Cromer Courts Among The Best

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Cromer Courts Among The Best: Cromer’s tennis players have always boasted that their 10 grass courts are amongst the best in the country – and now it is official.

Following a visit and inspection by an official from the LTA, the sport’s governing body, and an inspector from the Sports Turf Research Institute they have produced their official report which concludes that: “The grass courts at Cromer are some of the best grass courts in the UK. They are well managed, dominated by perennial ryegrass and are open for play for six months of the year. The courts and surrounds are always beautifully presented and are a credit to the grounds team.”

The LTA consider grass court venues such as Cromer to be very important for British tennis and believe it to be vital that events are played on grass throughout the summer and that all players, but especially juniors, have the opportunity to play on grass.

The objective of the Cromer site visit was to assess the quality of the playing surfaces and suitability for holding grass court tennis competitions. The inspectors conducted agronomic assessments of the playing surfaces as well as evaluating the maintenance regimes, staff levels and available machinery and equipment. They carried out a botanical analysis, a soil analysis, which involved soil samples being analysed in the Institute’s soils laboratory, and measured both the surface hardness and the soil moisture.

Amongst the many positive comments were that “live grass cover on courts at Cromer was excellent” and they were very complimentary on the work that is done out of season by way of scarifying, over seeding and top dressing.

The association’s treasurer Martin Braybrook said: “This was a very thorough inspection and the results reflect great credit on our groundsman, Matthew Jordan and his assistant, Peter Cooper. Over the years we have had a succession of excellent groundsmen and we are delighted for Matthew to have received such a positive report.”

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ISEKI Launch SF224 Mower

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ISEKI Launch SF224 Mower: ISEKI UK & Ireland, distributors of ISEKI compact tractors and mowers are excited to announce the launch of a new out-front mower for the ISEKI range. Superior new features and market positioning offer this as a potential game changer for the brand to explore further avenues. 

Managing Director, David Withers explained; “with the engine regulations coming into place shortly we wanted to offer the customer a competitively priced out front mower with the same ISEKI renowned quality and reliability alongside a new Stage V compliant 22.5hp diesel engine.

ISEKI Launch SF224 Mower

“The New ISEKI SF224 mower offers the most economical way to cut grass commercially with high productivity plus the added benefit of the new 22.5hp engine enabling customers to save on fuel costs and initial purchasing costs of their machinery.

“Offering a range of decks to suit the various customer sites and cutting cycles., customers can choose from the tried and tested Wessex, ISEKI and Muthing flail decks, or the new ISEKI outfront rotary deck.  These options allow the machine to be highly versatile in this competitive market.”

The new ISEKI 60” (1525 mm) outfront rotary deck with three blades ensures that no grass is left uncut even when undertaking tight turns. The cutting height can be adjusted from 25mm to 125mm (1-5”) in 12.5mm (0.5”) increments as required.  A mulching kit is available to order if required.

Product Manager, Richard Tyrrell commented; “when developing the product we studied how people use their mowers, quickly realising storage was a key issue when out cutting for long periods of time.  People were either bringing trailers with them, another vehicle, additional members of staff or tying containers onto the machines in order to carry strimmers, bin bags and other tools.   With the New SF224 operators can be more effective and productive with their time, taking all the equipment with them in the large storage bed on the back of the mower, keeping items safe with the operator, eliminating the need to keep going back to the van to empty bins or change tools.”

ISEKI Launch SF224 Mower

These high-performance out-front mowers are highly productive and manoeuvrable, designed to facilitate grass cutting in difficult areas. The mowers are equipped with easy to use two-pedal hydrostatic transmission and automatic or selectable 4WD. There is also a lockable differential for use when conditions demand. To ensure efficient engine cooling the radiator is fitted with an automatic reversing fan so preventing the blockage of the grill.

Operators are well catered for with a spacious, comfortable platform, ergonomic controls and excellent visibility. The steering column is easily adjusted to suit the operator.

Routine maintenance and servicing is easily carried out thanks to excellent access to the engine, radiator and service points.

In summary the SF224 is designed to be an extremely productive, fuel efficient and high performing mower suitable for numerous applications, stamped with ISEKI quality and reliability.

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Groundsman Wins Volunteer Award

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Groundsman Wins Volunteer Award: Birmingham Exiles’ Andy Harris was honoured at the annual North Midlands Volunteer Awards recently.

The awards, now in their 13th year, celebrate outstanding voluntary service to rugby sides in the region, with the hard work and generosity of volunteers often proving the difference in keeping rugby clubs running.

Harris was named the Groundsman of the Year, providing him with recognition for his attentive work of maintaining the pitches at Old Damson Lane.

