Royal Portrush Prepare With Toro

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Royal Portrush Prepare With Toro: On 18-21 July 2019, The Open makes an historic return to Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years and bringing golf’s oldest international Championship back again is Royal Portrush in County Antrim. As the club prepares to host the 148th event Toro is honoured to play a role in helping prepare the course.

As expected, preparations for The Open are years in the making and Toro has not only been there every step of the way since the news broke in 2015 that Royal Portrush would be the 2019 host, but for the last 25 years.

Royal Portrush Prepare With Toro

Course manager, Graeme Beatt, who joined the club in 2014, comments: “The relationship between Royal Portrush and Toro is a quarter of century old and for us there is no better machinery partner to ensure the optimum conditions for the players as well as the eyes of the sporting world.”

Preparing the all-important course, crews are using Toro’s Flex 2120 pedestrian mowers for the greens, Reelmaster 3550-D and 3555-D mowers on the fairways, approaches and surrounds, Greensmaster 1000 and TriFlex 3400 on the tees, Reelmaster 3100-D with Sidewinder system on semi-roughs and Groundsmaster 4500-D on the roughs. In addition, the team uses the Greensmaster 3250-D and GR1000 on the practice area and the ProCore 648 for aerating the courses. 25 additional Toro machines from Reesink Turfcare, the sole Toro distributor in the UK for golf and sports fields equipment and irrigation products, have joined the 50-strong Toro fleet already at the club in the run-up to and during the Championship.

But it’s not just a successful partnership with Toro machinery, Reesink and Lairds Grass Machinery that ensures the course will be tournament ready, but Toro irrigation too. In 2017, the irrigation system was upgraded to a Lynx central control system and Toro Infinity, Flex and B-Series sprinklers irrigate the rugged links course situated on the Atlantic coast.

“The location of the club is generally something of a challenge for an irrigation system, especially for the sprinklers,” says Graeme. “It’s quite a feat to deliver accurate spray in our unpredictable, windy and exposed conditions, but this has been no problem for Toro. We’ve been really impressed with the overall performance of the control system and sprinklers, but worthy of note are the B-Series sprinkler heads on the tees. They’ve really been put to the test and withstand all sorts.”

Of course, it’s not just an irrigation system that’s new for The Open. The world-famous Dunluce course has been extended from 6,867 yards to just over 7,300 yards and every hole has had some work in varying degrees, none so much as the 17th and 18th holes which have become the tented village areas and two new holes created at seventh and eighth.

22 miles of fibre optic cable has been installed with 12 miles of fibre ducts, 2,200 artic lorries-worth of equipment will have been used for the build and de-rig, 24 greenkeeping volunteers have been selected and a record-breaking number of tickets have been sold.

In fact, it’s this last fact that’s caused the only hiccup in the journey to being tournament-ready Graeme explains: “No Open Championship has ever sold out and when this one did, and in record time, the decision was made to release a further 15,000 tickets – that means we could have up to 230,000 spectators come through our gates! At that point we knew we needed to revisit the already established catering areas and extend them to accommodate this, which involved a lot of extra work. Let’s just say the Toro Workman MDX-D and HDX utility vehicles were really put to the test over this time moving kit around the course and aiding the team in construction work!”

Doug Reid from Reesink, who has worked with Royal Portrush for almost half of its 25-year relationship, says: “Royal Portrush has been nothing but consistent in its machinery purchasing over the years, but as expected in the last five years things ramped up and some fundamental replacements and changes to the fleet took place. The biggest change was the switch from the four-wheel Reelmaster 6700-D to the three-wheel Reelmaster 3550-D for a lighter tread on the fairways. The RM3550-D also happens to be ideal for a links course.

“The way we work with Graeme and the team is a definite partnership, and we’re glad that Toro remains the brand Royal Portrush has relied on for the last 25 years, and for its second Open Championship. Having the right equipment is vital in the preparation and performance for an event such as this, and we have worked closely with Royal Portrush to ensure all the tournament support needed from us is in place.”

It takes a tremendous amount of teamwork and coordination to prepare for an international event but as Graeme says: “I feel lucky to have been chosen for the job; it’s been such an honour to be involved. Probably the biggest achievement is that we’ve managed to do all the preparations we have with minimal disruption to our members. We’ve had their unwaivering support, and I’m sure that it will all be worth it to see their course presented on the world stage, challenging the world’s best golfers for golf’s greatest Championship!”

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Pitch Vandalised With Golf Clubs

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Pitch Vandalised With Golf Clubs: A football club has hit out after vandals tore up their pitch with golf clubs only a week before their first pre-season friendly.

