Qualibra ‘Perfect’ for Royal Cinque

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Qualibra ‘Perfect’ for Royal Cinque: James Bledge, Course Manager at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, based in Deal, Kent, says he has successfully treated Dry Patch with monthly applications of Qualibra wetting agent.

Formed in 1892, Royal Cinque Ports is a Championship Links course situated on the narrow stretch of coastline between Deal and Sandwich Bay in Kent. The 18 hole course offers a stiff challenge to golfers of all abilities and in particular the last seven holes are reputed to be amongst the toughest in golf.

Qualibra ‘Perfect’ for Royal Cinque

With the course being so close to the coast, one would think that James and his team would spend most of the time trying to get water off the course, but situated in the driest corner of England, and with the aid of an artificial sea wall, Royal Cinque Ports has no such problems.

However, the course has repeatedly suffered from Dry Patch even with previous wetting agent programmes and as a result, last year James trialled Syngenta’s Qualibra – which is distributed by ICL.

“I’ve used a number of wetting agents before but I’ve always had a problem with Dry Patch, we are situated on sand with only around 3” of topsoil so infiltration rates are pretty high. We also lose a lot of moisture – Sometimes up to 10% Volume water content in a day. Therefore, I decided to look at Qualibra and trialled it last year to see how it performed. I’m a big believer in doing a full year’s trial with products, especially a wetting agent, because I think you are wasting your time if you do anything less than that. You need to see it consistently throughout every month to see how it is performing and also just give it a chance. – not just apply it on a turf nursery in June and see how it performs in one month.

Qualibra ‘Perfect’ for Royal Cinque

“Because I haven’t had much luck with wetting agents in the past, I was thinking that if it didn’t work out then we would just try something else next year. However, at the end of the year I remember telling Darren Hatcher (ICL Technical Area Sales Manager for the South, London and the Channel Islands) that it was perfect.”

James applied Qualibra to his greens, tees, approaches and fairways at 20 L/ha in March and continued with monthly applications until October. His goal was to optimise the use of water resources and move surface water down to maintain, firm, fast conditions, as well as improving the playing surface quality for members.

“We wanted the greens to play firm and fast and Qualibra has been a big part of that,” he says. “I also wanted to avoid the unsightly burnt off crests and lush valleys on the fairways and if you irrigate them the water just runs off the top. However, Qualibra reduces the surface tension and goes in from the very top. In June they were the perfect colour, consistently that transition between green and brown.

“I’ve got a guy who has been working here for 40 years and every morning he comes in at 3.30am and hand waters all of the greens before the golfers come out. He absolutely loves Qualibra and he says that throughout his time here it is by far the best wetting agent we have ever used. I really value his opinion as he’s seen it all so we discuss at length what products would make his life easier when it comes to moisture control, on a links course it’s one of the most important factors to success and that’s why we don’t sacrifice on quality.

“We are also definitely using less water now and we didn’t have any Dry Patch last year – which was the first time in years. To me that was a huge success because it was one of the driest years on record.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

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Dennis & SISIS Prepare For Waterloo

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Dennis & SISIS Prepare For Waterloo: Mark Audin is preparing the green at the Waterloo Hotel, Blackpool, for the biggest national tournament in the crown green bowling calendar, with the help of the Dennis FT510 and SISIS Dart.

Regarded as the ‘Wembley’ of crown green bowling, The Waterloo Hotel has been hosting tournaments for well over 100 years. In particular, The Waterloo Championships has been in existence since 1907 and this year it sees a phenomenal 512 entries from all over the country. Qualifying starts in July and concludes with the final 8 competing to get their hands on the famous trophy on 26 September.

Dennis & SISIS Prepare For Waterloo

Mark Audin has been working at The Waterloo for 10 years and for the last 5 he has held the position of bowls manager. He has a number of tasks under his remit but Mark’s main priority is to focus on the fabulous green at The Waterloo – which is a year round job, as he explains.