He has learnt from one of the best in the business, after being passed on extensive knowledge by RFU head groundsman Keith Kent, and has since allowed for the Exiles to attract higher profile fixtures thanks to the quality of the pitches at the club.

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Case IH Rebrand Tractor Range

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Case IH Rebrand Tractor Range: Case IH has decided to rebrand its award-winning 100-130hp tractors with CVXDrive transmission. The new name is Case IH Vestrum CVXDrive.

“We chose the name Vestrum because it means ‘yours’ in Latin,” says Peter Friis, Case IH Marketing Director Europe. “This tractor is dedicated to our customers who need a powerful and comfortable tractor to accomplish more throughout the varied tasks in their day.”

Case IH Rebrand Tractor Range

The rebrand will not affect any other features of the 100-130hp models, which all have the Case IH CVXDrive continuously-variable transmission as standard. The new range was launched at February’s SIMA in Paris, where it won the Machine of the Year 2019 award in the mid-class tractor category.

“We would like to reassure our customers that no other aspect of the tractor will change – all specifications remain the same as at the launch – and deliveries within 2019 will not be affected” said Thierry Panadero, Vice-President Case IH Europe “we will continue our launch activities and look forward to meeting our customers in the field and at shows in the coming months and present these fantastic tractors.”

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Dan Walker To Host IOG Awards

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Dan Walker To Host IOG Awards: Tickets are now available for this year’s Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Industry Awards, so book now to secure your place at the industry’s biggest celebratory event –  hosted by the BBC’s Dan Walker on Wednesday October 30 at The Vox, located in Resorts World at the Birmingham NEC, on the evening of the first day of the SALTEX exhibition.

The awards – now in their 11th year – have continually grown in status for acknowledging the achievements of volunteer and professional grounds teams, as well as community clubs and national stadia. They recognise the passion, dedication and challenges faced by grounds staff at clubs of every size and from all corners of the UK.

Dan Walker To Host IOG Awards

BBC sports presenter and BBC Breakfast anchor Dan Walker will bring a new dimension to this year’s event as the 20 award categories are presented.

He currently hosts BBC One’s Award-winning Football Focus and regularly presents Match of the Day. He has also covered Wimbledon, The Grand National, Royal Ascot, The Derby and the Six Nations, as well as continuing to work on domestic, European and international football. He has also co-hosted Open golf coverage for the last 10 years and was an integral part of the BBC’s Olympic broadcasting team for both London 2012 and Rio 2016.

To secure your seat – which cost £95 each for IOG members and £190 each for non-members – please contact the IOG by email (awards@iog.org) or call 01908 312 511 where you can also gain details of how to become an IOG member.

It’s not too late to nominate an individual or team for a 2019 Award. Visit: www.iog.org/awards and click the nominate button. This year’s categories include:

  • IOG Toro Most Promising Sports Turf Student 
  • IOG Rigby Taylor/Top Green Young Grounds Person
  • IOG Volunteer Sports Grounds Team/Individual
  • IOG NGB Community/Grassroots Sports Club Grounds Team/Individual 
  • IOG AMS Robotics Public Sector Sports Grounds Team 
  • IOG Bowling Grounds Team/Individual
  • IOG SCH Supplies Best Managed Artificial Surface 
  • IOG Ransomes Environmental and Ecology Strategy 
  • IOG Headland Amenity Professional Cricket Grounds Team

  • IOG Cub Cadet Infinicut Professional Tennis Courts Grounds Team
  • IOG John Deere Professional Horse Racing Grounds Team
  • IOG Professional Rugby Football League Grounds Team
  • IOG Compo Expert Professional Rugby Football Union Grounds Team
  • IOG Professional Football Grounds Team
    For English Leagues 1 & 2, National League, National League North/South, Scottish Championship & Leagues 1 & 2, Ireland & Wales Professional Leagues.
  • IOG SGL Professional Football Grounds Team 

For Premier League, Championship and Scottish Premier League.

  • IOG Redexim Charterhouse/Kubota University/College Grounds Team 
  • IOG Growth Products Independent School Grounds Team
  • IOG SISGrass International Award
  • IOG Grassmaster Outstanding Achievement Award.

There is one additional award for which nominations are not sought: the IOG Ransomes/DLF Alex R Millar Award – to the person chosen as the outstanding winner across all award categories.

The NGB Awards are sponsored by the AELTC (All England Lawn Tennis Club), ECB (the England and Wales Cricket Board), The FA (Football Association), the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association), the Premier League,  the RFU (Rugby Football Union) and the RFL (Rugby Football League)

For information on how to sponsor an award, please contact Karen Maxwell on 07866 736 597 or email: kmaxwell@iog.org

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