Billinghay Athletic Football Club, which competes in Division One of the Boston and District Saturday Football League, have criticised the actions of the vandals, which have left them with an uphill struggle to get the pitch ready in time.

Vandals armed with golf clubs made 20 holes in the pitch, while dog poo has also been found on the grass, in what the club secretary describes as a “kick in the teeth”.

Nathan Wood, who has also played for the club since he was a youth player, said it was not the first time they’ve had to deal with dog poo, but golf-related vandalism is a first.

“We’ve had issues for a long time with dog poo, but not with the golf,” he said. “We’ve not seen anybody do it, but we do find golf balls on the pitch.”

He added the vandalism, which is believed to have taken place on Saturday, July 6, was all the more frustrating after the club made great efforts to improve the quality of the pitch.

“Since we’ve taken over the club we’ve invested a lot of money,” he said. “We’ve bought a new lawnmower. There’s me and another guy taking two or three hours of our day, every couple of days to cut it.

“The grass they’ve chopped won’t grow back in time.”

Mr Wood added that although it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen, he felt the person who did was being “very irresponsible”.

“It’s nothing major, we are not saying it’s the end of the world,” he said. “The person who’s done it is very irresponsible. They’d done up to 20 holes. This person, for whatever reason, they’ve done it on the football pitch when they’ve the whole field to do it on.”

In a Facebook post on Sunday, July 7, the club hit out at members of the public who appear to have been using the pitch for non-footballing activities.

“Unfortunately after the football club has spent time and money cutting, marking out and repairing the pitch for the new season, somebody has decided to take chunks out the pitch playing gold,” it reads.

“We have no issue with people using the pitch in this way but please take your shots off the pitch. We have also had to remove numerous piles of dog poo off the pitch as well.

“We want a pitch everyone in the village would be proud of and need your help in succeeding.”

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Kubota Confirm Highwood Expansion

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Kubota Confirm Highwood Expansion: Kubota (U.K) Ltd, a leading manufacturer of groundcare, agricultural, construction equipment and machinery, has announced that Dorset based dealership, Highwood, will be expanding its groundcare territory into the Bournemouth area.

With the region having previously operated under Longham’s, Highwood, which has been a respected dealer with Kubota for over 15 years, will be increasing their staff and service support to cover this new area.

Kubota Confirm Highwood Expansion

The exciting expansion between Highwood and Kubota strengthens the existing partnership, displaying the Kubota groundcare range of equipment across the south of England from Southampton to Bere Regis.

New Groundcare Dealer Manager, Phil Catley, who joined recently in the role of Dealer Manager – Southern region for the Tractor and Groundcare division last month commented: “We are delighted that Highwood will be increasing its territory to include the Bournemouth area. Our dealerships are instrumental to Kubota’s growth and we’re excited to continue working with Highwood for many years to come.”

Kubota UK is committed to investing in and expanding its dealer network in order to support more businesses like Highwood, and ultimately offer Kubota’s expertise and unique proposition far and wide across the UK and Ireland.

Nick Green, Operations Director of Highwood commented: “We are delighted to expand our Kubota sales and service support into this new area. With the full range of Kubota groundcare equipment available, we look forward to providing our new customers with the same first class service enjoyed by our current clients. This opportunity further enhances our successful relationship with Kubota and is reward for the quality work put in by our dedicated team”.

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GreenFields Award Winners Announced

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GreenFields Award Winners Announced: As Official Pitch Partners of the Northern Premier League, GreenFields launched the second Pitch of the Year Awards at the start of the season and crowned the winners at the league’s prestigious annual End of Season Awards on 15 June which took place in Blackpool.

The Pitch of the Year Awards recognise individuals and clubs who work tirelessly to ensure that their pitches look and feel the best that they can despite often having limited resources. With a staggering 90% of member clubs voting for their top pitches, (a 10% increase on last year’s votes), GreenFields then shortlisted the three clubs per division with the highest nominations. The next step was for the experienced, professional GreenFields Grounds Team to visit the nine shortlisted clubs to carry out in-depth pitch inspections.

GreenFields Award Winners Announced

During the pitch inspections the judges marked the surfaces on the following criteria:

Clegg Tests Moisture Tests
Visibility of Lines Overall Grass Coverage
Quality of Grass in Goal Mouth Areas Overall Surface Stability

The judges also interviewed each Groundsman on aspects such as fertiliser frequency and Summer renovation plans as well as taking into account the staff used for pitch maintenance, the maintenance equipment owned by the club, the weather on the day of the visit, the geographical location and weather implications, the average hours of pitch usage and the level of irrigation in place at the club. Whilst visiting each club, GreenFields documented the visits by using a dedicated app and by taking a series of photos.