“Out of season when the green isn’t being played on, I cut down to about 7-8mm and during the winter we can leave it slightly longer at 10mm. From May onwards I like to keep it at around 7mm and that will gradually go down to about 6mm and possibly 5mm depending on how it is playing towards the end of the season. There is a misconception that you need to take the grass on a bowling green right down and scalp it, but that really isn’t the case as long as you regularly verticut and generally look after it all year.”

For the essential task of verticutting, Mark relies on the Dennis FT510, which is an interchangeable cassette cylinder mower. It offers the operator ultimate versatility by having the option of fitting twelve different cassettes including scarifiers, verticutters, brushes, spikers and slitters as well as 5 or 10 blade cutting cassettes.

“In the lead up to the Championships we will verticut with the FT510 once every four days in four different directions so that the playing surface will be completely smooth. Therefore, going into the Championships the green will become quicker and quicker to play on.

Dennis & SISIS Prepare For Waterloo

“We’ve got the sorrel roller cassette, the 10 bladed cylinder, the scarifier and verticutter Tungsten tipped cassette and it is all we really need here – it’s my complete maintenance tool. The FT510 is fantastic and it is so easy to use – one cassette out, one cassette in and off you go. In the past we have had machines which take half an hour just to change one cassette.

“I also really like the click adjustment on the FT510 for the height of cut, it is easy to set-up and is adjusted by 0.25mm with every click. Again, with other machines you will have to get a spanner out but on the FT510 it is adjusted in seconds. The fuel consumption also seems to be better than any others I have used in the past too.”

For reducing turf compaction at The Waterloo, Mark uses the SISIS Dart – which is an independently powered vertical action aerator. This popular bowling green aerator has a working depth of up to 100mm (4 inches) which can be easily adjusted from the operator’s position using the balanced depth control lever. Powered by a 6.5hp engine, the unit can also be fitted with a wide range of interchangeable tines to meet the operator’s requirements making it ideal as a bowling green aerator.

“We normally start using the SISIS Dart in July when the ground starts getting hard. We have a number of various interchangeable tines and we tend to go about 3 inches deep into the surface. It does a brilliant job at breaking the surface up, enabling you to get some moisture in and it really helps to reduce thatch and compaction. We’ve always had a bit of an issue with compaction because we have so many people on the green throughout the year,” he said.

“I would say that it is arguably the most used green in bowls and with all the games throughout the season, the green stands up remarkably well. That is, in part, due to the quality of the machines – I’ve tired others in the past but none are nearly as good as the Dennis and SISIS equipment.”

Dennis and SISIS are proud supporters of the Waterloo Championships and have a long history of supporting the sport of bowls. The British manufacturers of turf maintenance equipment host an annual series of free educational bowling green seminars throughout the UK, which have significantly grown year on year.

Further information about the range of bowls maintenance products available can be found by visiting www.dennisuk.com / www.sisis.com.

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GreenFields Announce New Partnership

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GreenFields Announce New Partnership: GreenFields, sports turf specialists, have announced their new partnership with financial funding experts, Sedulo. The collaboration was officially confirmed at a Stadium Development seminar hosted by GreenFields on 17 May at Hyde United FC. As Official Pitch Partner of the EVO-STIK Northern Premier League, GreenFields hosted the seminar in which ten member clubs attended and were supported by Sedulo who presented ways in which they could support with financing new development plans. This was also supported by the leagues architectural partners, Frank Whittle Partnership (FWP).

With offices in Manchester and Leeds, Sedulo will work with GreenFields on a national basis to support potential clients who have aspirations to obtain new sports pitches but who require financial advice, financial planning and sometimes funding opportunities to be able to attain their goal.

GreenFields Announce New Partnership

Paul Milton, Director of GreenFields commented: “We’ve been looking for a financial partner to meet the growing demand from our clients for financial advice so pairing with financial funding experts Sedulo is an excellent step forward for us to be able to offer this guidance to potential clients. We realise that the aspirations of clubs and educational establishments to install a new sports pitch can sometimes seem financially unrealistic, but now working with Sedulo more of these dreams will be able to become a reality.”

