.

“We then got Duncan on site and he looked at the third, ninth and eleventh fairways and came back with a plan. I had drawn some plans up and Duncan looked at those and decided what the best way to achieve it was, and he’s got the experience, so we were happy to go with what he recommended.

“Going into September we’ve had over 160mm of rain and the drains have started working well. We’ve checked the outlets and there is loads of water coming out of them, so it’s been a sound long-term investment.

“The third fairway and the ninth, which is a short fairway, are now playable. I checked the outlets on the ninth recently and they were running well, and the fairway is dry.

“Golf is a 12-months a year sport now, in the past getting into September and October people started putting their clubs away but now they want to play all year round. The ninth used to get churned up because we’d need to have buggies on for people that couldn’t walk around the course, so we did the ninth because it was wet but also to make it more playable and get the buggies going on there.”

Whilst the main objective of the drainage installation was achieved on the third, ninth and eleventh fairway, Andrew and the club’s members were also impressed with the clean and diligent nature the Duncan Ross team carried out the project.

Because the course had to be allowed time to dry out from the wet winter, work began during May for two weeks when the course was in use. This meant work needed to be flexible and accommodate competitions the course was hosting, requiring the work to be done in a clean and tidy way, something the company is renowned for doing.

“The men worked around us, if we had a competition on then they would move onto another fairway, so the only disruption was the drainage lines that were left afterwards but they were nice and tidy, and the golfers were really impressed with the work and how tidy everything was,” Andrew explained.

“The golfers are happy and we’re happy because we didn’t have to spend time clearing up after the work, we were able to concentrate on looking after the rest of the course instead.

“The club members and the council will look at it and be happy to use them again because the site was always left in a tidy condition.”

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Capillary Concrete Bunker Upgrade

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Capillary Concrete Bunker Upgrade: ‘You know exactly what you’re going to get’, says superintendent of club, one of the hundred oldest golf clubs in America.

New Canaan, Connecticut, 12 November 2018 — The Country Club of New Canaan, one of the oldest golf clubs in America, is three years into a five year masterplanning process with architect Andrew Green. And, according to superintendent Michael Roe, the Capillary Concrete bunker liner system, is an essential part of that project.

Capillary Concrete Bunker Upgrade

The club was founded in 1893, which makes it one of the hundred oldest golf clubs in America, and its first nine holes were designed in 1895 by the legendary Willie Park Jr, twice an Open champion, on his first trip to the United States. Walter Travis designed the second nine in the early 1920s. As well as the course renovation headed up by Green, the club is working on a massive clubhouse rebuild at the moment.

Michael Roe said: “The first year we worked with Andrew, we renovated two holes, using a different bunker liner, and I wasn’t in love with how it performed, because the strength and durability was just not there. After year one, we switched to Capillary Concrete, and I’m certain that we will stick with it for the rest of the course. Concrete is just stronger when all is said and done. The level of oversight during the installation process is just better. With Capillary Concrete, their guys come with a plan and jointly you approve it – you know exactly what you are going to get, which is a two inch solid base right through every bunker.”

Capillary Concrete product expert Rusty McLendon said: “New Canaan has a ton of history and a really neat golf course. But what has impressed me the most from working with them is the attention to detail showed by Mike Roe and his team. Every time I go there, I ride around the course with Mike, and I see something new and different. They worked all winter long building dry stone walls throughout the property, and they are beautiful. To have someone with such an eye for detail telling us our product is the best one out there is very satisfying.”

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Grow Lights At The Allianz Arena

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Grow Lights At The Allianz Arena: Although LED technology isn’t new, there haven’t been any sports surfaces grown on a large scale successfully with the help of LED light yet. After extensive research, development and testing, Allianz Arena are convinced they will now be the first, by using the SGL LED grow lighting system.

Allianz Arena have purchased four LED systems from SGL, with integrated and fully automatic Infrared Radiation and irrigation, which together cover the entire width of the pitch. Since 2009 Allianz Arena had successfully been using the conventional HPS* lighting units from SGL. Their ambitious sustainability goals were the reason to look into possibilities for a more sustainable grow lighting system. Jürgen Muth, Managing Director Allianz Arena: “In order to get and keep a perfect pitch with a very good natural grass quality, the use of technical support has already been essential to us for many years. SGL and their light technology have been a very important and helpful partner since 2009. Now we climb a new step and look forward to the new LED Lighting Units coming from SGL. After extensive tests we are confident to get good results with these additional lights on our pitch.“

Grow Lights At The Allianz Arena

SGL founder Nico van Vuuren explains the challenge of creating top quality growth with LED: “LED is a fast developing technology and a lot of research is still being done in regards to its use for plant growth. There are many choices to be made in order to get the same quality at lower costs as the HPS armatures. Apart from looking at the energy efficiency side of the story, it’s crucial to look at the plant physiological side, practical side and investment costs too. LED has many advantages, such as the flexibility in light spectrum and the energy efficiency, but also some challenges such as the high investment costs, the lack of Infrared Radiation and the weight.”

While many know LED for its sustainable character, another unique feature that LED has is the possibility to create a so-called ‘light recipe’. This means you can choose the colours of the light spectrum that are used by the plant for specific purposes. The success of an LED armature greatly depends on the right choice of colours. Van Vuuren: “Grass uses red and blue light for photosynthesis. We’ve extensively tested different red to blue ratios, at our own test centre in the Netherlands and at the Allianz Arena. Based on the test results we’ve created the most efficient light recipe for grass growth, recovery and plant resistance.”

One of the reasons that grass has not yet been grown successfully on a large scale with LED is the lack of additional heat. In Europe grow lights are generally used in winter, in times that there is not enough natural light for optimal plant growth and temperatures are low. This means that, besides additional light, the plant also needs extra heat in order to get quality growth. Van Vuuren: “HPS armatures radiate PAR light and Infrared light to the surface while LED radiates almost no heat to the surface. Therefore we have added Infrared Technology to the LED unit. Naturally, this means you lose some of the energy savings you have obtained by using LED. In order to minimize the extra energy input, our Infrared armatures automatically turn on and off to reach and maintain the ideal temperatures for grass growth. Whether the energy saving is still sufficient for a high ROI, depends on the many growth circumstances that a pitch is subject to. Therefore we always run pitch data through our light source efficiency model to determine which light source is most efficient for the specific playing surface. The Allianz Arena is very dark very early in the year, which means they start their lighting season relatively early when temperatures are still high. Therefore they can save a significant amount of energy, since there’s no infrared required at those times.”

The SGL LED system was tested along with other LED lighting units on the Allianz Arena pitch, to compare efficiency, quality and user friendliness of the system. The SGL LED grow lighting system has been able to tackle the challenges and achieve top quality, with a system that is affordable and easy operable by the grounds teams. The LED lighting units will be used along with the HPS systems, with the goal to phase-wise switch to all LED in the coming years.

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