GreenFields Marketing Manager, Louise Henderson and Commercial Director, Paul Milton attended the awards with Paul presenting the three winning clubs with a trophy along with £500 to spend on pitch maintenance materials or services from GreenFields. Paul commented: “For the second year of running these awards we have been impressed with both the calibre of pitches and the dedication displayed in the individuals we met. Many of the Groundsmen at these clubs are volunteers with limited resources, yet they work tirelessly with passion and enthusiasm to provide their clubs with the best possible match ready surfaces. GreenFields want to ensure that these passionate individuals and clubs receive the recognition they deserve, and we would like to thank all the shortlisted clubs for welcoming us so warmly during the pitch inspections.”

Well done to all the shortlisted clubs and the winners of the awards:

PREMIER

WINNER: South Shields FC

2nd: Bamber Bridge FC

3rd: Nantwich Town FC

EAST

WINNER: Tadcaster Albion FC

2nd: Cleethorpes Town FC

3rd: Stamford AFC

WEST

WINNER: Trafford FC

2nd: Colwyn Bay FC

3rd: Kidsgrove Athletic FC

GreenFields Award Winners Announced

Trafford FC’s Secretary, Graham Foxall commented on their second successive win of the Pitch of the Year Award: “It’s really great to see that our hard work has once again been recognised by our fellow clubs along with GreenFields for the Pitch of the Year Award for the second season in a row.”

Northern Premier League Chairman, Mark Harris commented: “The GreenFields Pitch of the Year scheme has helped the Northern Premier League to focus attention on the quality of all pitches, grass and artificial. By recognising high standards, we encourage others to raise their own, which has to be a positive step.”

More information on GreenFields can be found at www.greenfieldsturf.co.uk

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Toro Update At Sherborne GC

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Toro Update At Sherborne GC: 2019 brings plenty to celebrate for Sherborne Golf Club. A 125-year anniversary, a Toro machinery fleet update and recognition for the club’s young greenkeeping talent.

Sherborne Golf Club on the border of Dorset and Somerset has long been a Toro customer, a situation well illustrated by the Toro red shed. In fact, the relationship goes as far back as the arrival of course manager Chris Watson 16 years ago: “I signed the club’s first five-year agreement ten years ago and we’re now into our third!

Toro Update At Sherborne GC

“Toro fulfils the needs of the club. We have a tricky course to maintain and it’s hard work all year round. The free draining soil means there’s a lot of play in winter and no temporary greens. Throughout we expect reliability, a great cut and performance in the face of seemingly endless work, and Toro delivers time and again.”

Plus, there has been a major ongoing landscaping project. 375,000 tons of soil have been delivered over the last seven years, three holes have been redesigned, the practice ground has been increased, the course has been lengthened and new tees have been generated. Chris says: “We’re a forward-thinking club with a supportive management committee. The way we see it, there’s always room for improvement.

“Throughout the years, I’ve remained pleased with our Toro machinery upgrades and the technological advances it demonstrates in the new models we choose, and there’s been no need to change that. The service has been consistent and good, and maintenance is easy. Our Groundsmaster 4000-D, for example, can clock over 2000 hours of work without needing a hydraulic oil change!”

The celebrations for the 125th anniversary are year-long and jammed full of hosting duties including the Dorset County Championship, South England Boys Open and a Pro-Am, to name but a few. “The preparation work we’ve done in recent years has ensured we’re in great shape for all these events,” says Chris.

An unexpected bonus for the club’s 125th year is the news that one of the greenkeeping team has been selected to proceed to the regional interview stage in the Toro Young Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards.

Chris says: “Throughout my career I’ve always been keen to encourage the younger generation into the industry and feel proud that four of my trainees now hold positions as head greenkeepers. When I first met Sam Richards, I knew he’d make a great apprentice and could see he had potential. To have this recognised, and supported, by his Myerscough College lecturer who nominated Sam and to see him progress into the next round of the Young Award is testament to his promise.

“Even being shortlisted in Toro’s Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards is a huge achievement, it’s a competition which has identified some of the country’s brightest and most promising talent.”

All that’s left for us to say is happy anniversary to Sherborne Golf Club and good luck to Sam – and all those progressing into the regional interviews for both Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards this summer!

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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