With Sedulo’s comprehensive financial knowledge and capabilities, they are able to assist potential GreenFields clients with the preparation of detailed business plans to support planning submissions for a new synthetic, hybrid or natural grass pitch. They can help put forward the best possible business case for standard funding routes such as through the council, or if typical funding routes aren’t available, Sedulo can match businesses with alternative funding routes when a bank isn’t suitable. They will scour their huge pool of lenders in order to find the best options available for each unique client.

Jack Christian, Senior Funding Manager at Sedulo presented at the seminar and has already received a number of requests from attending clubs for one to one meetings to discuss their financial plans to secure a 3G pitch, he commented: “We are always looking to support new clubs across the UK. Sport is a specialism for Sedulo and we have a lot of experience in advising on the funding and finances for sports clubs. We are keen to work alongside GreenFields to enable more sports clubs to develop their facilities and increase their long-term revenue streams.”

Over the coming months, GreenFields will be working with Sedulo to provide clubs with exclusive financial assistance and information on a one to one basis as well as focusing on running more in-depth development seminars.

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GrassMaster Takes Centre Stage At World Cup

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GrassMaster Takes Centre Stage At World Cup: GrassMaster by Tarkett Sports will play a leading role at the FIFA World Cup in Russia from June 14 to July 15.

The pioneers of hybrid grass were part of the game in the last two FIFA World Cups: Brazil in 2014 and South Africa in 2010.

GrassMaster Takes Centre Stage At World Cup

In Russia, Some 16 World Cup games in total will be played on GrassMaster pitches at the Volgograd Arena, Kazan Arena and Nizhny Novgorod Stadium which all have a brand new GrassMaster pitch installed.

Kazan Arena will host six games from June 16th to July 7th. France vs Australia will be the first fixture of the World Cup to be played on a GrassMaster.

Four games during the group stages will be played in Kazan as well a Round of 16 game and a quarter final.

At the Volgograd Arena, four games will be played starting with Tunisia vs England on June 18. Also on that date, the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium opens its doors with the first game of group F with Sweden vs Korea Republic. This stadium will host four group phase matches, a Round of 16 game and a quarter final.

With six games being played in three weeks in the Kazan Arena, four matches in Volgograd Stadium in 10 days and six in two and a half weeks in Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, GrassMaster proves once again to be the trusted partner for top-level tournaments.

Thanks to the unique technology of GrassMaster a higher degree of player safety and faster surface recovery is ensured, so neither players, fans nor organisation suffer from loss of quality on the pitch.

We stand for a perfect pitch anywhere and anytime. With a lifespan of up to 15 years, these GrassMaster pitches will leave a legacy for the Russian teams, communities and for the venues.

Training pitches

Furthermore, the CSKA training pitch in Moscow will be used by the German football team and the training pitch of the football club Rubin Kazan is going to be used by Japan for training throughout their stay at the 2018 World Cup.

On both pitches, the premium hybrid turf system GrassMaster is installed.

Tarkett Sports Russian partner InSport Pro Co installed the GrassMaster in the Kazan Arena and the CSKA stadium in Moscow.

Additionally they are responsible for the maintenance of the pitches.

Andrey Kanunnikov, managing director of InSport Pro Co said:

“Both the German and Japanese teams recently visited their training grounds and were satisfied with the pitches we’ve prepared for them.”

Installation partner for the Volgograd and Nizny Novgorod stadiums was Golftechnology. Charles Henderson of PSD/Labosport Group is pitch consultant.

GrassMaster’s expertise and experience of nearly 30 years has been used on more than 700 pitches worldwide.

The GrassMaster system with a proven lifespan of 15 years and more, is a 100 % natural grass pitch reinforced by 20 million high performance fibres.

