Manager Praises Departing Groundsman

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Manager Praises Departing Groundsman: Manager Danny Grainger has praised departing Workington Reds groundsman Jeff Curwen after the stalwart ended his 16-year association with the club.

The shock news was revealed on Monday that Curwen, 78, is stepping down.

If Reds had moved to Derwent Park this summer, it was Curwen’s intention to step down. But after the collapse of the new stadium project, he continued in the role, with the proviso he would depart at the end of the 2019/20 season.

Curwen, though, has this week instead opted to leave his position with the current NPL North West Division leaders with immediate effect. Dennis Rossi will fill the void left by Curwen.

“I worked closely with Jeff over the summer. I went over and helped him out as much as I could,” said former Carlisle United captain Grainger.

“He is someone who has played a vital role in terms of how well we have done in the opening part of the season. He is someone that is vital to the club and we can’t thank him enough for the services that he has brought to the club.

“As the statement on the club website said, they are unsociable hours that Jeff is doing, and the amount of hours he has put in can’t be appreciated enough by us.

“He is someone I think very highly of and I can’t thank him enough for making me feel welcome when I came through the door.”

And Grainger, from Eamont Bridge, near Penrith, admits the work volunteers, like Curwen, do for the club is hugely important.

“The volunteers at the club and the people behind-the-scenes are working tirelessly,” Grainger admitted.

“I go as much as I can, to see the guys and the people working behind-the-scenes. At times, it’s unbelievable how many people are there, mucking in, making sure the ground and the club is alright for a matchday.

“People behind-the-scenes go unnoticed at times, but they are the type of people who help the club go forward.”

On the field, meanwhile, Reds are due to travel to Marske United this Saturday as they aim to extend their lead at the top of the table and build on last weekend’s 5-1 home success over Ramsbottom United.

Grainger, who gave his players a night off training yesterday, says he has thrilled with how Workington have started the season.

“As a group of staff, we have set ourselves targets and we want to keep hitting them,” he said.

“On Saturday, if we are being greedy, we could have won by even more. Speaking to some of their [Rambsottom’s] club representatives, they were saying that they felt they got away lightly on Saturday.

“It just shows how far the lads have come in a short space of time.”

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Prestigious Club Goes All In For Toro

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Prestigious Club Goes All In For Toro: At the pinnacle of St George’s Hill Golf Club sits its iconic clubhouse, casting an eye over its three nine-hole courses widely regarded as Harry Colt’s crowning glory, and now in the hands of Toro to uphold.

Set within an exclusive private estate in Surrey, the club was in need of a fleet of turfcare machinery to maintain the high standards of the course, and it was a complete Toro package that proved to hit the mark with the club signing its first ever five-year agreement plan with Toro and its distributor Reesink Turfcare.

Prestigious Club Goes All In For Toro

The historic club provides one of the most exclusive golfing experiences, currently ranked No.63 in the World by Golf Digest Magazine. With so much history and expectation, course manager Chris Godsen says the pressure to provide the very best is always on.

“Every day here is a big day,” he explains. “Everyone who comes to play is looking for the best and wanting an experience like no other, so we have to work to provide that every day, no exceptions.”

With the club boasting 500 members and the estate home to 420 houses, having a comprehensive and efficient fleet is vitally important.

“The fleet here was already about 90 percent Toro,” Chris says. “But we wanted to invest in new machines, so we’d be up to date with the latest tech and innovation.”

Despite looking at a range of options with other brands before making a commitment, for Chris, Toro was the only choice.

“We did look at a couple of other brands, but there would always be one or two unreliable machines that would really let the package down. But with Toro, there isn’t one piece of kit I can see doing that. Toro always has far superior machines that are durable, reliable and state-of-the-art, which is just what a prestigious club like St George’s Hill needs.”

And club secretary Gary Peddie agrees: “The decision to choose Toro was a relatively easy one. They are recognised in the industry as a leading manufacturer of golf course machinery. That position sits very well alongside St George’s Hill Golf Club, as we look to deliver the best in golf course conditioning.”

With the package deal comprising near thirty pieces, including three Greensmaster 3250-Ds, three Reelmaster 3555-Ds, two Groundsmaster 4300-Ds, four Workman HDX-Ds and a ProPass 200 to name a few, Chris is excited to put the new comprehensive fleet to work.

“We’re particularly excited to trial our new lightweight mowers as we haven’t had them before. The Multi Pro 5800-D sprayer is also going to be a big help. It’s bigger and faster than what we have now, so we’ll be able to get more coverage in less time.