These Polypropylene fibres are injected by computer-controlled machines, 18 deep and 2 cm above the surface, in a grid of +/- 2 x 2 cm. The natural grass roots entwine with the fibres and grow deeper and wider, building a stronger and healthier rootzone. The PP fibres above the surface ensure an always even and stable surface.

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SIS Pitches Ready In Russia

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SIS Pitches Ready In Russia: Three new football stadiums in Russia – the Samara Arena, Kaliningrad Stadium and Saransk Stadium – are now set for their World Cup kick-offs, having gone through the installation of new high-tech hybrid pitches.

Global pitch specialists, SIS Pitches, the company behind six of the 12 World Cup pitches, was commissioned to design, construct and install the new surfaces at the football venues – which are set to host international football teams including England, Portugal and Belgium during this year’s tournament.

SIS Pitches Ready In Russia

This year’s international football event will be the most technologically advanced in history, with SIS Pitches leading the way with the industry’s most advanced playing surfaces. Its sophisticated reinforced natural turf system, SISGrass, combines 95% natural grass with 5% synthetic turf; installed with patented injection technology and laser guidance for accuracy; offering longer playing hours and faster recovery time after each game.

SIS Pitches has now formally handed over the pitches to each stadium’s management team, who will handle their maintenance from now on, following thorough inspections by independent agency the Sports Turf Research Institute.

George Mullan, CEO & Founder of SIS Pitches, said: “Anticipation and excitement for this year’s World Cup is growing as we get ever closer to the start of the tournament. Our team has been working hard over the last few months to ensure the surfaces we have been commissioned to work on are top class, and in the very best condition.

“Six of the World Cup stadiums, including Samara Arena, Kaliningrad Stadium and Saransk Staidum, now feature the most innovative and advanced sporting turfs in the industry, which will provide strong, durable and well-performing pitches across the whole tournament. It’s over to the stadium teams now to maintain that standard and quality until the final whistle.

“As football fans around the world count down to the start of the tournament, the pitch handovers are another step closer to the action, and we can’t wait for the matches to begin.”

The Samara Arena, formally known as the Cosmos Arena, has a capacity of 44,198 seats and is scheduled to host four first round group matches. This includes one round of 16 matches, and one quarter-final during the World Cup tournament, including Costa Rica v Serbia (Sunday 17 June), Denmark v Australia (Thursday 21 June), Uruguay v Russia (Monday 25 June), and Senegal v Columbia (Thursday 28 June). After the international tournament, it will become the new home ground of club Krylia Sovetov.

SIS Pitches Ready In Russia

The Kaliningrad Stadium, also known as the Arena Baltika, has a capacity of 35,212 and is the new home ground of Russian football club FC Baltika Kaliningrad. During the World Cup, it is scheduled to host four first round group matches: Croatia v Nigeria (Saturday 16 June); Serbia v Switzerland (Friday 22 June); Iran v Portugal (Monday 25 June); and, England v Belgium (Thursday 28 June).

Saransk Stadium, also known as the Mordovia Arena, will host 45,000 football fans for the World Cup and is set to hold tournament ties including: Peru v Denmark (Saturday 16 June); Colombia v Japan (Tuesday 19 June); Iran v Portugal (Monday 25 June); and, Panama v Tunisia (Thursday 28 June).

Dr. Andreevs, director of Kaliningrad Stadium administration, added: “SIS Pitches carried out the design and construction work of the football pitch at our stadium, and in April this year we successfully hosted our first football match. Before the match, the independent agency STRI conducted testing, which showed the high quality of the pitch. SIS Pitches are a highly qualified team of professionals that provide high quality services.”

The Samara Arena, Kaliningrad Stadium and Saransk Stadium are just three of 12 venues that will host the World Cup. Six of these have commissioned SIS Pitches expertise and feature SISGrass surfaces, including Luzhniki stadium, where the highly-anticipated World Cup Final will be played before a crowd of 80,000 and a worldwide TV audience of one billion. It will be the first time a World Cup Final has ever been played on anything but all-natural grass.

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