“I’m confident this agreement is just the start of an ongoing partnership,” says Chris. “The service from Reesink has always been great and now with a full fleet of Toro equipment, I have total peace of mind that the course is in good hands.”

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Ransomes Sponsor Suffolk FA For Seventh Season

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Ransomes Sponsor Suffolk FA For Seventh Season: The Ipswich-based turf maintenance company are to once again sponsor the Groundsman of the Year competition and also the Suffolk FA Awards Ceremony.

The Groundsman of the Year competition is held annually in the county and is open to clubs at Step 7 and below.

Ransomes Sponsor Suffolk FA For Seventh Season

The Suffolk FA Awards Ceremony is also held annually and as well as the Groundsman of the Year winners, presentations will be made to county winners of The FA and McDonald’s Grassroots Football Awards plus there will also be Long Service Awards.

The Awards Ceremony is taking place next month at Portman Road before Ipswich Town’s SkyBet League One fixture with Rotherham United.

Ransomes Jacobsen Sales Director, William Carr, is proud the company continues to recognise the invaluable contribution of Grassroots groundsmen and other volunteers.

“Local football wouldn’t function without pitches, and often Suffolk’s groundsmen work far above the level required of them,” he said.

“We’re very lucky to have some fantastic volunteer groundsmen in the county and the Groundsman of the Year competition is a brilliant way of recognising the work they do and awarding them for their dedication.”

Suffolk FA Chief Executive Richard Neal said: “Ransomes Jacobsen’s continued support for the Groundman of the Year Award demonstrates the essential role this largely volunteer workforce plays in providing a quality playing experience.

“I’m delighted such a significant local company is again joining us in celebrating the expertise and dedication of Suffolk grounds staff.”

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Grow Lights For Schools & Local Clubs

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Grow Lights For Schools & Local Clubs: SGL is introducing a brand new grow lighting product line which makes grow lights possible for sports clubs who never had the budget before.

With the SGL Basic line they aim to enable grass quality improvements in different layers and levels of sport. This will lead to better and safer playing surfaces throughout the year for lower professional sports leagues and training grounds, but also schools and local sports clubs.

Grow Lights For Schools & Local Clubs

SGL have taken different measures in the engineering, production and shipping process to reduce costs to a minimum, while still delivering high quality and durable products. SGL product developer Kristel Meijer: “For the Basic line we designed every part from scratch, in order to optimise the use of materials, increase efficiency and keep the SGL quality demands. We use these same parts for all products within the product range, which makes production more efficient and cheaper. In addition, the products are shipped to the customer in an ‘Ikea style’ self-assembly package. This reduces shipping space by 90%, meaning an extensive reduction of shipping costs.”

The first lighting system in the Basic line is the BU50. Its seven HPS fixtures promote photosynthesis by applying PAR light and additional heat, which enables and reinforces grass growth on all sports playing surfaces under all circumstances. The BU50 treats a surface of 50 square meters and recovers grass after games and events, to ensure pitch quality throughout the year regardless of climate conditions.

Grow Lights For Schools & Local Clubs

In due course, more products within the Basic line will follow. SGL founder Nico van Vuuren: “Almost 20 years ago we introduced grow lights to the world of football, which then started a revolution in premier league pitches. Now, we can offer this opportunity to clubs throughout all levels of sport and we hope to do the same for them.”

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13 BASIS CPD Points On Offer In October

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13 BASIS CPD Points On Offer In October: October poses a bumper month for BASIS members to collect amenity CPD points at leading industry events.

Those attending this year’s Amenity Forum Conference and the two-day SALTEX event have the opportunity to collect a total of 13 BASIS CPD points for event attendance and participating in educational sessions.

13 BASIS CPD Points On Offer In October

Amenity Forum Conference – Thursday 10 October

Five points are on offer for general attendance of the Amenity Forum Conference, where BASIS CEO, Stephen Jacob, will be presenting as part of the programme.

“This year’s conference is focusing on 21st century amenity management, and I’m looking forward to presenting in the afternoon session on ‘assured practice in our sector – licenced to practice,” explains Stephen.

SALTEX – Wednesday 30 to Thursday 31 October

“Following on from the conference, we’ll be offering up to four points per day at SALTEX.

“Here, members can gain one point each day for attendance, with a further point for every ‘Learning Live’ session participated in, throughout the course of the event, up to a maximum of four points per day.

For further information about BASIS, please visit www.basis-reg.co.uk or call 01335 343945.

To attend the Amenity Forum Conference, please visit https://amenityforum.co.uk/conference/the-amenity-forum-conference-2019/

For a full list of the ‘Learning Live’ sessions, please visit www.iogsaltex.com/learning-live/.

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